having said that, i dont criticize if my guitarist or drummer have funky colors, as long as they enjoy what THEY are playing.
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Color -- how important is it to you?
- Thread starter drumsnbass
- Start date
I have a natural G&L Tribute, which I love mostly because of the beautiful grain that is very apparent. However, color will be a major consideration of my next bass, and it will have color, either Duck Dunn red or Lakland Teal Green or Stingray Ice Blue (there's one of those for sale now; it's giving me BAD gas).
Believe it or not, those two aren't Fenders, but Squiers from the discontinued Standard Series. I fell in love with Satin Pewter Metallic color scheme so much that it made me want to buy my very first bass. (the P-Bass Special) I even bought a matching Squier Standard Stratocaster just so I could have the whole set.
And yes, Blue Burst is a color scheme to die for. Even though I have to sell it, I know my next parts-bass project will either be another just like it, or perhaps a transparent, non-burst blue next time. Only time will tell.
Oh, for the record, the Mighty Mite bodies I've worked with have been two-for-two in the "WIN" category…sturdy, lightweight and beautifully finished.
Those Squires look really sharpe. I never owned a squire but I was actually thinking about buying the Fender VI and I really like the precisions with the PJ configurations. They look like the japanese import areodyne basses. There really nice for the money you can't go wrong. Where did they make the 2 basses japan china or korea. Overall how do they sound and i assume there comfortable fast playing necks
I sometimes like natural, sometimes those old DuPont colors. As long as I don't have two of the same, I'm good.
Oh, I wish it was less important. It's irrational, but I can't shake it, and it bugs me. I have a marvelous wine-red-stain Ovation Magnum - they don't get any better in condition or function than mine - but I still wish it was brown. I can't shake it. I love my root-beer brown Precision, and I probably wouldn't play, say, an otherwise identical salmon-pink or mint-green one if I tried. If I ever owned a Ric, it would have to be Mapleglo or nothing. I even vacillate between gratitude for my fits-me-well car and wishing I could go back and buy the other color instead of the safe one. I guess everyone has personal tastes, but sometimes I wish I could switch off my tastes.
Big Hoss
Up note, down note, blue note, brown note...
- Sep 5, 2014
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For what it's worth, if the stage show is part of your performance, than the look of your bass, including the color, is part of it... I personally prefer natural finish basses, but then again, I also have serious GAS for a Squier in Lake Placid Blue, and one in Candy Apple Red.. Not to mention Red and Green translucent...
When I first started out, yeah, I wanted cool colors and finishes on my basses, but as the years flew by all that changed. How it sounds comes first and it's color, well, not so important. My basses have colors and finishes that range from natural, koa, ivory, brown, polka-dot, red, violet, black, sunburst, goth-black to seafoam. So that's it. Cheers. ;^D.
Tell ya what, here's the line-up again. But to be a bit more thorough this time around, I'll include all their respective makes, models and countries of origin;
- Squier Standard Precision Special (Indonesia)
- Squier Standard Jazz (Indonesia)
- Fender Aerodyne Jazz (Crafted In Japan)
- Squier Deluxe Active Jazz V (Indonesia)
- Fender Aerodyne Jazz - Non-Export Model (Crafted In Japan)
As an add on comment,I don't walk into a store and try out every bass on the wall to find THE tone.Regardless of appearance.
That's like someone looking for the perfect wife based on personality alone.
It's a balance of BOTH.But as far as looks,I have my preferences.
I look for dark natural satin finished wood.No pickguards!Neck-thru is a plus,but is not necessary.Gold toned hardware is preferred.But black is ok.
If I don't see this first step,I turn around and leave.Period.
If there's something that catches my eye,I look to see how many strings.
Five?Six?Seven?
Then I pick it up,plug it in and play it.
Questions.
Can the bridge pickup get the low-mid "Jaco Burp?"
Can the neck pickup get a beefy,grind/chug sound?
If it can't exactly,how close is it?
Has my memory of "my perfect tone" been "corrupted?'
String tension?Action?How does the neck feel?
Does it balance with a strap on?
Is this amps settings as close to my amp at home?
How many other basses like this in the store?In the area?
I decide.
That's like someone looking for the perfect wife based on personality alone.
It's a balance of BOTH.But as far as looks,I have my preferences.
I look for dark natural satin finished wood.No pickguards!Neck-thru is a plus,but is not necessary.Gold toned hardware is preferred.But black is ok.
If I don't see this first step,I turn around and leave.Period.
If there's something that catches my eye,I look to see how many strings.
Five?Six?Seven?
Then I pick it up,plug it in and play it.
Questions.
Can the bridge pickup get the low-mid "Jaco Burp?"
Can the neck pickup get a beefy,grind/chug sound?
If it can't exactly,how close is it?
Has my memory of "my perfect tone" been "corrupted?'
String tension?Action?How does the neck feel?
Does it balance with a strap on?
Is this amps settings as close to my amp at home?
How many other basses like this in the store?In the area?
I decide.
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Well, to me, it feels great. It's not loud acoustically, unlike the much less expensive EG512, but sounds wonderful plugged in. It's big (not like the Regal), so I always bring a stool to gigs. Never tried standing with it. The neck is thick and the FB has a radius closer to a DB than to a EBG; almost bowable. Happy to track down clips if you'd like.
I'm not really into colour, but I do take resale into account when I buy. If it's too off the wall, it'll be harder to sell, so I try to keep it toned down.
I think there are a lot of great looking finishes out there. I tend to prefer sunbursts and natural finishes.
I find it appalling how few options there are for silverburst basses.
I find it appalling how few options there are for silverburst basses.
I don't like burst finishes, and I generally don't like natural finishes on non-exotic woods, eg ash or alder. I could probably convince myself to live with it if it was an amazing player. I really want a fretless Warwick Streamer LX in French Violet (purple), but I like the fat-necked ones so I either need to buy used or custom shop. I can't afford CS and FV is the least popular colour they do, so I don't have a huge amount of hope.
I'm not too picky. I like natural wood fine, I like a wide variety of colors. For some reason, though, the one thing I can't get into is sunburst. For some reason, whenever I see a sunburst bass, I imagine it smelling like tobacco and being played in some worn-out hack 70's band. Totally not fair, I know, but I just have this aesthetic reaction against them.
I tend to gravitate to natural finishes, but recently when I decided to convert a small electric guitar to a bass, the only thing I could find cheap enough was a sunburst Epiphone Les Paul Express, even though I wanted a natural Telecaster guitar style. Once it was done, I came across a builder in Michigan who made small Telecaster guitars and I asked if could make me a small Telecaster style bass. He said sure, so I went for it and it's in the works now.
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