Those who can, play; those who can't, fuss over equipment.

[Russell L]

I play alright. And I fuss sometimes, too. What's that mean?

[Tanner5382]

I'm guessing you've never heard of John Entwistle.

[brainburst]

1-A good bass player knows that a lot of the tone comes from his or her playing.
2-A good bass player also has to really understand sound, which means not only how to get a good sound from an amp by itself but in context of room and with other people playing. Remember you aren't just playing an instrument you are playing the gear as well.
Fuss to me means an element of frustration when an inexperienced player is really having a problem with one of the previous elements. An experienced player has a good feel for getting to the 95% point of a good sound without much FUSS at all. Of course they can't work miracles with terrible gear. But they do better than an inexperienced player with mediocre gear.

[xUptheIronsx]

Originally Posted by D.A.R.K.

Nah, both are passions with nearly endless possibilities.
They feed each other.

hear, hear...

I fee like I am always improving playing-wise, and am satisfied with the gear that I have. I am not really a gear-head...mostly because lack of money prevents me from ever getting GAS, so I tend to try not to get into the gear thing because it becomes a form of self-torture...

I also think that even if I had all of the money in the world, I still would not get more gear than I could realistically use at any given time. Especially amps. I know I would have a few basses, but would stick with one main amp set up for everything...

[Ric5]

Those who can, play; those who can't, fuss over music theory.

[Jeff Scott]

Originally Posted by heb9_28

My uncle was in Glass Harp...

I learned a lot of his bass lines in my early days of playing bass, and have seen Dan a few times. A guy I work with is good friends of him and his wife. They are both into auto racing, too, as is me (F1, primarily).

[peledog]

42

[ntenny]

Originally Posted by Phalex

I have crappy gear, and I play the crap out of it. So does that mean that my gear is awesome and I'm the one who's crappy?

It depends; all that crap that gets played out of your gear---does it go out of the gear and into *you*, or into the audience? I'd suggest option #2, personally. :-)

-NT

[xUptheIronsx]

Originally Posted by Ric5

Those who can, play; those who can't, fuss over music theory.

sooo true....

[Munjibunga]

I can play well enough to do the gigs I do, but nothing special. I don't fuss over gear, but I buy a lot of it, mostly pretty good stuff.

What was the question again?

[Phalex]

Originally Posted by ntenny

It depends; all that crap that gets played out of your gear---does it go out of the gear and into *you*, or into the audience? I'd suggest option #2, personally. :-)

-NT

It goes EVERYWHERE! I'm not real careful......

[IntrepidCellist]

I like gear. I like playing.

Some gear inspires me to play more and/or better than others. It's a self-perpetuating cycle as I search for the inspiring stuff.

[El Beardo]

I have never been very picky about my gear. I can get a sound I like out of just about anything. I'm not saying I get "my sound" out of whatever I play. Just a sound I am happy with. I could see being picky with gear if I was playing with or recording with others and thought a certain bass or amp would better compliment the song as a whole.

[petrus61]

False: One of the best guitarists I know spends a great deal of time on his pedalboard and various amps.

True: I worry way too much about gear for someone of my skill level.

[M.R. Ogle]

Bassists are a finely introspective bunch.

[jmverdugo]

Those who can play, play (either with a ton of effects and all sort of gear or just with the bass straight to the amp) , those who can't play are still searching for the perfect tone boy i'm going to make lots of friends here

[Chef]

False.

[Lichtaffen]

I think it's simple mathematics: the more time you spend surfing the interwebs, the less time you spend practicing. To be good at anything you need to put in the hours. I think it's good to fuss over your sound to some extent, but at some point you need to settle and just play your bass.

In my case, I surf while at work so my playing doesn't suffer.

[Herrick]

This kind of applies to Herrick when I buy a new instrument. I tend to not play anything until the new one arrives. When the new one arrives, the other one tends to go (sold). So I don't want to play the one that is leaving. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's like those war movies, where they don't want to talk to the new guys 'cause they'll probably die soon?

[Nomadskills]

It's true for me, and I'm fine with it.