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Club Alleva Coppolo (part 2)

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#1,001
KJung said:
It makes no sense to me.:) I also never, ever heard of true 'deadspots' going away 'magically'. However, if you hear it, you hear it. What the effect is attributable to is a moot point.

The thing that doesn't pass the 'sniff' test to me is I've never heard anyone post that an instrument sounds 'worse' as it ages, it's always 'better':smug: This makes no sense, since if these instruments were 'changing' so much, there should be an equal distribution of those getting better and those getting worse. In other words, if some dead spots disappear over time, then others should emerge (again, I don't believe any of this happens, but if it did, you would see the opposite pattern also... and you never do).

So much of this has to do with context. When I get a new bass, it actually makes my other basses sound different to me, since I now have a different listening context to hear them in. Is this some sort of quantum 'spooky entanglement' effect. Probably not:D...
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For what its worth, I am probably bias as Mike Tobias told me it would happen heheh :) Maybe I trick my own ears LOL.
 
#1,002
C'mon Ken, where's your sence of mysticism? ;)

I definitely hear changes in my upright. Even if there's a bit more humidity in the air, there is a change. I know you can't compare an acoustic instrument to an electric instrument, but there are a few concepts that are at least a tiny bit similiar. I don't think it has to do with age. I'm just thinking about minute changes. The glue on the fingerboard might start to loosen up and allow the two woods to vibrate together. Or the body is starting to vibrate consistantly after being just two slabs of inert wood. Maybe the frets are starting to wear down a little and the tone mellows, or maybe the transfer of vibrations from the fret slots are passing on more.....I don't know...I have nothing to back this up, but it seems that after playing the same bass for years, there has to be some charactor imparted in it somehow. Or not...
 
#1,003
NickyBass said:
C'mon Ken, where's your sence of mysticism? ;)

I definitely hear changes in my upright. Even if there's a bit more humidity in the air, there is a change. I know you can't compare an acoustic instrument to an electric instrument, but there are a few concepts that are at least a tiny bit similiar. I don't think it has to do with age. I'm just thinking about minute changes. The glue on the fingerboard might start to loosen up and allow the two woods to vibrate together. Or the body is starting to vibrate consistantly after being just two slabs of inert wood. Maybe the frets are starting to wear down a little and the tone mellows, or maybe the transfer of vibrations from the fret slots are passing on more.....I don't know...I have nothing to back this up, but it seems that after playing the same bass for years, there has to be some charactor imparted in it somehow. Or not...
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:D Who knows. Even the humidity thing with DB seems to have a different source, since humidity in the air can impact soundwaves.

I would be much more open to this if a bunch of people also posted 'this bass used to sound good three months ago, but now it sucks. It seems if the effect was really there (aging), it would work both ways.

On the other hand, if you think all your basses gradually sound better over time (no matter what the source or cause), that's a good thing!
 
#1,004
I may be full of hogwash. But i do believe that they do sound better after playing them too.. maybe its in my head. but it takes more than a few weeks for me.. Maybe its me getting used to the bass, or maybe there is a change... but I always thought just like you that there is some change...

NickyBass said:
Does anyone feel that certain basses 'open' up after playing them for a while? Not that they ever sound 'bad,' but maybe by playing them a few weeks, the glue starts to loosen up, or the wood starts to vibrate 'with' the string-and, over time, (a week, a month, a year) they start to develop my (your) sound.(?) Is this just hogwash or does anyone think that maybe there is something to this? I know the opinions will be varied and at the end of the day it really doesn't matter, but it's just something that I've been thinking about lately.
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#1,007
I was lucky enough to get my hands on a used LG-5 last year for a steal. Best sounding bass I've ever owned, hands down (everyone who's heard it says the same).

Just placed an order for a KBP-4. I keep going back and forth on color, but right now its Candy Apple Orange Juice. Wish it was October already.
 
#1,010

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#1,012
Very Sexy LG5, cwbass! Congrats on a great score! It reminds me of mine =)

If you'd like to see/hear my LG5 and you live in the York, PA. area, then you should turn on channel 69 next week and watch the news. The Army rock band I play for was just filmed for a short segment they are going to run all next week, and you guys know I had to bring in the LG5 and represent Club AC! We played "Here it Goes Again" by Ok Go, Pick up the Pieces, and Slither by Velvet Revolver, so I can be seen rocking out on my AC and my pink CS fender jazz, if anyone is interested.
They even interviewed me and I was nervous as all hell, so I'm sure I sound like an idiot! Check it out! :p

Matt
 
#1,013
KJung said:
god help us. I bet they are working on a line of high end cables that 'allow the exact tone of your bass to finally be heard through your amp' :D
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I can't help but remain agnostic about this whole "instruments getting better over time" thing (more things in heaven and earth and all that, Horatio). But I keep wondering about the real power of belief. After all this -- and after all these threads -- rosewood vs. maple still isn't all that obvious to me (even though I happened to get the right answer on the blindfold test) and I'm really up in the air about poly vs. nitro (even though I ordered nitro on my AC). I'm just not sure, despite the fact that major experts (some of the luthiers and players I respect the most) weigh in strongly on these and similar questions. I've heard of famous wines and Stradivarius violins failing blindfold tests. There's a growing body of evidence that more and more convincingly demonstrates the power of the placebo effect. Is that what's going on here? I dunno.

There. I've finally taken a stand.

-Steve
 
#1,015
steve9000gi said:
There's a growing body of evidence that more and more convincingly demonstrates the power of the placebo effect. Is that what's going on here? I dunno.

There. I've finally taken a stand.

-Steve
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It could be all in my head, but, even if that's the case, I'm still happy with alot of my bass purchases. What I'm hearing, or what I think I'm hearing, isn't necissarily age. I just think that when a string vibrates often enough and produces vibrations in a certain direction in the wood, that have never been present before, that could affect the tone for the better. I know what you're saying, KJung, about nobody saying that a bass sounds worse, but I'm thinking that the string is no longer 'fighting' with the wood to produce overtones.
 
#1,018
NickyBass said:
It could be all in my head, but, even if that's the case, I'm still happy with alot of my bass purchases.
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Exactly. If you feel better about playing your instrument you probably play better. It doesn't matter why. That's why I ordered nitro: although I really don't know whether it will make the bass all by itself sound better in the long run, after all the discussion between many excellent bassists here and a great luthier like Jimmy, I expect it to make me feel better playing it. I don't care if it's pure physics, placebo effect, superstition, a nocturnal visit from representatives of an advanced extraterrestrial civilization, or some combination.

-Steve
 
#1,020
steve9000gi said:
Exactly. If you feel better about playing your instrument you probably play better. It doesn't matter why. That's why I ordered nitro: although I really don't know whether it will make the bass all by itself sound better in the long run, after all the discussion between many excellent bassists here and a great luthier like Jimmy, I expect it to make me feel better playing it. I don't care if it's pure physics, placebo effect, superstition, a nocturnal visit from representatives of an advanced extraterrestrial civilization, or some combination.

-Steve
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LMAO!!! Well said Steve9000gi! I suppose it all comes down to what makes you happy and what floats your boat and/or fries your Burrito. (as they say)
 
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