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$100 bass vs $10,000 bass
- Thread starter noeinstein
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But we're all 15 years old in our mind.
Ok, maybe 8.
All right, 3, but not a year lower. Now where's my hot au pair?
Ok, maybe 8.
All right, 3, but not a year lower. Now where's my hot au pair?
The Lindo sounded like a Precision; the Jazz sounded like a Jazz and the Fedora sounded like a custom soapbar job. Those tones are not even remotely similar. Make them all P's, all J's or all soaps.
Must have tasted horrible!
HONK!
Darn, the one time I was really hoping for a video clip it was just the picture.
Love the Marx Brothers.
Russ
Dear Scott: love ya man, but how bout STHU once in a while?? You don't think we're actually sitting around listening to you, do you??
No susbstantial difference between the three basses that can't be negated by eq, amp, etc. That's only a $10k bass, though imagine the people who spent millions for a stradivarius who later found out they couldn't be distinguished in blind tests.
The people who are saying the fodera sounded better have been placeboed. It looks better and is more expensive, but in blind tests, as has been proven over and over, no one can tell the difference. I can't believe we even have to have this discussion anymore. It's settled long long ago. You can't buy a better bass sound. I can plug in a $50 craigslist bass as long as it works and has strings, into a berhinger PA with a parametric eq and get as good a bass sound as anything.
But the benefit is having a bass and amp that is uniquely yours, that looks cool, feels good and is inspiring. I couldn't rock a "Lindo" bass and feel good about it, just like I can't wear just any clothes.
The people who are saying the fodera sounded better have been placeboed. It looks better and is more expensive, but in blind tests, as has been proven over and over, no one can tell the difference. I can't believe we even have to have this discussion anymore. It's settled long long ago. You can't buy a better bass sound. I can plug in a $50 craigslist bass as long as it works and has strings, into a berhinger PA with a parametric eq and get as good a bass sound as anything.
But the benefit is having a bass and amp that is uniquely yours, that looks cool, feels good and is inspiring. I couldn't rock a "Lindo" bass and feel good about it, just like I can't wear just any clothes.
Depends on how picky you want to be. Sure there were differences but step back a bit and they all sounded like a pretty good bass tone. Similar enough to really say none were better or worse than the other, though sure if you had to pick one you can. I could tell the differences of course but none sounded bad, they all sounded good and as long as the action and feel was decent I could use all three for live shows and recordings and get pretty much the same results.
Like others have said, just showing off solo slap bass over a drum machine doesn't really highlight why you'd want to drop major cash on an instrument. There is music where the finesse of your tone matters, and music where it doesn't (usually because it is a loud, rocky, dirtier style)
As someone who went through jazz school and kind of battled with a mid-range instrument that wasn't doing what I needed it to (a german warwick corvette), and then in my last year I managed to scrape up enough cash (and haggle with the store enough) that I got my hands on a proper, top quality, boutique bass. There were 2 big big differences - playability, and I don't just mean low action, I mean how effortless it became to achieve a good sounding note. I can make a squier sound decent for most stuff, but it's work, so that's going to be a bigger limitation as the music gets harder.
The second was quality of sound when it came to the finer details - I always, for example, felt bad when sax players or guitars would play what I felt were better solos, but I suspected it was a timbre thing. On a quality instrument it is easier to achieve a good tone across the neck without changing settings, and one that is present in the mix. I find on cheap basses, maybe I can get a decent walking tone, but if it comes time for a solo I will be muddy or drowned out (unless I turn up to be way too loud), so for me it really opened up a lot of music and playing possibilities. It was also the solution to basically daily anxiety I had as I felt I should be playing better music (and it turned out, hey, it was indeed the instrument)
If you want to just play slap licks or rock covers (or anything where youre behind distorted guitars really) I would not sweat the boutique instrument and focus more just on getting a decent version of the right type of bass (type of pickups) and a decent amp
Now i've got a full aguilar rig to go with my boutique bass and it's just awesome, never would have imagined sounding this good when I was a kid learning
As someone who went through jazz school and kind of battled with a mid-range instrument that wasn't doing what I needed it to (a german warwick corvette), and then in my last year I managed to scrape up enough cash (and haggle with the store enough) that I got my hands on a proper, top quality, boutique bass. There were 2 big big differences - playability, and I don't just mean low action, I mean how effortless it became to achieve a good sounding note. I can make a squier sound decent for most stuff, but it's work, so that's going to be a bigger limitation as the music gets harder.
The second was quality of sound when it came to the finer details - I always, for example, felt bad when sax players or guitars would play what I felt were better solos, but I suspected it was a timbre thing. On a quality instrument it is easier to achieve a good tone across the neck without changing settings, and one that is present in the mix. I find on cheap basses, maybe I can get a decent walking tone, but if it comes time for a solo I will be muddy or drowned out (unless I turn up to be way too loud), so for me it really opened up a lot of music and playing possibilities. It was also the solution to basically daily anxiety I had as I felt I should be playing better music (and it turned out, hey, it was indeed the instrument)
If you want to just play slap licks or rock covers (or anything where youre behind distorted guitars really) I would not sweat the boutique instrument and focus more just on getting a decent version of the right type of bass (type of pickups) and a decent amp
Now i've got a full aguilar rig to go with my boutique bass and it's just awesome, never would have imagined sounding this good when I was a kid learning
I really disagree. You can't buy a better bass tone if your technique is the problem. But sometimes the instrument is the problem. It depends on where a player is at with their individual journey of their skill and gear. Like I mentioned in my above post - I got to a point in jazz school where my german warwick (which you'd say is a decently solid instrument) was holding me back, so I upgraded.
I have had students who ask me about if they should upgrade their bass, and I will swap instruments with them for the lesson. I'll still be sounding better! But that's just a young student being impatient. Doesn't mean it's never the time for an instrument upgrade to = a sound upgrade (I will also add, increased playability translates to a better sound as the technique of the player is less inhibited)
Exactly. It's easy to make a cheap bass sound good. I find that playability/comfort is usually a bigger difference, even between two basses with good setups.
I would disagree with your description, completely. To me it sounded a bit scooped, and very sterile.
+1.
I'm not taking any shots at the guy... I like him!
I think most of the "negativity" that you speak of is about the premise itself... "$100 Bass > /= than a Fodera"....
I dunno about that...
Excellent, you are one of the good guys then.
PS> BTW I'm taking shots right now!
Oh, that is a very interesting statement sir!
Lol I clicked on the thread expecting completely different responses. TB Never seizes to amaze me. So much hate and jelly in this thread.
-welp no fair, different pickups and specs
-if he were playing in a style where we could actually blah blah blah
-I didn't watch the video/there's no point to this/this does nothing for me (yet you still clicked and posted in the thread)
-clickbait!
-this guy sucks.
If any of this is you, you spend wayy too much time on TB(it's ok I do too). It's a fun video by a great player with a pretty original(and successful!) YouTube channel. Don't be jelly. He's not bashing the fodera, and No one cares that your bass is more expensive than you are good.
For those of you who didn't get it, the point of the video is simply that it's not about the bass, it's about the player.
-welp no fair, different pickups and specs
-if he were playing in a style where we could actually blah blah blah
-I didn't watch the video/there's no point to this/this does nothing for me (yet you still clicked and posted in the thread)
-clickbait!
-this guy sucks.
If any of this is you, you spend wayy too much time on TB(it's ok I do too). It's a fun video by a great player with a pretty original(and successful!) YouTube channel. Don't be jelly. He's not bashing the fodera, and No one cares that your bass is more expensive than you are good.
For those of you who didn't get it, the point of the video is simply that it's not about the bass, it's about the player.
That's just a perception thing. It's gearlust pure and simple. And I know gearlust, trust me. I battle with it every day. But you will never beat materialism and GAS unless you realize that's what it is. How many people for centuries thought their violin sound was being held back, and if only they got their hands on a stradivarius, they'd be complete. I am sure some actually were able to get one, felt complete for a short time, then went on to other things, maybe even looking for a more expensive instrument. It's just human nature to want and acquire things, and through choice-supportive bias we justify the gluttony by telling ourselves we need it, often prodded by marketing.
We always want "upgrades", it never ends. But IMO you have to block the shiny objects out, and concentrate on what really matters.
BTW, I had a german Warwick, and played the chinese version. Again, in blind tests, no one would be able to tell.
