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attention bass players!

moonheadmoonhead 28 Posts
edited August 2005 in Strut Central
im thinking about buying a bass and learn how to play.anyone got any tips of any nice sounding bass?i would like a bass that sounds like the bass on funky nassau, something like that.. old gritty funk bass!anyone got tips for nice brands?but i dont wanna spent too much money

  Comments

  • JayGeeJayGee 313 Posts
    This is a joke, right?
  • ovulationistovulationist 290 Posts
    Your criteria, money wise, is the key. I picked up a banged up, early-mid 70s Univox bass about 5 years ago, for around 50 bucks, and i traded some fucked up electronics (fuzz pedals, etc...) that i found in the basement of a house i was renting. The greatest sound ive ever personally generated, has come from this bass. Its beaten, and feels like its barely haning on, but its a fucking workhorse and the tones are facemelting.

    so....UNIVOX!!!
  • spectaculousspectaculous 109 Posts

    i would like a bass that sounds like the bass on funky nassau, something like that.. old gritty funk bass!

    you cannot find a bass that sounds like a particular recording. you just can't. no bass will sound like "funky nassau" bass. there are way too many factors that affect the low frequencies (i.e. electric bass guitar) when they are mated to magnetic tape... the actual bass guitar itself, the amplifier, microphones used, the mixing board, effects, playing technique, etc...

    i can recommend some great equipment that will get you in the that ballpark...

    a vintage fender bass.[/b] precision or jazz. this is what almost everyone was using bass-wise in the 60s/70s. the new fender guitars aren't made as well. but they will work too for the most part.
    a vintage tube bass amplifier.[/b] IMHO, this is more important tone-wise than the actual bass guitar. a 70s ampeg svt pushing a matching 8-10 cab is the best choice. but, that is expensive. and SUPER LOUD. other options include: vintage ampeg "flip-top" amplifier. acoustic 360 or 370. (acoustic is the brand name. and the shit is actually solid state. but awesome nonetheless.)

    ok, realistically, you probably can't afford all that. hell, i can't either. get a cheap bass that can at least stay in tune and a cheap amplifier that works, and decide for yourself if you really want to play in that ballpark down the road:)
  • hcrinkhcrink 8,729 Posts
    Best bass I ever owned was an older Fender Jazz Bass. Probably from the 70's. But, yeah, like the other fella said the sound is mostly an amp thing. Tube is the way to go. Those old Ampeg heads that weigh 3 tons sound amazing.
  • DubiousDubious 1,865 Posts
    musicman stingray.. best bass i've ever played in my life.

    tip two

    90% of all bass is recorded direct into the mixing board. so i wouldnt sweat the bass amp much unless you wanna play live.

  • spectaculousspectaculous 109 Posts

    90% of all bass is recorded direct into the mixing board. so i wouldnt sweat the bass amp much unless you wanna play live.


    most bass is recorded direct into the mixing board. but i seriously doubt dude, who is just thinking about getting into playing bass, will 1) be recording any time soon, and 2) if he does end up recording, land his hands on any mixing board that will get him the bass tone he desires... so, i think the amp would be very important, for now at least... learning to play an electric bass without any amplification is pretty much pointless.
  • DubiousDubious 1,865 Posts
    well i think the point was apt considering the dude wanted to achieve a tone he'd heard on a RECORDING

    so i wouldn't exactly miss rent payment to get an SVT stack...

  • spectaculousspectaculous 109 Posts


    so i wouldn't exactly miss rent payment to get an SVT stack...


    who would? especially if they don't even know how to play yet? i was just giving pointers as far as gear is concerned. read my original post again. i didn't tell dude to buy shit...
  • threetwosixthreetwosix 270 Posts
    musicman stingray.. best bass i've ever played in my life.

    Me too. 15+ yrs on mine.

    If you're starting out, get a used Mexico-produced Fender Jazz or Precision. Should set you back $150-200 or so. Have your local guitar shop 'set it up' which entails adjusting the neck, intonation, new straaaangs - Probably $30 or so. No need for spendy badass gear if you're just getting started.

    Vintage Fender basses go for bank, so they're not just floating around any more.
  • SPlDEYSPlDEY Vegas 3,375 Posts
    ^ goood advice. Beware of Fake vintage basses.

    - spidey
  • Otis_FunkmeyerOtis_Funkmeyer 1,321 Posts
    Any bass players in the NYC area interested in joining The Otis Funkmeyer Band?

    Our bassist from the last 2 years is moving to FLA. We have a recording coming up with a great label and we need someone who understands the deep funk groove. All the craigslist guys want to be Jaco, we need Fred Thomas. I figured soulstrut headz know the deal.

    Send a pm or email [email]otisfunkmeyer@yahoo.com.[/email]

    See videos of us on
    www.acrossthehudson.com -> episode 7
  • HawkeyeHawkeye 896 Posts
    I bet everybody will beat me for my post, but I made some good experiences with VST Plug Ins for your normal home PC.



    You can play it live in your basement and use all the diffrent preset sounds which emulate the old amps and stuff. The variety you can get out of those programs is worth couple of thousand bucks if bought in hardware.



    IK Multimedia Amplitube

    NI Guitar Rig



    are some good programs, but there are more programs than that.



    Peace

    Hawkeye



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