Would you rather track with.....

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chadsxe

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a MusicMan Bass with some old strings or a cheap Ibanez with some new ones. I am in an argument with someone I am picking the MusicMan all the way.
 
New strings! The strings are where the sound comes from, the bass just helps it along. If you have dead strings, you could put them on a Spector and run them through the coolest amp in the world, and it would still suck.
 
Not sure about that

How old are the bass strings? How much use do they have on them? Was the bass kept in a hard case?

I have a 4 string Music Man StingRay bass with year old strings and it still sounds fantastic. I don't play it very often since my primary instrument is guitar.

I'd track with my MM StingRay before a cheap Ibanez anyday. Now if you are saying that the strings on the Music man are "dead", that's a different story and I would agree with Farview.
 
James Jamerson would disagree with you, Fairview. I think he only changed his strings when they broke. :D
 
Certainly new strings affect the sound of any instrument, but no strings will ever make a bigger difference than the instrument itself. Especially when dealing with good ones.
 
MadAudio said:
James Jamerson would disagree with you, Fairview. I think he only changed his strings when they broke. :D
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Well good for James. He did all that Motown stuff didn't he? Back then, all anyone wanted out of a bass was low end and low mids. Dead strings will give you that. If you want a fuller sound with some upper harmonics, 3 year old string ain't gonna get it.
I think the big thing for me in this question is that I don't think the Music Man is that wonderful of a bass. The cheap Ibanez is of course crap, but I never thought a Stingray was the holy grail of bass tone either.
 
Let me give you a little more info. The kid plays a an Ibanez bass. We have access to a MusicMan. He is a cheap son of a bitch and will not buy strings for anything but his bass. The strings on the MM are about 2-3 months old. The music is metal.
 
You need a lot of high end for metal. I still say new strings over cooler bass. Is the Ibanez active? If it is passive, the Music Man might be better even with older strings.
 
chadsxe said:
Let me give you a little more info. The kid plays a an Ibanez bass. We have access to a MusicMan. He is a cheap son of a bitch and will not buy strings for anything but his bass. The strings on the MM are about 2-3 months old. The music is metal.
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2-3 months isn't that bad, unless the bass is heavily used.

First off, I'd slap the kid alongside the head for being a stingy punk. Doesn't anyone else in the band care about the quality of the bass tracks? Punk deserves to have a crappy bass sound, I say. :D

Anyway, if they're only a few months old, just take 'em off and boil them in hot water for 20 minutes. Put 'em on and they'll be good as new ... for a day or two.
 
Farview said:
You need a lot of high end for metal. I still say new strings over cooler bass. Is the Ibanez active? If it is passive, the Music Man might be better even with older strings.
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Forgot to mention the Ibanez is passive.
 
chessrock said:
Anyway, if they're only a few months old, just take 'em off and boil them in hot water for 20 minutes. Put 'em on and they'll be good as new ... for a day or two.
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Huh......are you serious
 
Boiling strings really works. My bass player used to do it all the time. Just add a little susdy ammonia and boil. Gets rid of a lot of finger funk. Just make sure to let 'em dry well before you put them back on.
 
chadsxe said:
Huh......are you serious
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This is a great tip, but like Chessrock said, only for awhile. They go dead pretty quick after that, but it will buy you a few days, or weeks, depends on usage.
Does the Ibanez sound good with new strings?
 
Boiling the strings really does work. A bass player told me about this, and I didn't believe him...but once I tried it...yep it works.
 
MadAudio said:
Boiling strings really works. My bass player used to do it all the time. Just add a little susdy ammonia and boil. Gets rid of a lot of finger funk. Just make sure to let 'em dry well before you put them back on.
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whats finger funk?
 
Definately the Ibanez. I'm a bassplayer and I prefer my strings a little older (nothing like James Jamerson, but without the Fieldy-treblyness) but for metal you need highs.

Boiling the strings works great aswell! (as mentioned). I don't do it that much because you are not really making the strings any better, just cleaner, and they will sound dull much faster, so I'd just buy new strings, but for a recording, it works great. And it's really easy aswell (just boil some water with some vinegar and your there).
 
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