Style vs Tinkertime

[flatback]

When I first picked up the bass I went mad searching for a sound...basses, strings, amps, pick ups, playing style, sitting,etc trying to find a way to get my ears around the sounds I was producing and having those sounds be conducive to organized musical thought and inspiring communication with the other musicians. It seemed a very reasonable way of expressing enthusiasm and interest too.
then I noticed that some of my favorite players would stick to a particular thing like glue (despite the sounds they were producing that were so comprimised) they were lothe to change anything because they had developed a comprimised but workable solution that allowed them to get into their "playing space" or what ever you want to call it, really quickly and that was more important then changing things around all the time. I really dug that. Just deal with it and devote your time to playing and practicing and listening.
After a few years of that tho, I have noticed that there are some very interesting things happening in amps and strings and pick ups/mics and bass improvements (tailpiece etc.) and I have made some of these improvements and now I am a lot closer to producing a sound at gigs that is like the sound i get at home. But that brings a whole evolution and change in your playing, one that I am getting ready to settle into for a minute. I sure dig the improvements but it is surely a distraction.
Ultimately, we will all reach a level of sucess where we have our own trusted sound guy who is also a brilliant (inexpensive) luthier and all we have to do is play...but until then I think that these cycles of interest in sound improvment and bass adjusting are natural and productive phases for musicians playing such a physically and aurally demanding instrument.

[BenderR]

At times it can be a way of seeing immediate results when the results of your practice seem a bit slow in coming.

Let me reframe the point a little. If you are reaching a plateu of some sort involving your playing or your sound, tinkering becomes a way of interacting with your instrument without doing do musically. I find that during times I'm not playing-out all that often I tend to want to tinker. When I am fairly busy with a band I tend to have a musical focus and I'm not inclined to tinker.

In the guitar world people buy effects pedals right and left in search of a certain sound. IMHO it is entirely futile because you can't force yourself to sound like someone else and having all of the gadgets that (fill in the blank) has won't make you sound like him. I submit that a lot of the effects buying is simply an effort to try to participate in music somewhat vicariously.

[Chris Fitzgerald]

When I first got my Czech carved bass, I went through a period of about a year trying every possible pickup/preamp combination, tweaking EQ settings for hours, buying different amps, etc. Eventually, I found a sound that I was happy enough with to live with, and then just forgot about all of that stuff and focused on playing. Now that I've just bought a new bass, I find that I need to go through a miniturized version of the same process, but with all of my previous experience in the process available to me to help me avoid old pitfalls quickly. After a week where I had two pickups malfunction, I've had to play 3 or 4 gigs with "heavy" players from NY while using my "backup pickup", which means not with my best amplified sound.

While the experience was kind of a drag in some ways, I also know that once the downbeat of the gig hits, you're a fool not to do the best you can with what you've got. And I'm sure that every single one of the guys I was backing would rather have me focusing my attention on playing the best I could in the moment than futzing with sound all night. In the end, I played to the best of my ability, and ended each night with a little mental "sticky note" on the back of my brain to try and get the equipment/setup situation optimized in the near future...but not to let it distract me from playing when it isn't. As DARKEST SWANSONG recently piped in in another recent thread, "Wow. Just like real life". To which I can only reply: Yes. Exactly like that.

[BenderR]

Real life, that is heavy.

[anon_6j591b0]

Going back to a couple of interviews I've read it made an impression on me Jay Leonhart saying at one point he thought he needed a pedigreed bass until Eberhart Weber sat in with his bass and lo and behold sounded just like Eberhart Weber on it. Years later at the time of the interview Jay still had that some old no name bass.

The second one was Eddie Gomez on the subject of using local rental basses on the road, "I haven't come across a bass yet I couldn't make friends with."

[Marcus Johnson]

Originally Posted by jbonny

Going back to a couple of interviews I've read it made an impression on me Jay Leonhart saying at one point he thought he needed a pedigreed bass until Eberhart Weber sat in with his bass and lo and behold sounded just like Eberhart Weber on it. Years later at the time of the interview Jay still had that some old no name bass.

The second one was Eddie Gomez on the subject of using local rental basses on the road, "I haven't come across a bass yet I couldn't make friends with."

Whoof. I have.

[anon_6j591b0]

Originally Posted by Marcus Johnson

Whoof. I have.

Maybe Eddie hasn't done the road work you have and used as many rentals?
Does your experience diminish the point of that quote within the context of this discussion?
Whoof. Whoof.

[Paul Warburton]

Originally Posted by jbonny

Maybe Eddie hasn't done the road work you have and used as many rentals?
Does your experience diminish the point of that quote within the context of this discussion?
Whoof. Whoof.

Eddie's done more road work and used more rentals than all of us combined!!

[Marcus Johnson]

Originally Posted by jbonny

Maybe Eddie hasn't done the road work you have and used as many rentals?
Does your experience diminish the point of that quote within the context of this discussion?
Whoof. Whoof.

Eddie also has about 10 zillion times the chops I have, which means he can play a cardboard box strung with baling wire and make it sound good.

As far as the second part of your question, that's up for you to decide. It was just me thinking out loud, remembering outta town basses strung with two or three strings, weedwhacker strings, E strings on all four strings (try that sometime), those metal bridges that look like they came from Hannibal Lecter's gyno lab, giant wood screws holding the soundpost in, white Krylon rattle can paint jobs...need I go on? It's why I bought an EUB.

[Ed Fuqua]

I also have to imagine that the range of "loaner" available to a high profile, well paid celebrity who is in Town X on somebody else's dime, is gonna be different than what's available to the grunt in the trenches.

I mean, Dave Gage is always extremely nice to me whenever I'm in the shop, but I doubt he's going to be loaning me the cream of the crop, dig?

[Damon Rondeau]

... probably not. Sounds like you're also gonna get your Pops hard, too.

[Marcus Johnson]

Originally Posted by Ed Fuqua

I also have to imagine that the range of "loaner" available to a high profile, well paid celebrity who is in Town X on somebody else's dime, is gonna be different than what's available to the grunt in the trenches.

I mean, Dave Gage is always extremely nice to me whenever I'm in the shop, but I doubt he's going to be loaning me the cream of the crop, dig?

There y'go. Also, through no fault of their own, most people in booking don't know what constitutes a playable bass. Sometimes they do, notably in Japan in my experience. Otherwise, it's a crap shoot.

[hdiddy]

I like tinkering w/ schtuff like the next guy, but I think some of the comments on this thread have made a big impression on me. I was about to switch my strings completely over (I tried just the E & A strings earlier) to Spiro Orc's, but hearing my teacher play my bass tonight with such ease and beauty has completely changed my mind. Especially after seeing him play his own Juzek (with Spiro's) with less ease than my own bass (with Corelli's).

Sure, it would be great to afford an Panormo and big rig + a roadie to carry all my gear, but I think I'm just going to get the standard fare and focus on making it sound good as much as possible with the two hands I'm given. I don't think I'm exactly going wrong either, since my teacher gave me an unsolicited approval tonight that my bass sounded good and I got a nice growly tone. He proceeded to excited ask what the strings were and to give him the name so he can check them out.


But a question for you guys...

Do you ever have second thoughts before swapping out gear? I mean, even if you've used an amp for say, a year but failed to know in's and out's of it before you put it on Ebay? That you couldn't or didn't spend the time to even find all of possibilities with the gear you bought and sold it away a little too quickly?

[Paul Warburton]

Originally Posted by Marcus Johnson

There y'go. Also, through no fault of their own, most people in booking don't know what constitutes a playable bass. Sometimes they do, notably in Japan in my experience. Otherwise, it's a crap shoot.

Most basses they had for me in Japan were ok. They're such autograph hounds that you couldn't see the varnish for all the black marker autographs all over them. Everybody from Ray to Percy Heath.
After a concert we did with Richie Cole this little suspicious Japanese dude with shades and an overcoat on. motioned us outside to his brand new Van. This was in about 1989 and he probably paid over $100,000 for it. We got in, he put his hand in the pocket of the overcoat (we thought he was gonna pull out some drugs) and pulled out these huge colored markers so we could autograph the head liner in the van.

[Marcus Johnson]

They also love to give gifts to visitors in Japan. I always ended up with lots of beautiful stuff at autograph sessions there. One woman apparently felt that she had come unprepared, so she presented me with a plain bagel...she smiled and said "you like bagels?", and I said "of course...my wife's from New York!" Best audiences in the world. I'll go there any chance I get.

[Marcus Johnson]

If I were a single guy, and still just gadflying about, I would seriously consider Yokohama as a home base. Damn, I had some good times there.