The B2B course works The stuff in the video… I would call pretty subjective… most of it is personal preference… and nothing more.
I turned mine down. Didn’t need it to test my mettle.
You knew as soon as you showed up for auditions with your fancy Malaman custom and they just gave you the evil eye…
Screw ‘em. I turned them down.
These videos are so fun to be a part of.
It’s like showing up to a great party.
All the work gets done (kudos and massive applause to @JoshFossgreen on putting all that together), and then Ben and I got to show up, goof around with bass stuff, and - best part - hang out with other bassists!
We rarely get to be in physical spaces with one another, because we’re only ever allowed one-bassist-per-gig.
So we’re always meeting lots of guitarists and drummers… but getting to hang with bass buddies?
So, so good.
And Ben able to hear the differences in those 4 amps???
Seriously.
I would say he cheated, except I know he didn’t.
Dude is a legend.
In the string comparison, why no tape wounds?
This is such a great video.
Thanks for the comments y’all! Many of you have made excellent points about the pickup upgrade comparison. We could probably do a whole long (and pretty boring lol) video on just that topic.
I think starting with a worse/broken pickup, and upgrading to a more expensive / more different pickup would definitely make a noticeable difference… at least in a practice room! And probably a studio setting. Live gig… really depends, so many things can make you just sound like WOOF WOOF THUMP no matter what you do.
@wnewber again, would have to do a whole video! Cuz there are also halfwounds, groundwounds, blah blah blah and down the rabbit hole we go. Flats and rounds are by far the most common type of string out in the wild so I just started there.
I eagerly await your video on string types!
I eagerly await BassBuzz T-Shirts!
@JoshFossgreen —> hint hint
This video came out at an interesting time for me. I got to the pick lesson in B2B yesterday, and then later watched this video.
In the lesson, using a pick was so much louder than my fingers–with my fingers I was thinking about turning up my amp, then with the pick I was like “you don’t need to turn that up”. Made me nervous that I had been plucking too soft for the entirety of the course, and made a comment to that effect on the lesson page.
Then @Gio in the video starts talking about wispy plucking and I got even more concerned.
@JoshFossgreen replied to my lesson comment today that I probably hadn’t been plucking too soft all along, which made me feel better. And then when I was doing the next lesson and practicing this afternoon, I was paying more attention to my plucking. It was much more in a balanced volume compared to picking. I don’t think it was wispy. What I learned is that when I’m playing something new/that I’m unsure of I play way quieter than when it is something I know. Maybe it’s the same for the rest of you and I just had this epiphany now.
TL;DR: This video and M16L1 happening at the same time joined forces to point our something to pay attention to in my practicing.
Josh, I should let you know just how valuable the video you did on the Seven Dwarves of the frequency spectrum became today albeit it was in helping a fellow bassist on another forum.
He was fretting about his tone and considering a pickup swap yet he was using the identical pickups to those I have on my Sire bass. They have all of the tonal range he’d need to get the mellower tone he was after but his choice of very bright stainless rounds would not give him that.
I suggested a simple change in string type as did several others and he took our advice. Better to spend $20-$40 on the proper strings for your needs than $100 or more chasing tone with a pickup swap you only think might be what you need.
He also asked about how he could better understand to EQ his bass and amp to get him in the tonal territory he preferred. He wanted to know if there was a chart or a teaching aid that would do that. I linked your YouTube video for him because it was precisely the kind of “lesson” he needed to better understand where tone comes from and how to manipulate it to get what you want from your rig. Great job on that video by the way. Hopefully he’ll wander over here as well.
I think a DiMarzio DP122 Model P would be great in a live gig as it excels in the midrange and has a nice punch.
But I think the video you made makes a great point in that changing a pup without a plan as to what sound you want won’t give you the outcome you want.
I really appreciate the effort of doing hours of research and testing for a long-form video format, simply to justify the conclusion ‘just play’. It’s a lot harder than making a short gear review vid, where half of it is unboxing, and the other half is paraphrasing the manufacturer’s spec sheet, and asserting that it makes a huuuge difference.
I’ve been considering the EMG-GZR pick ups. Thanks for the vote of confidence.
My take on this discussion is that I think swapping out pick ups from a Fender, which I’d assume is of reasonable quality, you’d see less of a difference in comparison to swapping out some unknown pick ups like on my Lindo P bass, or another cheaper brand? Of course, I have no idea what pick ups Fender uses, I’m just assuming they are reasonable quality seeing as everyone bangs on about how good the basses are
I would even consider an active EMG, if I were you. The P model would be enough, I prefer the PX.
You have enough space behind the cover on the back.
Maybe @Al1885 can say some more about this?
^^^ Best passive aftermarket P for this IMO.
In general, I’d consider the regular model before the X series mainly because of the additional volume boost. EMG active pickups are not necessarily louder than the standard passive pickups just much cleaner possibly due to less powerful magnets use.
If you are considering x series and already have the active pickups, I definitely recommend you to consider trying the 18v power unit first. Again, it’s not really about volume but headroom. I can’t say enough about how much it effects how you interact with your volume knob with the 18v system.
Please say more, because I don’t know enough
I recognize most of those as words from the English language, but I have absolutely no idea what they mean in that combination and order.
Good thing I have no plans on changing electronics on an instrument.