- Oct 29, 2005
- 1,038
- 39
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Aguilar Amp Gruv Gear and Mono Cases
well first off. it was an ibanez. secondly it had emg's. no wonder you hated it.
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Bass Features: Top Ten Personal Turn-Offs
- Thread starter Debased
- Start date
well first off. it was an ibanez. secondly it had emg's. no wonder you hated it.
I dunno, I've never found tones that spoke to me with their soap bars, but somehow their PJ config on a nice neckthrough bass has such a killer slap tone that roxors meh boxors.
- Oct 29, 2005
- 1,038
- 39
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Aguilar Amp Gruv Gear and Mono Cases
(i know this is a triple post, i don't care)
look at me i'm old crotchety and fear change
1) more then 4 strings
2) more than 20 frets
3) batteries
4) too many knobs
5) names starting with f and not ending with ender
6) no pick guard
7) cant be described using one letter
8) diversity
9) Al Roker
look at me i'm old crotchety and fear change
1) more then 4 strings
2) more than 20 frets
3) batteries
4) too many knobs
5) names starting with f and not ending with ender
6) no pick guard
7) cant be described using one letter
8) diversity
9) Al Roker
neck dive
cheap hardware
j pickups
big frets
bridges that remove flesh when playing rough
pre-amps
thin necks/profiles
dead spots
headstocks with piss poor string trees(including fender A's)
locking 1/4 jacks
in no order really.
cheap hardware
j pickups
big frets
bridges that remove flesh when playing rough
pre-amps
thin necks/profiles
dead spots
headstocks with piss poor string trees(including fender A's)
locking 1/4 jacks
in no order really.
can be i'm too dumb for it. yes, please. seriously! explain me what's all about this ERB thing. i don't see any guitar players having ERG's too. ok, some 7str. around, but that's it. why bassplayer should have 8/10/12+strings? at the high notes, it sounds like a guitar to me even if it's called bass. but a harp also have bassstrings and nobody call it a bass.
same here. i don't see so many guitards as bassplayers with all this woodstuff on their guitars. there should be lack of something that bassplayers have but i'm openminded to others arguments.
i have a list about 3 pages long for 6-string guitars (used to play exclusively)...but for bass, it's surprsingly short:
1. thick finishes
2. narrow string spacing
and increasingly: 3. frets
1. thick finishes
2. narrow string spacing
and increasingly: 3. frets
The Fender Precision bass is just an oversized strat body. All those bassists from the late 50's and early sixties were just guitar wannabees.
*sarcasm*
I assume that you realize that every single stereotype you stated has been said about, oh I don't know, a milliion times here already ....
Do a search and read about the ERB hating that goes on here, it'll save a bunch of time. But in brief, those of us playing ERB's explore musicality beyond the traditional 4 string role while still maintaining the bassist's primary job of groove and time. I fully understand that many bass players do not understand this concept, and that's cool. But I never understand why it's so fashionable to demean the extended range bass field .... It's really getting to be a worn out topic ...
I assume that you realize that every single stereotype you stated has been said about, oh I don't know, a milliion times here already ....
i'm sure this topic has been discussed a million times here and it is not my intention to start one more.
Do a search and read about the ERB hating that goes on here, it'll save a bunch of time. But in brief, those of us playing ERB's explore musicality beyond the traditional 4 string role while still maintaining the bassist's primary job of groove and time. I fully understand that many bass players do not understand this concept, and that's cool. But I never understand why it's so fashionable to demean the extended range bass field .... It's really getting to be a worn out topic ...
i don't hate ERB's. it just "turns me off". other bassplayer hate pickguards and p-basses. i don't care and don't want to start a discussion about this stuff either. talking about fashion, demeaning fender and other classics is the same fashion here. the arguments are made with the same stereotypes. but thank you for your explanation about the music exploration beyond the 4stringers. that's enough for me.
Another argument for ERBs - you can do the traditional things easier sometimes (i.e. having a wider pitch range under your fingers w/o shifting the hand up and down the neck.)
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but ISTR this was the rationale behind the original Fender 5 in the 60s.
Though I don't own an ERB myself (one of those old farts, ya know) I don't get the bashing. It's still a bass. It's equally possible to play tastelessly on a 4 as on a 7.
There's also the reverse though, those who regard 4 strings as inadequate. Like all those cellists and violinsts were limited by 4 strings? Please! But that's another argument for another day...
Okay, thread highjack over... Lighten up people.
Vive la difference.
GT
Some of you "enlightened" bass players are being real pushy here. Some people don't like ERBs and fancy woods with no pickguards, some of us don't even like active basses. So what? Does that threaten you? A lot of you don't like Fenders and Gibsons, you're entitled to your opinions and so are we. We don't fear change just because we like old school basses. We just like old school basses. This thread was supposed to be fun. I'm not 90 years old, either. Give us a break.
They are talking about the "Extended Range Guitars" and "Extended Range Basses" which I like to call "Finger Plucking Pianos."
So long as everyone knows what you're referring to, I suppose the terminology doesn't matter. What DOES matter is the sonic range you have immediately at your disposal, and what you paid to get it (in terms of size, weight, and playability as well as price). Keyboards come in as few as 2 octaves, or as many as 8. The 2-octave keyboardists have something much more portable, easier to cover all the notes, typically much less expensive. The 88-key versions at the opposite extreme tend to be big, heavy, harder to use all the range, and expensive. In my experience, most stage keyboard players have at least one mid-sized (5-octave or so) keyboard among their setup.
Size scaling is quite common in the music world. Check out an orchestra, and you see violins, violas, cellos, and basses. In the jazz world, you see soprano, alto, tenor and baritone sax. Over there in the baroque zone, you see sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor, bass, and contrabass recorders. No reason why electric stringed instruments shouldn't scale like that either. And sure enough, they do.
1). if its not a fender
2). if its not a fender
3). if its not a fender
4). if its not a fender
5). if its not a fender
6). if its not a fender
7). if its not a fender
8). if its not a fender
9). if its not a fender
10). if its not a fender
i think you get the picture
2). if its not a fender
3). if its not a fender
4). if its not a fender
5). if its not a fender
6). if its not a fender
7). if its not a fender
8). if its not a fender
9). if its not a fender
10). if its not a fender
i think you get the picture
Top Ten reasons to demean ERBs
:1) It's easier to criticize that which you don't understand than it is to learn about it.
2) Fear of change or progress.
3) ERBs appear intimidating to the uninitiated.
4) Insecurity.
5) Envy.
6) Conformity.
7) Too cheap to buy a decent instrument.
8) Old-school fashion slave.
9) Insufficient musical imagination, creativity, or originality.
10) Pro bono cheerleader for the Fender Corporation.
Top Ten reasons to demean ERBs
1) It's easier to criticize that which you don't understand than it is to learn about it.
2) Fear of change or progress.
3) ERBs appear intimidating to the uninitiated.
4) Insecurity.
5) Envy.
6) Conformity.
7) Too cheap to buy a decent instrument.
8) Old-school fashion slave.
9) Insufficient musical imagination, creativity, or originality.
10) Pro bono cheerleader for the Fender Corporation.
Uh-oh, check please!
Now you've done it, you just harpooned your own thread ...
Uh-oh, check please!
Now you've done it, you just harpooned your own thread ...
LOL. Yeah, but now that we have a bigger, better Top Twenty whale wallowing in the TB sea, my little thread was doomed to sink anyway
In response to several thingies: (please note, I'm doing a bunch of things at once if others answer it first....)
I realize that there are a few ERBers who sometimes knock a 4 banger, but I'm not one of 'em. As much as I love my 6, I mostly use my short scale 4 string fretless, although I'm slowly relearning/modifying a few songs on my Conklin 6. Sometimes I grab my EMG equipped 4 string and slap the hell out of it. Sometimes I grab my Fender for vintage sounds. Bassists have boatloads of options, why not use it to the max?
In regards to orchestral instruments, there's hardly the necessity for a big range.....because you have plenty of musicians dedicated to each particular range. It would be interesting to have a contra bassist, bass guitarist, and piccolo bassist in my jam band trio.....but then we'd have 5 members. I gotta cover that sort of range on my own.
The ERB phobia is entertaining, but more paranoia and lack of understanding. I'm new to 6, but I tend to play everything in the 5th position, making it a very short scale bass.
Regardless, our weapon of choice often reflects the music we play. Punk rockers want something with a p pickup, often use a pick, beat the crap out of it, and hang it low. Gospel players will play something like a Ken Smith. The fusion guys often play a 5 or a 6. Classic rockers often play a vintage or relic'd Fender. That's just the way things are....BUT, I feel that bassists are free to play the style(s) of music and basses that they choose. I don't submit to the idea that the bassist is somewhere below the guitarist's girfriend but a step above the roadies in the band leadership chart.
I realize that there are a few ERBers who sometimes knock a 4 banger, but I'm not one of 'em. As much as I love my 6, I mostly use my short scale 4 string fretless, although I'm slowly relearning/modifying a few songs on my Conklin 6. Sometimes I grab my EMG equipped 4 string and slap the hell out of it. Sometimes I grab my Fender for vintage sounds. Bassists have boatloads of options, why not use it to the max?
In regards to orchestral instruments, there's hardly the necessity for a big range.....because you have plenty of musicians dedicated to each particular range. It would be interesting to have a contra bassist, bass guitarist, and piccolo bassist in my jam band trio.....but then we'd have 5 members. I gotta cover that sort of range on my own.
The ERB phobia is entertaining, but more paranoia and lack of understanding. I'm new to 6, but I tend to play everything in the 5th position, making it a very short scale bass.
Regardless, our weapon of choice often reflects the music we play. Punk rockers want something with a p pickup, often use a pick, beat the crap out of it, and hang it low. Gospel players will play something like a Ken Smith. The fusion guys often play a 5 or a 6. Classic rockers often play a vintage or relic'd Fender. That's just the way things are....BUT, I feel that bassists are free to play the style(s) of music and basses that they choose. I don't submit to the idea that the bassist is somewhere below the guitarist's girfriend but a step above the roadies in the band leadership chart.
