Affordable recording bass

[lanky noob]

Okay so i'm finally gonna start saving up for a bass to record with rather than blagging off of friends, the only thing is, aside from the obvious esp/jackson assumption, I have no idea about any affordable basses (sub £600 basically) that would be decent for recording metal with, preferably a five string

so essentially if anyone's got any recommendations it'd be awesome!

Also while i'm here I guess I mightaswell say that i'm planning to record via a sansamp bass di and a tubscreamer, into logic..... however i'm a complete noob so if anyone's got any recomendations on how to get a decent bass tone very cheap that'd be cool too!

cheers

 

[Forceps]

http://www.thomann.de/nl/fender_squier_vint_mod_jazz_v_nt.htm

Google this one, should be an amazing bass guitar. I don't own one (yet), but I only heard good stuff about these basses.

 

[lanky noob]

cheers man, i'll add it to the list of things to try out! liking the price alot too >

 

[Ermz]

I looked for a while but wasn't able to find anything I found desirable for recording in that price range. That includes the aforementioned bass.

 

[lanky noob]

That's the issue i've encountered, there's a few things that would do the job, but nothing that i'd LOVE to own. sadly dingwall's aren't exactly cheap.

 

[viralz]

I bought the Squier VM a few months ago only based on reviews, and it was a mistake, I didn't like it at all for metal. A lot of guys like it on this forum but I guess it just wasn't for me.

 

[heshian46]

I own a VM and actually really like it. It may not be the perfect bass for metal, but it does it well, and is quite versatile in my opinion.

 

[aviel]

try musicman sterling bass, its really nice

 

[Ermz]

Anyone have an opinion on the low-end Spectors? The Korean-made ones? I imagine Mike Kroeger's signature can't be too bad...

 

[StefTD]

they're pretty nice, our bass player plays a 6 string one in his technical death metal band,
uses a 5 string Steinberger in our progressive black metal band that sounds better, but the
Spector is pretty nice, especially for the price.

 

[Ihsahn1981]

Fender Precision made by Zorro..

 

[drew_drummer]

Ignore all opinions you read. Go and try some out that are in your price range. Forget about brands, where they're made, what other people say, and all that distracting BS. Go to some shops. Try some out. Come back a week later, try it out again. Keep doing that until you're comfortable with what you've picked.

Bass tones for metal; I find you need a good core tone. Scoop a little bit out at 400hz, and hype the highs to taste. Add a bit of grit on a duplicate track, with any old distortion, and mix to taste. The KEY thing is intonation. Make sure the fucking thing doesn't go out of tune the higher up the neck you play, and if you can get a nice low action, you'll be able to play some fast shit.

 

[plague_rider]

^^^ This...

Theres so many answers... especially up to £600

To be honest you're probably looking towards what I'd consider the purer bass sounds... Fender/Spector/Warwick/Sterling

You could go Jackson or Esp as well... I take it by the '£'600 you're based in the UK, never underestimate the power of buying from USA on Ebay...

 

[aviel]

never said anything bad about a company. just suggested to try the sterling bass. i bought it just for this purpose, and its great

 

[Rex Rocker]

Anyone have an opinion on the low-end Spectors? The Korean-made ones? I imagine Mike Kroeger's signature can't be too bad...

I used to really like Rex Brown's sig. Basically the same thing (maple body, maple neck thru), but with a different shape.

Friend of mine used to have it. Don't know if he still does.

That bass was awesome! Bright, tight, and very defined.

The pickups might be the only downside. Not to say they sound bad in this bass. EMG HZ's tend to be very neutral and the bass itself was solid-sounding, so they did well, but I'm sure some active EMG's would be better.

I think someone posted a clip comparing some basses and it included the MIK Rex bass some time ago. People seemed to favor it. I think it was Anssi?

They cost like 900-1000 bucks, tho. Not really "affordable".


They make them in the World factory, AFAIK. Same place that handles the higher-end Schecters, some higher-end LTD's, PRS SE's, etc., so I guess if you've played those, you know what to expect.

They actually made my own SZ320 there. If yours has a serial number that's W-something, it was made there as well.

 

[Ermz]

My SZ320 feels really nasty and cheap, so I don't think so! Cheers for the insight, though for the record I think Mike Kroeger's model is a bolt-on.

 

[Rex Rocker]

Set neck, apparently, so neither bolt-on nor neck-thru, lol.


Thought you were liking the SZ? Haha, apparently not.

 

[Genius Gone Insane]

You know, in my experience, I'm finally beginning to realize that there is a direct correlation between quality bass sounds and good mixes. All of my mixes that have a good bass sound sound good (relatively speaking, of course). Honestly I should just fork out and buy a good bass because it just makes such a huge difference.

My last project came out great and I attribute a lot of it to recording with a $1,500 bass.

 

[Ermz]

Yes, the low-end is where people generally perceive most of the qualitative value of mixes. In that sense it's a shame that a vast majority of basses on the market are absolute junk compared to the few which are good. There's scarcely a middle ground with bass.

 

[Ermz]

Set neck, apparently, so neither bolt-on nor neck-thru, lol.


Thought you were liking the SZ? Haha, apparently not.

Still not sure how it sounds, as I haven't put the SH-5 in there yet, but the feel and acoustic tone is absolutely toylike compared to the '96 era Custom 22 we're recording atm.