Brand snobbery

[chris_nairn]

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The joke is on the folks who think that someone who plays a cheap knock-off, isn't really a 'player'.

Sometimes that is very much the case. Robert Fripp is very much a "players player" and until rather recently, you saw him with a Tokai Les Paul copy. I think that says a lot.

There is also something to be said about more costly instruments as well. My second bass, a cheaper Aria, I still own. Well, it is cheap! I have a nice old Aria too but you cannot really compare the two. One thing that really makes the cheaper one so evidently cheap is the sadles. The metal is too soft and so the strings grind into it and wear major grooves in it. The result is poor intonation and string breakage. I have had to file them way more than on any other bass just to keep it playable. I pretty much never play that bass any more but keep it for sentimental reasons. It has active electronics and when I turn them on with certain gear I get this really weird feedbacky type squeel. I think the body is a good piece of wood so soon I am going to put a replacement neck on, a new bridge and some new electronics.

The point being there really are some reasons for low prices. But, as somebody pointed out a few posts ago the stuff these days has more bang for the buck. I wish I was twenty years younger so that as a teenager I would have what they have now for the same $.

 

[savit260]

Lately, I have had a few bedroom wankers see my G&Ls standing by for duty on a set break who walk over and say "Man, you get a great tone out of those off-brands. Have you ever tried a Fender Strat?" I usually say yeah, I've owned about 20 of them but I finally decided to step up.

Great story, and great guitars.
I have a G&L S 500 that I bought brand new back in 1982. Still my favorite electric guitar after all these years.

 

[thisSNsucks]

I had the bass salesperson at GC tell me everything I used sucked once. Fenders, MusicMan, Gallien-Kreuger, ALL sucked to him, he liked his schecters and berringers or however you spell it. Go figure.

 

[Introvox]

I had the bass salesperson at GC tell me everything I used sucked once. Fenders, MusicMan, Gallien-Kreuger, ALL sucked to him, he liked his schecters and berringers or however you spell it. Go figure.

He actually said Behringer,,,,whata weirdo, that's disposible technology

 

[duff84]

i say the tone is in your fingers man, so it doesn't matter
if your playing a 50 dollar axe or a 5000 dollar axe, if you
don't got the tools in your hands then no bass will be better
then the next.

besides this point i would agree that some
younger people tend to favor certain gear and what not,
i say F**k Em all man, and play what you want to play and what feels good in your hands, and more importantly what
sounds the best to your ears.

and hey if that might be a fender then all the power to you, but it doesn't mean it can't be a lakland, a hofner, a epiphone, or some vintage korean brand no one has heard of. listen to yourself and not others. ive made that mistake for too damnned long and now i can say i finally do my own thing.

 

[Chuck King]

One of the great things about TB, especially compared to guitar boards, is that there's such a complete cross-section of the bass playing community here. One of the effects of that is that almost anything you can name has advocates here somewhere. I always enjoy seeing people stand up for low-level and off brands. I think that you're more likely to get a balanced view of anything here than many other places.

I think a few factors make brand snobbery particularly bad in high school. First, as a general rule people of that age are trying to find their niche in the world and in certain respects that requires associating with the tribe, if you will, and buying into and advocating the conventional wisdom is one way to do that. Let's face it: many, many, many high schoolers have nowhere near the necessary perspective to pass judgment on what's good and what's bad; they adopt the popular position to show that they fit in.

Another thing is, high schoolers just don't have the opportunity to see that many working bands in action. If you can go see real working bands (i.e., not just bands of other high schoolers) you quickly observe that there is no correlation whatsoever between gear and good sound. Plenty of guys with all the "right" gear sound like crap, and plenty of guys playing cheap junk and sound really good. The obvious answer to "only Fenders sound good" is "Well, the guy in band X plays a Fender and sounds like a fart can, and they guy in band Y plays an Epiphone and kills," but when you can't get into bars to seen band X or band Y you don't get that perspective.