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Do you think aesthetics are important?
- Thread starter thesmeee
- Start date
Aesthetics are a consideration for me. If I really don't like the look of an instrument, and just can't see myself playing it, I'm not terribly inclined to check it out.
And I just don't care for the looks of most modern basses either. Nothing against modern electronics packages, but I would still prefer them installed in a more "classic" design, if I were going to have an active bass.
And I just don't care for the looks of most modern basses either. Nothing against modern electronics packages, but I would still prefer them installed in a more "classic" design, if I were going to have an active bass.
If anyone else is looking, appearance is primary. Presentation is everything, within reason.
People here fight accepting this like you wouldn't believe (because if they did, they'd have to reconsider showing up to their crappy gigs in dirty T-shirts, sandals and cargo shorts), but it's still true.
If it's just me, it's irrelevant...though I have some startlingly hideous colors of instruments that I sort of have to brace myself to play. Blue, dingy purple, yellow.
Subdued lighting helps.
People here fight accepting this like you wouldn't believe (because if they did, they'd have to reconsider showing up to their crappy gigs in dirty T-shirts, sandals and cargo shorts), but it's still true.
If it's just me, it's irrelevant...though I have some startlingly hideous colors of instruments that I sort of have to brace myself to play. Blue, dingy purple, yellow.
Subdued lighting helps.
I think aesthetics are important to a degree, but not more important than tone and playability. Stevie Ray Vaughan's Strat, and Jaco's Jazz are but two examples of instruments that looked beat to hell, but sounded amazing.
Guess it boils down to what's important to you.
Guess it boils down to what's important to you.
If I don't like the way a bass looks, I won't even consider buying it. There are too many great-sounding basses out there that also LOOK good to settle for one not pleasing to your eyes.
All that said, my favorite basses are the old traditionals (ie., Jazz and Precision). So I'm fairly easy to please aesthetically...
All that said, my favorite basses are the old traditionals (ie., Jazz and Precision). So I'm fairly easy to please aesthetically...
DiabolusInMusic
Functionless Art is Merely Tolerated Vandalism
I have only played on actual Gibson Tbird admittedly, I have played at least a dozen Epi's. I'll take your word they don't all dive but the one Gibson I played did and every Epi does.
And yes, if your bass dives at all, even to your hip, it is still neck dive. There was a recent thread about rics where several people said their ric didn't neck dive when in fact it did they just didn't consider it neck dive.
Side note, the Epi 5 string ones I played had decent open B strings, they got muddy up the neck but they were much better than many offerings in the same price range.
And yes, if your bass dives at all, even to your hip, it is still neck dive. There was a recent thread about rics where several people said their ric didn't neck dive when in fact it did they just didn't consider it neck dive.
Side note, the Epi 5 string ones I played had decent open B strings, they got muddy up the neck but they were much better than many offerings in the same price range.
Sometimes the price break on ugly colors is sufficiently precipitous to offset their hideousness if you don't intend to be seen in public with them or look at them too much, i.e. my famous "Law of Blue Guitars."
I've gotten as much as 85% off list on new gear just because it was in blue or some other offensive color.
Using bog-standard iconic pro gear is usually the best presentation choice for a mature performer ("too old for guyliner"), with an option on (real or fake) relic mojo.
A couple of years ago, I decided that in all my basses, I didn't have any performing basses that weren't too off or too valuable for gigging, so I bought a matching 3CSB/rosewood set of MIA Fenders, a P and a J, the most iconic bog-standard pro gear there is in the bog-standard colors. The next day, I got Invalid Link Removed, ending my playing-out days forever...so the joke was on me.
You, sir, drive a hard bargain! I didn't realize that some people are offended by blue guitars.
Man, I don't need to know what happened to your arm/hand, but I sure hope you get back the most function possible.
If you believe that aesthetics are an important part of being a performer or entertainer, and if you play for a demographic audience that feels the same, the answer is easy. Looks matter.
Or, if you just appreciate the beauty that a musical instrument can hold, you may prefer something aesthetically pleasing for your own edification.
If you don't find this to be the case, and if you don't play for said audience, you may not put much emphasis on looks.
Or, if you just appreciate the beauty that a musical instrument can hold, you may prefer something aesthetically pleasing for your own edification.
If you don't find this to be the case, and if you don't play for said audience, you may not put much emphasis on looks.
They matter to me, but I can get past them to an extent. For instance, my Pedulla Pentabuzz. I find the body design to be awkward at best, fugly at worst, but with the wood and finishes that MVP utilizes, and the truly amazing sounds Pentabuzzes produce, I had to have one despite finding them basically ugly. Mine is the vintage cherry burst, and I will admit that had I not found this one, and, say, a solid color one had been available instead, I would not yet have a Pentabuzz.
+1 People do hear with their eyes.
Omit the word "Dirty" and change "sandals" to "tennis shoes" and you've got the standard rock uniform. I find jazz to be a bit freer- you just wear the same suit you wore to work that day.
That said, I'm not sure that the average gigging TBer fights the concept of aesthetics because they dress poorly themselves. I think it's more because they want to attach a faux practicality to themselves where the instrument is concerned. "Is five/six/seven strings necessary"? No. Neither is playing a musical instrument, unless that's how you feed yourself and your family.
I'm reminded of a cycling forum where I posted some images of a bike I'd just built. A longtime "practicality troll" who owns several thousand dollars worth of cycles and equipment but is not a professional rider commented on the build by saying (in addition to complimenting me) that some of the parts I'd chosen weren't going to make me any faster. I told him I wasn't a sponsored rider, that I paid for the bike with my own money, that I spent money to buy a bicycle to race against friends and acquaintances, so practicality went out the window when my credit card went into the slot at the store's cash register. I didn't have to add... "just like you", for him to get the message and drift away from the thread.
I get that. Personally, I don't own any basses that won't work with some kind of music I play, but that's because at 49, I go out of my way to make sure I don't look like I'm trying to appear younger or hipper.
Aesthetics are near everything to me as are the neck, sound, weight, and quality.
There are many basses out there that fit that description.
There are many basses out there that fit that description.
I nearly re-edited that to "unmarketable." It's not offensive, it's just a hard sell.You, sir, drive a hard bargain! I didn't realize that some people are offended by blue guitars.
Blue-blue (as opposed to some vintage pastel blue identified with a type of instrument) is a really bad color for instruments. Ask anyone in the business. It's not ugly enough to be perversely desirable, just ugly enough to be passed over by 98%+ of ready buyers in favor of nearly anything else, without a second thought. That's not what you want when you're trying to sell gear.
If buyers don't want to actually part with money for them, you can bet an audience doesn't want to look at them, either. That's not what you want when you're trying to sell your act.
It may be a really beautiful blue, too, but it doesn't matter. People say they want more colors and they always tell focus groups that, but when it comes to actually buying them, they don't do it.
What do they buy? FMIC says that 50%+ of the instruments they sell are 3CSB, if there's a choice. Then naturals, blondes, whites, black...
Nah, I'm done.Man, I don't need to know what happened to your arm/hand, but I sure hope you get back the most function possible.
I can record, I just can't play for a long time without the damaged finger hurting. No gigging.
It matters. But I am superficial. If I found "THE TONE" in an visually challenged bass, I still think I would just pass and continue looking for my one true love.
For me, form follows function. If something works exquisitely, it is beautiful. So much of what is considered aesthetically appealing in basses is just group-think anyway.
+1
I feel this way strongly now as mostly a session player but still felt that way a couple decades ago when I toured and gigged all the time. my Fugly cream colored ibanez musician fretless and alembic series 1 didn't look right with most of the bands I played in, such as post-thrash for the alembic or sheryl-crow style original female alt acoustic/electric rock with the ibanez.
But I got the gigs due to playing skill/compatibility/other musical skills. Followed by tone, never due to my looks (5'7" average skinny white guy LoL).
