• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

A Funny Story About A Bass

BassFace01

BassFace01

Sep 28, 2009
60
0
St. Catharines
#1
Here's a little heartwarming story :)

I started playing bass about a year ago, and around october of 2009 my father decided it was about time for me to upgrade from my Affinity Squier J. We went to the local Long and McQuade's store to purchase a new bass for myself.

I was in heaven: Warwicks, Gibsons, Stingrays, and most of all Ibanez. I loved Ibanez basses. I don't know why, I just was infatuated with them. All my favourite basses on a wall, I loved it.

My father and I decided the best course of action was to go with a MIM Fender Jazz Bass. It was the best for the price, and while not my first choice (far from it) I was happy.

Months went by and slowly my love for my fender grew smaller and smaller. The strap holder started to go, and the pickups got dirty. However I was playing in multiple bands and was having a lot of fun. My guitarists have PRS guitars, costing a couple thousand dollars each. Me with my 700 dollar MIM Jazz bass, I felt a little more than inadequate :P

However they praised me for my work, and we made awesome stuff.

Christmas 2009 comes around. I asked for money and gift cards, and managed to scrounge up 1000+ dollars (combined with my birthday) to purchase whatever I wanted. I decided to go to the music store and buy that Ibanez I wanted so badly. I brought it home and played it for hours.

Days passed and for some reason it didn't feel right playing an Ibanez. It was the craziest thing, the fact that I would rather play my MIM Jazz than the beautiful Ibanez was incredible. Id rather play without active electronics. I'd rather play without the lovely block inlays. I'd rather play without the amazing locking bridge. All of this was frustrating, yet beautiful. I brought the Ibanez back and haven't loved my Jazz bass this much since the day I got it.

The point of the story (if there is one) is that often, things we want aren't actually things that are right for us. You never quite know how much you love something until you're faced with an opportunity to part with it.

Keep it low! Happy New Years!
 
#3
That was a great read. Woah.

You are very much right, wanting is usually not right for you. I hated my first bass. It was a Peavey Foundation in a cream white.
Now that I can't find it, I miss it so. It seems to be your first bass is what you want all your other basses to be like.
 
#4
You know the old saying..


You don't always get what you want, but what you get is so much better than what you wanted.


Always reigns true. I was looking for an Ibanez SR506 on the classifieds and accidentally clicked an ad for a Lakland 55-01. Guess who has absolutely NO GAS now? Guess who is never turning back? Guess who does't want that 506 anymore?
 
#5
Joetheschmoe said:
That was a great read. Woah.

You are very much right, wanting is usually not right for you. I hated my first bass. It was a Peavey Foundation in a cream white.
Now that I can't find it, I miss it so. It seems to be your first bass is what you want all your other basses to be like.
Click to expand...


Not true, I got an Ibanez GSR200 I still have as my first bass. Never touch it. Nor do I touch my fender I spent my life's savings on. Why? I bought a 55-01 for a cheap $530 shipped.
 
#8
Yeah, why are the pickups dirty? Don't you ever clean them? And a loose strap pin is 15 seconds work with a Philips screwdriver.

The lesson is not to get hung up on the price of the bass. You can sound great OR lousy on a $200 used bass or a $2000 boutique bass. $700 is more than I've ever paid for any of my 10 basses.
 
#11
jarrhead said:
Not true, I got an Ibanez GSR200 I still have as my first bass. Never touch it. Nor do I touch my fender I spent my life's savings on. Why? I bought a 55-01 for a cheap $530 shipped.
Click to expand...

I guess that's true for you. I mean, I didn't start out on a GSR200, I started out on an old Peavey Foundation. Great bass. Also, I have not been so lucky to get a deal like that. You lucky... :D

I pretty much only use P/J basses now, but I long for a bass with soapbars, and a thin maple neck.
 
#12
Awesome story man. Now that I look back on my bass career, I started with a Squier Affinity P-Bass, hated it and moved to an Ibanez GSR200, sold that and picked up a Fender BG-31, Squier Affinity Jazz V and another Squier Affinity P-Bass.

Now I have the Fender BG-31, the Squier Affinity P-Bass and I'll soon own an SX fretless P-Bass. Coming full circle. GAS really gets the best of us sometimes.
 
#13
Strap pins are no problem..strap locks, some wooden tooth picks, dab of wood glue and a screw driver=problem solved! For the pick ups just get a cover and clean your bass. Every year I break my bass down to do a full cleaning, tighten everything up, wax the body, lemon oil on fretboard and run 2000 grit sandpaper on the back of the neck (makes it super slick!).
 
#14
Very heart warming I agre with you however I picked out my 1st bass and while not the Squier P bass my parents wanted me to get the Yasmaha RBX170 "Sin-i-ster" is my first love. "She" is my bass soulmate. I'm glad someone shared a nice story I'm printing it to show my bass buddies at practice.
 
#15
I have 5 (and a half) basses.
Luckily I started out good, with my Fender P-bass. Sure, it's MiM, but I wouldn't trade it for one of John Entwistle's personal Alembics. I wouldn't even trade it for Cliff Burton's Rickenbacker.

I feel wierd playing my other ones (only one is a P-style) because my tone is so heavily dependent on that bass.
It's also got the money in parts; Staplocks, Hipshot Extender, bridge cover, three pickguards....
I definitely play favorites. :D
 
#16
I enjoyed the story. I've got 18 basses, paid $450 for the most expensive two. My first Ibanez Blazer is still my fave, and I got it in Dec '82. In fact, I am playing two additional Blazers I bought on Ebay for $160 and $200. Money doesn't mean much. It is simply the sound and feel. I can think of tons of players I've known through the years, and the ones with the beaters always seem to be the better players for some reason. I agree so much about what you get comfy with. After nearly 20 attempts, I always go back to my Blazers or P style guitars. I GAS all the time still, but I feel like I am in denial. Always searching for the perfect bass!
 
#17
Thanks for the feedback guys!

It's funny how many people share the same feelings as I do,

When I go to a music store with my buddies, we head to the bass room, and I always play a Fender. They always say "Why do you always play the bass you already have?"

It's quite funny :) I guess they don't understand :(
 
#18
BassFace01 said:
Thanks for the feedback guys!

It's funny how many people share the same feelings as I do,

When I go to a music store with my buddies, we head to the bass room, and I always play a Fender. They always say "Why do you always play the bass you already have?"

It's quite funny :) I guess they don't understand :(
Click to expand...

Well, I don't share your feelings! And no I don't understand! Love a bass just because I started with it? Feh. You should see the crap I started with! Join the Fender admiration society? Feh. I've got a MIM Fender Deluxe and it'd be the first thing I'd sell if I had to get rid of something! I got it for "old school" and it does that job quite nicely. But by personal preference I pick my SX over the Fender unless I really need to "show class" with tobacco sunburst, tort guard and Fender on headstock.

And the thing I REALLY don't understand is someone who can't appreciate the modern sound of Ibanez. Dude! They are the Standard for "modern" bass sounds the way Fender is the standard for "old school". OK, I don't own one, but if I were into the kind of music that needed one, I'd get one in a second rather than trying to cram some out of date Fender tone into music where it doesn't fit.

My story is that I own a nice stable of boutique basses where each one does it's thing like a miracle! Dream on kid! But one day I'm bopping into the local music store and the owner yells across the store to me; "Hey! You just GOTTA hear this bass!" It was a used Modulus TBX and indeed I DID need to hear it. I walked out of the store with it and it's been my main axe ever since. It has tone to die for, B string to die for, graphite neck never needs adjusting no matter how bad the weather and cuts the mix like a knife through hot butter...something my Fender is NEVER gonna do. You should ever be so lucky, kid.

So, do I play it for everything no matter what like Fender-lovers do? No. I use it where it fits. Did I sell all my other basses because I was in love? Do I look that dumb? Each of my basses was bought because it provided me with something special. Will I suddenly not need that because I bought something new? Hardly. I play the bass that fits the music. When it's the Fender I play it. Otherwise, I don't.

It's stories like the one in this thread that make me wonder just what is wrong inside the heads of some bass players. Does Fender sprinkle addictive substances or love potion inside their basses that makes normal bass players loose their common sense once they hold one? Inquiring minds want to know.
 
#19
bassbenj said:
It's stories like the one in this thread that make me wonder just what is wrong inside the heads of some bass players. Does Fender sprinkle addictive substances or love potion inside their basses that makes normal bass players loose their common sense once they hold one? Inquiring minds want to know.
Click to expand...

There isn't anything wrong with someone who only likes Fender. There is something wrong with whoever can't understand why people only like Fender. They make good instruments. I have never had ONE instance where an Ibanez fit the music better than my Precision bass did. Have you? Yes, obviously. You know why? We don't have the same set of ears.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back