Dealing with Gear Nazis

[bassplayer8953]

Awesome dude!

I've never played one of those Epi T-Birds before, but now I wanna check one out. Looks damn cool. Can you get one in Fiesta Red???

No Fiesta Red, nor any solid colors. Natural oil (the finish I'm playing), Trans black & Vintage sunburst are the only finishes available.

 

[bassplayer8953]

A UFO Band is Cool!

Thanks!!! I'm kinda partial to UFO myself...

 

[bolophonic]

I think if people are coming up to you after the show and asking about your gear then you need to work on your playing!

People talk to musicians they like. Nobody wants to talk gear if you stink. If you sound good, people will want to talk about how rad you sounded. If they are haters, so be it. If you owned your set, then people will be impressed by the tools you just used to blow them away. Talk to the gear heads while you are packing up and then excuse yourself to find the hottest women.

 

[jive1]

Since I own a bass shop, if someone comes over wanting to talk gear, I'll accomodate and hand them a business card and tell them to stop in.

Many years ago, I was doing Blues gigs for a while with a modded SX P bass with TI Flats and a beat up Bag End S-15 with the logo fallen off. I used to have guys come up to me and tell me how killer my tone was, and such and ask what kind of rig I was playing. I told them it was a made in China bass through a cabinet I found left by a dumpster. I got some perplexed looks.

I got that trick from my old guitar player who had a SRV strat that had the pickguard replaced so it looked like a regular strat. People would ask what kind of guitar he had, and he'd put on his twangy voice and say that it was a stock strat he found at a pawn shop. But honestly, he was suck a killer player, he'd make a cigar box with rubber bands sound good.

But nowadays, if people want to talk gear, I talk. I don't get the 'experts' giving me crap, more often I get asked for gear advice.

 

[Madwatch]

Act all zoned out, like this... but say "i like squiers.... *blank stare*"

And be sure to stare at his ear the entire time. I love making people feel awkward... LOL

 

[Jim Campbell]

OP. Maybe it's cause they like your playing? And want to know how you get your sound.

i kind of like the idea that there's enough time for a minute or two to talk with people who paid to watch the band.....no one has to make a night of it.....if meeting girls in a bar involves a constant scouring of the surroundings from an ivory tower,it probably ain't gonna happen anyhow.....

 

[Munjibunga]

... Guys who paid a lot of money for stuff they probably don't need, hardly use and can't sell.

Hey, I can sell it but I don't want to.

 

[pklima]

I'm not terribly interested in talking about gear, but a lot of people will ask me about my DB. A great conversation-killer is to mention that the guy who made it hanged himself (which is true). When asked about my doubleneck bass I've occasionally gone with the "I don't know much about it, I stole it" line, but "I like it because it looks good" is probably even better.

 

[DizzyExiled]

"this is all I could afford after I paid for your mother to have *insert medical treatment here*"

 

[Jon Moody]

I guess the gear nazi's are my people! I'll talk gear with anyone but drummers or vocalists.

Same here. If someone is really that interested, I'll talk shop with them, no problem. Oftentimes it's a way for those guys to "break the ice" and come up to talk to a musician they enjoyed hearing.

Especially if you're using an instrument that isn't widely found, look for more people to ask about what it is.