Good Electric bass for Hip hop Soul R+B

[Dave Martin]

You know, I'd probably go for a 'real' P bass over a Warwick. And if you really need the low B string, either a Music Man Sting Ray or a Modulus. (I went for the Modulus).

[picksail]

If you absolutely need a low B string then go with the Musicman Stingray 5. I've turned several bass players on to this one ever since purchasing one for myself. One of these guys actually sold his Warwick to get the Musicman. This is a solid bass and is excellent in the studio. I can't think of another bass that has been so versital and easy to dial up an incredible tone. This bass never lets me down and will probably hold its value for quite some time. Otherwise, just get an old P-Bass and call it a day.

I can't really comment on the Modulas other than things I've heard in passing...excellent instrument, solid build, composite material, etc.

I was exposed to more bass than any man should be. Back about ten years ago I was studio partner/roomate with bassists Beaver Felton( now owner of Bass Central in Orlando) and Dave LaRue ( previously of the Dixie Dregs). Needless to say I experienced sensory overload in the bass department. Ahh, the days...

[toledo3]

I've tried most all of the companies over the years (except Modulus, so Dave may be onto something!), and many of each model, and the most versatile bass for your money- while being consistently good sounding- is the Musicman Stingray. I have a 4 string fretless, and a 5 string fretted....

The humbucking pickup is great sounding, as is the eq- which is very natural.

The warwick is not shabby, but it doesn't do a good job of those Fendery tones. You can however use the onboard eq of the Stingray to put in thsoe extra lows and boosted highs typical of the Warwick sound....It covers the classic P-Bass and Jazz Bass sounds, with overlap into "modern" as well.

[picksail]

As an aside, I have had incredible luck with this bass chain:

Musicman Stingray 5
Fearn DI box
Vintech Dual 72
Distressor

[Redi Knight]

You must check out elrick basses. www.elrick.com

[MarkS]

i would recomend the string ray, too. I tried a lot of different brands and ever since I was comming back to the sting ray. it is incredible flexible, has a very solid tone and always sits right into the mixing landscape. the only contender, i could think of reaching a similar level in quality, tone and flexibility is G&L Guitars, which make some very fine basses, and thus G&L is the late "leo fender", the combine several design features of music man and fender basses.

the more custom route would be http://www.sadowsky.com basses, which have an excellent reputation, and are very very nice, but carry a heavy price tag.

[Bob Olhsson]

I wish I had a dime for every bass player I've met who regrets having sold their first P-Bass!

[Snatchman]

Hey...! I thought this was Low-End... "Warrick, MusicMan,P-Bass, tutt You need to get a Rogue...

[manisedap]

what about a Lakland Bob Glaub signature bass? Or a Fender american vintage 62 reissue.

[Dave Martin]

Originally posted by Bob Olhsson
I wish I had a dime for every bass player I've met who regrets having sold their first P-Bass!

I'll give the dime for the 69 I sold - I don't really regret selling it as much as I regret screwing it up with refinishes, replacement parts, etc so that I didn't mind selling it...

[Switchcraft]

I will go check out the stingrays today. Not to generalize but most of what is recorded on this board is rock so I am curious if you are giving me experiences based on Rock recording. Still very much appreciated, but I was just wondering cause no one was mentioning stylwes. thanks guys

[Dave Martin]

Originally posted by Switchcraft
I will go check out the stingrays today. Not to generalize but most of what is recorded on this board is rock so I am curious if you are giving me experiences based on Rock recording. Still very much appreciated, but I was just wondering cause no one was mentioning stylwes. thanks guys

Well, I'm basing my opinions primarily on having played electric bass for 35 years... And having said that, only about 10% of the sessions I play on could be considered 'rock', unless you consider the stuff on contemporary country radio to be warmed over 80's hair band rock (with the addition of a steel guitar and an autotuned singer). The other 90 percent of what I do on electric is country, R&B or jazz oriented stuff.

[sonic dogg]

Have 56 P and 65 P....both refin blue....both lite as a feather...both say BASS when you play em....The signal chain works like this.....P-bass....63 B15 head w/Gerlitz 2-10" EV cab...Countryman 85....preamp(any will work for this as long as you add NOTHING....recorder.....NexT!


Doesnt everybody do this??

[picksail]

Originally posted by Labs
show-off.


Gustav

When in Rome...

[Dot]

P bass P bass P bass. Nothing else does what a Fender P bass does in the recording studio. Lakland's making better new P basses than Fender is these days. You can do a J neck on a P bass, too.

http://www.lakland.com/frames/skyline_frame.html

http://www.lakland.com/frames/basses_frame.html

[rynugz007]

this is my take on basses that im familiar with

fender jazz bass- great r&b, soul, jazz vibe. Listen to prince, old and new. smoother than a p-bass

P-bass- I have a 77' which is my only bass. I love it but i wouldnt say its much of a finesse bass. It has its own sound (clanky with some 500hz honk for fun). Definately takes some work to get the modern sound. I'm defiately a fan of the p-bass though. Very recognizable signature sound

warwick- smooth modern sound (extended top and bottom)

stingray- somewhere in between all the above. Not as much honk and snarl as a p but not quite as smooth as a warwick. Nice and versatile

[Brandino221]

I get killer resultz with my 6 string Roscoe. I would not play anything else. Over all I get more than AMAZING sounds out of it. Just a bad ass bass and one of a kind 4 sure. Keith told me it was one of the last ones with that type of wood and said that even if I bought a new one from him he could not make one like that again. Gotta love it! (sorry had to brag). I got a GTQ2 on the way for droping bass trax with it. Peace!

[toledo3]

You can use the onboard eq of the Stingray and nail the P-Bass tone.

[sonic dogg]

Its not surprising to me that the P-bass sounds of every era can be easily dialed in on Stingray,G&L,etc.......Leo wasnt wrong.

[picksail]

There is something about the area around 600 Hz that I can get only from a Musicman. Love that growl.

[Switchcraft]

Does anyone play the Ibanez BTB10005E

http://www.ibanez.com/guitars/guitar.asp?model=BTB1005E

I just saw that in a store for a good price (800). Didnt get a chance to play i , it was behind some glass. some people dislike ibanez cause they are more of a metal ax. but that thing looks digity with the bertollinis.
I played the J and P basses and also the musicmans acoustically. Didnt plug them in. I didnt think they felt entirely different then my korean precision bass. I am sure the trick is in the electronics witht those basses. I am gonna go back and fire them all up before I make a decision.

thanks for all of the input and keep it coming.

[MarkS]

if it comes down to choosing between korean and japan and mexcian and us made basses from fender go for the mexican line at least, better was going for the us line. the difference will not be obvious on first sight, but after a few months of playing - the woods of the us line are much better, and although the electrics play a great part, the wood is where the sound comes from. and as soon as the wood in "played in" the sound becomes manifested. the higher the wood quality the better and more consistant and constant is the sound in the years to come. the price you pay now for better wood quality pays off 10 times in 2 years time after the bass has found his unique sound.

i wuld stay away from ibanez basses. i don t like them at all, because the always sound a little bit cheap and plastic, especially the low and mid range price lines. and for the quality line, i would rather head for the real thing at the same price...

[JTR]

Listen to what Bob O said - given his background, he outta know.

Here's my 2cents, after spending almost 2.5 decades (f**k me) recording bass

What sounds good live doesn't always work in the studio

Lots of Bass guys look to the "Hi-Fi" sound (think piano bass note tone)

In my not very humble, frustrated engineer opinion, this is a mistake:

The big top/bottom sound of the Warwick, et al family (you know what I mean - active electronics, 5+ strings, small body, blah blah blah)
may sound good to you if you're from the "snickety-snickety, thumb pop on every other note camp
but if you are playing REAL soul/r'nb/funk - then you are the PISTON in the engine of the song; subdue your ego to the groove, and use an instrument that puts the heart and soul of the song, not your technique, across.

You give me all that smiley curve hyped bottom and top end from your axe during tracking, I'm only gonna wince, say nothin', and fight with it in the mix...

Trust me - go simple or go home
You wanna' wow your fellow musos or the crowd, use whatever at the gig; you wanna make me your friend and go the extra mile for you on a session, at least bring one of the classics as a 2nd choice. PLEASE.

Let the flaming commence, I don't care.

[picksail]

Well spoken.

[Switchcraft]

the woods of a ibanez 1005e...

Maple/ Bubinga Neck Material

Flamed Maple top/ Mahogany / Maple back Body

Rosewood Finger Board

bertollini pickups

Those seem like good materials to me. It was just an option. I didnt want to start an oldschool new school war. If it is any consulation I just bought a 1951 Kay C-1 style upright bass in perfect condition for less than any of the basses mentioned.

Still I really do appreciate all of the input. you guys are great.

So are you guys partial to passive elctronics? It is amazing what you can get with a little money these days.

[JTR]

Originally posted by Switchcraft


I didnt want to start an oldschool new school war.

My either - if I left that impression with you, then I've misspoken, and apologize

I would call it more "right tool/wrong tool"

My issue with the hi-tech bass crowd is more that sometimes I get the feeling that their design approach is more "because we can", rather than what's appropriate for a particular music style; while the hi-tech instruments do have their place, in my experience they seem to be lacking some fundamental essence of tone that I feel is really important to the styles of music you cited.
But I'm biased towards greasy, growly bass tone more so than the wideband piano tone.
FWIT, I watched 2 bands on stage a while back, with the bass players using a shared amp rig in a small-to-medium size hall (Bowery Ballroom).
One of them (whom I'd recorded & mixed on a number of projects) had his 5 string active Fender J/P hybrid, while the other was using a stock P. I'll leave you to guess which had a punchier tone that sat better in the overall scheme of things.

Granted, the player's choice of settings on the instrument is a big factor, but after spending hours twiddling the active electronic equipped instrument in session, never really nailing the desired tone, everyone always starts to wistfully eye old faithful sitting in the corner.
The MusicMan stuff seem to me to be the best blend of the traditional with the new, and I've got the best results from them out of the "new school" group -
For the styles of music you mentioned.

If you can swing it, go for your Warwick, but have a good J-Bass as backup for grumpy folks like me.

[Switchcraft]

I pretty much ruled out warwicks now. Too much bread for me. I decided to get a cheaper bass so i could also get an upright. I went from a chinese upright to a kay 51 C1. anyhow, I am gonna get my hands on a musicman and an amp to see what the unanamous feelings are all about. Hopefully they will have a J or P as well to plug in. The bowery ballroom sounds great. One of the best sounding venues in NY. Thats the one near Union sq. right?

i know what you mean about the high ttech bass stuff. I used to never even consider getting a 5 string let alone a 6. I always thought those guys had it all wrong with there big and expensive basses. Although I do want a 5 string i think i am gonna steer back towards the simple ave. I think it would be good to have the low b witht he hip hop stuff. But leonard hubbard still plays a 4 string live.

[JTR]

Originally posted by Switchcraft
I pretty much ruled out warwicks now. Too much bread for me. I decided to get a cheaper bass so i could also get an upright. I went from a chinese upright to a kay 51 C1. anyhow, I am gonna get my hands on a musicman and an amp to see what the unanamous feelings are all about. Hopefully they will have a J or P as well to plug in. The bowery ballroom sounds great. One of the best sounding venues in NY. Thats the one near Union sq. right?

i know what you mean about the high ttech bass stuff. I used to never even consider getting a 5 string let alone a 6. I always thought those guys had it all wrong with there big and expensive basses. Although I do want a 5 string i think i am gonna steer back towards the simple ave. I think it would be good to have the low b witht he hip hop stuff. But leonard hubbard still plays a 4 string live.

Hey, you know that an upright in hiphop or funk style can sound very cool; and these days, you can double it with a keyboard bass and just have tons of fun looking for sounds

I worked on a session some time ago that involved the Fishbone rhythm section, and Norwood came into the studio with a Bass Pod and a semi-hollow bass - can't recall the name; he dialed up the "subdub" or some similar sounding preset, and went to work; sounded stupid big.

Irving Plaza is the big room nearer to Union Square; lots of acts go through there;
the Bowery Ballroom is near Chinatown in the LES and more intimate: upper balcony I think gets the best sound; that's where the board is located.

[Switchcraft]

I really appreciate the input. I have gotten really good results from mixing upright with synth or other basses. You get this dark warmssound. You have to bbe exceptionally keen to tuning tho. I am going to go and play all the previously mentioned brands. As much as it is frowned upon, I am keen on checking out the BTB1005E. Now I can get it for 750 without tax. That is stupid cheap and it is brand new. for respect to aeveryones input I will give all the mentioned brands some equal opportunity employment. thanks again