Uwe's Explorer soundclips new vs. old

[Dave W]

Uwe will need to explain exactly which basses these come from, I'm just passing them along. The new one must be the one that Mark road-tested for him.

"Both basses strung with fresh D'Addario Nickel rounds, the old med scale one with 110 gauge, the new one with 105 gauge. In the interest of scientific comparability. Both basses maho bodies with maple set necks. Old one Grabbber pups, new one – you guessed it – TB Plus."

DivShare File - Explorer neuer bass.mp3

DivShare File - Explorer alter bass.mp3

[uwe]

It's an 87 standard Explorer of the time (early ones had an alder body, but mine has maho), med scale, two Grabber pups, Victory style wedgie bridge, off the rack as it came. The other is indeed Mark's foster child, now safely in ze Reich. I had expected the difference to be more stark, but the older Ex sounds the best it has ever, no doubt due to using 110er strings (an idea I copped from Rob who does this on his Hobbits). But of course, the med scale has harmonic limits, especially on the E where it cannot really compete with its new long scale sibling.

[uwe]

And both over my SVT with fridge and 1x18 cab. Same sound setting for both, same volume and both played with both pups full on.

Girlie screams at the end of soundfile of new Explorer ("neuer Bass") courtesy of Kristin and Miriam, singer and keyboarderess of our band, respectively.

[Dave W]

Girlie screams at the end of soundfile of new Explorer ("neuer Bass") courtesy of Kristin and Miriam, singer and keyboarderess of our band, respectively.

I was hoping for a racier explanation, like groupies swooning.

[gearHed289]

I'm gonna vote neuer.

[Basvarken]

Alter, hands down.

Sounds more substantial. Nice growly tone.

You'll probably disqualify me, but I even don't agree with you on the harmonics Uwe.
The low E sounds richer and deeper to my ears...

[uwe]

Darn Dutch troublemaker! Deader it sounds, but not bad. Good idea with the thicker D'Addarios that was. As I said, I expected the old model to do much worse, but it almost held its ground. Of course, we don't know how a 87 Explorer with TB Plus pups would sound.

[Barklessdog]

Neuer, the old one sounds kind of nasal to me

[TBird1958]

 I like them both, but from the playing the bass standpoint the new one would win hands down every time. My '80s Explorer is still one of the few Gibsons I've owned and sold, as a player it was nothing special at all, not bad but...........The newie played like a dream and I had too be careful not to give it too much backside lovin' while it was in my care 

[Dave W]

I don't really have a strong preference. The new one has noticeably more punch on the E, the older one has a little more rounded sound to my ears.

[uwe]

You can't beat a long scale E. You can come close on a Ric, med scale or even very goog short scale, but you can't beat it. I bet the E was the defining criterion when old Leo decided on 34".

[Psycho Bass Guy]

I bet the E was the defining criterion when old Leo decided on 34".

Nope. There are accounts that Leo thought about following Gibson's lead (fretted oversized acoustic bass guitars with an endpin) and making an electric bass with near upright scale length (42"), but decided against it because it would have produced an instrument nearly as cumbersome as the upright acoustic bass. When he learned that a 34" scale length would allow for proper harmonic intonation of the G string, that was the deciding factor. He added string mutes to even out the harmonic response of the G relative to the others and to compensate for amps with virtually no low end. The "correct" scale which would give an even-tempered harmonic series for the E is around 37" IIRC, but then the other strings would have all kinds of dead spots on the neck. A 34" scale gives the G piano-like clarity and the other strings are actually short scale and have uneven intonation. That's why "short scale" basses have a more uniform tone across all the strings: they're ALL 'incorrect.'

[uwe]

You live and learn, thanks!

[Freuds_Cat]

Alter. Its richer and a bit sweeter harmonically to my ears