Come On Sweetwater!

[Pep]

REALLY honestly, I'm actually going through my possessions and electronically cataloging them so that if I die, someone can more easily deal with my stuff.

It is at once all things on an emotional continuum: sobering, tough, annoying, tedious, and just maybe prudent and decent to not leave someone else with what some might see as this burden.

I need to do that very thing with all my basses, amps, cabinets, etc. otherwise my family will be taken advantage of.

 

[White Beard]

I'm not going to get bent out of shape over it, but I most definitely know what you mean. That right hand is very unnatural, and the left hand is 100% guitar. The player doesn't have what I would call a good sense of "feel," and that unnatural awkwardness does take you out of listening to the bass, because my ear immediately notices the odd phrasing and super staccato over-the-top plucking and stops listening to the bass, and continues to listen to the player. It certainly doesn't do the instrument any justice, it all sounds super bright, tinny and thin; there is no heft to those notes at all. But I'm also a good enough musician to recognize that it's the player and not the instrument that sounds bad.

I'm also going to put into different words what I feel the OP is trying to articulate: It's just kind of disrespectful. Sort of, "Oh, yeah. Anyone can do that. Bass is where we put the losers, so maybe we should put a winner in there instead? Hey, Tom! You play guitar, why don't you get in there and show 'em what a real musician can do with a bass." Or (possibly worse), "Yeah, sure you can do the demo, who cares about bass?"

That being said, I'm 47 and I've been playing bass for 35 years now... my indignation has been exhausted for a while now, at least a Baker's Dozen years. It's fine... it's more than fine, it's okay. Yes, that is what people think of my instrument. But, actual real musicians (not guitar dudes) appreciate what I do, so that's what actually matters. You just gotta' get over it, man. it's not going to go away.

 

[SactoBass]

I'd rather hear this than a Nate Navarro zing-fest, which I know I am not going to get when I pick up the bass.

I think you hit the nail squarely on the head with that statement. All too often, people focus on themselves rather than on those receiving the audio and/or visual information. Effective communication is all about the receiver, not the sender. It's amazing how many people don't "get" that.

 

[Pep]

I'm not going to get bent out of shape over it, but I most definitely know what you mean. That right hand is very unnatural, and the left hand is 100% guitar. The player doesn't have what I would call a good sense of "feel," and that unnatural awkwardness does take you out of listening to the bass, because my ear immediately notices the odd phrasing and super staccato over-the-top plucking and stops listening to the bass, and continues to listen to the player. It certainly doesn't do the instrument any justice, it all sounds super bright, tinny and thin; there is no heft to those notes at all. But I'm also a good enough musician to recognize that it's the player and not the instrument that sounds bad.

I'm also going to put into different words what I feel the OP is trying to articulate: It's just kind of disrespectful. Sort of, "Oh, yeah. Anyone can do that. Bass is where we put the losers, so maybe we should put a winner in there instead? Hey, Tom! You play guitar, why don't you get in there and show 'em what a real musician can do with a bass." Or (possibly worse), "Yeah, sure you can do the demo, who cares about bass?"

That being said, I'm 47 and I've been playing bass for 35 years now... my indignation has been exhausted for a while now, at least a Baker's Dozen years. It's fine... it's more than fine, it's okay. Yes, that is what people think of my instrument. But, actual real musicians (not guitar dudes) appreciate what I do, so that's what actually matters. You just gotta' get over it, man. it's not going to go away.

After 62 years of playing bass yes I noticed his non-fluid awkwardness but it didn't distract me from listing to the sounds and tones the bass produced. I've learned to block everything else out.

 

[Thunderthumbs73]

I think the bass player is just trying to be "relatable" to the target consumer for these basses, a "lower intermediate" level player. He does a decent job of demoing the instruments, showing basic pick and slap style and what it sounds like with simple licks. I'd rather hear this than a Nate Navarro zing-fest, which I know I am not going to get when I pick up the bass. A potential customer watching this would say "hey, he's no rocket scientist, maybe I can sound as good or even better if I buy this?"

The OP's comment reminds me of a similar comment I made about a demo of highly custom 12 string T-bird clone, built by a TB member, and it turned out it was the builder playing it. Man, I felt low when I learned that, apologized profusely to him.

That's a fair point, and I do get the accessibility aspect. I think that hits a LOT of different ways. If a girl or a woman sees a demo, they too can say "I can see myself doing that" and it being relatable. Or someone who is not male Caucasian, seeing someone who is not male Caucasian doing a demo. I get the RELATABILITY aspect. That's important. I like diversity in the bass community and in building community.

But...

I also see people who are CLEARLY bass players making good demos that I think on a fundamental level demonstrate a broad range of sounds on the instrument, and they're not (I'll say again) trying to be Victor Wooten or Jaco Pastorius clones. Anyway, good points.

 

[Thunderthumbs73]

I need to do that very thing with all my basses, ampm's cabinets, etc. otherwise my family will be taken advantage of.

That is EXACTLY why I am doing what I am doing.

 

[Thunderthumbs73]

I would take that over the dreadful and painful wankfest that so many demos contain,

In this decision point, I would agree with you.

 

[Thunderthumbs73]

I need to do that very thing with all my basses, amps, cabinets, etc. otherwise my family will be taken advantage of.

I can imagine now at some place where the owner says "Yeah, we'll take that old rackmount gear off your hands. Bass players are using small, light digital gear now. We'll give you $200/per"

But I know I spent $1,000 each in 1994 money for that Rackmount Alembic Preamp and Superfilter, and they're sold new for what, $3,000 now? So I have $6,000 in modern money in these two pieces alone, that looks new and has always stayed in a rack since new. But someone else gets $400 because they don't know.

Yes. I'm going to avoid that. I'll be dead and gone, but whoever has this stuff IS GONNA KNOW the history, no matter what they decide to do.

 

[Lammchop93]

They need to do a little QC before their videos. Look at those saddles!!

 

[BassicJazzy]

They need to do a little QC before their videos. Look at those saddles!!

View attachment 7569408

I noticed that too. What's that, item #17 on the inspection checklist?

 

[Dincrest]

It's better than Sweetwater's Doug Wimbish video for Spector's old Legend line.



ASIDE: I have a 2022 Spector Legend 5 (a recently acquired preowned bass that was a Guitar Center rescue) and it sounds killer (especially after a good setup). Way better than what Sweetwater displayed in that video. How could Doug Wimbish make a good bass sound so bad?!?!?! Inconceivable!