Quote:
Originally Posted by XtheDeadPawn  Is something wrong with me?
I hear people talk about G.A.S. all the time in the music shop, on the fourms, in the mags. Yet, honestly I've never really had it before. Unless you can count my want for a stingray type bass but, honestly is that G.A.S.? |
Depends. Are you the kind of guy who is searching for "his" sound? In other words you are looking for a unique sound identifiable with you that you use for ANY music you play...ALWAYS? And what goes with that is you only own ONE bass, ONE amp, One cab, just one of everything. It's YOUR rig and it's YOU.
If you are that guy then you are immune from GAS. If you want a stingray bass, you may even buy it, but in the end you'll decide that Stingray is "you" and sell you old bass or you'll go back to the original bass and sell the Stingray. This is not gas.
Of course BEFORE you find "your" sound GAS can set in as you buy and sell gear like a compulsive day-trader as you try to find that one set of gear that is "you".
A GASaholic will obviously keep BOTH basses and play them both. Such a player is always inquisitive and always wondering how this or that "new" (meaning new to him) sound would fit this or that kind of music better than what he's presently got.
To this person each new piece of gear is an experiment, an adventure, and an education. There are so many questions that need to be answered: What is it about this thing. What music does it fit? When would it be better than what I already have? And worse, once you have the answers you then have to keep the gear just for those occasions you found when it's better than everything else. And then you move on to the next idea. In this mode GAS is creativity driven.
So who is better? The guy with the lone Gibson and SVT or me with a staggering array of 11 different basses. Well, it's subjective. We both obviously can make music with what we've got, but it won't be the SAME music. As to which is better? Well that is for someone else to decide.
As for me I love gear and seeing what new gear has to offer. It's rare that it has nothing to offer and I sell it. Now it should be obvious that a player should never stop learning. You can learn about the music or you can learn about the gear. My personal view is that you have to keep learning about both or your playing suffers. One thing I've noticed about masters. They pay tremendous attention to ALL details. They let NO aspect of a performance escape attention. Which is why what they do is so impressive and a cut above the rest. I have seen some pretty good players who didn't know how to tune their bass, but I wouldn't call them masters.
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