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Do new basses inspire you?

#6
Why couldn't a piece of gear inspire? Music is art. Art can cause emotion. An instrument, with the help of its user, can create music/art, and therefore cause emotion, from happiness to sorrow and everything in between. A bass guitar may just be a bunch of wood and strings, but then we're all just meatbags as well. The earth is just a rock floating around space, and the solar system is just one big star in the middle with a bunch of rocks surrounding it.
 
#7
Epitaph04 said:
Why couldn't a piece of gear inspire? Music is art. Art can cause emotion. An instrument, with the help of its user, can create music/art, and therefore cause emotion, from happiness to sorrow and everything in between. A bass guitar may just be a bunch of wood and strings, but then we're all just meatbags as well. The earth is just a rock floating around space, and the solar system is just one big star in the middle with a bunch of rocks surrounding it.
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OP wasn't asking if music or art inspires us. He was asking if the actual physical bass itself inspires us. A painting may inspire me, but the brush used to create it does not.
 
#8
Yes, definitely. I play differently with different basses. A bass sounding different to another is enough to make me play differently, or if it feels different.

I don't play a Precision like an Ibanez, and I can say with fair certainty I would have different musical inspiration from a Vampyre Dark Lord than a Ritter
 
#10
Sonic said:
Just wondering.

I have yet to figure out the question for myself. I think there's a definite novelty (and who doesn't love a NBD) but do you compare getting a new instrument to making a new lifelong friend or picking up a new hacksaw at Home Depot?
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A very good bass, something you long for awhile, savin' your hard earned cash to get it and maybe "sacrificin'" some good gear of yours to trade for it, chances are it's gonna be a somewhat new lifelong friend.
An average bass, something you can buy and sell with no braindwellin' pain and, eventually, chosen for a very specific nononsense use, chances are it's goin' to be just a hacksaw at your own private depot (aka... "gear")

Cheers,
Wallace
 
#11
Yes a new bass can inspire one. Especially if its closer to ones dream bass sound etc. The least inspiring bass is of course going to be one that just doesnt give the type sound wanted nor the playability wanted. That actually hurts one ability to play and be creative.
 
#13
If I buy a new bass it is simply for the fact that it does inspire me. Otherwise I wouldn't buy it.
Added to that, however, is that the basses I do have STILL inspire me, as they did when I first bought them. Some I've had for 12 years, others for 5, but I bought them because I enjoy how they look, feel and sound. So when I pick them up I'm happy to have it and play it. Make sense?

Reminds me of when I bought my first set of golf clubs. The golf pro said "aside from everything else, make sure you like looking at them. If you don't you're not going to be inspired to pick them up and use them. If you like the way they look you'll look forward to playing with them (of course, at that point, other factors come into play as well, like quality and such)."

I've used that advice for lots of things since then.
 
#16
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coolidge_effect

calvincoolidge.jpg
 
#18
LutherHeggs00 said:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coolidge_effect

calvincoolidge.jpg
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Oh Cal, you DOG!


"Inspire?" Perhaps not. I'm more inspired when I'm actually playing with good musicians. Still, I buy basses quite infrequently, and when I do it's with the intention to keep them. Bringing a new bass home is very very exciting. There could be a grease fire in my kitchen and I'd still want to play the new axe first.

Upon further reflection, I will say that the Allen Woody I scored a few months back makes me want to play more rockin' blues.
 

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