How much do you factor yourself into your (dis)satisfaction with gear?

[Brad Johnson]

As the owner of tons of used gear over the years, I've frequently wondered how often people go beyond blaming their gear for the results they get vs. realizing a shortcoming on their part. Basically, when you say "This sucks" is it really the gear? Discuss.

[mikezimmerman]

Oh, I accept that it's 100% me.

[dave64o]

I've bought and sold an average of maybe one every year or two, and I wouldn't say it's excessive. But the only reason I did that was to search for a few basses that felt good and sounded good. I've never bought/sold to try fixing my lack of talent, though. I suck, I know that, I accept that, and I work at changing it (hence the tag line and the signature I've been using for many years! )!

[Zooberwerx]

I tend to stick with gear that is conducive to my skill limitations and comfort.

Riis

[TheVoiceless]

Well if your self aware of your abilities, I think one could judge if its them or the gear. If Jaco played to a room of strangers, and his amp kept cutting out, I'm sure people wouldn't care that its Jaco. Gear is more important the I think others tend to consider. If you look at the great's like VanHalen,SRV,JACO, ETC... what they played was almost as important as who they were. Your gear is an extension of your persona in a way. And the only really notable guy I can think of that used many guitars was Jimmy Page. All the others I think are tied to their axe. Lemmy -Rikenbacker Slash - Gibson Les Paul.

[BrianVengeance]

One of the most poignant lessons of tone I've ever gotten came from a guitarist whose axe of choice was a $99 Fender Squier. We both worked at a music store and it absolutely boggled my mind that with every instrument you could ever want available to you (and at a discount) that was what he played. Asked literally everyone in the store about it, and they all just kinda laughed and told me to see his band... was absolutely infuriating. When I finally got around to seeing him play live, I was blown away. That stupid thing sounded amazing! In the following weeks and months, I finally got the joke... he could do that with any guitar you put in his hands, but that was the one he liked.

The other lesson came from another guitarist who I had seen live and ended up wracking his brain about compressors, maximizers, eq, distortion and anything else under the sun for about 20 minutes... until finally he just kinda exasperatingly said "dude... my amp has one knob that makes the damn thing get louder or quieter" (which was true) and walked off.

After those two experiences I started looking at gear in an entirely different way. It is important in that it should complement the player, but not make or break them. No doubt some equipment combinations work better than others for a given play style or genre, but short of outright malfunction, dialing in tone and play style is every musician's birthright and social responsibility.

Basically, if you can't adjust the knobs and your play style to get at least a workable tone with whatever is put in front of you, then you're doing it wrong. Gotta use the ears and play from the inside out.

[Pilgrim]

Preference is personal. Every bass I sell finds a better home.

[Mulebagger]

Self awareness is key to avoiding fodder. If you flip basses thinking the next bass might make you better you are wasting your time and resources on a fruitless search. I've gone through a bunch of gear, mostly to find what I like. Some instruments play better than others (even when both instruments are given a good setup). Some basses have shortcomings. In the end you should be able to express yourself musically on just about any functioning bass. NO doubt a better tool can inspire and often facilitate that musical expression. But the nicest basses don't make any music in the case. It's got to come from the player.