Ambient/Post-Rock/Textural bass playing thread

[monsterthompson]

p.s. when you play with people who have $30k bassoons or crazy instruments like contralto clarinets or tubaxes, these don’t seem like much.

Totally. I’ve got a family member who played concert piano and the price tag on the two pianos at home dwarfs most bass guitar prices (obviously). Another family member was a cellist in the Philadelphia Phil and friends with Yo-Yo Ma. I’d probably go insane knowing the values of the instruments being played.

As a young punk (18-21 probably) I became friends with an older guitarist who killed playing finger style. I’d see him at a coffee shop singer/songwriter night and just listen in awe. One night he had some gorgeous hollow body stunner with him. After his set I asked him about it and and he handed it to me to play. I quietly plucked at it like I knew what I was doing, while my buddy chatted with him about it. As we walked away my buddy told me I was holding a $40,000 - $50,000 vintage instrument (in mid 90s dollars). I nearly fell over.

 

[steubig]

totally. and then there’s my friend who plays modular synth and trumpet. i once casually asked him what his smaller modular setup cost.

made me feel better about what i paid for my basses.

in the end, you get the tools that help you do what you wanna do.

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

p.s. when you play with people who have $30k bassoons or crazy instruments like contralto clarinets or tubaxes, these don’t seem like much.

Exactly. One of my upright teachers had a bass worth over 70 000$.

It had a waiting list for when he would "retire" or decide to part with it.

 

[steubig]

in a way it’s just priorities. sometimes i see people complaining about what someone else paid for an instrument and i wonder if they are willing to spend more on a tv or a fancy car stereo (etc.) than on their instrument. works for me if they do, but leave me alone.

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

in a way it’s just priorities. sometimes i see people complaining about what someone else paid for an instrument and i wonder if they are willing to spend more on a tv or a fancy car stereo (etc.) than on their instrument. works for me if they do, but leave me alone.

And that upright has probably doubled in price in 20 years.

Car stereo....ishhhh..not so much.

Edit not to mention 10 000 dollar bows.....with two backups!!!!!

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

@steubig
How do those Fodera bass hold up on the road/real world??

I mean can they take the "abuse"???

 

[monsterthompson]

@steubig
How do those Fodera bass hold up on the road/real world??

I mean can they take the "abuse"???

Obviously not. That’s we he has 27 of them for spares.

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

Obviously not. That’s we he has 27 of them for spares.

Smart move.
Money well invested.

Better than someone I use to play with.
Spare everything, pedals, cabs, amp heads(his f#%#^ tube 7447485959$ head would always fail) 3 spare guitars.....ohhh....the best part.
He had no car or driver's license.

 

[dukeorock]

Creepy yet cool.
Fans.....bass dudes have fans???
Since when,...i didn't get that memo???

we live in strange times, friend

Pictures creepy fan at back of stage door after show..."But... but... dukeofrock... I gave you some basses... you took them, right? That means you're going to love me foreeeeevvverrrrr, right? I'm your biggest fan... Why won't you return my calls? Who was that woman you were with?"

Sounds like a horror movie.

Wow! Kinda took crazy the ball and ran with it! The super fan is a nice fella and new money. I think he’s just a generous dude by nature. He also told me if I don't like any of the basses, I can feel free to sell em or trade for something I do want. He once gave me a 4003 that I traded for the Sabre, which has come in handy on some sessions. I also sold the ‘71 EB3L he gave me because it just wasn’t my bag.
By far my favorite bass he gave me was the ‘67 Hofner. I’ve never even considered owning one, but it’s a real gem at times and I’ve done a lot of recording with it.
I’m definitely not a collector! I really don’t need or even want this many basses. Live, I pretty much stick with the Gibson TBird or Fano mostly. For sessions it’s all over the map, but with most Nashville sessions I could likely just bring one P bass w/ flats and call it good.

 

[steubig]

@steubig
How do those Fodera bass hold up on the road/real world??

I mean can they take the "abuse"???

i wouldn’t fly at all with the 12s. don’t trust the airlines. i have flown with the others in double gig bags: east coast, canada, europe. toured both europe and u.s. seemed okay.

but airlines these days… i got the headless basses for that specific purpose, but they became my faves when i got them.

anyway, i think the basses are solid. i had a gigbag zipper fail and a bass took a three foot fall. no problem. the neck throughs are basically solid wood. i guess i might worry about the headstock joint, but they’ve fallen and nothing happened.

i had some leduc ubasses for a bit. brilliant instruments, but i hit the top *hard* sometimes (like it hurts). those were not gonna take that biz. foderas no problem.

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

i wouldn’t fly at all with the 12s. don’t trust the airlines. i have flown with the others in double gig bags: east coast, canada, europe. toured both europe and u.s. seemed okay.

but airlines these days… i got the headless basses for that specific purpose, but they became my faves when i got them.

anyway, i think the basses are solid. i had a gigbag zipper fail and a bass took a three foot fall. no problem. the neck throughs are basically solid wood. i guess i might worry about the headstock joint, but they’ve fallen and nothing happened.

i had some leduc ubasses for a bit. brilliant instruments, but i hit the top *hard* sometimes (like it hurts). those were not gonna take that biz. foderas no problem.

Air travel sux with an instrument. (Good thinking with the headless idea....much shorter)
I've been lucky. Never any damage on a bass but the cases where beat to crap and had busted latches. (I always tape the latches, but customs open the thing and never tape it closed).

 

[steubig]

Air travel sux with an instrument. (Good thinking with the headless idea....much shorter)
I've been lucky. Never any damage on a bass but the cases where beat to crap and had busted latches. (I always tape the latches, but customs open the thing and never tape it closed).

yeah. flying blows. the headless basses are made to be taken apart so i could have them and a smaller bag. i’ve had a hard time finding someone to make me the bag. won’t matter for a least a year, i think.

gig bags in overhead were preferred, but that was going away.

 

[Bob_Ross]

p.s. when you play with people who have $30k bassoons or crazy instruments like contralto clarinets or tubaxes, these don’t seem like much.

Coincidentally, a dear friend and former bandmate got a contra-alto clarinet a few years ago, and one of the first things he said after he showed it to me was "we've gotta do some duo gigs ...and you have to bring all that crazy looping stuff!"

...and I haven't seen him since.

But that is one badass instrument.


And speaking of badass instruments, man @steubig those 12-strings, cot day-um!

 

[dukeorock]

Got 6 mockups for my record cover. Leaning toward one of these

 

[steubig]

does one fit the music better?

 

[monsterthompson]

Got 6 mockups for my record cover. Leaning toward one of these
View attachment 3819852 View attachment 3819853

2nd one gets my impulsive choice

 

[dukeorock]

does one fit the music better?

That’s what I’m trying to figure out! Listening to the record and looking at the images now. Still a bit torn

 

[steubig]

That’s what I’m trying to figure out! Listening to the record and looking at the images now. Still a bit torn

they both have their strong points. the top one is a little more mysterioso and moody. the bottom has a more vibrant, in-your-face vibe; a little more movement.

to be honest (if that’s okay), i don’t love the font treatment in either one, as i think they each fight their image a bit.

might be the hard lines with white text (though the top has gradations).

 

[dukeorock]

they both have their strong points. the top one is a little more mysterioso and moody. the bottom has a more vibrant, in-your-face vibe; a little more movement.

to be honest (if that’s okay), i don’t love the font treatment in either one, as i think they each fight their image a bit.

might be the hard lines with white text (though the top has gradations).

Man, I appreciate the insights! I’d have to see the high res versions, then I’m still not sure I’d have a good enough eye

 

[steubig]

Man, I appreciate the insights! I’d have to see the high res versions, then I’m still not sure I’d have a good enough eye

imo, the high res will only make the texture in the images (which are both really good) more noticeable. the contrast of type vs. image will be there no matter what.

caveat: i’ve been doing my own artwork/design since 20-25 years, so i have my *biases*.