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Bass designers are trying to hard ...?

#41
kevteop said:
I've been playing bass for over 20 years and I can't understand why anyone would need such a wide array of choices either.

Electric guitarists seem to stick with three or four different sounds that have been popular since the '50s and '60s, and they're right up front of the mix where people can actually hear what their instrument sounds like. Bass players are going to be mostly making a low humming noise behind that - why do they need so much variety?
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Guitarists mainly stick with the classic instruments, yes, but rarely do they play them without going through numerous effects boxes. Both guitar players in my band have pedal boards, the lead guitar player has probably invested about $3K on his board. So, yes, they play the classic guitars but people don't really know what they sound like in a "clean" setting.
 
#42
Bassduckkk said:
Earlier today i had a discussion with my friend who is a guitarist turned bassist, i showed him some of the dingwall basses and his reply was, " i dont like them " so i asked why and his reply was " the only reason youd buy a bass like that is to make a statement, like look i have this bass witch noone else has makeing people think your a better player than you are ", now usually comments like this dont bother me but i dont get why if he's never heard the bass and is judging it by its looks, personally i think the dingwall bass is beautiful instrument very well crafted, hes stuck in his way of i want a standard shape like fender. he ended this discussion with i think desingers are trying to hard to be different and new making it look as though the instrument is trying to hard, i want to know what yous think
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Suppose Leo Fender stopped designing about 1970 ...

Then we would not have the Stingray or the G&L basses ...
 
#44
I've often claimed that I prefer to play 'em like Leo designed them, 4 strings and passive pickups, and that's what I usually play. But in truth a 5 string Modulus, 35" scale with 18v active electronics is the best bass I've ever owned and the most enjoyable to play.

Some of us guys who still play "Mustang Sally" don't always "Tell It Like It Is". (sorry Aaron). ;)
 
#45
Love kevteop's responses. And just when I had really nailed my tapped Jetson's theme . . .

The bass guitar as an instrument is roughly 60 years old. From the number of strings, to scale length, electronics options (active & passive), hardware choices and construction techniques there have been countless changes and variations.

Each player has to decide if those variations are improvements in their eyes or if they'd rather stick with a classic look, feel and sound. Personally I've got some of each. But make no mistake about it, no matter what you play people will make judgements about you and your playing based on your gear. That's just life.

I do find it interesting though to look at a guy like John Paul Jones. Sure, he played a 62 Jazz and 51 P on all of the early Zeppelin albums but then moved to Alembic and finally custom Monson basses with 10 and 12 strings among them.

If a 70 year old Jimi Hendrix were still alive today, what guitar would he be playing? Still Strats? Something much more modern? Abandoning guitar altogether for electronic music? Who knows?

But the point to me is that gear we now call vintage because we loved the music made with it was actually state of the art at the time.

I have no issue with loving passive Fenders but the idea of looking down one's nose at people using much more modern tools in more modern music seems to go against the idea of being a musician, which is all about expression.
 
#46
kevteop said:
I do sometimes think that bassists tend to buy flashier instruments than guitarists because it's the only way they can get any attention.

I mean, most guys who are doing well seem to get by with quite plain-looking basses, but then there's that army of middle-aged pub rockers with quilted maple tops and LED dot markers and so on. Why? You're only going to play Mustang Sally on it.
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Funny. I am totally that guy.

The way I look at is that I'll be dead in 20 years, or close to it, so enjoy life. I enjoy playing, so the wallet is open. I know I have no right to the kind of rig I'm using, and I feel bad for the talented musicians who deserve it but can't afford similar gear, but... still... eat your heart out.
 
#47
The first Big Al 5 I owned I 'thought' about it's look and shape while I was playing it, even though I loved it's tone. I ended up selling it for some reason I cannot recall at this point.

Since i've bought a second one I've not thought about it's shape or look at all while playing or gigging it. It just fits me perfectly.
 
#48
First of I play mustang sally yey! and i got sandberg, alembic, vigier, lakland among others. But why shouldn't i have so diffrent basses? i love the craftmanship, the variation of tones, necks, woods and the strings.so what if the audiens don't hear the diffrents. I know the diffrents! when I sit at home and play everything from primus, jaco, deep purple it is nice to have many basses to chose from. why shouldn't i have have the right. (well no one can tell me not to) so to all my girls in my guitar stand..... I LOVE YOU ALL! hehe
 
#49
FunkMetalBass said:
I was talking to a bass luthier at NAMM a couple years back, and asked him if he ever made guitars. He told me that he used to make custom guitars, but he got tired of the lack of creativity that guitarists had in their designs. "Everybody wanted a custom 60's Les Paul or Fender with X color and Y pickups."
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But it also seems that majority of bass builders has some sort of Ps and Js in their line up, too.
 
#51
west*coast*bass said:
Guitarists mainly stick with the classic instruments, yes, but rarely do they play them without going through numerous effects boxes. Both guitar players in my band have pedal boards, the lead guitar player has probably invested about $3K on his board. So, yes, they play the classic guitars but people don't really know what they sound like in a "clean" setting.
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This made me chuckle...
 
#52
LowBstring said:
Funny. I am totally that guy.

The way I look at is that I'll be dead in 20 years, or close to it, so enjoy life. I enjoy playing, so the wallet is open. I know I have no right to the kind of rig I'm using, and I feel bad for the talented musicians who deserve it but can't afford similar gear, but... still... eat your heart out.
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Can I just be clear: I was making a point about what bass guitars look like, because appearances are important. And I find it a bit incongruous (to say the least) when the instrument that plays the most low-key role in the band is the most ostentatious-looking.

I didn't mention how much stuff costs because I don't think that's important, and I never meant to imply that anyone had 'no right' to use any given bits of music-making gear.
 
#56
kevteop said:
Well, in all honesty, if I wasn't a bass player and I was auditioning bass players and a guy showed up with a Dingwall, it would ring alarm bells.

I would be thinking "This guy is going to want to fit in a slap solo somewhere" or "This guy is going to play harmonics in between all the songs" or "This guy's got a tapping version of the Jetsons theme he's going to try to shoehorn into the set".

Rightly or wrongly, that is what I'd think.
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So people who play Dingwalls are wankers?

Hopefully you'd give him a chance to actually play.
 
#57
Bassduckkk said:
Earlier today i had a discussion with my friend who is a guitarist turned bassist, i showed him some of the dingwall basses and his reply was, " i dont like them " so i asked why and his reply was " the only reason youd buy a bass like that is to make a statement, like look i have this bass witch noone else has makeing people think your a better player than you are "
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People using a classic Fender P Bass are making just as much a statement as someone using the newest modern designed bass.
Your friend made an ill-informed ignorant statement, that's all.
 
#58
Bassduckkk said:
Earlier today i had a discussion with my friend who is a guitarist turned bassist, i showed him some of the dingwall basses and his reply was, " i dont like them " so i asked why and his reply was " the only reason youd buy a bass like that is to make a statement, like look i have this bass witch noone else has makeing people think your a better player than you are ", now usually comments like this dont bother me but i dont get why if he's never heard the bass and is judging it by its looks, personally i think the dingwall bass is beautiful instrument very well crafted, hes stuck in his way of i want a standard shape like fender. he ended this discussion with i think desingers are trying to hard to be different and new making it look as though the instrument is trying to hard, i want to know what yous think
Click to expand...

Maybe your friend is an idiot?
 
#59
kevteop said:
Well, in all honesty, if I wasn't a bass player and I was auditioning bass players and a guy showed up with a Dingwall, it would ring alarm bells.

I would be thinking "This guy is going to want to fit in a slap solo somewhere" or "This guy is going to play harmonics in between all the songs" or "This guy's got a tapping version of the Jetsons theme he's going to try to shoehorn into the set".

Rightly or wrongly, that is what I'd think.
Click to expand...

I would love to play with this guy. The jetsons sounds awesome!
 

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