Do aesthetics matter to you when it comes to amplification ?

[Gruntollio Bass]

The look of my gear is less important than the tone, however like many others I would probably be swayed towards buying gear that looks more asthetically pleasing than other brands.
I wonder how many more cabs Markbass would sell if they changed their colour scheme to something less hideous? Their gear gets just as good reviews as any other brand for the tone and quality, but if I were one of the Markbass marketing exec's, I'd be rethinking our colour scheme.
I mean let's face it, these amps are going to be stacked in a store right next to your Ampegs, GB's, Edens, GK's, Mesa's...............they just look shoddy and cheap next to their competitors even if internally this is not the case.

 

[JimmyM]

Tell him you'll bring the SVT everytime as long as he has no issues moving it in and out for you.

We'll see what happens on Monday

 

[Mystic Michael]

Do aesthetics matter to you when it comes to amplification ? As long as it isint too out there it dosent matter nearly as much to me as basses.

To me, aesthetics matters for everything. Not so much that I would choose a crappy-sounding rig that looks sharp, over a crappy-looking rig that sounds great. But if presented with two or more choices of amplification that are relatively comparable in terms of sound and features, I would take the cool-looking one every time.

I may have a little different philosophy about this than many people. But to me, this is part of the art: Appearances matter. Details matter. If one is striving to make an artistic statement, there's no room for haphazardness (unless that happens to be part of one's statement). Execute your vision with precision!

MM

 

[back as a wolf]

I really don't have issues with amps' looks. Nobody cares what I play through, although my drummer likes to call me a wuss when I bring my Markbass combo.

Right on Jimmy. Long live Markbass!

 

[James Hart]

tone and volume are more important than looks... but there are enough choices out there to have all 3.

 

[peaveyuser]

The Bass matters because your wearing it, I really couldn't care less about the amps looks, seriously as long as its not too over the top where is gets rediculous I don't care, sound and volume is all that matters. I haven't seen one amp that i really wouldn't gig with because looks. yes I would happily gig with markbass stuff.


The crowd won't even know what amp your using in the first place, plus it just stands in the back.

Call me out, I don't even care about your opinions here I find it generally stupid and fairly prissy to actually care what the heck the amp looks like. May be your opinion but i don't mind calling it a stupid opinion. Flame away.



i mean there are some cool little things like Ashdown and trace with that glow in the dark light up stuff but that should never be a deciding factor.

 

[EliasR]

My friend plays a yellow eden head through a green peavey power amp and a black bag end 4x10. It's hideous, but sounds quite good.

 

[Visirale]

I just think there is a huge aesthetic part to music. It doesn't really matter if you're just doing the cover band thing... but if you're doing original rock music... it matters.

If you show up to a venue, see mesa triple rectifiers and an SVT stack (yes, I will hand the iconic award to the SVT) you know that you are about to witness something intense. If you had the same two mesa triple rectifiers next to a "mini rig of doom"... It's just not going to wet the panties as much.

 

[gkbass13]

i need and crave matching rigs....part fo the reason i havnt bought a markbass f-1, lm II or GB shuttle 6.0....as im waiting for the epifani piccalo to come out to match it with ym epifani cabs....yummy.

 

[Munjibunga]

You'd best believe it. Just as with basses, looks come first!

 

[Beachcoma]

Sure it matters, its always the whole package that people see. Besides, some people in the audience will notice the change in looks going from an ampeg to trace, while the tonal differences will be wasted on 'em

 

[Askia]

You are musician, or a stylist made pop-puppet?

 

[RickenBoogie]

tone and volume are more important than looks... but there are enough choices out there to have all 3.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

 

[alfredpunkjazz]

You are musician, or a stylist made pop-puppet?

Way to take a thread to the other xtreme...... That's not usefull at all, musicians can be much more thing than just being musicians.

I think there are brands of amplifications that do everything, the tone, the volume and the look, why not having it all in one package?????

=

Glorious silver of a SVT.

 

[svtb15]

Nope.. Dont care what it looks like.. In fact if it only had one knob (Volume) i would be happy.

 

[perogato02]

Looks count!

I mean: you are standing in front of the thing and what you are doing is coming out of it ... okay, you are not wearing the thing, but you are connected

It is part of your stage presence: don't forget that music is show bizz!

 

[svtb15]

I dont know man. My mini rig of doom with 4 aggy gs112s and a genz benz gbe1200 does a number on the SVT.

I just think there is a huge aesthetic part to music. It doesn't really matter if you're just doing the cover band thing... but if you're doing original rock music... it matters.

If you show up to a venue, see mesa triple rectifiers and an SVT stack (yes, I will hand the iconic award to the SVT) you know that you are about to witness something intense. If you had the same two mesa triple rectifiers next to a "mini rig of doom"... It's just not going to wet the panties as much.

 

[thewickedcool]

Sure it matters to me. Like others have said, tone and volume come first, but then there are enough choices to have all three. I don't think its too shallow to want that.That's why I'm saving up for some Orange cabs!

 

[BigTreble]

Dude, who cares, as long as it aint a pain in the arse to move about. It does look cool though when your amp impresses people i guess tho. i would love an SVT/810 rig, but until i can pay someone to move it, im not goin that big. i rock an NV610 and a markbass LMII and it looks tiny, but i also use my EHX english muffin as a preamp, so i've got room for a pedalboard on top of my cab, i get the back to the future delorean look goin. just need a flux capacitor on my bass haha. Or just DI into the board and bring random junk on stage, a la geddy lee.

 

[rarbass]

As long as the amp sounds good, I wouldn't care. I mean, I guess I wouldn't really like a hot pink amp, but if it was the best sounding amp I'd ever played through, I'd still take it. Besides, I could have it repainted if it was THAT bad.