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A rant about the re-occurring theme here..

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#101
I have played many more basses than I will ever own. I have opinions about all of them.

I will offer those opinions as I feel is dictated by the conversation in an attempt to be helpful.

I will accept the opinions of others in the same spirit.

In the end, I will realize that opinions are just that, and I will play many basses anyway.

I have played many more basses than I will ever own. I have opinions about all of them.
 
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#102
I tend to qualify my statements--I played one, several, several in various stores, I know someone who has one, etc.

hey are opinions and others' opinions will vary.

There's one type of bass I have never seen a good example of and I've tried them in different cities with different climates, in different stores, over a longer period of time.
Every one of them had the same issue.
Now some people love them, and say they've never seen one with that issue.

I won't name the bass or the issue, because some tend to take offense, and that's not my intention here.

But yes, there will be variations, and some good ones and some bad ones--but if I had bought one, while others love them, I wouldn't.
At best it would have been settling for something, just because of price.

I wound up spending more, but I am happy with my choice, and I love it.
 
#103
nostatic said:
I think Old-Fashioned Grumpiness is playing Warp Tour this summer. Kinda surprised they are on the bill...

The "I played one in GC for 5 minutes" doesn't bother me at all. The ones that I find festive are the guys who wax philosophic about how well a certain piece of gear works, then in another thread they'll comment that they only play in their bedroom. I suppose knowing what works in the bedroom is important, but not sure I'd be discussing that on TB...

If someone hasn't filled out their profile with any details, that's often your first hint (but not a clear-cut diagnostic). But that's part of the fun of TB - it truly takes all kinds of village idiots to raise a child. Or something like that. Obviously my avatar indicates my status here... *honk* *honk*
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That avatar tells me you've said too much already.
 
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#105
wvbass said:
The OP has a CS Jazz bass (masterbuilt, I think) that he paid $5500. On the one hand, he says he doesn't like Fender electronics and has replaced them with aftermarket electronics. Some would say that a $5500 bass should be perfect for the player out of the gate. Some would say that you could take a $500 MIM, plek it, roll the fingerboard edges, and have a jazz bass that plays just as well as a CS jazz bass. Pretty woods and finishes mean very little to some. Those people would play a CS jazz bass for ten seconds and realize that it feels very similar to playing any other jazz bass, especially if their income is closer to that of the guy that made those greasy McDonald's fries from the original post.

On the other hand, the OP's bass is beautiful. If I understand correctly, he also toured the custom shop when he picked it up, and presumably met the builder. This helps form a great personal connection to the bass. He has further customized the electronics, which also helps build that personal connection. The OP is a pilot with a nice income, and is clearly accustomed to a certain amount of luxury in his life. A CS Jazz bass meets his needs, and appears to be affordable, given his income.

Both opinions are valid, right? So what was this thread about again?
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well, to be fair, I've got 12 likes to my OP, 5 positive comments, and two PMs giving me a "that a boy".... seems Im not alone in views.
 
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#108
ssabass said:
I liked Samj's rant! There are many 'reviews' along the lines of 'I just tried bass X at Store X, and here is a thousand word review wherein I blame the factory for letting a bass go out the door with a set up like that and the strings are dead and its the factories shoddy QC to blame for it". I also find them entertaining though. I think many people learn from it when the TB hoard jumps down their throats and points out the typical errors with their reviews- its all about learning when it comes down to it.
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CGremlin said:
This is actually something valuable to consider. When I my 4003W arrived, I wasn't real thrilled. It was a pretty bass, for sure, but the neck was totally unlike any 4001/4003 that I'd played before, and I was kind of disappointed. Had you asked me for my opinion then, it wouldn't have been glowing. But you know what? I gave it a little bit of time, and after a couple of weeks the log-like neck didn't bug me at all. It's now one of my favorite basses, and the tone is to die for. There's an amazing difference a couple of weeks can make in someone's opinion. It can go the other way too - a bass you've been wanting a while can be the bee's knees when it's new, but over time you can find more and more that annoys you, and not long after here it is on the TB classifieds.

I'm always interested to hear what others think about gear of all kinds, and what they've read about it, what they've heard, etc. That doesn't mean I put total and complete stock in that opinion, but it's good to have as many data points as possible when looking at gear, even if some of those points are simply noise.
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people get this.... I know it's fun to make fun of my OP, and paint me as some toddler throwing a terrible 2's fit... but if you re-read my post (with the two or three edits I put in based on some constructive criticism) you'll see that it makes sense on it's face.
 
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#109
mellowinman said:
One time I tried out a Nate Mendel P-Bass at Sweetwater, and I only played it about 20 minutes, and I thought it was a really nice bass.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

I still want one.
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I have many hours of playing time and have done several shows with a Mendel P. I can tell you that it is a very nice bass. Your opinion that it is nice, however, is invalid.
 
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#110
I guess only the top person on the forum for each subject is permitted to render an opinion. Geesh, it's the Internet. The wonder of being able to broadcast to the entire world from your smartphone on a park bench also means that the other 7 billion people can do the same thing. Let the reader beware. Critical reasoning is a prime skill.
 
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#111
I'm almost always interested in hearing anybody's opinions - if they display an adequate signal to noise ratio - provided they're moderately well-written.

I also don't get annoyed much when people are spewing nonsense, or decide to come down hard, about a product or something else I think highly of. My owning and speaking highly of the Gibson Ripper over the years has put me on the receiving end of enough verbal abuse and ridicule that I'm immune to it by now.

(I do, however, still get annoyed by sloppy thinking, poor word choice, logical fallacies, and displays of magical thinking. But that's just me.)

It's all just words in the end. And this is just a forum about bass related things. It's not like we're solving the world's problems here.

So "why so serious?"
 
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#113
Yeah, I think it's like MOST things these days, there's a LOT of information, it's up to you to use critical thinking to cull out trends or recurring issues and then weigh those bits of information against your own experiences. Information is abundant, but it's not the same as knowledge.
 
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#117
Loren Herrington said:
I have never owned a pair of stiletto heals, but I know they're not for me... I've seen them, but have never owned them. Same thing with basses and equipment, I've heard basses and equipment and played with stuff that is.... not for me...
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right, so if someone is looking for Steletto heals for themselves, and asks the best brand to get, are you going to render your opinion? really?
 
#118
The problem with forums is that they are mostly made up of all the most opinionated, uninformed (though by their nature they tend to think that they're well informed), bedroom players out there who spend more time posting and agreeing with each other (furthering their ignorance) than they do playing. Couple this with their constant need to talk about how good their 'boutique' clones are (whether pedal or instrument) and you end up with a cesspit of bad advice. Take it all with a grain of salt.

As a rule of thumb, if someone paid for it before they bought it, they WILL say that it is the best thing ever and that opinion WILL be heavily bias. Everything else sucks.
 
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