parlopower
Inspired
Ok, things are in progress now, I decided to not only order the Yamaha but to try around, after all I want to be confident with whatever I pick, since it will be my one and only bass guitar, at least for quite some time.
So I decided to take advantage of the money-back-offers of Thomann and other German online stores and ordered four basses for trying out. Three are Yamahas (TRBX174EW, BB234 and BB434M) with passive electronics and classical P(neck) + J(Bridge) pickup combination. The fourth is an Ibanez SR370E-NNB with active electronics and two splittable humbuckers. Awaiting arrival this week.
I was also able to get my hands on three others and already did some testing:
Ibanez GSR200B: Plays very well, but feels a bit "cheap" and the sound is kinda thin, this one is not a candidate.
Harley Benton JB75-MN: Jazz bass copy, ridiculous €155, but awesome build quality for that price. I find it catches that Jazz bass vibe quite well and I seem to like this one, only the neck is very thick and therefore a bit challenging for me. But when I start playing on this bass, I don't put it down so quickly, I seem to bond with this instrument somehow. I am strongly considering this one, be it as a backup or practice instrument, for that price you can't really go wrong with it.
Harley Benton MP-4MN: Sandberg California knock-off. It plays very well, almost like the Ibanez, the neck is thinner than the JB75's. It has switchable active/passive electronics. Set to active, I can get a good rock/metal sound from it, set to passive I don't like it much. It's only €311, and the build qality is again excellent for the price. This one could be a keeper if I was happier with the pickups/electronics. Makes me wonder - how much would it cost to get two new pickups and another preamp/EQ? Might be worth it, considering everything else is really nice.
My gut feeling tells me I will pick one of the Yamahs as they are passive and have that classic, timeless P/J configuration, and the Harley Benton JB75 for backup and sofa practice. But I will see once the deliveries are in. I actually watched quite a few Youtube videos the last two or three days where experienced players (some of them very successful session players) pretty much said that with a P or a J bass, you can cover almost all bases and hardly go wrong, which one is a simple matter of taste. They said they usually just bring a P bass to sessions as its sound always works, and also engineers and producers are so familiar with it and are happy when they see it.
So I decided to take advantage of the money-back-offers of Thomann and other German online stores and ordered four basses for trying out. Three are Yamahas (TRBX174EW, BB234 and BB434M) with passive electronics and classical P(neck) + J(Bridge) pickup combination. The fourth is an Ibanez SR370E-NNB with active electronics and two splittable humbuckers. Awaiting arrival this week.
I was also able to get my hands on three others and already did some testing:
Ibanez GSR200B: Plays very well, but feels a bit "cheap" and the sound is kinda thin, this one is not a candidate.
Harley Benton JB75-MN: Jazz bass copy, ridiculous €155, but awesome build quality for that price. I find it catches that Jazz bass vibe quite well and I seem to like this one, only the neck is very thick and therefore a bit challenging for me. But when I start playing on this bass, I don't put it down so quickly, I seem to bond with this instrument somehow. I am strongly considering this one, be it as a backup or practice instrument, for that price you can't really go wrong with it.
Harley Benton MP-4MN: Sandberg California knock-off. It plays very well, almost like the Ibanez, the neck is thinner than the JB75's. It has switchable active/passive electronics. Set to active, I can get a good rock/metal sound from it, set to passive I don't like it much. It's only €311, and the build qality is again excellent for the price. This one could be a keeper if I was happier with the pickups/electronics. Makes me wonder - how much would it cost to get two new pickups and another preamp/EQ? Might be worth it, considering everything else is really nice.
My gut feeling tells me I will pick one of the Yamahs as they are passive and have that classic, timeless P/J configuration, and the Harley Benton JB75 for backup and sofa practice. But I will see once the deliveries are in. I actually watched quite a few Youtube videos the last two or three days where experienced players (some of them very successful session players) pretty much said that with a P or a J bass, you can cover almost all bases and hardly go wrong, which one is a simple matter of taste. They said they usually just bring a P bass to sessions as its sound always works, and also engineers and producers are so familiar with it and are happy when they see it.
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