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What is necessary, IMHO, is the right bass for the right gig. Some might advise you bring a nice clunky old Precision to a blues or rock gig, or a Jazz to an R&B gig, or, heck, an Hamer Scarab for your Def Leppard tribute band gig. 
Those guitars aren't "expensive" in the sense of the word (leaving vintage/custom shop out of the equation). That said, there is nothing like being up close and personal with the craftsmanship of a Fodera, Alembic or Spector. Those very expensive instruments are examples of the finest basses around, and with good reason - they take a lot of work to build, by hand, and their playability and sound palette are unmatched, at least for me. Are they appropriate for your blues gig at the local dive? That would be for your to decide. Are they better for you than the aforementioned Fenders? Again, for you to decide. Can any of those axes cut the gig? Of course. YMMV.
Those guitars aren't "expensive" in the sense of the word (leaving vintage/custom shop out of the equation). That said, there is nothing like being up close and personal with the craftsmanship of a Fodera, Alembic or Spector. Those very expensive instruments are examples of the finest basses around, and with good reason - they take a lot of work to build, by hand, and their playability and sound palette are unmatched, at least for me. Are they appropriate for your blues gig at the local dive? That would be for your to decide. Are they better for you than the aforementioned Fenders? Again, for you to decide. Can any of those axes cut the gig? Of course. YMMV.
Fair enough, you are more than welcome to play her , if that opportunity arises, and you will fall in to one of two very distinct groups, those that can play her well.... and those that can't.....i am never surprised by the many that end up in the can't camp.
The 'Rule of Thumb' is a general one, some see it..... some don't, so fair enough if you disagree. If i say my JV P bass is better than any bass i have played then it is....subjective to me, but it is better than any Sadowsky i have played...subjective to me.
By the way, if you cannot tell the difference between a JV and a MIM guitar then maybe you may should so you don't look...and sound silly???
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Is a thread on this topic every week necessary?
Not super familiar with King Krule, but I am a huge Smiths fan. My suggestion there would be a P-bass played with a pick. It's a staple for Indie rock (at least from what I see) and in a professional situation, most any recording engineer knows how to mix for a P-bass since they are so common.
In total agreement with your first line - the player makes the bass.
In total disagreement with your second line. There is nothing gained by struggling with a poorly built bass with a bad setup. If anything you could cause more harm than good in learning bad habits. Yeah, my first electric guitar was a $25 POS bought at a garage sale so I "paid my dues". It was a nightmare. The good thing was I already had a good acoustic that I began learning on (the parents didn't want me playing that evil rock and/or roll
), so I got through it.But when someone comes to me and says their son/daughter wants to learn bass or guitar, I advise them to buy a decent instrument. Now the current Squiers are plenty good - we are in somewhat of a golden age of instruments where even cheap basses are totally playable. But that was not so much the case 20, 30, 40 years ago.
Agree with your final point - if your bass makes you happy then it is a good bass. But I have never picked up a Squier or Fender that was close to my Fodera. They were totally serviceable basses, but far from the best bass I own or have ever played. And as always, YMMV.
Of course not. I good player could probably do fine with a decent Squier P or J for almost situation. But where's the fun in that? Most people don't "need" anything but a 10 year old Honda Civic to transport them to work/school etc...but people buy what they like with their money. Nobody needs much more than an apartment with a number of bedrooms appropriate for their family size, but lots of people have nice houses.
I spent he first couple years that I buying basses in the $300 - 500 price range. ESP, LTD, Traveler, Schecter, Ibanez, Fender, Squier, KSD... probably spent $4,000-5,000 trying to find the right one.
I eventually upgraded to the Ibanez SR Premium, 2 BQW basses from Atlanta Bass Gallery, as well as 2 Roscoes... so, chalk that up to another $8,000.
This past Christmas, I decided to sell the Roscoe's and buy a Fodera. With the dual coils and the Pope pre-amp, I can coax all the tones that I would ever need from a bass. I still have 2 others (an Adler and a Fender PJ Deluxe) but I rarely pick them up.
If I would have done this earlier, I would have saved myself a LOT of money....
I eventually upgraded to the Ibanez SR Premium, 2 BQW basses from Atlanta Bass Gallery, as well as 2 Roscoes... so, chalk that up to another $8,000.
This past Christmas, I decided to sell the Roscoe's and buy a Fodera. With the dual coils and the Pope pre-amp, I can coax all the tones that I would ever need from a bass. I still have 2 others (an Adler and a Fender PJ Deluxe) but I rarely pick them up.
If I would have done this earlier, I would have saved myself a LOT of money....
I am more than capable of distinguishing between a JV and a MIM, although I don't expect that I will ever have to or care which is which. This comment was not aimed at you. However, if you feel that your JV is better or even as good as a Sadowsky, please feel free to take the comment personally...
In total agreement with your first line - the player makes the bass.
In total disagreement with your second line. There is nothing gained by struggling with a poorly built bass with a bad setup. If anything you could cause more harm than good in learning bad habits. Yeah, my first electric guitar was a $25 POS bought at a garage sale so I "paid my dues". It was a nightmare. The good thing was I already had a good acoustic that I began learning on (the parents didn't want me playing that evil rock and/or roll
But when someone comes to me and says their son/daughter wants to learn bass or guitar, I advise them to buy a decent instrument. Now the current Squiers are plenty good - we are in somewhat of a golden age of instruments where even cheap basses are totally playable. But that was not so much the case 20, 30, 40 years ago.
Agree with your final point - if your bass makes you happy then it is a good bass. But I have never picked up a Squier or Fender that was close to my Fodera. They were totally serviceable basses, but far from the best bass I own or have ever played. And as always, YMMV.
I never said badly made or badly set up, i said an instrument you have to "work".
I would never recommend any bad instrument, but we are talking price, and today's instruments are mainly CNC made, so mass production with great quality control...quickly....this means affordability...or cheap..which is what the thread is about.
Anyone who learns on any subject that makes them work harder will have a better, easier, and more productive future from that broad experience, you can only appreciate how easy something is when you can compare it to how hard it was.....this is true in life as it is with playing any instrument.
No probs here, but if you quote me, then post under that quote.....how would you take it....as a general opinion or a personal one?
- Jun 6, 2012
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- Disclosures
- I don't wait 30 minutes after eating, to go swimming.
Joe Dart still plays a MIM jazz bass he got when he was a teenager. (perhaps up to his eyeballs in compression in this recording, but still.)
Expensive basses are necessary if you wanna look "cool", I guess. They're certainly one way to impress your friends and they will have a top build quality and sound.
Though, I wouldn't consider them necessary. It's all down to personal preference, really. Personally, I only buy basses under £1,000 (and typically second hand too) because I've played enough basses under 1k which I've liked. To me, I don't see the point in paying that much for one, but to others, it is a necessity.
I guess, if you can afford it, why not?
Though, I wouldn't consider them necessary. It's all down to personal preference, really. Personally, I only buy basses under £1,000 (and typically second hand too) because I've played enough basses under 1k which I've liked. To me, I don't see the point in paying that much for one, but to others, it is a necessity.
I guess, if you can afford it, why not?
Hmmn
Necessary is subjective.
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Depends on Your Gig(s) and Objectives
I play a ton of mega churches, recording and snob gigs. They do like to pick and choose between guitar preferences.
Having pretty quilted modulus... quilted redwood cirrus.. basic black... lineless fretless... upright... electric upright and pinstriped hybird .. beat up early Pbass... 4 strings/5 stings/6 strings/7 strings.... a sunburst and in your face conklin does give me a booking edge in auditions or on my PR kit..
I'm a side man gigho --- I'll do anything including dress to have unique advantages.
All that being said, I commonly prefer a used $600 bass.
-----
Setup
Heck... I've picked up some of my high end basses from a good setup shop... they still need to be tweeked.
All that being said.. quality strings... quality amplification are probably more necessary.
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I'll always remind everyone.. people hear with their eyes (before their ears).. their eyes and ears tip you -- not your crazy preferences.
Necessary is subjective.
------
Depends on Your Gig(s) and Objectives
I play a ton of mega churches, recording and snob gigs. They do like to pick and choose between guitar preferences.
Having pretty quilted modulus... quilted redwood cirrus.. basic black... lineless fretless... upright... electric upright and pinstriped hybird .. beat up early Pbass... 4 strings/5 stings/6 strings/7 strings.... a sunburst and in your face conklin does give me a booking edge in auditions or on my PR kit..
I'm a side man gigho --- I'll do anything including dress to have unique advantages.
All that being said, I commonly prefer a used $600 bass.
-----
Setup
Heck... I've picked up some of my high end basses from a good setup shop... they still need to be tweeked.
All that being said.. quality strings... quality amplification are probably more necessary.
----
I'll always remind everyone.. people hear with their eyes (before their ears).. their eyes and ears tip you -- not your crazy preferences.
I took a different attitude with me when I started Ed playing bass at 15.
I was a saxophone player, Alto and tenor.
You played all of them you could lay your hands on, and what you bought you kept unless you needed an entirely different instrument regularly.
Otherwise, you rented a soprano or baritone.
Now this is where it's going to divert from music.
My father was in the Army before my brothers were born.
He was a shooter, we spent most of our time on the rifle range with an M14 and a dope book containing every shot he had made with that particular rifle every day for years. Any possible condition, he had data.
Fast forward to my brothers being born, the old man took a job as a Fed, still a shooter though.
They are issued weapons, and most Feds did not take their sons to the armory to go thru literally pallets of pistols, submachine guns, rifles, long rifles, and shotguns with whatever contracted ammo they used that year to cull the best ones. The old man would have those specific weapons assigned to him, and basically grumbled when he'd get transferred permanently to somewhere else.
Eventually, around 86 we stopped going to the armory on draw day.
In fact, the old man stopped shooting his allocation of practice ammo + whoever else on his detail he could get to sign over their allotment.
All the sneaky officially frowned upon custom work, personal weapons, and generally pickiness went away.
He would get whatever he was issued, shoot the piss out of it for a couple weekends, qualify, and forget about it.
This is the same cycle I saw working vintage stores when my employers started having us screw together Warmoth parts as gig or proxy instruments.
Slowly the guy would want very general configs.
Personalization would give way to concern over repeatability and reliability.
Minute details became unimportant, especially to the working customers.
It was like my old man, cover the X needs with Y items and off the guy goes.
OP, maybe check off the things you have to have all the time.
Refine the needs to the point it's obsessive.
Get over the hump where the gear has anything to do with your performance.
Build your taste so that if a factory instrument doesn't do it, you "know" rather than "want" your build sheet line items.
If something happens to your daily drivers, they can be replaced bc you know what tools you need instead of work unique magic thing.
I was a saxophone player, Alto and tenor.
You played all of them you could lay your hands on, and what you bought you kept unless you needed an entirely different instrument regularly.
Otherwise, you rented a soprano or baritone.
Now this is where it's going to divert from music.
My father was in the Army before my brothers were born.
He was a shooter, we spent most of our time on the rifle range with an M14 and a dope book containing every shot he had made with that particular rifle every day for years. Any possible condition, he had data.
Fast forward to my brothers being born, the old man took a job as a Fed, still a shooter though.
They are issued weapons, and most Feds did not take their sons to the armory to go thru literally pallets of pistols, submachine guns, rifles, long rifles, and shotguns with whatever contracted ammo they used that year to cull the best ones. The old man would have those specific weapons assigned to him, and basically grumbled when he'd get transferred permanently to somewhere else.
Eventually, around 86 we stopped going to the armory on draw day.
In fact, the old man stopped shooting his allocation of practice ammo + whoever else on his detail he could get to sign over their allotment.
All the sneaky officially frowned upon custom work, personal weapons, and generally pickiness went away.
He would get whatever he was issued, shoot the piss out of it for a couple weekends, qualify, and forget about it.
This is the same cycle I saw working vintage stores when my employers started having us screw together Warmoth parts as gig or proxy instruments.
Slowly the guy would want very general configs.
Personalization would give way to concern over repeatability and reliability.
Minute details became unimportant, especially to the working customers.
It was like my old man, cover the X needs with Y items and off the guy goes.
OP, maybe check off the things you have to have all the time.
Refine the needs to the point it's obsessive.
Get over the hump where the gear has anything to do with your performance.
Build your taste so that if a factory instrument doesn't do it, you "know" rather than "want" your build sheet line items.
If something happens to your daily drivers, they can be replaced bc you know what tools you need instead of work unique magic thing.
So you're saying that current cheap instruments are as good as a boutiques but that they are also harder to play?
Agree that hard work pays off. Fail to see how that relates to instrument price.
One way to look at expensive basses is, it's great for the economy. It keeps people employed, it provides job, it provides income for all the overhead middlemans, and it satisfies peoples desires. So, expensive basses are necessary for the economy. But keep in mind it's a small part of the economy.
