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1962 Jazz $20K on the bay
- Thread starter themacinator
- Start date
Darnell Jones said:*sigh*
I do understand it's a very emotive subject. I own a few vintage basses, and it's in my own vested interest that the market stays firm and that I don't lose money on instruments if I decide to sell them at some point.
I hate when discussions get personal, and I really tried to be clear about my thoughts on an issue that doesn't get discussed very often. I'm really less interested in point scoring than discussing the issue itself rather than irrelevant assumptions.
Oh well!
I hope my smiley was obvious enough
I prefer the non personal discussions too, but this is religion for some and it just can't be discussed without egos being put on the line and defended to the death.
I hope my smiley was obvious enough
I prefer the non personal discussions too, but this is religion for some and it just can't be discussed without egos being put on the line and defended to the death.
I found your post about Gruhn very interesting, as he is pretty much the father of the modern vintage guitar market and is pretty well placed to comment.
I think that was Giraffes post, they all look alike after a while
I do know Gruhn has been fooled though.
Does anyone else wanna plug this baby in and rock it! She was made to be played, not stowed away or in a glass case!
I think that was Giraffes post, they all look alike after a while
I do know Gruhn has been fooled though.
Woops! Sorry.
No hard feelings to anyone in this thread, I hope. I brought up the issue without reference to the bass in question, and never meant to question it's actual value or authenticity. I was clear about that from the beginning, FWIW.
Interesting reading. It's been said in this thread that instruments which have not been played often sound very average if not bad. I'm curious as to how playing an instrument makes it sound better? Does if infuse "mojo" into the instrument?
I think the theory is partly that if the bass was good to begin with then it would have gotten played a lot and so wouldn't be in perfect condition after all these years.
Plausible but sometimes a bass gets put in a closet or in an attic soon after it is bought, and that's all she wrote.
I do believe instruments sound better when played a lot, but that's a whole other can of beans and probably not worth going into here- this thread has its own brand of controversy.
I am seriously interested why this might be. I just purchased a bass that was bought and stored under a bed for 13 years and it's the best sounding bass I've ever owned. I'd like to understand how if someone had played it for the last 13 years, it would sound even better. I'm assuming that there's some technical reason for this. I'm just trying to educate myself.
After weathering the current controversy, I have full faith that you can endure another one. I believe in you!
After weathering the current controversy, I have full faith that you can endure another one. I believe in you!
Probably relates to the method of storage. In a case under the bed, strung properly--no problem. No case, in a barn, two strings--problem.
Well, wood hardens as it gets older (due to the resins in it), so that could explain why an instrument under a bed for years could sound different. I have no opinions myself either way, not having the interest, desire, or means to ever find out.
Now, to go boldly where I shouldn't be going, it is my belief that most instruments benefit or at least change from being played. I've heard a lot of reasons to support the argument, and many reasons refuting it, but I do think that anything made of various parts that are joined up can settle into a state where those parts resonate sympathetically, or work together in a way they didn't when first joined up. Maybe there are other mechanical reasons, maybe there are effects at the molecular level, maybe there are effects we can't measure yet or that we don't understand yet, but I do believe in the premise as being possible. Provable, maybe very difficult, maybe I'm completely wrong. It's not worth building a religion around and I don't care enough to defend the premise, but there you go.
One of the reasons I do believe this, is that there is a general consensus that, for example, an acoustic guitar 'opens up' when played, and this belief is pretty widespread, not sure if the effect has ever been measured. Many argue that this effect is real, but not relevant to solid body instruments, especially basses. Now, to my mind, if the effect is possibly real, why would it be impossible to have at least a similar effect with a solid bodied instrument than a hollow one? We might guess that the effect would be minimal compared to a more lightly built instrument, but then, like the 'wood matters' argument, it becomes a matter of degree.
I seriously suggest if you are really interested in the phenomenon, you start a separate
thread dedicated to it, and be prepared for a bumpy ride. I ain't touching it!
Now, to go boldly where I shouldn't be going, it is my belief that most instruments benefit or at least change from being played. I've heard a lot of reasons to support the argument, and many reasons refuting it, but I do think that anything made of various parts that are joined up can settle into a state where those parts resonate sympathetically, or work together in a way they didn't when first joined up. Maybe there are other mechanical reasons, maybe there are effects at the molecular level, maybe there are effects we can't measure yet or that we don't understand yet, but I do believe in the premise as being possible. Provable, maybe very difficult, maybe I'm completely wrong. It's not worth building a religion around and I don't care enough to defend the premise, but there you go.
One of the reasons I do believe this, is that there is a general consensus that, for example, an acoustic guitar 'opens up' when played, and this belief is pretty widespread, not sure if the effect has ever been measured. Many argue that this effect is real, but not relevant to solid body instruments, especially basses. Now, to my mind, if the effect is possibly real, why would it be impossible to have at least a similar effect with a solid bodied instrument than a hollow one? We might guess that the effect would be minimal compared to a more lightly built instrument, but then, like the 'wood matters' argument, it becomes a matter of degree.
I seriously suggest if you are really interested in the phenomenon, you start a separate
thread dedicated to it, and be prepared for a bumpy ride. I ain't touching it!
