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Being embarrassed by basses you love?

#105
keyofnight said:
When I was 18, I bought my first bass an Ibanez Acoustic. I loved it because I didn't need an amp to play it, had very flat action, and had a tuner built in. But from day 1, I had to defend myself from folks who argue, "acoustic bass is useless." I'm still defending myself. A couple years later, I bought a used 5-string Schecter. I really loved this bass, because it felt like I was getting so much for the price. But Schecter as a brand hasn't really held up. So many folks think of them as the old numetal sponsor or the new djent sponsor. The last time I mentioned that I had a Schecter at a guitar shop, folks laughed and joked about how it must be covered in abalone inlays.

I've thought about replacing both of these basses with more premium basses, but I won't replace them unless the replacements are better quality. It seems, however, like I'd have to pay a great deal of money to get instruments that feel better to me. The Schecter, in particular, came from the Cort factory and was finished in Schecter's shop. It's still feels quite nice in my hands, and I genuinely find it more comfortable than the higher-end Fender, G&Ls, and Gibsons I tried in shops. The instruments that tempt me are things from Wal, Modulus, Mike Lull, etc. Even still, I can't shake the competing feelings that (1) I can do better than my basses, and (2) these are my trusty companions that I shouldn't replace.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who has this problem. Tell me your stories, and tell me what you do/did in situations like these.
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Simple: if I like them, I play them Name brand and style are ineffective to me. My first acoustic bass was an "Arbor" It had some kind of pickup and a volume and a tone control. no active electronics. Yeah some would say "an arbor??? thats a POS!" I'd reply " I know, now what do you have?" that usually takes care of that.

I also have a Jasmine because I got it reasonable and it has active electronics. No, you cant hear them well unplugged, but thy are interesting. I'd love to have a 5 string Thunderchief, but 1000.00 USD isn't really in my acoustic bass budget. Maybe another day.

I've dreamed of having 'something better' as well, and I havent found it yet. good luck.
 
#106
Killed_by_Death said:
I know a person like this & it became the thing that drove me to discontinue our relationship.
My gear was crap, because it wasn't all Fender.

I'm not ashamed of what I play!
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Me neither.

A friend who is an excellent bassist, was eyeballing my RIC 4003 and said in whhat I considered a snobbish, casual way: "Rickenbackers? Eh, I never did like em... sorry." *Sorry???* I said, "Thats OK, I didn't buy it for you anyhow..."
 
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#109
S.F.Sorrow said:
The Badtz Maru looks really cool! If people didn't know were the design came from I think it could have been a lot more popular. Damn, I want one, lol!
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A deceased friend of mine, played in a grunt metal band called the Ace of Spades. (you know, where the singer sounds like he's puking in the microphone) He was big, badass, wore leather and played a daisy bass
 
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#110
My first bass:

Picture6-2.png


It's not a big deal; I have so many other things to be embarrassed about.
 
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#111
twinjet said:
My J has the no-guard look complete with fastener holes. Some people like it, but some don't and have asked about the lack of a guard. I tell them it was a deliberate choice that I don't really want to change. I have to wonder if people look at it with a degree of "ew" when we play together.
View attachment 3619471
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Not a fan of gold hardware, but it looks absolutely gorgeous!
 
#112
keyofnight said:
When I was 18, I bought my first bass an Ibanez Acoustic. I loved it because I didn't need an amp to play it, had very flat action, and had a tuner built in. But from day 1, I had to defend myself from folks who argue, "acoustic bass is useless." I'm still defending myself. A couple years later, I bought a used 5-string Schecter. I really loved this bass, because it felt like I was getting so much for the price. But Schecter as a brand hasn't really held up. So many folks think of them as the old numetal sponsor or the new djent sponsor. The last time I mentioned that I had a Schecter at a guitar shop, folks laughed and joked about how it must be covered in abalone inlays.

I've thought about replacing both of these basses with more premium basses, but I won't replace them unless the replacements are better quality. It seems, however, like I'd have to pay a great deal of money to get instruments that feel better to me. The Schecter, in particular, came from the Cort factory and was finished in Schecter's shop. It's still feels quite nice in my hands, and I genuinely find it more comfortable than the higher-end Fender, G&Ls, and Gibsons I tried in shops. The instruments that tempt me are things from Wal, Modulus, Mike Lull, etc. Even still, I can't shake the competing feelings that (1) I can do better than my basses, and (2) these are my trusty companions that I shouldn't replace.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who has this problem. Tell me your stories, and tell me what you do/did in situations like these.
Click to expand...

If you like your gear, who cares what anybody else thinks. I don’t recommend spending a boatload of cash just to improve what you think may be a negative opinion of your gear.
 
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#115
I once auditioned for a 70's style originals bar rock type band. It went really well. A few days later I get a text:

BL: "Do you own a Fender Bass?"

(I instantly knew where this was going)

Me: "I own a bass that looks just like a Fender" (my Jazz clone)

BL: "Does it say Fender on the headstock? We're going for a certain image"

Me: "This isn't going to work out"

True story. My clone did say Fender, but I didn't tell him that and he wouldn't have known the difference. I'm not being in a band with that kind of vibe. And to top it off BL was a Drummer! Adios.
 
#117
donahue said:
I once auditioned for a 70's style originals bar rock type band. It went really well. A few days later I get a text:

BL: "Do you own a Fender Bass?"

(I instantly knew where this was going)

Me: "I own a bass that looks just like a Fender" (my Jazz clone)

BL: "Does it say Fender on the headstock? We're going for a certain image"

Me: "This isn't going to work out"

True story. My clone did say Fender, but I didn't tell him that and he wouldn't have known the difference. I'm not being in a band with that kind of vibe. And to top it off BL was a Drummer! Adios.
Click to expand...

I had a bandleader (large production thing) insist that I have a *Gibson* Les Paul (with a Floyd). "None of those copycat brands..."
I bought an Axcess Custom. $4K. At the same time I bought a custom-built Agile (about $1160 with case, delivered). I needed a ton of modifications on each, so I was using the Agile as a stalking horse for them. In the end, the bandleader became convinced that the Agile was some high-end custom version that he didn't know much about, and that sounded "better" and insisted that I use that with the Gibson as the backup. Oy.
 
#119
"Being embarrassed by basses you love?"

If you (or anyone else) is going through life always worried about what other people think about the stuff that you own, then you will never achieve happiness.

I'm 63, and I'd say for the first half of my life to date, I would always be concerned with what others thought about the stuff I owned. For example, I would buy stuff to try and impress others rather than impress myself. Immature? Yes, definitely, but I was just a kid. Then, somewhere in my late 30's or maybe early 40's, a major light bulb went on in my head, and I realized that those other humans aren't worth trying to impress. It was a revelation! From that point forward, I have always bought stuff that *I* like and stuff that makes *me* happy, regardless of what any other human organism thinks. Life has been *awesome* ever since! :)

So my recommendation to the OP is, play the basses that *YOU* want to play. Period! :thumbsup:
 
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