not for me.

[PocketGroove82]

I was interested in a barker, but then I heard the sound clips on the website and realized that I'd rather stick with a real acoustic upright.
I found the sustain to be overbearing.
I guess I'm the only one.
If I wanted to sound like I played an electric with two single coils, I guess I'd just go buy an electric with two single coils.
I prefer the real thing.

[Tony G]

Well, no bass is for everybody, but why bother posting this?

[pointbass]

Originally Posted by PocketGroove82

I was interested in a barker, but then I heard the sound clips on the website and realized that I'd rather stick with a real acoustic upright.
I found the sustain to be overbearing.
I guess I'm the only one.
If I wanted to sound like I played an electric with two single coils, I guess I'd just go buy an electric with two single coils.
I prefer the real thing.

No offense intended here, but why would you be considering a Barker if you want a DB And to base your opinion on a sound clip from a web site is probably not the best route to take ......

[Phalex]

Oh man!

I thought this was going to be a soundclip of "But Not For Me" played on a Barker.

I'm not sure why, but I've had that tune stuck in my head for the last month or so.

[Joe Nerve]

Originally Posted by PocketGroove82

I was interested in a barker, but then I heard the sound clips on the website and realized that I'd rather stick with a real acoustic upright.
I found the sustain to be overbearing.
I guess I'm the only one.
If I wanted to sound like I played an electric with two single coils, I guess I'd just go buy an electric with two single coils.
I prefer the real thing.

Does it make you happy to post this? There are lots of basses I don't like. Most of us don't go starting posts about them though.

I think the nice thing to do would be delete this thread. But then again that's just my opinion.

[Lee Barker]

Interesting subject, sustain.

It is my opinion that a tone that starts to decay is immediately losing warmth. That's why I enjoy starting with sustain.

But certainly it isn't an all the time virtue. Brian Ritchie, as you may know, plays a lot of acoustic bass guitar in his Violent Femmes concerts. We're talking volume here, with a capital 11. I asked him how he dealt with the feedback problem.

I think this applies. The word is muting, or damping. He said, "I don't know exactly, I just do it with my hands!" So he's stopping the sustain-to-feedback chain early on probably with a combination of moves, both hands.

Todd Johnson has a really slick way to describe how he mutes with his right thumb (Playing his Zon bass guitar). Same result--clarity of tone, apparent just as long as he wants it and no longer.

The final item here is the Barker Mute Set, a product that has been gathering dust but lately, thanks to Doug Mancini and Iotanet bringing theirs to NAMM, has seen a resurgence in interest.

My job will be to start a thread about them and post a photo. Give me a bit of time, and then remind me!

Kindly,

Lee

[pgar]

Here is one reason I like my BArker Bass (named Bob, by my students - one of them saw it the other day and shouted out - "The Bass is Right! It's Bob the Barker Bass!!!!). I am a firm NON-believer in complex tone knobs, pre-amps and Mid Range frequency adjustments and 12 band EQ's etc. The bass will sound good by itself or it won't. My Barker has two volume knobs and ONE tone knob. Simplicity, thy name is Barker....The rest of the tone adjustment comes from my hands. Sustain is the same thing. From the hands.... Give me a bass with a butt load of sustain (can you say Bob the BArker Bass?) that I can control with left and right hand, and I will take it over a bass with less sustain where the note dies before I want it to. And by the way, I put a small piece of foam under the strings at the bridge (like Carol Kay used to do with her instruments - tho sometimes she also put some felt across the top of the strings at the bridge), and use the neck pickup, tone knob almost all the way down, and I get a pretty good upright tone from this thing. Thumpy, woody and dark. I hope to be taking this baby out on a Jazz gig soon.... can't wait.
PAige

[Bruce Lindfield]

Originally Posted by xgabriel

Well, no bass is for everybody, but why bother posting this?

Originally Posted by Joe Nerve

Does it make you happy to post this? There are lots of basses I don't like. Most of us don't go starting posts about them though.

I think the nice thing to do would be delete this thread. But then again that's just my opinion.

I disagree - I think the real value of TB in this context, is that you do actually get "negatives" about gear.

So we know that in magazines like Bass Player, no reviewer is going to say anything bad about a product for fear of upsetting potential advertisers and no pro is going to put off potential sponsors!

Also - a lot of review forums are over-run by inexperienced people who have just bought some piece of gear and want to tell the whole world about their enthusiasm!

I think TB is just about the only place that you can pick up on negative points about gear and hear about things that may mean something is not for you!

Long may it last IMO - if this is stopped, then there will be nowhere at all for people to find out about the downsides of products!

[pointbass]

Your point is well taken, Bruce. One of the reasons I enjoy TB is the give-and-take of gear opinions, where we can get both sides, so to speak.

That said, in the case of this post, the negative opinion is based solely on a sound clip(s) from a web site ... no actual use of the instrument, no real-time playing, and not even in response to some other comment. Just a basic "I don't like it" with no real reason for the post.

I deeply value other opinions, both pro and con, but when they aren't supported by anything other than a sound clip, it just gives me the impression that there is a different motive at hand ......

[Bruce Lindfield]

I think the motive was to say if you don't like too much sustain and want a more natural decay like on DB, then why would you get one of these basses?

A reasonable point to bring up IMO !

[pointbass]

.... ahhh, what the heck, it's a slow day at work .....

Still don't know why someone would post a negative opinion about sustain when discussing an instrument known for having tremendous sustain. Kind of like posting a negative opinion in a Corvette forum complaining it goes too fast, or posting a complaint in the ERB forum that a 7 string bass has too many strings

[Bruce Lindfield]

Well it's a topic for discussion - so when I first got my NS CR5, it was bit too much like fretless BG and I asked around the forums here about this and got a great suggestion from Francois to try using orchestral strings.

I bought some Pirastro DB strings and these really cut down on the BG-like sustain.

[pointbass]

Topic of discussion for sure .... the Barker is a sustaining mo-fo, and if the player isn't comfortable with various muting techniques when and where needed, it'll ring forever. I haven't tried other string sets (currently have LaBella nylon tapewounds on it), but we're sort of stuck with the standard EB strings.

I use LaBella Deep Talkin' flats on most of the other basses, so I'll likely be switching out the tapewounds shortly ...

[pgar]

have you tried Thomastik Jazz Flats? Low tension flats that have been my personal fav since Carol Kaye turned me on to them years ago. They sound GREAT on the Barker.
paige

[yodedude2]

Originally Posted by PocketGroove82

I was interested in a barker, but then I heard the sound clips on the website and realized that I'd rather stick with a real acoustic upright.
I found the sustain to be overbearing.
<snip>

Here's my take on sustain in a bass guitar: If it's there, I can control it. If it isn't there, I can't put it in.

I'd rather have the sustain in there. later, ron

[Jazzdogg]

Originally Posted by pointbass

Your point is well taken, Bruce. One of the reasons I enjoy TB is the give-and-take of gear opinions, where we can get both sides, so to speak.

That said, in the case of this post, the negative opinion is based solely on a sound clip(s) from a web site ... no actual use of the instrument, no real-time playing, and not even in response to some other comment. Just a basic "I don't like it" with no real reason for the post.

I deeply value other opinions, both pro and con, but when they aren't supported by anything other than a sound clip, it just gives me the impression that there is a different motive at hand ......

I've never seen or heard anyone play a Barker. I'd never heard of Barker until I found TalkBass, and I was intrigued. Like the original poster, I was curious to hear what they sounded like, went to the website, and listened to clips. I never posted anything about my impressions, but after listening to the clips, I completely lost interest in the Barker bass.

Granted, if I ever see someone playing a Barker live, I'll be curious and will be likely to check it out (if it sounds good enough to draw me in). Not a knock, just an observation. In fact, I have been impressed with the professionalism, detachment, and objectivity of Mr. Barker's posts. However, like the OP, the sound clips I listened to quenched my interest almost immediately.

[Shelly]

Originally Posted by PocketGroove82

I was interested in a barker, but then I heard the sound clips on the website and realized that I'd rather stick with a real acoustic upright.
I found the sustain to be overbearing.
I guess I'm the only one.
If I wanted to sound like I played an electric with two single coils, I guess I'd just go buy an electric with two single coils.
I prefer the real thing.

I didn't think that the point of a Barker was to replace an acoustic upright, but to "upright" the electric bass to alleviate back issues and such...am I wrong?

[Lee Barker]

Thanks for the post, and the compliment, Jazzdog.

Now I am wondering: How many TBers have a subwoofer in their computer speaker array? Obviously that's unanswerable! Would readers of this thread be willing to just respond with a yep or nope? It would be a highly unscientific study.

Also, I am wondering if those who are listening to the sound clips also view the video of Eric Owens playing. Adding the visual aspect must have some added effect, but I don't know exactly what.

On we go!

Kindly,
Lee

[Shelly]

My non-studio computers do not have subwoofers connected.

[IotaNet]

Originally Posted by Shelly

I didn't think that the point of a Barker was to replace an acoustic upright, but to "upright" the electric bass to alleviate back issues and such...am I wrong?

Shelly -

You are absolutely right.