I was just at Guitar Center playing all kinds of basses. I have been noticing this for a few years now, but it really stood out today:

Some basses are extremely woody-sounding. They sound like they're made out of wood, almost like an upright bass. Even with the tone cranked and the amp EQ for bright, they sound woody and dull.

Other basses are punchy and bright like I would expect. They sound modern, made out of metal or composite.

I played like 10-20 basses, all models, all brands, active and passive. What surprised me the most was the extremely dull and woody Music Man Stingray and the Fender American Ultra II (active) jazz bass.

I know string age (and type, to a lesser extent) is the cause of a more dull sound vs a fresh set of strings, but I would be surprised if string age could change tone THAT significantly.

Anyone else notice this? Is it just string age? Is it the innate quality of some basses? This is one of the reasons why I could never purchase a bass online: fear of receiving a woody bass that doesn't work for me.

Hello,

I know its a bit personal, but i want to buy Yamaha BB734 but dont know which color i want. Sadly, i cant see bass in store, i only tried 434. Fire red is beautiful, as expected, but indigo blue give me some mystic vibe that i like and its not basic color as red, but i dont like if it looks more black in low light condition. So if you have these basses to send me picture in these condition, that will be excellent :)

I have a 2018 Fender American Deluxe Jazz Bass V. I saved up all through high school to get it. I have had it for eight years now, but i hardly ever play it. It just kinda… falls flat. It has all the bells and whistles, but the tone and feel are just really uninspiring. Plus it just feels sticky. The neck and strings don’t glide like every other bass i have had and the strings grip my plucking fingers like rubber. Right now it has La Bella flats on it but i have had a veariety of rounds on it too and no matter what it just feels really sluggish and sticky to play. Im gonna try DR Legend flats (my fav bass strings) and put some time in really setting it up, but im not confident it’s gonna change the soul of the instrument. I play my 73 Musicmaster bass and a $200 “Vintage” brand P Bass a LOT more than the jazz. They are just better instruments.

Y’all know what i mean? It should be an amazing bass but it’s just really boring to play.

Any tips on how to make it feel more slick like my other basses would be appreciated.

Edit: the neck itself is fine. It already has a smooth satin finish and is not sticky. What i am trying to describe is a mysterious, cant-put-your-finger-on-it type of issue. Its mostly the strings that feel “sticky” but it has always felt that way regardless of the strings that are on it, so i’m hesitant to say its the specific strings. It’s almost as if the bass itself makes the strings sticky. It sort of accentuates the sticking effects of any sweat or hand gunk.

Been playing bass for a couple of years now and have started looking into some mid-level acoustics so I can just pick it up and play rather than worry about plugging in at the house. Not really looking to play shows with it, just something to practice on… I’ve played some Fender and Ibanez basses at GC to see what feels good, but wondering if there are any other options out there that I should check out.

The Fender Kingman v2 felt the best when playing so far

I'm thinking about getting an acoustic bass, mostly for traveling and playing where there's no electricity. Any recommendations?

Any genre, just has to be bass-heavy. Drop some suggestions!

I think mine would be happy about how I take care of them, but wish we would play live from time to time

Hey,
I want to buy a new bass for school concerts and yeah. Is this one good?

if i should, please give me tips, and if i should try mess with the electrical side of things (minor experience with electrics), ill post video in comments

What will be my starting albums to listen to

https://youtu.be/0UBKh_pGC7w

I’ve been looking at buying a higher end Ibanez SR 5 string. Found a 30th anniversary sr30th5pII locally that looks amazing and is in amazing condition. I was able to negotiate down to $1100. There’s one for sale on Reverb for $2150, but that’s a SR30TH5P-NTL, and I also know people post their basses on there for way more money than they’re worth.

So the question is, should I just buy a new one or should I pull the trigger on this one? I do love the bass, but I can get a new one for a few hundred more.

I was looking into buying a new bass,but apart from videos of p basses and j basses, I can't find anything else that shows me stuff about the other basses online. Could you list me all the kinds of basses and what kind of sound they give?

i want to resume learning to play bass, but i also love having nails.

last time i asked (a man), id have to pick nails or playing bass. is that true?

Hey guys,
I am searching for a bass that looks cool like the Ibanez SR400EPBDXTSU, so I mean like a blue or red bass that looks really cool. I dont really like the wood designs so I would love the help.
Thank you in advance!!! x

never had an actual instrument before so this will be my first and i’ve been doing a lot of research.
my budget is really small, around 200€ total, so i’ve been trying to figure out what makes the most sense. i already ruled out those random cheap amazon brands, so that pretty much leaves harley benton as the only brand with new basses in my price range.

i also looked into getting something second hand, like a squier, ibanez, or similar, but even though i live in a “big” city (brussels, belgium), there just aren’t many bass listings. basses are less common than guitars, so there just aren’t many being sold, especially under 300€. i’ve been checking for months, pretty much daily or at least every week, and i’ve also been keeping an eye on thomann sales, but no luck.

i’ve also gone to instrument shops, but they barely had any basses, let alone short-scale ones or anything under 300€.

i also definitely want a short-scale bass for a bunch of reasons, so i’m not really looking to be talked out of that. that narrows my options even more, and the only bass that really seems to fit is the harley benton pb-shorty sbk standard.
i would’ve preferred a pj bass because i like the sound more and i like that it’s more versatile since i want to play a lot of different genres and hopefully keep this bass for years. but every short-scale pj i’ve found is basically double.

if i stretch my budget by another 35€, i could get a b-stock squier mini p bass, but i don’t really prefer the sound of it over the harley benton from the demos i’ve heard, and from what i can tell the materials are pretty similar. i know i can’t really judge comfort without playing them in person, but i don’t really see an obvious reason to pick the squier over the harley benton. i’d also have to buy everything separately instead of getting a starter set, which would push the total cost up even more.

i’m leaning towards the set because i’m pretty sure i’d get the harley benton hb-20 amp anyway. i was also considering a second hand fender rumble 15. i know people always say a better amp is more important, but when you’re talking about small practice amps i don’t feel like the difference is big enough to justify spending that much more. i also like having the extra eq controls since i won’t be able to buy pedals right away, hopefully just a few weeks later.

does this all make sense or am i overlooking something?

Hey fellow bassists,

I’ve been training for over a year and got an itch to buy a second bass. I imagine it’s not an exactly uncommon experience so I’d like to hear your stories and opinions.

In my specific case I have a squier affinity jazz bass and a yamaha trbx504 caught my eye. I’ve been to a store to try it and I liked playing it. I can of course recognize that it has a better feature set and it felt really good in my hands (plus I love how it looks). But I love my current bass and think it sounds good so I am wondering if getting the yamaha is worth the investment. And since I have actual experience with only one instrument I thought I’d ask you lot.

Hello, I’m thinking of converting my Sire M5 bass to a fretless since I can’t afford a new bass and I’d like to experiment with fretless. Can you guys give me tips on the conversion and what would be good wood filler and sandpaper to use?

I've been playing for 21 years off-and-on. I own a Ray34, a Squier CV 70s P, and two Ibanez (SR-300 and 405). I squirreled away cash every paycheck for a long time and I'm soon to invest in my first "big boy" bass.

I love my Ray34 and thr 405 more than the others (to the point of wanting to get rid of them). Right now, the choices are a dual pickup 5 string Stingray (or Bongo) or a 5-String Dingwall D-Roc. It's a tough choice for me, but I wonder if it's obvious and I'm over thinking it.

I play a mix of different rock genres (including metal), but I often get tapped on the shoulder to play Muse live (my cousin's main bassist hates them for some reason). Given the above, which of the basses would more fit my style, and/or which would you automatically pick up? I've tried and loved both (all three?).

Thank you so much for your time.

I have an ear for treble in my amp, one of my biggest issues while watching the Bassbuzz eq video was my Lack of low and hi mids because they both were squished into 1, for muddy, I understood to lower the bass if I boosted the mids but for bitey in the high mids I can't really achieve that unless I balance to one pickup on my J bass and did a massive treble boost with a pick, I wanna get the sharp tone, same for honky, I wanna be honky sometimes.

Recently, I have been practicing older songs that had a more thumpy sound to it. I put a sponge under my strings and against the bridge as recommended to get that sound but now it doesn't sound as full and more empty. I see other covers on youtube with those who have the same setup and their sound seems much more full. I have a Ibanez TMB just for reference.

I've got a pretty good ear and one been playing a little while (7 years).

One of the transcription issues I've bumped into recently was that I realised I'm sometimes hearing the third of a chord in a dense mix and and mistaking it for the root, and only when I isolate the bass part do I notice.

This isn't by any means always but for some songs it's a weakness.

Sometimes it's likely because I'm very familiar with the music so that everything is blended / confused in my audiation, which is after all the intent of an arrangement.

Other times I think it's just that my ear for harmony is weaker than my single note intervalic detection.

This can be particularly an issue with unusual chords like 7add4 etc.

Any thoughts on how to train this?

a while ago i reached a plataeu (i cant spell well) and i quit, but i really wanna take it up again. i've forgotten some of my old skills. other than daily practice, what would help? should i practice easy songs, or push myself?

I got my hands on a Yamaha RBX 6JM Dream Theater Signature more or less by chance.

It was the bass of the old bass player in the band I play in for a few years now and when we had to move to a new rehearsal room, it was the one thing without an owner. We reached out to him, but he does not want to come and pick it up, so now its mine I guess.

It has not been played in close to a decade, but it still holds the tune alright and apart from a lot of grime on it and a broken cable jack I already changed, it works alright.

It has a light buzz whenever I turn to using only one of the pickups and it has a slight curve to the neck.

What should I do to fix it up nice again? I have a great bass already, a Sandberg Carlifornia II TM5 MN BKB, but I would love to add a six string to my arsenal. Should I perform any upgrades, I am happy to spend up to 500€ to get it into nice condition once more. What things should I tackle first.

Thanks for advice or tips :)