bass names

[devnulljp]

stemmed from what she knows about BB King and Lucille the most famous guitar ever.

Lucille wasn't *a* guitar though. He called all his guitars Lucille.
The original from the fire story was a Gibson L-30, but he also called this one Lucille

And this was Lucille

And this was Lucille

Albert Collins on the other hand, had one (main) guitar -- a 66 Tele Custom with a Gibson humbucker in the neck position -- and I vaguely remember he called that Lucille.

 

[JamesGrant]

I used to play with a guitarist who played a Fender Jazz Master through a Fender Tweed Deluxe. I used to (rather unkindly) call it ‘The Treblecaster’.

 

[LowActionHero]

I name all of mine. I won't go through all of their names as they each have their own story/origin

But that's the best part!

 

[JamesGrant]

My one cat, who just showed up five years ago and never left, has a name which she absolutely refuses to acknowledge. She will answer only to "kitty cat."

That is ‘the’ perfect cat name though.
I always wanted to have a cat called ‘Jesus’ so I could call to Jesus in the dark whilst shaking a box of biscuits. The wife won’t let me though.

 

[Shepsdad]

Oh wow, I don’t know how I forgot about my Squier sonic P, I call it the grinch, because it’s grinch green!

 

[Dincrest]

Some people think naming particular objects is fun.

Others think it's silly.

So, for those of us who like to name our basses, have probably talked soothingly to a beloved car while wrenching on it, view a go-to chef’s knife as a beloved companion or loyal friend more than a mere tool...
let us have our fun giving our basses girls' names!

Remember Full Metal Jacket?
"You will give your rifle a girl's name!"
"This is my rifle! There are many like it but this one is mine!"
Everyone may have had the same rifle, but only Pyle's was Charlene.

Or look at Francesca the trombone in WWE. She was more than just a prop that Xavier Woods of The New Day wielded. She became a character unto herself in WWE lore.

I especially love @JC BASS 91 's collage. I would love to hear stories behind the names, like what inspired the name Chrissy on that Warlock?

Hepzibah is my bass and my bass is Hepzibah. She was a Guitar Center rescue who's been reimagined (with that swirl paint job and a few other mods), been with me through several bands/musical projects, is my best looking and best sounding bass, even had adventures without me (e.g. being in photoshoots with models). I pick up Hepzibah, and I can instantly play whatever's in my head without even looking at the fingerboard.

Hepzibah is more than a bass. More than just wire and wood. She's been a staunch and steadfast ride-or-die musical companion and will be until the end. She's coming with me to the afterlife.

Things with a name are more psychologically satisfying and easier to connect with. For example, do we call the Ibanez SR3500 an SR or a Soundgear? Nomenclature be damned, we all say Soundgear.

 

[bassbrad]

Some of my basses have names but most don't.
Midnight Lady

Taz my main squeeze

Toney, Carvin LB50 Koa with EMG HB pickups

Tweety, Carvin LB50 my main piccolo bass.

Stink Ray, the infamous Sonic Design 'Sonic Feather'

 

[bassicmike]

The red one, the travel one, the blue one, the fretless one. They're all cool with the names.

 

[JC BASS 91]

I especially love @JC BASS 91 's collage. I would love to hear stories behind the names, like what inspired the name Chrissy on that Warlock?

Some of them just happen, but Chrissy was planned. I built the Warlock from a kit, and the intention was to build it with a crackle finish similar to the BC Rich "signature" Eddie Munson Warlock guitar from the Netflix show "Stranger Things". In the show, there is a girl named Chrissy that has an unfortunate end in front of Eddie. So...the bass got named Chrissy.

 

[Zwitsal1989]

This may be a strange question. But I was noodling around last week and my wife refers to my bass as the other woman. Then she asked me if I named her. I think the question stemmed from what she knows about BB King and Lucille the most famous guitar ever. So I am curious do any of you all name your basses?

Not really I geuss?
I refer to them by where they came from or model+color because my ex had 0 knowledge and it made it easyer for him to understand.
The habit stuck eventhough he didn't

I had a Gibson 2014 EB for example that was reffered to as "kitchen bass" because I sniped it on reverb while cooking for example

 

[Medicine Man]

None of mine have a name more clever than "P bass," "Stingray" or the like.

 

[elliestradiol]

My current (and only) bass is quite appropriately named "Sunny" after both its finish and the only member of hate5six, Sunny Singh

 

[Slade N]

Any anthropomorphic assignment to an inanimate object in general has always seemed weird and childish to me, even when I was a kid, but beyond that I’d have to question the motivation behind a male ‘owning’ an item with a female personification in particular.
If you believe that the spirits of certain ancestors inhabit certain items, that’s an entirely different discussion.

oh, I see...this is pol

Any anthropomorphic assignment to an inanimate object in general has always seemed weird and childish to me, even when I was a kid, but beyond that I’d have to question the motivation behind a male ‘owning’ an item with a female personification in particular.
If you believe that the spirits of certain ancestors inhabit certain items, that’s an entirely different discussion.

While I don't name my instruments, I think you're reading way too much into the idea of naming one to be questioning it.

 

[Wavy]

Not until recently. Once the paint was stripped, stepdaughter said it looked like a charcuterie board. So to distinguish it from my black V, I refer to it as the Charcutervee.

 

[Shepsdad]

Any anthropomorphic assignment to an inanimate object in general has always seemed weird and childish to me, even when I was a kid, but beyond that I’d have to question the motivation behind a male ‘owning’ an item with a female personification in particular.
If you believe that the spirits of certain ancestors inhabit certain items, that’s an entirely different discussion.

And then, sometimes, people just don’t take things so serious…

 

[Dincrest]

Some of them just happen, but Chrissy was planned. I built the Warlock from a kit, and the intention was to build it with a crackle finish similar to the BC Rich "signature" Eddie Munson Warlock guitar from the Netflix show "Stranger Things". In the show, there is a girl named Chrissy that has an unfortunate end in front of Eddie. So...the bass got named Chrissy.

That's pretty cool! I've only watched some of Stranger Things, but what I saw was pretty f'n awesome. And somehow, that one being named Chrissy was the one I locked in on when perusing the collage. That and Iris.

Hepzibah was kinda planned too. She started life as an LTD (by ESP) HTB-600 Children of Bodom sig model. Guitar Center rescue, Camaro-level bass at a Hot Wheels price. I did NOT like the paint job which had COBHC emblazoned on it nor the active EMG pups/preamp. So a luthier/friend, who'd started getting into doing dip swirls, offered me a good deal to dip-swirl it and swap out the EMGs for passive Duncans and passive controls. I didn't know what colors I wanted, until I randomly found this (https://www.marvel.com/comics/issue/867/) in the dollar box of a comic book store while buying a birthday gift for my cousin's kid. I bought that Starjammers issue on looks alone and thought her colors would look amazing.

I found out her name was Hepzibah, she was part of a crew of space pirates called The Starjammers, and was named after Mam'selle Hepzibah in the Pogo comics because her actual name's unpronounceable (it's a series of scents).

My bass grew into that name. Hepzibah is badass. My bass is badass. Hepzibah is loyal, but you have to earn it. My bass is a steadfastly loyal companion, but I had to really spend time with it and make it mine. Now, playing it is instinctive.

 

[Bill Whitehurst]

My P got stripped and clear coated in the 70s.
I call it Blondie.
The rest are on their own.

 

[wompwomp]

That is ‘the’ perfect cat name though.
I always wanted to have a cat called ‘Jesus’ so I could call to Jesus in the dark whilst shaking a box of biscuits. The wife won’t let me though.

maybe you could get away with a cat named Zeus and you could call Hey Zeus?

that might be a hail mary tho

womp womp

 

[wompwomp]

great convo I've never thought about naming an instrument even tho I'm well aware of Lucille or Crusher or the Bass of Doom etc.

***

quick story: I brought my mandolin to an open mic last nite, it had been like over 10 years since I had done anything live.

I brought a dumb little solo mandolin/vocal version of the DM song never let me down again, where he's 'taking a ride with his best friend'. I ended up doing a little patter where I talked about a man's best friend being his wife, or kid, or dog. and if they didn't have any of those at least the man has a mandolin and I played the song. so, in this version, the mandolin is the 'best friend' in the tune.

it completely changed my view of the tune as I played it, it instantly made the instrument a character and not just a character but a partner. it was super interesting and immediately real in a musical way.

so far as 'puerile' just remember that Sledgehammer called his gun Amigo. is this puerile to you?! (theme by Danny Elfman!)

 

[TeaTime]

I'm definitely in the camp of those who think it's weird, especially for those who go beyond just a name and talk about it as if it were a person. But it's their thing, and I simply ignore it.

And then there are the truly creepy ones. "Me and Janine (note: the guitar) are heading over. I hope your wife's out of the house and the boys are warmed up, because she's feeling dirty tonight and needs more than just I can give her" was an actual message I received. That's an example I can use without causing a mod to stomp on me - it got very NC-17.

He was fired for being an hour late to practice, again. But it wasn't the only reason.