I'm late to this party. After forty some years of playing 6-7 different instruments, no, it doesn't. Practice, knowledge, experience and empathy are what improve our playing.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Does a High Quality Bass Improve Our Playing?
- Thread starter Zeus_Mutation
- Start date
Anything that inspires us to practice and play more often will improve our playing.
A $300 bass isn't going to have $150-200 of labor going into the fretboard and fretwork. That's where the magic happens and creates a great bass. Who wants to pay $180 to have a $300 bass PLEK'd? And, if you're going to put that much attention to detail into fretwork, you want stable, aged wood to start with. Guess what isn't used in a $300 bass? Probably a lightweight Sire that's PLEK'd would be the bang for the buck champion in my book. But then I'd want to upgrade the tuners and the bridge and the pickups, so it's better to start at a higher price point and get what you want to start. Throwing a ton of money into a $600 Sire will give you a less than $600 Sire for resale purposes. Best under $200 is definitely the Ibanez Talman 100. I played one on a whim to try an amp at GC and was pleasantly surprised.
I am going to take the side that yes it does improve our playing.
When we talk about our playing and being a good musicians it is a matter of doing a lot of little things well (the aggregation of margin gains). If we know how to listen, if we have good technique, we know the notes on the fingerboard and our scales. We have a greater chance at success.
The same holds true for our instruments, if all the little things are done correctly, quality woods and hardware, well thought out design and great craftsmanship all come together. You’ve got a good chance you’ve got a nice instrument.
Now that leaves us with the only obstacles being our imagination. Is the perfect set up going to help us play a scale we don’t know? Of course not. But if I am running that scale and the notes aren’t coming out like I want them to it distracts from the goal.
When we talk about our playing and being a good musicians it is a matter of doing a lot of little things well (the aggregation of margin gains). If we know how to listen, if we have good technique, we know the notes on the fingerboard and our scales. We have a greater chance at success.
The same holds true for our instruments, if all the little things are done correctly, quality woods and hardware, well thought out design and great craftsmanship all come together. You’ve got a good chance you’ve got a nice instrument.
Now that leaves us with the only obstacles being our imagination. Is the perfect set up going to help us play a scale we don’t know? Of course not. But if I am running that scale and the notes aren’t coming out like I want them to it distracts from the goal.
IMO yes. And as soon as my post winds up on another page, no one will ever read this excerpt of my priceless wisdom, forever banishing it to the lost archives of TB that no one will ever discover.
So who cares what I think now anyway??
So who cares what I think now anyway??
Any bass that inspires you to play more is going to make you a more accomplished player. Price doesn't come into that. A better bass may make the physical aspects of playing easier that's all, though that isn't always the case. A good setup as has been stated is something that will make a bass easier to play.
I think within reason, quality matters. You need to spend a certain amount to reach levels of basic functionality, and up to a point there are pretty noticeable changes in tone and playability right out of the box. That said:
1. The quality of moderately priced instruments has pretty much never been higher. I recently bought an Ibanez AS93 Semi Hollow guitar, and apart from one little blem on the binding (which I've seen on much more expensive guitars) it plays great, sounds great, and looks great. And for about 1/4 the price of an ES335.
2. With a good set up and maybe some fretwork, you can make just about anything play well.
3. Above some price point, a lot of the difference between instruments is really questions of taste
4. Above a certain price point, you are largely paying for things that don't really impact plability or tone. I'm not saying you are getting ripped off. Fancy inlays, multiple laminates of exotic woods, etc. legitimately drive up the cost, but you can't hear them
5. All else equal, I'd rather have a cheap bass and a good amp than the other way around
1. The quality of moderately priced instruments has pretty much never been higher. I recently bought an Ibanez AS93 Semi Hollow guitar, and apart from one little blem on the binding (which I've seen on much more expensive guitars) it plays great, sounds great, and looks great. And for about 1/4 the price of an ES335.
2. With a good set up and maybe some fretwork, you can make just about anything play well.
3. Above some price point, a lot of the difference between instruments is really questions of taste
4. Above a certain price point, you are largely paying for things that don't really impact plability or tone. I'm not saying you are getting ripped off. Fancy inlays, multiple laminates of exotic woods, etc. legitimately drive up the cost, but you can't hear them
5. All else equal, I'd rather have a cheap bass and a good amp than the other way around
Ah, these threads!
Let me make one thing perfectly clear:
It is a KNOWN fact that once you purchase / receive a high-end; "boutique" expensive; high-quality bass,
(say anything $3k & over...& it increases incrementally, say a $20K Alembic will be 2x more powerful than a mere 10K Fodera...)
You will immediately be propelled into being a better bassist. Your tone, feel, time, creativity, dexterity, rhythm etc etc etc will improve by at least 90-100%. No practice-shedding-study required, just by possessing that $$$ bass- you're there.
Amazing huh?
Now that this has been established, there should no longer be a need for such discussions.
(jk jk)
Let me make one thing perfectly clear:
It is a KNOWN fact that once you purchase / receive a high-end; "boutique" expensive; high-quality bass,
(say anything $3k & over...& it increases incrementally, say a $20K Alembic will be 2x more powerful than a mere 10K Fodera...)
You will immediately be propelled into being a better bassist. Your tone, feel, time, creativity, dexterity, rhythm etc etc etc will improve by at least 90-100%. No practice-shedding-study required, just by possessing that $$$ bass- you're there.
Amazing huh?
Now that this has been established, there should no longer be a need for such discussions.
(jk jk)
Its backwards.View attachment 3244973 In my case? Sadly, no; doesn't seem to have worked very well. Maybe, though, an even more expensive Alembic will...
There are at least two sides to this argument. 1.) Can a musician express him/herself sufficiently with a budget instrument as opposed to one of a professional grade? 2.) Does a $20 hammer pound nails five times faster and/or more accurately than a $4 hammer? I think the answer lies in the middle. Cost alone doesn't guarantee a wonderful instrument. There are basses that cost a couple of hundred bucks that'll eat a booteek bass for lunch. Usually, though, there's a reason an instrument is priced where it is. The real point is how you feel when you play it. As musicians (and not carpenters), how we feel and what inspires us has a direct correlation to our work. No so with a carpenter wielding a hammer, regardless of cost. If you really enjoy your bass and are comfortable enough with it to play your best, it doesn't matter what's on the headstock or how much it cost. If you leave your Ritter in its case and reach for the First Act, so be it.
Well a more expensive alembic will possibly make you a "better bass" owner if you consider it better than the epic.
I'm in agreement on the "no excuses" aspect as has been repeated by several others.
I want to play gear that sounds great to start with. If I still suck after playing thru great gear, then it's all up to me to improve that.
If the gear doesn't sound great, or otherwise provide value to my sound, it leaves my collection.
I want to play gear that sounds great to start with. If I still suck after playing thru great gear, then it's all up to me to improve that.
If the gear doesn't sound great, or otherwise provide value to my sound, it leaves my collection.
(I didn't read most of the nine pages preceding this...)
I was listening to an interview with Verdine White (Earth Wind & Fire). His view about Sadowsky basses was that they articulate so well that you are required to play better. A higher quality instrument may force you to play with more accuracy. My P Bass with flats -on the other hand- thumps hard enough to smooth over flubs. JUST INCASE I were to flub...
I was listening to an interview with Verdine White (Earth Wind & Fire). His view about Sadowsky basses was that they articulate so well that you are required to play better. A higher quality instrument may force you to play with more accuracy. My P Bass with flats -on the other hand- thumps hard enough to smooth over flubs. JUST INCASE I were to flub...
