The StingRay is also the first production four-string bass guitar to feature active equalization, a term that may need a bit of explaining. Joe Lally of Fugazi, Mark Hoppus of Blink-182, and Tony Levin (King Crimson, Peter Gabriel) have all rocked its distinctive oval pickguard onstage at some point or another. Of all the instruments Fender and his team designed there, the StingRay bass comes the closest to the iconic status of the flagships from his old company. (What the P lacks in the range of its palette, it makes up for with a low-end thump that the J-or any other bass, for that matter-can’t exactly match.)Įrnie Ball Music Man StingRay Bass ($2,299)įender Instruments founder Leo Fender, having sold the company that bears his name in the mid-1960s, became president of Music Man about a decade later. Traditionally, the J offers a little more tonal variety, especially in the crisp treble range, though the dual-pickup configuration of the newer P-basses closes the gap a bit. That could be a good or bad thing, depending on your playing style and the size of your hands. A J-Bass neck is a little narrower at the nut-near the lowest frets-which means its strings are a little closer together in the low register. There are also a few differences in playability and tone. The J’s body shape is a little more dramatically contoured than the P’s, like someone took a P and gently stretched it from diagonal corners. Just ask John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin, Larry Graham of Sly and the Family Stone, Geddy Lee of Rush, and Noel Redding of the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Second, though several jazz virtuosos have made it their instrument of choice-Marcus Miller and Jaco Pastorius, for two-its genre capabilities are far wider than its name would have you believe. Just find an instrument that works for you.įender American Performer Jazz Bass ($1,300)įirst off, if you want to talk like a bassist, you can call Fender’s Jazz Bass a J-Bass, just like the P. So don’t worry too much about fancy brand names. Not much of a pedigree, but it’s by far my favorite bass I’ve ever taken on tour or into the studio with Garcia Peoples, the band I play in when I'm not doing journalism. For me, it’s a used Fender Jazz Bass of uncertain provenance that I bought for about $400, whose previous owner told me he wasn’t sure it’s even really a Fender, despite what it says on the headstock. For some, that might mean a custom shop special with all the accoutrements. But as soon as it stops, they’ll know something’s wrong.”įinding the right instrument for you is all about your personal preferences and style. Maybe most people wouldn’t even be able to isolate what the bass is playing on a particular track. You can just stand there, play the bass, and hold it down. “Bass is the coolest instrument on the planet,” he says. For Pino Palladino, the legendary bassist whose resume includes work with D’Angelo, Erykah Badu, John Mayer, and the Who (and who released Notes With Attachments, an excellent duo album with Blake Mills, earlier this year), the appeal of the instrument is simple.
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