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Color -- how important is it to you?

#61
I tend to look at cool colored basses and ogle. I own Black (4), White(2), Natural (3), Red (2), Sea-foam Green,Lake Place Blue, Sunburst and have a primer gray that is waiting for a color. I only one I bought specifically for the call was the Sea-Foam and the Red. I honestly have the blacks. whites and naturals as I found a good deal on a bass I wanted and it happened to be a those colors.
Gigging musicians, be warned odd colored basses tend to look funny against certain clothes.. Greens and Blues look funky unless you are wearing white or black.. White basses are cool as they pick up the stage lighting.
My want list...
More varieties of Fender Blue, shoreline gold and I really love Fiesta Red. We can only have 1 wife (or at least I can only safely have 1 wife) I can own as many basses as I want.
 
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#62
My main player is a '65 P with a surf green finish that has really yellowed over the years (some might call it pi$$ green), so you may think color is not important to me. But tonight, I have to play a wedding reception, and the singer emailed the details of the gig and included a description of the wedding party colors, so we could dress appropriately (she's good with that kind of stuff). Given that my main player would clash with the official colors of the evening, I have decided to use my Oly white P for the evening. So, color is important to me in that regard.
 
#63
Guess I'm a wood kinda guy.

Basses.jpg
 
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#64
MD said:
Guess I'm a wood kinda guy.

Basses.jpg
Click to expand...
Love the Takamine, I've been eyeing those (not that I'll ever need another bass; not that that has ever stopped me before) - how's it feel and sound? I threw a lowball bid on one on eBay recently, and it went for over twice what I bid.
 
#67
Color is important to me. I really don't care for red or yellow. I don't like bold colors. I like wine red, lake placid blue, gray, black, white, sage green metallic most sunbursts, especially sienna. I also have an Alembic which has mahogany body and walnut top and another which is mahogany and bocate. I like the natural wood look for these basses. I have a couple of Spectors. One has an amber finish, the other is a Euro Rebop in sunburst.
 
#68
I prefer natural, tint or 'burst: something that shows the wood grain. Like 3-color over 2-color 'burst, but especially dig "tea" or "tobacco" 'burst. Prefer tints over opaque colors. The only color issue that can be a deal-breaker for me is that I really dislike opaque-colored necks: there I want to see the grain.

All that having been said, sound and ergonomics always trump visual aesthetics for me. My Mustang RI is the standard, opaque white since I couldn't get a new, MIJ one here in the USA without ordering direct from Japan and paying an extra premium. I don't "love" the color but I love the sound and playability of the instrument, so I've come to terms with the "look".

My SXs I bought used. With them, getting the "old-style" headstock (since I dislike the new design) was more important to me than the body color, so I found what I found color-wise.

With bolt-on neck basses, you can always re-paint the body if the original color really just starts to drive you nuts.

JsBasses1_zps974709fa.jpg
 
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#75
Color isn't the first priority or the second, but it's on the list of the things that matter to me. I gravitate to classic colors and classic-style basses. I play out, so I want basses that won't clash with my stage clothes.
 
#76
I posted my natural ash, fiesta red, and butterscotch basses earlier in the thread. Now here are the others: a honeyburst SR5, a blue agave Jazz fretless, and a natural mahogany Carvin (disclaimer: I no longer own most of these instruments. I currently have three fretted Precisions, the SR5 and a Godin A5 fretless).

P1010005_zps9996d553.jpg


FenderStandardJazzFretless-1.jpg


CarvinLB20-1.jpg
 
#79
I was always into solid colors and not the natural look, just personal preference. But it truly is all about the sound. Different type of wood gives off different tones, but i have seen some amazing colors put into wood grain to create some beautiful basses. There's a good vid on making a bass. Go to the 5:35 mark where he applies stain to the wood grain. It's very interesting watching the whole process.


 

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