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Crappy bassists with expensive gears?

BrandonBass

BrandonBass

May 29, 2006
2,348
33
#1
firstly, I do not claim to be a great bassist and im totally fine with guys who just do root notes and hold the band together, theyre just doing their job, as simple as it is, and theyre doing it well. props to them. It just irks me sometimes when a guitarist or bassist is tryin so hard to impress you with their paul gilbert or dream theater chops but fails so badly(sloppy, offbear, horrible dynamics) you can only give them a blank stare.


Ive personally encountered 2 warwick users who were pretty bad bassists.

bassist 1. this guy hav a owns a warwick thumb 5 armed with a russian big muff. But he couldnt afford a proper set up, a tuner....and a metronome.

bassist 2. I was the sound engineer in this case, and the songwriter got hold of this bassist through a forum. First thing he said to me when he entered the room, 'Im really busy gotta go overseas for paid gigs, gotta make this quick'. I thought fine, guys a pro in high demand, lets not waste his time. He then started doing a series of really fast runs on i-dont-know-what scale.
Turns out he couldnt play a straight eighth line at 100bpm. And he couldnt afford a tuner, a proper set up and a metronome. AND he too used a warwick thumb 5 string with black beauties O_O

And yes, I am jealous.
 
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#6
shackled said:
+1

What's your point, OP?
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i find that most musicians who is willing to part with their hard-earned cash are usually pretty good musicians. it shows a certain level of comittment to their craft. While this is not always the case, you see a guitarist with a squier strat armed with strings that look like they have been their for a decade, and armed with a single boss ds-1...chances are he wouldnt rock your socks off.

I just find it amazing someone can spend 2k(???) on a high end bass, waxes the neck every week, but wouldnt pay 30bucks to have it set up.
 
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#9
RobertUI said:
+1

And besides... a Warwick Thumb as "expensive gears" (sic) ? Don't get me wrong, that's a nice bass, but not exactly the same as a Fodera or the like. So you saw a mediocre bassist playing on a pretty nice bass. What's the point here? Did he look down on you and your gear/playing?
Click to expand...

im not sure about ur country, but they dont have warwicks in my country. and a brand new warwick imported from overseas is goin to cost more than 2k us dollars, thats pretty expensive by my standard. And nope, he did not look down on me.

of course, everyone is free to spend their money however they like. and everyone is free to play their instruments however they want...whether your a guitarist who always have to use each of the effects on his pedalboard to get his money's worth, or whether your a bassist who likes to solo out of time and out of tune over the vocals, no one is stopping you from doing it...

and i dont deny that im being judgemental here, but if you dont lik the subject dont post on it.
 
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#12
I am in agreement on this thread. Rick Laird made mention in his Improvising Jazz Bass book that a big-money bass will not sound better in the hands of an inept player than a bargain bass in the hands of a seasoned pro. I'm not saying that you shouldn't spend your hard earned cashola the way you want, but I would think that if you are spending anything over a grand on a bass, you should be at least a mid-level intermediate player that can lay a solid groove, keep a good rhythm and lock in with the drummer.
 
#18
BrandonBass said:
I just find it amazing someone can spend 2k(???) on a high end bass, waxes the neck every week, but wouldnt pay 30bucks to have it set up.
Click to expand...
I can get behind this train of thought. You'd be amazed how many musicians(guitarists and bassists) I've seen who've never had a setup done to their instruments. Really good musicians, too, fwiw. I personally know a guitarist(Martin acoustic) whose strings are close to 1/4" off the frets. He's never had a setup. Plays well, but i can't help wondering how much better he'd play if he had his instrument set up porperly.
Also know a bassist in the same boat. He's a really good player, and owns a really nice American Jazz. He played our church's bass(which i set up), and then remarked that he probably should get his set up, but he just never got around to it. As far as I know, he's still playing the same bass, in the same condition. I doubt his intonation has been checked since the day he bought it.
I simply cannot understand this kind of ignorance(for lack of a better word) about the instrument. I could see it twenty or thirty years ago. But the information available in this day and age pretty much leaves no excuse for someone not knowing that this is basic maintenance, no matter how expensive the instrument.
As far as people with questionable talent and high dollar gear goes, I'm of the opinion that you should buy the best bass and gear you can afford, regardless of your skill level. As long as you're committed to playing and learning, I see no reason to short change yourself in that area. Buy the very best you can afford, and play on. You'll be a better musician for it in the long run, IMHO.
 
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#19
Expensive, is based that persons economy not yours.....
Nice instruments are easier to play and get good tone out of than not nice instruments. If life was fair, we should all start out on Sadowsky's and as we become better down grade in quality. Thank God Life ain't fair!

If I bet 20.00 on a round of golf, is that OK?
If Michael Jordan bet 1,000,000.00 what's the difference?

My wasted 20.00 would be a ton of money to someone in Uganda, possible the difference between life and death, for me its a beer or two after the round.

P.S every musician should at least have a pitch fork
 

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