"Basses are only tools"

[ProbablyTooLoud]

Read that around here a few times.

Do you believe it?

No, because to me, the phrase "a bass is a tool" is a metaphor.

It's a decent one, too. But it does not illuminate the entire function/purpose of a bass guitar, any more than the simile "writing a song is like building a house" illuminates the entire process of writing a song.

 

[nutdog]

Every good tool is a work of art.

 

[B-Mac]

No.
That's why every single bass doesn't look exactly like this.
View attachment 4386115
All function and no form.

Amen brother!

 

[goodformetal]

I voted 50/50 because handcrafted instruments definitely qualify as works of art in my book. Even mass manufactured instruments have shape, color and style. So again, there’s art. That being said, I really like how John Davis in an interview once referred to fender basses as being like baseball bats.

 

[marchone]

I voted tool.

Having said that, The Museum Of Modern Art added a Fender Stratocaster and Fender Bassman amp to the Permanent Collection in 2014.

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Paraphrasing Pete Townsend on the subject of guitars, “I play the f***ing things; I don’t worship them.”

 

[BtaylorTheRogue]

Henry Royce often said "Whatever is rightly done, however humble, is noble."

A well wrought screwdriver is a work of art, the same as a rembrandt, the same as a fodera.

Instruments may tend to have artistry in mind moreso when being build, but good ones are still tools first and foremost.

 

[micguy]

I have a hard time calling mass-produced, production line consumer products "art".

Not every bass is mass produced or comes off a production line. All of mine are one offs made in a workshop that's never had more than a couple instruments in it.

 

[Turnaround]

Not every bass is mass produced or comes off a production line. All of mine are one offs made in a workshop that's never had more than a couple instruments in it.

But would you call those that are mass produced from a production line "art"?

 

[Wisebass]

hi guys

Do you believe it?

No!

It's an inanimate object.

Depends! All the guitarists that got hit on stage will say that they're animate!

i have a red tool, a sunburst tool, some 'natural' tools

Or blonde?

They are both tools and toys

Toys is the right word!

We can be attached to them in a way we don't get attached to simple tools

My blonde has even her own Onlyfans with shower pics!

Works of art?

Some basses are, others aren't!

I voted carrots (what else)


May the bass be with you

Wise(b)ass

 

[Cal03]

With any musical instrument, the primary focus is as a tool for making music. I think there can also be an art to the design and construction of a well-built instrument.

But if we're talking "art" as "aesthetically pleasing to look at," that's a different matter. We have the market to apply discretion. I don't care too much about it looking "pretty," just not "ugly" or "tacky."

What do I mean by "ugly" or "tacky?" I can't give a precise definition, but I'll know it when I see it!

I think some perspective is helpful. Coming from the woodwind world, I don't have anywhere near the cornucopia of choices. We EBG players are downright spoiled with what we can ask for: well-built instruments that are aesthetically pleasing (subjectively of course) within comparatively accessible price ranges.

-Cal.

 

[micguy]

But would you call those that are mass produced from a production line "art"?

Some, perhaps, but not many.

 

[BtaylorTheRogue]

But would you call those that are mass produced from a production line "art"?

Art is certainly considered when designing them, but very much on the backburner, and very little time for artistry is given to each one. As a piece of art, they're the equivalent of a 6 inch gift shop statue of david, but that's just my garbage opinion.

 

[40Hz]

A good tool is wide, deep, and indulgent - and serves as a mirror of its user.

Basses are good tools

 

[marchone]

I changed my vote. 50/50 doesn't quite cut it, but the curriculum at the Bauhaus in the 1930s taught good modern design for mass production. These instruments fit that description.

A Fender family portrait nestled on an Alvar Aalto chaise lounge. Aalto would have been pleased at this realization of good design and mass production.

 

[Marihino]

ALL YOUR BASSES ARE BELONG TO US

 

[kentiki]

Snap-On makes basses?

I don't know, but if they do they will start at $100K!

 

[logdrum]

They are tools like @two fingers said. I have a 129 year old 1/2 size upright bass with an amazing aged varnish that looks like cooled melted brown sugar a product of the varnish being there for so long. It is a tool no more no less. I do not even consider Alembics work of art. more like high end cabinetry. But yeah - I will take an Alembic gifted to me because of its sound. The only artistic guitar I consider are Teuffel from Germany and the Dashtick guitars from Poland.

Do you guys even go to museums or galleries?

 

[micguy]

OK, a few pages in, I have to ask:

Who else, when they see the thread title, also wants to discuss "Bassists are only tools"?

Most of us aren't, surely, but there may be a few....

 

[AceOfBassFace]

Bass players can be tools too.

 

[Todd Hamby]

Can one use a work of art as a tool?