One Bass - Is it possible?

[darkorb]

I want the gamut of tones: from Bootylicious, deep, round Fender tones to trebly slaptastic Stingray sounds and beyond. Is there one bass I can get that will give me that without a boatload of outboard gear or changing strings?

I'm not Victor Wooten or any thing, but I have been playing for over twenty years. I just want to stop having to lug the P-Bass, J-Bass, and Active neck-thru five string to each gig, while scanning the want ads for a deal on a Music man Stingray.

Fretless is not an issue. I am also willing to go as high as $2500.00

Talk to me.

 

[Garry Sharp]

Yeah, I'd like to know too. But it would have to be fretless - after having an old bass defretted I am in love like a crush struck teenager. But darkob how can you slap a fretless? I tried and - well, it wasn't pretty.

 

[Beerninja]

While I am definatly not an expert here, and have been "out of the loop" for some time because of the Navy, but from my experience my Carvin LB75 that I had for about 13yrs has been able to get just about every sound I ever wanted, from super bright with low punch slap souns to a very smooth and crisp jazz tone, to a very hard crunching Thrash sound. Don't know if you like carvin or not but the one I have has always been right there when ever I wanted a change of sound. Hope that helps at least a little.

 

[darkorb]

When I said fretless was not an issue, I meant that I did not want a fretless. I have played and owned fretless bass, but I (kind of a purist snob) got one without fret lines. Anyway my upper register work suffered as a result.

By the way, yes, you can slap on fretless. It WILL NOT sound the same (frets brighten your sound a lot). It is a 'muted' slap like slapping on flatwounds.
I've actually done both. It’s a different color. Also if you use a chorus you can get a brighter sound.

The act of playing fretless, in and of itself, is a declaration of your intent to be different. Go with that. Embrace it. I might seek out a fretless version of my everything bass. Thanks for helping to relight my fretless fire.

Back to my original issue: I have thought about Carvin. I think they have the Push\Pull Active\Passive knob thing happening.
I like the fact that they have finally put out an extended scale 351/2" bass. I wish though that they had made it a 24, as opposed to 22-fret job.

So can you really nail that dark staccato "Jaco" tone with it?

 

[Beerninja]

try calling the customer service line as they might be able to custom make it with the 24, either way it never hurts to try

 

[ZoomBoy]

Considering your budget I'd look for a used Sadowsky or a Lakland. Used Sadowsky's are hard to find but I nice used Lakland 4-94 or 55-94 would serve you well.

Cheers,
Jeff

 

[darkorb]

Considering your budget I'd look for a used Sadowsky or a Lakland. Used Sadowsky's are hard to find but I nice used Lakland 4-94 or 55-94 would serve you well.

Cheers,
Jeff

I checked out Lakland's and Sadowsky's web sites and neither of them build 6's (oops didn't put that in my first post. Roger says (the owner actually emailed me back) that he is not planning to do 6's.

The specs on Sadowskys read like a dream though,especially the passive tone knob option that you can use active or passive. How cool is that? I may go for the Sadowsky anyway. It seems like a lot of players use the three brands mentioned so far. What's cool too is that Lakland seems to have a great deal of respect for Sadowsky basses, from what I am seeing on the web site. 3-4 grand is a lot for a five when you want a 6, but I haven't seen anything like it. If I can run across one and check out the sound and feel and it meets my needs, then I may have to start eating PB&J sandwiches for lunch.

 

[ZoomBoy]

I own a Lakland 4-94 and I've been to Roger's shop where I was able to play a few of his beautiful basses. Both builders make great basses IMO. A nice used Lakland 5er can be had for under $2K.

Jeff

 

[darkorb]

I own a Lakland 4-94 and I've been to Roger's shop where I was able to play a few of his beautiful basses. Both builders make great basses IMO. A nice used Lakland 5er can be had for under $2K.

Jeff

So, do you take leads, and if so what axe do you use then?

I am currently using a Peavey Cirrus 5 as my main axe. It lets me cut thru (or rather slice thru) with some serious top end 18 volt, two battery circuit and all. The problem is I always end up on the 24th fret on my G and then I have to bend up to make the statements that I want to make, and then its still not really enough. Also when its time to dig in and DRIVE, i'm switching over to either my j-bass, my j-5 copy or my p-copy.

I split about 65/35 grooves to leads, so I do just enough lead work that I am feeling the need for that 6th string. I play in a trio setting (drums, bass, keys)plus vocals, so I cover some of the territory that a lead guitar or sax would ordinarily occupy.

 

[ZoomBoy]

Nope. I'm really more of a groove player mostly but depending on the project I can play busier if the tune calls for it. For the more mainstream stuff I tend to use my Lakie or my Pbass but my main players are my Wal 4 and 5 strings.

Jeff

 

[darkorb]

Wal? Is that an English bass?

 

[ZoomBoy]

Yes. They are made by a company in England called Electric Wood.

 

[monty]

I bought an old Squire P bass not too long ago, with rounds, for a mere $50, and it seems like I can get anything out of that thing just by turning the one tone control on the guitar. I'm sure I can get even more out of it when I get around to external eq's and effects. I bought it to resell it because I have an old Crucianelli I've had for many years, but the old Squire has such a broader range, I'm gonna keep it.

 

[darkorb]

Nope. I'm really more of a groove player mostly but depending on the project I can play busier if the tune calls for it. For the more mainstream stuff I tend to use my Lakie or my Pbass but my main players are my Wal 4 and 5 strings.

Jeff

I went to Wal's web site, and I checked out some of the options (especially the electronics). They mention "electronic low-pass filters" with a pull switch that "produces a quasiparametric boost". It all sounds rather versatile to me. Also the Mach III comes in a 6.

So how do they sound?

Anyway I am starting to believe that you CANNOT have it all in one bass (short of shelling out $5,000+, and if you can afford that the whole thing is kind of moot).

So I am looking at an XB-76 (Carvin) & either a Sadowsky 5 or a 55-94

Thanks

 

[DJL]

I want the gamut of tones: from Bootylicious, deep, round Fender tones to trebly slaptastic Stingray sounds and beyond. Is there one bass I can get that will give me that without a boatload of outboard gear or changing strings?

I'm not Victor Wooten or any thing, but I have been playing for over twenty years. I just want to stop having to lug the P-Bass, J-Bass, and Active neck-thru five string to each gig, while scanning the want ads for a deal on a Music man Stingray.

Fretless is not an issue. I am also willing to go as high as $2500.00

Talk to me.

No it's not possible... and I still drag my Fender American P-Bass, J-Bass, and Rick 4003 with me too.

 

[ZoomBoy]

I went to Wal's web site, and I checked out some of the options (especially the electronics). They mention "electronic low-pass filters" with a pull switch that "produces a quasiparametric boost". It all sounds rather versatile to me. Also the Mach III comes in a 6.

So how do they sound?

Anyway I am starting to believe that you CANNOT have it all in one bass (short of shelling out $5,000+, and if you can afford that the whole thing is kind of moot).

So I am looking at an XB-76 (Carvin) & either a Sadowsky 5 or a 55-94

Thanks

Both of my basses are on that site. My 4 string was the bass of the month March 2003 and my 5er is in the photo gallery. It's the bright blue one.

Well, Wal's aren't everyone's cup of tea. The Wal electronics function in a way that is very similar to Alembic electonics and I find that I can get a great variety of tones from Dub to Zingy and everything in between. The one thing about it is that somehow they still retain a certain character: a "Wal-ness " or signature tonal quality that is midrangey. I guess that I'd equate it (to a degree) how you can make a Rickenbacker sound fat or twangy yet it always sounds like a Ric. Good examples of a Wal recording would be the last couple of Tool CDs, Rush from Power Windows to Roll the Bones and all the 4 string stuff on the Red Hot Chili Peppers Blood Sugar Sex Magic.

Good luck on your search!
Jeff