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Do aesthetics matter to you when it comes to amplification ?

#82
byoung said:
James,

Those cabs are nice looking, but waaaaay too art-deco for the application in question (church).
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They have the skills and do custom stuff... I bet they could do what you want...

I'd have no problem setting this next to a Hammond @ Church... I use to own a B3 with a fancy Leslie cab, so I know what you are talking about.

rig20080612-1.jpg


no it's not as fancy, but it's not too far off to my eyes either :)



greenboy said:
They also don't have design merit as full range bass cabs... with guitar, speakers can survive in open back cabs, but not when being driven by basses with much more low frequency demands.
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they will do bass stuff too
 
#83
uaudio said:
I'll play whatever sounds great in the studio, but live I want to have gear that suits my personality and my own aesthetic. I certainly wouldn't SACRIFICE tone for image, but all other things being equal, wouldn't you rather have things you thought fit you and your band?

If I said I didn't want to buy a car because, after a test drive and some research into the specs, I just thought it was ugly, or you didn't like the color...no one would question that. That's how people buy cars, its another criteria.

But if you say you don't like a certain amp because you thinks its too yellow (:ninja:), or too ugly, or too modern looking, or whatever, you get called out for it.
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Good analogy

I drive used cars. I do my homework to try and find an appropriate car within my budget, but there are some colors or styles I just find too ugly and wouldn't buy the car even if it fit other criteria. I really can't think of a bass amp or cab I find so ugly that I wouldn't buy it for that reason, but if I did, I wouldn't buy it. Maybe neon pink Tolex would do it.
 
#85
I guess I am one of the few who thinks like this.....I don't give a damn what color my gear is behind me or what it looks like. As long as I get the sound I like, the audience can just watch me tear apart bass lines on my red Spector bass.

I HONESTLY would play a pink Hello Kitty bass if it achieved the tone I wanted. A pink bass cab? If it sounded thunderous and annoyed the hell out of my bandmates - it will be on stage with me. If people leave my show because of the pink bass cab, the hell with them. I don't need them to be there and they aren't worth my time.

Hey guys! A pink cab would get the women at the gig WAY more interested in you & your band. Chicks and bass players may rise above the guitard's who get women regardless of what they do.

My first performance was in front of 400 people and I wore a multi-colored frog strap - playing Lynyrd Skynyrd too. People enjoyed it and paid attention to me the rest of the performance.
 
#86
:smug:

I dunno, if musicians should care anything more than the sound. You would play through an amp which looks awsome, and sounds not nice to you? So? You know any musician who said: "Hey, I don't like my sound, but I cannot resist this amp, it looks so good!" You wouldn't play through an amp which looks bad, but you die for the sound of it? So, what matters?
So, I just asked, if you are a musician, who cares about the sound, or a pop-star, whos goal is to make the teen's panty wet.
It's not a sentence over popstars, simply the aim of ampchoice. And it has to match with the haircolour as well. :p

MysticMichael said:
Thus implying that a musician must never pay attention to anything other than sound? Why? Says who?

It always baffles me that people can take such a narrow, dogmatic view of something that is inherently so wide open, free-spirited and holistic. In the cause of defending some notion of purist orthodoxy, they (inadvertently?) suppress and inhibit the very same creative spirit they claim to revere... :eyebrow:

MM
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#88
I finally had a chance to read this entire thread and I am amazed at the amount of shallow opinions floating around on this topic.

"Won't try Markbass cabs beacuse of the color scheme", "Can't stand Trace heads with the green LED backlighting", "rig of doom does not look good with Marshall cabs as an Ampeg SVT rig would".

I always get a kick out of looking on stage and seeing different bass gear get the job done in different bands. You don't always need an SVT rig to compete for volume.....I love it when someone uses and Eden rig and fills the whole room with a cool bass tone!

I understand switching out tolex screens for metal screens - it's not too difficult. I can also understand modifying the cabs so the guitar cabs and bass cabs are the same color and/or have a similar design to them on the front. If you are trying to get the band logo out to the crowd - this is a great way to do it.

But these BS opinions on how certain designs of amps/speakers effect your buying decisions - is just pathetic. Your bass playing should always speak for who you are, not the brand of equipment or type of equipment you have behind you.

The real question is: if you went to go see band you liked and the bass player had two pink 410's, neon green tube amp, and a purple Daisy Rock bass, would you walk out of the gig because he looks rediculous with his rig? Heck no! I sure as heck would stay there to see WHAT kind of tone he could achieve with that rig!
 
#89
Yes. Aesthetics matter. That said, I don't really worry about it, because all the bass gear I like not only sounds great, but also looks cool.

To me, very few rigs look quite as good as a Trace Elliot original V-Type head on top of the original, matching, cloth-grilled, 1248 cabinet. The only thing that would make it better is if I had a full stack of 1248's instead of just a half stack, just like it is on the cover of the mid 1990's Trace Elliot bass amp catalog. The catalog even has a hot alterna-chick playing a Gibson EB-2 in front of it! Mid 1990's Trace Elliot stuff (prior to the red stripes and rat fur) just looks amazing, whether it's the modern SS stuff or the V-Type.

My other rig, the SWR setup, looks equally amazing with the chrome faceplates.

Others I like include Ampeg (I have an Ampeg guitar amp), Mesa/Boogie (I also have some Mesa gear), and Groove Tubes. All of these brands are about the sound first and the aesthetics second, but the aesthetics are all great anyway.

Of course, other standouts are the Warwick/Jonas Hellborg gear, and the Demeter stuff. I would be quite happy to use any of the above brands, but I really think that what's actually in my future is a couple of Mesa Scouts, and the V-Type rig will be left home.
 
#92
LOOKS MATTER. Back in their day, would you rather have had Pamela Anderson sitting next to you or Rosanne Barr? If you play in a bar or club, playing say a MoTown set & cop Jamerson's tone to the tee, most of the pukers in the place aren't gonna hear you for squat. They're all too busy trying to get laid at the end of the night.
On the other hand, if your 2 guitarists have a couple of nice Marshall stacks & you have say a 400+ sitting atop a 1x15 & a 4x10 Powerhouse cab you might just get noticed, even by somone that matters. Good tone can be gotten from just about any rig, but thrashed equipment just won't cut it IMHO.
 
#93
Good tone can be gotten from just about any rig?!
Good tone for who? Good tone for what kind of music? I'm envy, that for you any rig is suitable. It's not about good tone, it's about YOUR tone.

And again you would take a 4x10+1x15 rig, only becouse the guitarists have a 4x12 as well, even if a good 2x10 would be enough?
So the question is "Does Aesthethics matters to your ego? Will the look of my rig provide me self confidence? Is it important for me, that my amp looks good on stage, so that others could tell, oh, your rig looks good?"
Maybe the problem is with me, but I don't want compliments on my gear, but on my playing, or sound. Maybe it's a different point of view.



34 Blues said:
LOOKS MATTER. Back in their day, would you rather have had Pamela Anderson sitting next to you or Rosanne Barr? If you play in a bar or club, playing say a MoTown set & cop Jamerson's tone to the tee, most of the pukers in the place aren't gonna hear you for squat. They're all too busy trying to get laid at the end of the night.
On the other hand, if your 2 guitarists have a couple of nice Marshall stacks & you have say a 400+ sitting atop a 1x15 & a 4x10 Powerhouse cab you might just get noticed, even by somone that matters. Good tone can be gotten from just about any rig, but thrashed equipment just won't cut it IMHO.
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#94
Askia said:
Good tone can be gotten from just about any rig?!
Good tone for who? Good tone for what kind of music? I'm envy, that for you any rig is suitable. It's not about good tone, it's about YOUR tone.

And again you would take a 4x10+1x15 rig, only becouse the guitarists have a 4x12 as well, even if a good 2x10 would be enough?
So the question is "Does Aesthethics matters to your ego? Will the look of my rig provide me self confidence? Is it important for me, that my amp looks good on stage, so that others could tell, oh, your rig looks good?"
Maybe the problem is with me, but I don't want compliments on my gear, but on my playing, or sound. Maybe it's a different point of view.
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So you want people to compliment only you, but you're questioning other people's egos?
 
#96
:)
You have right.. almost :smug:
I'm questioning their motivation :p
..and you get what I said, anyway.. I hope so
..or maybe I should start a thread about bassists should wear bassball cap, or not? It looks cool, or not? Or shall we wear underwear on the concerts or not? Or any suggestions on topics, which should be discussed rather in a teen's magazine?

JimmyM said:
So you want people to compliment only you, but you're questioning other people's egos?
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#98
Askia said:
:)
You have right.. almost :smug:
I'm questioning their motivation :p
..and you get what I said, anyway.. I hope so
..or maybe I should start a thread about bassists should wear bassball cap, or not? It looks cool, or not? Or shall we wear underwear on the concerts or not? Or any suggestions on topics, which should be discussed rather in a teen's magazine?
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Boy, take the fun out of music. Half the fun is having an image. And believe me, you won't get anywhere without one. You can say you're anti-image and claim how unfair it is, but the truth is it counts. A lot.
 
#99
This is the first time I've really thought about it, Major. There are so many different brands of amps that IMO have great visual appeal. My amp setup is pretty generic looking. :eyebrow: My Aguilar cabs look pretty low-key, and even though my Berg cabs have chromed grills, to me they don't look very flashy.

I really like the looks of the 60's/70's era Ampeg SVT stack. IMO Trace Elliot amps look great, as do Eden's heads and cabs. I've also always thought the Acoustic 360 was a cool looking setup.
 
#100
You are extremely right! Music business is all about visuality, you don't have to be a good player if you are a good performer.
But to discuss on a bassplayer's forum about, how much importance has the asthetics of your amp? Hey, maybe it's my fault, I simply don't care about it so much.. not the look of your amp sells the show, but your personality. This discussion to me is like, blacks or blondes? This for he, this for you, and someone thinks it's not matter of haircolour-that's me. :D

P.S.: but maybe it's really my fault.. next time I take my girlfriend to the shop, when I get an amp, if she likes it as well, becouse she is the audience, she has to like it .. f**k how it sounds :p


JimmyM said:
Boy, take the fun out of music. Half the fun is having an image. And believe me, you won't get anywhere without one. You can say you're anti-image and claim how unfair it is, but the truth is it counts. A lot.
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