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Do you buy cause an influence plays?

You buy a bass from what you see your favorite bassists play?

  • YES

    Votes: 38 30.4%

  • NO

    Votes: 87 69.6%
  • Total voters
    125
#42
I went to a 6er because of Les Claypool, and have loved it. I have a hard time with 4s now. Sometimes when I hear a really great tone I will get curious about the bass that caused it, sometimes it works out, others not so much. Like Music Man 5s. I love the tone I hear when others play one, but every time I grab one, it lets me down. But they have great marketing, so I still want one.
 
#43
Thank you for everyone's input. To answer some Q's with A's, I'm in no way comparing the two basses by inferring that they're of the same quality/specs/tone. It's just that those are the two I'm contemplating. And actually, the Gecko I would build woulda been a different "animal" anyways with havng EMG electronics, and etc. Secondly, I'm not looking at it as to resale value of the bass either. I do know that used Geckos go for "pennies" comparable to a Modulus. But if I think about resale value, then why buy it in the first place, since I would be already letting it go in my mind. I think I'm gonna work towards a Modulus(either a Quantum5 or Funk5), and if that looks slim, I'll do the Gecko. This was a fun, yet informative thread. Thanks TB community!
 
#44
When I started to play bass, I did NOT buy because of my influences. Obviously, I like Mike Rutherford of Genesis, but I also like many other prog-rockers as well as modern alternative rock and the whole gamut of jazz (from fusion to acoustic post-bop [my personal favorite style..]).

Then in my years 5-10 of playing, I centered to playing basses used by influences, so I got the Rickenbacker and Fender Jazz bass.

But in the last 3 years, I have strayed away from that and have started to 'build' my unique tone which is different than just emulating "The Masters" so to speak.
 
#45
No! and yes...

I changed piano for bass listening to the Beatles, my first bass was a Yamaha BB300 that my dad bought for me in 1993. Since then I have had so many basses and until 2011 (after 18 years as a bassist) that I was able to buy my Hofner 500/1. I love the little Hofner but my main and favourite bass is my MIM P Bass that I bought in 2001.


Cheers!
 
#46
In '67, I bought a 500/1, in '69 after playing Jesse Colin Young's Danelectro Long Horn, which by the way had the lipstick pickups replaced with deArmond surface mounts, I found one brand new for $150 in '69. I love the neck and only recently parted with it. In the 70's, it was a '64 jazz. Didn't play at all in the 80's, and now I have a P, a Danelecto DC bass, Hofner Ignition Club, and a Rogue 405Pro and VB100. The 500/1 and the Long Horn were influenced. The '64 jazz was simply a great bass.
 
#51
TheAngryPocket said:
Thank you for everyone's input. To answer some Q's with A's, I'm in no way comparing the two basses by inferring that they're of the same quality/specs/tone. It's just that those are the two I'm contemplating. And actually, the Gecko I would build woulda been a different "animal" anyways with havng EMG electronics, and etc. Secondly, I'm not looking at it as to resale value of the bass either. I do know that used Geckos go for "pennies" comparable to a Modulus. But if I think about resale value, then why buy it in the first place, since I would be already letting it go in my mind. I think I'm gonna work towards a Modulus(either a Quantum5 or Funk5), and if that looks slim, I'll do the Gecko. This was a fun, yet informative thread. Thanks TB community!
Click to expand...

What's funny about what you say about resale is that no one thinks about that until way after the fact. Sometimes not until the 13th show, 1st time in the studio, or the last time the feel can drive one to madness enough to play something that feels better. The line is very thin sometimes.
 
#52
I don't think anything since my first Strat was specifically because an influence plays it. well, maybe the Hammond organ too. :)

That said, when SamAsh was clearing out the Tune TWB53 basses a few years ago I had no idea of the brand at all. But I remembered seeing something that looked like it onstage somewhere.... turns out that both Roger Glover and Greg Lake had used Tune basses at shows I'd seen. While its use by Deep Purple and ELP was not what caused me to buy it, it did influence my decision to give the instrument serious consideration instead of dismissing it outright.
 
#53
I buy based on what I like the sound and playability of these days. When I first started playing and a few years after that I was much more likely to buy because an influence did, but I find the more and more I play the more interested I am with just finding my own sound and really doing my own thing.

Definitely not a bad thing to buy because an influence plays....it's a good stepping stone to helping you shape your own sound. If you don't like the instrument otherwise and only want to buy it because people that influence you play it, you may want to sit down and re-consider, though.
 
#54
The last time I did that was when I bought my Series I Alembic because Stanley had one, and that was waaay back in 1976.
I'd get the Gecko (or 2), learn it backwards and forwards and get every tone and note I'd like out of it and then be your own influence. Who knows, someone may be wondering whether or not to buy a Gecko because you play one some day.....
I've played Modulus basses since 1983, FWIW. They sound like a grand piano to me and can almost be too bright with the wrong pickups. IME it's easier to take a bright sounding bass and make it darker than it is to try to coax a bright tone out of an inherently dark toned instrument.
The Modulus necks are incredibly stable and easy to play. If you play one and you like one, I'd get it because I liked it. I've been skittish about buying basses because a player used one, although if I like his/her tone I may investigate the bass.
 
#56
Roy Vogt said:
The last time I did that was when I bought my Series I Alembic because Stanley had one, and that was waaay back in 1976.
Click to expand...

Same here. A Ric in '74 because of Chris Squire and the Alembic Series I in '76 because of Stanley are the only ones I've bought for that reason. I still have the Alembic and still like it. The Ric got traded for a '72 fretless Ric within a year. I still have the fretless.
 
#58
Hahaha! Friggin' bass players, we're all a bunch of liars.

According to the poll up top over 70% of us say that our purchases aren't influenced by famous players but bass manufacturers keep putting out signature models, filling their ads with the faces of famous players and continue to hand out lucrative endorsement deals. They wouldn't shell out that money if there was no return on their investment. Every artist interview in Bass Player magazine contains an equipment list and there's countless threads here on TB about what equipment to get to sound like (fill in the name of famous player here).

I'll admit it, I'm saving up to buy a sunburts P because that's what Jamerson played.
 
#59
Everyone has made a buying decision based upon liking what sound of someone else playing a certain instrument. That is, most everyone who gets beyond a certain level of proficiency.

What you find out is that the sound we love is mostly the player and not the bass. Because I own a Fodera, for example, does not make me sound like Victor. Conversely, a (whatever cheap bass brand) in the hands of Victor will sound.... like Victor (Wooten)

If you spend time learning to make a beautiful sound, every bass you touch will sound beautiful! Once you know how to make a beautiful sound, you can better make a choice on which bass allows you to express your musical point of view.
 

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