I would love to start a discussion about beauty, focused on the bass world. What makes a bass beautiful? How does one define beauty, with regard to basses?
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Beauty
- Thread starter Figjam
- Start date
I dig natural wear, not to dis any sander fans. To me it shows where the bass has been and has/not been loved.
Certain body styles or headstock lines are more appealing, kinda like cars.
This looks nice to me
Certain body styles or headstock lines are more appealing, kinda like cars.
This looks nice to me
- Jun 30, 2010
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- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
That is a beautiful bass expressed in a beautiful shot. Your topic/theme is very deep (seriously) mainly because there are so many ways anything can be seen as beautiful. Beautiful design, beautiful craftsmanship, beautiful finish quality (including your example), beautiful in the lack of any of the above (the beautiful ugly duckling) and the beautiful instrument that a player can express through regardless of the way it looks. All good - I'm in.
You guns on the Basses Forum are mostly putzes. You all go searching for some kind of Holy Grail of basses, and almost every times one of you posts a photo of your bass, I think it's just a fantastic looking instrument.
That bass in the first post is excellent, but so are most of the basses most of you post. I don't get what anybody's deal is. My main bass is a Frankenfender Jazz bass, with the Squier body, Fender Authorized Maple Neck, with some faked out decal on it, Badass II bridge, EMG Select pickups, and it plays, looks and sounds as nice as American Made Fender Jazz basses I have tried at Sweetwater, costing well over a grand.
I see these nice boutique basses, Fender Custom Shop basses, Lakland, and other such models, as well as the obvious Gibsons, Rickenbackers, etc, and all I can ever say is, "wow! Nice instrument!"
My Squier Affinity V and my Squire Bronco are BOTH really nicely crafted bodies, and both have a little cheaper electronics, and some nasty frets. I heard I could crown and dress those frets, and they would be lovely, and if I had the inclination, I could upgrade the electronics.
But are they beautiful? HELL YES they are!
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And my wife's Ibanez SR700 is beautiful, as well:
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Yeah, the Mothman bass is a monstrosity, and every now and again I see a bass I'm not too fond of, but 90% or more of the basses posted on this forum are absolutely gorgeous, and I would take any one of them, and be happy about it.
Like I said, you guys are a bunch of putzes.
That bass in the first post is excellent, but so are most of the basses most of you post. I don't get what anybody's deal is. My main bass is a Frankenfender Jazz bass, with the Squier body, Fender Authorized Maple Neck, with some faked out decal on it, Badass II bridge, EMG Select pickups, and it plays, looks and sounds as nice as American Made Fender Jazz basses I have tried at Sweetwater, costing well over a grand.
I see these nice boutique basses, Fender Custom Shop basses, Lakland, and other such models, as well as the obvious Gibsons, Rickenbackers, etc, and all I can ever say is, "wow! Nice instrument!"
My Squier Affinity V and my Squire Bronco are BOTH really nicely crafted bodies, and both have a little cheaper electronics, and some nasty frets. I heard I could crown and dress those frets, and they would be lovely, and if I had the inclination, I could upgrade the electronics.
But are they beautiful? HELL YES they are!
Invalid Link Removed
And my wife's Ibanez SR700 is beautiful, as well:
Invalid Link Removed
Yeah, the Mothman bass is a monstrosity, and every now and again I see a bass I'm not too fond of, but 90% or more of the basses posted on this forum are absolutely gorgeous, and I would take any one of them, and be happy about it.
Like I said, you guys are a bunch of putzes.
I used to think Traben basses were beautiful with all that chrome, until I bought one and would constantly get my finger snagged on that &*(&#$ torture device!
I now see beauty in the simplicity of the bass- the P-bass, the Stingray - anything that has that empty space between the neck and the pickup (probably due to my experience with the Traben). As the post above mentions, most of the basses are beautiful in their own way- have seen much more of basses I wouldn't mind having than ones I would pass on. Tb'ers have taste after all.
I now see beauty in the simplicity of the bass- the P-bass, the Stingray - anything that has that empty space between the neck and the pickup (probably due to my experience with the Traben). As the post above mentions, most of the basses are beautiful in their own way- have seen much more of basses I wouldn't mind having than ones I would pass on. Tb'ers have taste after all.
I think a lot of beauty is about conditioning. If you look at male and female models and how their looks and body-shape changed through the 20th Century, beauty is a fickle thing and it changes with fashion.
My appreciation of art started maybe in my teens. I never really liked classic art and so I started with the Impressionists. Once you've made that leap away from traditional art then anything goes. This for me led to cubism, which is still my favourite art period.
On basses, I think your early days are crucial here. If as a teenager you lust after a certain bass, quite often a Fender, then that sets the pattern.
Then there's design and function. A headless bass will never have neck dive, but your hand can disappear off the end and it feels odd. Plus to me it looks ugly/wrong. Can I explain it? No Sir I can't.
There is balance and colour about which we can probably make a judgement with reasonable agreement. But on something as simple as bridge design we can't agree. Large bridges look wrong to me. They put me off owning that bass. Logical - no, they just don't look balanced to me. And finally, I looked at a few 60's Precisions in the mid-70's when I was buying my first proper bass. I ended up buying a new '76, without of course realising what I know now about 60's and pre-CBS Fenders! The 60's Fenders looked a bit scratched and played-in, which lacked appeal to me then. Now they look fabulous, so my view on beauty has changed.
Great subject - good post.
Davo
My appreciation of art started maybe in my teens. I never really liked classic art and so I started with the Impressionists. Once you've made that leap away from traditional art then anything goes. This for me led to cubism, which is still my favourite art period.
On basses, I think your early days are crucial here. If as a teenager you lust after a certain bass, quite often a Fender, then that sets the pattern.
Then there's design and function. A headless bass will never have neck dive, but your hand can disappear off the end and it feels odd. Plus to me it looks ugly/wrong. Can I explain it? No Sir I can't.
There is balance and colour about which we can probably make a judgement with reasonable agreement. But on something as simple as bridge design we can't agree. Large bridges look wrong to me. They put me off owning that bass. Logical - no, they just don't look balanced to me. And finally, I looked at a few 60's Precisions in the mid-70's when I was buying my first proper bass. I ended up buying a new '76, without of course realising what I know now about 60's and pre-CBS Fenders! The 60's Fenders looked a bit scratched and played-in, which lacked appeal to me then. Now they look fabulous, so my view on beauty has changed.
Great subject - good post.
Davo
The subject of the thread, that bass, is remarkable because it's so worn and yet it's so basic. Non-modified, and just played.
Many here buy basses and then personalize them in search of tone. Many trade off what they've bought in search of tone because what they owned didn't deliver.
There's something to be said for sticking with the right tool. Many boutique basses are built upon the subject photo's parts & what they produce.
That subject only produces a Precision tone. Yet it's enough and has been more than adequate for popular music for a very long time.
Many here buy basses and then personalize them in search of tone. Many trade off what they've bought in search of tone because what they owned didn't deliver.
There's something to be said for sticking with the right tool. Many boutique basses are built upon the subject photo's parts & what they produce.
That subject only produces a Precision tone. Yet it's enough and has been more than adequate for popular music for a very long time.
- Oct 18, 2012
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- Endorsing Artist: Fender, Spector, Ampeg, Curt Mangan, Nordstrand Pickups, Korg , Conquest Sound
Everyone has their own idea of what they like. I don't like the bass pictured by the OP but I'm sure other people love it.
Everyone has their own definition of beauty. The bass in the OP does nothing for me, and most of MellowinMan's basses I'd pass on as well. To me, beauty in a bass is a combination of aesthetic qualities I like combined with playability, functionality and versatility, which some don't include in their personal definition of beauty.
That said, I dig nice figured wood, trans burst finishes, active electronics, maple or ebony boards and shiny frets.
That said, I dig nice figured wood, trans burst finishes, active electronics, maple or ebony boards and shiny frets.
