Members Oingy Posted May 30, 2005 Members Posted May 30, 2005 Follow-up thread from my other thread... How are the Lightwave basses, and what kind of fretless sound can I expect? I read a few of the reviews here, but they were quite diverging when it came to details about the sound and feel. Some called the neck chunky, some called it slim and so on. Not too helpful, in other words. So, any opinions on this?
Members __tony__renaud Posted May 30, 2005 Members Posted May 30, 2005 The LW tone depends on which version of the LW system is being used. The old ones have a very broad, open sound - this doesn't work all that well for fretless. Basically, it sounds like a bass with a pickup right at the end of the neck minus some of the "woofiness" you'd expect. All told, it's very clean and absolutely distortion free. It's not a bad sound, but it's not what I look for in terms of a fretless tone. The new version has the magnetic pickup simulator, which gets closer to what you'd get from a regular J pickup near the bridge. This is the modern sort of fretless sound you'd hear these days. Jaco influenced, but not a direct rip-off. Sort of a Gary Willis or Victor Wooten type of thing. I always found the necks very comfortable. On the small side, but still very appealing.
Members Oingy Posted May 30, 2005 Author Members Posted May 30, 2005 Originally posted by __tony__renaud The LW tone depends on which version of the LW system is being used. The old ones have a very broad, open sound - this doesn't work all that well for fretless. Basically, it sounds like a bass with a pickup right at the end of the neck minus some of the "woofiness" you'd expect. All told, it's very clean and absolutely distortion free. It's not a bad sound, but it's not what I look for in terms of a fretless tone.The new version has the magnetic pickup simulator, which gets closer to what you'd get from a regular J pickup near the bridge. This is the modern sort of fretless sound you'd hear these days. Jaco influenced, but not a direct rip-off. Sort of a Gary Willis or Victor Wooten type of thing.I always found the necks very comfortable. On the small side, but still very appealing. Doesn't really sound like my thing. Thanks for the advice!
Members Jazz Ad Posted May 30, 2005 Members Posted May 30, 2005 IMHO they're average. Not bad but not very good. Lightwave pickups deserve a much better lutherie.
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