It's just some pieces of wood screwed together with some magnets and some wire... there is nothing 'clever' about most guitars and most hit records are recorded with these. If a P bass was good enough for Jamerson it's good enough for most things. Spending more on a bass just gives you more tonal options and probably increases the comfort (or at least it should). I have a £500 bass that sounds and plays almost (about 90%) as well as another that costs £3000. They are made of the same wood types, but by different people and use different brands if electronics. In a live situation you would be very hard pressed to notice any difference.
I like your line of questioning. Every bass is a real bass. You get what you pay for up to a point give or take, and then it moves into the realm of subjective preference and diminishing returns. I have basses ranging from £150 up to around £1000 and I like them all for different reasons. It's a hobby for me.
gear snobs. they have been around forever. they equate money with value or quality. these people believe all the online experts and can not have an original thought if their life depended on it. truth be told if you can play you can make any bass sound good. after playing for a very long time I have been around this block a few times. excellent video.
If it sounds good and feels good to you and you like it, that’s what matters. Whoever told you to get a “real bass” I’d suspect spends a lot of time on talkbass.
I have squiers that play great with great tone wood, pine, and maple. I changed all the hardware, pickups, and potentiometers, and I will put them up against any high dollar bass out there. I love cheap basses because there are some out there that are great platforms for modifications 👍
1:55 "it smells like money, it must be good" that's exactly the mentalitiy my guitar friend had, when I was looking for my first bass, about 2 years ago... he tried to convince me all the time, still hasn't given up. I wasn't sure what would be best for me long term, so I'm now owning 4 basses, that together were still cheaper than his least expensive guitar(a longscale, followed by medium scale electro-acoustic, then came a solid body short-scale and lastly a semi-hollow short-scale). I love -- and more importantly, play them all..as far as my still limited skills allow. My favorit is the cheapest(it did get quality pickups/potis and a bone nut), play it at least once a day. While half of his guitars only gather dust..
Cork sniffer😂 whatever you can afford play it I agree. Have fun! it’s all about money. Well, how much did that cost? A friend of mine gave me a star caster fender. Cheap guitar made in China but I’m having fun playing it.
Curtis Mayfield would tune his guitars in a way that makes no damn sense, but he did it cuz that's how he learned the instrument and it's the means he can be most artistically expressive. We call him innovative. Do the same with cheap/inexpensive gear (especially as a gigging musician I wouldn't wanna risk something happening to my 1k instrument playing cover songs in the local dive bar) and everyone claims it's beneath you. Fun fact; Cork sniffing was done to see if the cork of the wine bottle matched the label on the bottle. If someone believes the restaurant is selling you cheap wine at expensive wine prices the customer asks to "sniff the cork" when really they're verifying labels (it's a polite, passive aggressive way to accuse someone of fraud)
Bass as a solo / virtuoso jazz instrument is very different to a bass in an ensemble where it's role is to underpin the band. In the latter role, a well setup inexpensive instrument can be just as effective as a £1,000 Fender. (Pre)Amp settings and more importantly technique have the greatest impact on how it sounds. For gigging, the super cheap ones may need the wiring replaced with something more robust but they're perfectly valid options. Ive played many pub and festival gigs with my Squier PJ. And I've been complimented on my sound and playing often - much to my surprise. I dont own a bass that I've paid more than £200. (Though I did pimp up a dilapidated Squier PJ with DiMarzio pickups and new wiring - including a rotary chicken knob switch for about £300 with labour.) Ive been tempted a few times to go for something more expensive but there's really no need.
So I've been playing bass as a hobbyist for 30 years, so here's my take. There are 3 things that matter to me: Sound, ergonomics and robustness. Brand recognition and aesthetics are "nice to have" but not important. Quality for low and midrange basses has improved a lot since the eighties and anything above 700 dollars will be only marginally better. The sweet spot is in the 250 to 500 USD range. The wood, pickups, bridge and tuners are sonically unimportant (GASP!). Strings, playing style, preamp and FX will determine 97% of your sound.
I have a nice schecter ,,they are hard to beat think it was 350$ on a sale .....but cheap chinese basses are wall art.. It works but truss rod is cheap ,neck is thick..it looks the part .
looks like the woods are there send back the schecter. buy ,pickup ,bridge , keys ,preamp. lower the action. ,maybe a bone nut. ??? its what you make of. it.
Hi. How the bass sound it will be always subjective no matter how much it cost. Play whatever makes you happy and don’t get bothered by others who have their opinions .
Funny thing about this, I think it's been acceptable for bass players to go direct since the sansamp was invented. Nobody says anything about that. But yeah I was trying to quickly record this video without being too loud in the house.
