withdrawl

Van Donk III

Van Donk III

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Greetings fellow bassheads. I'm fairly new here and would like to hear from some of you if you have come to experience whats going through my head at the minute.

I've been playing bass more than half my lifetime and have always taken the "its not what you play, its how you play it" approach to musical equipment. Some of the most hard up people I've known playing sub £150 guitars and basses have blown me away with what they were doing. My point is that I've just recently got my hands on a thumb bass. I've ALWAYS wanted one of them, since I was about 13. Its a thing of beauty and master craftsmanship. It has a truly unique sound thats' instantly recognisable amongst others. My one doubt is that I'm finding it hard to step away from the sound I've been used to for many years; my trusty 74 Jazz bass.

I realise that It'll take me more than just a few days to dial in "my sound" with the thumb, but I'm missing the 'zing' that the jazz has with my new found material possession. I usually try to dial in a really punchy sound as I play quite fast in my band, and the thumb delivers that in spades when I play finger style. I'm finding it difficult to get a powerful but 'pingy'slap sound that really cuts through the two guitars I battle with, without losing the classic warwick growl. I love the sound of the thumb on its own, but tends to get lost with the rest of the band when I'm on a slap mission.

I guess its just a teething problem for the moment, I'll work something out. I've got enough power with my amp and processor to flatten buildings. Has anyone else gone through this tone quandry???
 
I've been considering this a lot lately and my conclusion is that while the same bass will sound different in each players' hands, the same is true when your hands play different basses. An Ovangkol/Ovangkol BO is going to sound completely different from a Maple/Alder BO just by the inherent quality of the woods.

You can hear it on early Jamiroquai albums, where Stu Zender gets the classic Warwick growl from his Streamer Stage 1, but then some of the songs where he does more slap and pop, it sounds completely different because he's using either a Fender or an Alembic. Even though the SS1 has a maple neck (like the Fender), it is an NT, which also makes a big difference in attack and sustain and tone.

You mention you're having trouble getting the Fender "zing" from your Thumb. Part of that is the woods (a Fender's Maple neck is a major factor in that sound), but you might also try changing your strings. A fresh set of Warwick Black Labels or DR Hi-Beams might put that little bit of musical zing into the mix. EQ can also help a little, but it's not going to duplicate the sound of a Maple neck.

I would suggest coming up with an alternative slap sound that utilizes the strengths of the Thumb's characteristics rather than try to fight against them and mimic a bass that it's not. Once you've dialed it into its strengths, you will find the Thumb excels at cutting through the mix and exerting its authority!
 
Just be patient & keep at it.You'll get there.
It took me a little getting used to get that slap tone I was after.
btw,I leave everything flat. :wink:
 
so, I guess it would lead me to ask, what were you guys playing on before you got your prized warwicks??? Was it a smooth transition into growling bliss, or like me; have you come to have to think about exactly what you are doing with your hands and other equipment to produce your "signature sound"?

I mean, I'm sure that there's a few people here that were lucky enough to get a warwick as their first bass, but I'm also sure most have gone through a number of axes that they thought at the time were "the one" and that they would stick with. Perhaps I'm thinking about it too much :lol:
 
Van Donk III said:
so, I guess it would lead me to ask, what were you guys playing on before you got your prized warwicks??? Was it a smooth transition into growling bliss, or like me; have you come to have to think about exactly what you are doing with your hands and other equipment to produce your "signature sound"?

I mean, I'm sure that there's a few people here that were lucky enough to get a warwick as their first bass, but I'm also sure most have gone through a number of axes that they thought at the time were "the one" and that they would stick with. Perhaps I'm thinking about it too much :lol:
Click to expand...

I'm a gear junkie, so I think about it too much all the time! :lol:

I started out on an Ibanez BTB 6-string and a Behringer 150W combo amp (still use that Behringer at my church, as my SWR rig is too big and scares the Pastor and congregation! :lol: ). Next I added a Squire Vintage Modified Jazz that I saw in Guitar Player Mag. It looks kinda like a Marcus Miller bass and was under $300 new, so I couldn't resist. I still have it, but don't play it too much any more for obvious reasons that start with a 'W'. Also added a Dean Edge fretless that didn't work out for me at all, so that's when I replaced it with my first Warwick fretless. From there, the Warwick GAS bug just snowballed!

The Ibanez was a really good and versatile bass and I held onto it for a while after getting my $$, but in comparison, it just doesn't come close. BTB is short for "BouTique Bass" at a lower price, but the cost savings really started to show when I plugged the Warwicks in and got instant gratification without having to tweak the tone controls. My BTB could NEVER sound or feel like the W!
 
I can understand you - had the same problems in the beginning.
Personally I think playing one special bass is like a relationship - you really have to get your bass to know. Not only the electronics (which I definitley had to get used to with my $$NT), but also the way you play it and reverse the way it will sound.

My first bass was a Squier P-Bass - don't know why I even wanted an other bass. For sure, it was a cheapo-bass but there wasn't anything soundrelated. I was just looking for a "not so rookie"-bass and got the Cort Artisan A4. First I liked it really really much... even got a decent tone after a while (full maple with 3 way electronics). Nevertheless, later on I felt it lacked something; didn't even know exactly what, but always described it as "character". So I went for a bass with more character... in my eyes this HAD to be a Warwick :D
 
I have the same problem and haven't been able to "fix" it yet. I've come to the conclusion that I love my Thumb (NT), but it just isn't suited for slapping. I'll be using Fenders for that. They sound different, and that's what I like - Thumb for some things, Jazz for others :) But that's just me.
 
Yes, I'm starting to think that perhaps using both basses may have to be a realistic option. Although, I really want to hang up the jazz and occasionally have it for "sunday use" as it's had a hard life and deserves a break :D

I bought my thumb so that I could put the jazz out to pasture, but perhaps there's a few years left in it yet. It just sounds so damn good. But yeah, as mentioned above, they've both got two unique sounds. You can hear an example of how zingy the jazz is on the FINGLONGER link if ya wanna. I'd like to keep the new found growl I've got now, but eq'ing the thumb to sound like something else is sacrelige!!!
 
It's taking me a while to get used to my Warwick - at first I was almost disappointed as it didn't have that trademark growl but since then I've flattened my amp EQ taken off the preshape and it now sounds like a Warwick....also putting 40 guage strings on made it feel more 'homely'.

I'm really starting to get into it now and I reckon with a bit of a fret dress and a few more tweaks it will play as nicely as my Yamaha. My only criticism of new Warwicks is that they should (in my humble opinion) have better playability than they get shipped with.

It's definitely something you kind of grow into though - I think they have an initial impact and then as you start to really use a Warwick it kind of takes a bit of getting the most out of....and then they become somewhat indespensible.

G
 
you could research an strings, after all, they are what makes the sound
 
Van Donk III said:
Yes, I'm starting to think that perhaps using both basses may have to be a realistic option. Although, I really want to hang up the jazz and occasionally have it for "sunday use" as it's had a hard life and deserves a break :D

I bought my thumb so that I could put the jazz out to pasture, but perhaps there's a few years left in it yet. It just sounds so damn good. But yeah, as mentioned above, they've both got two unique sounds. You can hear an example of how zingy the jazz is on the FINGLONGER link if ya wanna. I'd like to keep the new found growl I've got now, but eq'ing the thumb to sound like something else is sacrelige!!!
Click to expand...

Your music is quite cool :) I'd never make a bass of mine take a break. They're made to be played :D I think your jazz feels the same way :wink:
 
I got it!!! I got my sound dialed in tonight!!! Oh joyus occasion :D I really was enjoying band practice this evening. I can live without the jazz zing after dialing in on that really cool barky 'bwaarp bwaaarrp' hifi tone. I used a little touch of gain and chorus (really little) and evened out the rotary eq and killed the other 9band eq. Man, The bass was sitting out way in front (the way I like it) and has given the band a totally different feel.

Bwaaaarrp bwaaaarrrrrrp!!!!
 
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