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A question for the the 'old-timers'...

#61
Overall - better today. Entry level stuff is much better. They can actually qualify as a musical instrument.

Mid range is also good.

On the top level - we have more choice. Many improvements. But we have also lost some stuff. Materials are not as diverse. Ampeg is crap. Acoustic imported is entry level. I am really sorry about how the Rickenbackers have slipped.

I have to agree with bassmanrocke about amps - I have been getting great results out of vintage Acoustic cabinets. In some cases with modern speakers.

Orange county likes older speakers better - according to the website. I am sure that is a qulifiable statement though easy to take out of context.

So - overall - modern gets the knod. But to do it best take a blend of new and old.
 
#62
Baird6869 said:
I agree with all you mentioned...

Basses, stings and most amps are much better now then 20+ years ago.

There are a few exceptions and I personally love my '70's Fenders, but for the most part EVERYTHING is better now.

For $200-300 (or even less) one can buy a CNC made, far east mass produced bass that is giggable. Not a chance this was happening 20-30 years ago.
Click to expand...

This guy speaks for me.
Although the Matsumoku Jazz copy my Dad bought me for my
15 birthday for $259, MIJ by the way, was and probably is still
a fully 'giggable' instrument.

"I personally love my 70's Fenders"....all I'm trying to say.
 
#63
Better today. There are a few cherry basses from back in the day, and that (to me ) is why they bring the big bucks. But overall, today's basses are built better. There will always be people who get caught up in vintage just for the sake of vintage. I used to sell pianos. I have played, bought, sold and moved hundreds of them. A Steinway piano from the late 1800's is the heaviest piece of junk you will ever move. The build quality (other than the furniture sapect of it) isn't nearly as good as what a cheap Chinese one is today. But people will line up to pay THOUSANDS of dollars for them. Same thing with basses. There ARE some vintage basses that have that indescribable qualty that makes them worth the cash, but most are just guitars and basses from a simpler time. Nothing special about them at all.
 
#64
I started playing bass in 1967, and looking back fondly at the stuff that was around then, I can only shake my head! My beloved Gibson SG (which I still have), would only be considered a mid priced instrument today. Bevlieve me, the pros 40 years ago would love to have had basses that today, are considered "beginners"!
 
#66
I've been playing for 40+ years and everything used to be crap!

People played with felt picks or curved plastic efforts or thumb.
Strings were awful until Rotosound came on the scene. I still have a scar from a snapped 'E' string. Strings would break regularly.
Many basses had felt/rubber muting built in, sometimes under the ashtray chrome or at the bridge.
Bass amps were rare and speakers couldn't handle the load.
An 18" (pre-Acoustic days) speaker would usually flap.
Some players used Marshall 4x12 guitar cabs. A Fender 2x15 was a luxury.

Basses themselves?
My Hofner violin was evil with a ridiculous action and built-in feedback. Took me 20 years to find a Fender without a dead-spot. Early 60's Fenders were/are great but late 60's onwards weren't a patch on the early models (something to do with new owners). 70's Fenders were crap too as mass-production and offshore builds came in. You can't beat a '62 RI from Japan - those guys have morals and pride.

I'm lucky enough to have a Fodera and a Sadowsky now which are of a standard unimaginable back in the 60's.
 
#69
My Steinberger Elite agrees that it has been a while since radical ideas have been widely accepted. The thing is that there is not a store where I can go and try out a fanned fret bass. While I see the advantage I would worry that it would mess me up for playing standard basses, and then my Steinberger woudl be sad along with my 2 Carvin 6 strings.



GoesThump said:
I'm somewhere around the 27 year mark of playing myself, and I agree with the general tenor of this thread.

Today's gear is on average better, more varied, and cheaper. It's a wonderful time to start playing.

That said, it's been a *long* time since we've seen something radically new get mass acceptance, like the Steinberger did in the 80s. There's a lot of good new ideas out there (fanned frets, etc.), but there does seem to be a much more conservative aesthetic overall these days.

Still, I think now > then gearwise!

GT
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#71
I think Time will tell how well the Cheap gear of today holds up. Danelectro/Silvertone, Airline, Supro,Magnatone, Conrad,Hagstrom,Kay,Aria and a slew of other cheap gear seems to have held up quite well over the years. Yes there was some horrible instruments out there but I was always a kid who worked on his own Go-carts , mini bikes and lawnmowers. Tuning a trussrod and moving saddles(if the instrument had them) was never a big deal to me in the early 70s. All of my gear always played well. My first amp was a tube amp ripped from an old organ with a Carvin 12 in speaker in a homemade box. I was rockin at 13.
 
#72
markkoelsch said:
Overall, I would say the lower to mid priced basses have improved a bunch. It is easier to get a gig worthy bass now than it used to be on the lower end of the price range.

As far as instruments that are upper mid to high end I think things are better than ever. The pickups and electronics are better, the hardware (bridges and tuners) are better, the materials are better, and the craftsmanship is at least as good as it was, if not better.

What I cannot wait to here is how some of these instruments age. Some would argue that age is not a factor, and I would agree if the bass were composite. If it is wood, the wood does dry over time and tends to sound better. The difference is picking up new P bass, and one from the late 1950s. I have done this recently. I think that overall the construction and quality control on new basses is better, but tonally the old bass was hard to beat due to the wood. The new instrument though, as it ages, will probably be better than the old one.

Frankly, I think this is the best time to be a bassist...technology is finally catching up with our needs. You can get cutting edge instrument and you can get a bass that is like a vintage one. The amps have never been better when you survey the field. It is an awesome time! :bassist:
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I agree there is nothing like the old, "aged" woods, adn the way they age may possibly be attributed to the way that wood was finished originally. Also, new basses have reached a build quality that is amazing even when compared to the 60's. the "magic" formulas have all been worked out and with computerized, automated wood cutting techniques, its possible to exactly mass produce what usedto be hand built. Pickup and other electronic technology, which when you get down to it is actually very simple in terms of electronic engineering, have been prefected, unlike when Leo first made pickups and tone control circuitry back in the 50's. It was mainly trial and error then, no science to go by. Foreign made bass quality is quite good, because of alot of these computerized cutting and finishing techniques but it started when the Japanesse basses started rivaling their american counter parts and "Made in Japan" became a mark of quality instead of cheapness. Now Korea, Mexico and China are starting to evolve to that same place. So far I haven't been impressed with the Indonessian gear, but I'm sure they will eventually come along quality wise too. Any defects seem to be in setup; neck angle, intonation, screws not being tight, shielding being incomplete or haphazzardly applied, pickup routing just slightly off, scratch pads not cut correctly etc...in other words, attenion to detail. And in any country, attention to detail is what will make anything beautiful instead of junk.
 
#74
young punks today don't know diddly, and all you geezers who think modern stuff is better, you must have lost your dendrites. Everything was better back in the 60's. The pot was, ...... oh wait, that's not true, pot's gotten much better. Never mind................

Oh yeah, basses. Well at least back then you didn't have to figure out what to do with the 5th, 6th, or 7th string on a freakin bass guitar. Four strings, now thats what I call a bass guitar, they don't make em like that any............... oh wait, they do still make four string basses.

Back then the air was cleaner and.......... oh wait, the air is cleaner now, at least in L.A.

But back then, when you went to a concert the P.A. systems were........... oh yeah, usually crap.............

Nevermind......

but back in the 60's the women were fast and loose, oh yeah, I never got laid then either..........

Basses, even the plywood basses were works of art. What do you care about action if you don't know what action is. My first Teisco del Rey was sold cause the action was too high, you didn't adjust your bass back then, you suffered. And that suffering is what built the moral fiber of the greatest generation ever..... oh wait, that was my parent's generation..... nevermind.
 
#76
jbybj said:
young punks today don't know diddly, and all you geezers who think modern stuff is better, you must have lost your dendrites. Everything was better back in the 60's. The pot was, ...... oh wait, that's not true, pot's gotten much better. Never mind................

Oh yeah, basses. Well at least back then you didn't have to figure out what to do with the 5th, 6th, or 7th string on a freakin bass guitar. Four strings, now thats what I call a bass guitar, they don't make em like that any............... oh wait, they do still make four string basses.

Back then the air was cleaner and.......... oh wait, the air is cleaner now, at least in L.A.

But back then, when you went to a concert the P.A. systems were........... oh yeah, usually crap.............

Nevermind......

but back in the 60's the women were fast and loose, oh yeah, I never got laid then either..........

Basses, even the plywood basses were works of art. What do you care about action if you don't know what action is. My first Teisco del Rey was sold cause the action was too high, you didn't adjust your bass back then, you suffered. And that suffering is what built the moral fiber of the greatest generation ever..... oh wait, that was my parent's generation..... nevermind.
Click to expand...

:D
 
#79
Although I can't find much info on the "bass" (and I use that term VERY loosely)....Here is what I started out on....the bass I had was identical to the Silvertone Guitar model 1448L (in the catalog)

Invalid Link Removed

So, absolutely! The level of basses today, as opposed to 1968 is night and day....and that's a GOOD thing!!

And, yes, I played with a few felt pics in my day, too!

Damn! That Silvertone brings back a bunch of memories!!
 
#80
Wow, yeah, I've always wanted a nice Warwick and a while back I picked up my Schecter Elite 5, Korean built, neck through and EMG pickups. Besides converting it to 18 volts (just add a 9 volt in series per EMG's site) and changing the knurled knobs to something more pleasing) This bass is solid and has a great range of tone. all for $700. How can I justify spending 2 to 3K now. It's my main gig bass and it rocks. You can buy some really nice, newly built, inexpensive equipment nowadays.
 

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