upgrade guitar or bass?

All instruments that aren't guitars (or bass guitars).
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Rainbow Battle Kid
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upgrade guitar or bass?

Post by Rainbow Battle Kid » Mon May 01, 2017 7:50 am

so right now i've got a MIM strat with lace sensors, and some kinda janky p-bass clone(borrowing indefinitely)

eventually i want to get a '65 AVRI jazzmaster, and a Rickenbacker 4003 bass. started saving up recently and i'm not sure which one it makes more sense to get first.

any input on which i should try to save up for first? obv the bass is a bigger upgrade, but the jazzy would probably be a bit more fun, and i'm MOSTLY a guitarist(though i play bass on my recordings)
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Grey
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Re: upgrade guitar or bass?

Post by Grey » Mon May 01, 2017 7:54 am

Well you've got two instruments that are completely, entirely different from the other two that you want. So this is less of an "upgrade" and more of just "buying a new guitar" so i'd go with whatever you think will get you the sounds you want.

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Rainbow Battle Kid
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Re: upgrade guitar or bass?

Post by Rainbow Battle Kid » Mon May 01, 2017 7:58 am

yeah i suppose that's the case with the JM. the bass would def be an upgrade from this one haha. i didn't really choose this, just was able to borrow it to record with cause i don't own one.
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Larry Mal
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Re: upgrade guitar or bass?

Post by Larry Mal » Mon May 01, 2017 8:05 am

How about since you don't actually own the P-Bass clone, you replace that with the Ric. There. Your decision is made.
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Re: upgrade guitar or bass?

Post by Rainbow Battle Kid » Mon May 01, 2017 8:08 am

yeah def leaning towards that, just seems a TAD less fun. the guy i'm borrowing it from def is in no hurry to get it back tho. strings were all rusty when i got it, etc
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Re: upgrade guitar or bass?

Post by marqueemoon » Mon May 01, 2017 5:33 pm

I would go for a MIM P or J and keep saving for the guitar. If bass isn't your main instrument you just need something that will get the job done.

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Re: upgrade guitar or bass?

Post by DesmondWafers » Sun May 07, 2017 3:19 pm

That's a pretty huge leap in cost, leading me to believe that this isn't an upgrade out of necessity, but simply because you want to. Not that there's any problem with this, but if you're going to spend that much money, spend it on the one you really want, not because one appears to have more utility than the other.

I've been in this situation before, and if you're mainly a guitarist buy the guitar you want. Even a $100 squire bass is enough for most guitarists for recording (Although the same really could be said of an MIM strat). There's no point in buying the one that makes more "sense" because buying gear isn't really based on logic for most people, especially on guitar forums.

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Re: upgrade guitar or bass?

Post by simonhpieman » Tue May 16, 2017 2:55 am

The bassist in our band uses our guitarist's Squier Bronco bass for EVERYTHING. I.E. He doesn't even own his own bass as he has historically been a guitarist.

My brother is a fairly serious bassist and he's never gone above the £350 mark for a bass.

I used to record with an Audition(?) bass with one pickup that I think my friend's mum bought in Woolworths in the 70s. Whatever it was it was a backwards strat shape (a bit like a Mosrite, I guess) and had one slanted pickup towards the neck end. Sounded alright with its period flatwounds attached to its plywood neck.

I guess my point is that it's just bass. Meh! Most things will do the job <hides before being shot down>. If you aren't pairing that Ricky with an enormous Ampeg fridge rig then you're wasting your time anyway ;)

If you're looking for a versatile bass, made in the USA and for a decent price, the Peavey T40 does quite a lot and can be had for under £400 here. As a fan of 70s ash strats, I think they look awesome, too, although they're pretty heavy if you plan on gigging. This video shows you many of the different basses you can mimic with it, the first being a Rickenbacker... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOLvGYHemPo" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Re: upgrade guitar or bass?

Post by Embenny » Thu May 18, 2017 8:04 am

DesmondWafers wrote:That's a pretty huge leap in cost, leading me to believe that this isn't an upgrade out of necessity, but simply because you want to. Not that there's any problem with this, but if you're going to spend that much money, spend it on the one you really want, not because one appears to have more utility than the other.

I've been in this situation before, and if you're mainly a guitarist buy the guitar you want. Even a $100 squire bass is enough for most guitarists for recording (Although the same really could be said of an MIM strat). There's no point in buying the one that makes more "sense" because buying gear isn't really based on logic for most people, especially on guitar forums.
I'm kinda on board with this. I recently started playing bass in a few bands, though I'm primarily a guitarist. I had a Squier Bass VI and an old Music Man S.U.B. (the short-lived, American-made "poor man's Stingray"). Neither sounded right for the latest band, which is more psychedelic/stoner rock. I found a really great-playing/sounding/looking $300 Rickenbacker clone locally on Kijiji (what most Canadians use instead of Craigslist) and it totally scratches the Rick itch at 10-15% of the price tag.

So, I totally get wanting a 4003. All my biggest bass idols have played a 4001 or 4003 at some point, and it's a tone I've got stuck in my head. But there are options that get the job done if you keep an eye out (and I'm not talking about the Chinese clones/Chickenbackers, there are '70s Japanese knockoffs and some hush-hush recent ones that do a great job). Going from a janky borrowed bass to a $2000 Rick seems like a bigger jump than you need to make if you're mostly using it for recording. To be perfectly honest, the neck pickup in my Rick clone actually sounds way better on its own than an actual Rick, where that tone is rarely used on its own...people either go bridge, bridge+neck in mono, or neck and bridge separately in stereo. Almost nobody I have ever met uses the neck hi-gain pickup on a 4003 on its own since it's kinda weird and muddy, but not in a particularly useful way. I get compliments on my Rick's tone ALL the time from people who don't realize it's a knockoff (someone even sourced a Rick truss rod cover for it before it found its way to me, so the only real tell is that the fretboard isn't lacquered).

AV65's are nice, but if you've got a set budget for a new bass and new guitar, you'll get way more mileage by going with, say, a used lacquer '60s JM (which gets damn close to an AVRI level of quality) and a used-but-quality Rick clone. The two together will come in at less than the price of either a new 4003 or new AV65.

I have a lot of guitars and basses, some of which cost me a lot more than a new 4003 would, and I still felt like a Rick would be an overkill purchase. Oh, and as long as John Hall isn't watching this thread...PM me if you want the name of a Canadian luthier who makes really wicked maple or walnut 4003 copies with real Rick pickups and real Rick tone, at a starting price of what amounts to $750 USD after the exchange rate. He didn't make mine, but he blows the Chinese-made ones out of the water (and he actually does his own woodworking and everything, here in Canada, not with junky overseas copy bodies and necks).

Just food for thought.
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