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evr had trouble??

#7
Yay, another thread where I can hear that my custom basses are pure crap, 2nd rate instruments. :rolleyes:

I lost a couple auditions a few years back because my custom shop Peaveys weren't as good as some nimrod's pawn shop junk and when I finally got a Fender Urge for the sake of having a Fender, it was considered, "not a real Fender".

Anyway, bands can be knuckleheads and most guitards think they know more about bass than the bassist. If you're a killer player, most bands will let you play anything.
 
#13
I've been playing for 34 yrs. and everyband I've auditioned for I've gotten the gig with something besides a Fender, all but 1 time and that was with a Fender JP-90 back in the early 90's. Today, my main bass is a '08' MIA Fender Jazz V, and I play in 3 different bands and I joined all 3 playing a different bass, so I don't care if somebody thinks my equipment isn't good enough, my playing does the talking, nuff said.:smug:
 
#14
I have never owned a Fender and have never had anyone mention it once. even in Nashville!!
All that said I recently put a deposit on a Fender :eek:
But just because I like it not because I need it for a specific gig.
Use what you want when you want and don't take any crap!
Just make sure you sound good.
 
#15
pierreganseman said:
You guys ever had trouble for "not having a fender"???

fender bass might be cool, but... just not my thing.. in your gigging/studio life, ever had trouble for not bringing fender?

cheers
Click to expand...

Yes, which is why I had a P for awhile. I didn't use it much (didn't play as well as my MTD, didn't sound as good in the studio as my Line6 Variax), so when some bills came up, it was the first to go.

Now that I don't have one again, I'm running into the same stuff... A lot of producers these days are hip to what Line6 can do and love my Variax, but the demand for an old or old-looking Fender when you show up on the session, or especially on the gig, is stronger than ever. I blame the whole indie/vintage fad. Auditions or working with a new producer for the first time are the worst, when it comes to not having a Fender. Once you've worked with someone a few times and they know you know your stuff and you have that level of trust, you can play pretty much whatever you want, but in the beginning, not bringing a Fender to an audition is akin to going to an interview open collar. You come across as either arrogant or inept and it just sets the wrong mood for the whole thing.

Old Fenders sound great, sure, but not as good as a new Sadowsky or Valenti or Lull or even a Line6 Variax half the time. They were simply not that great instruments back then and they are not that great instruments now. They were solid and had a distinctive, legendary tone, yes, but they were simply never intended to be top-dollar instruments and I think it's absurd to consider them that now, just because they have 40 or 50 years of nicks and scratches.

Don't get me wrong; I love a good P bass as much as the guy, and I miss having one. However, on the studio side, I think too many producers and engineers just reach for a Fender P out of habit, and on the live side, I think too many players reach for a Fender P or Jazz because they don't know what else is out there, and because fans will recognize it and "relate" to it as the one brand they can name.

My 2 cents.
 
#18
[Munji, I'll save you the trouble...]

Here is the obligatory post by an old-guy rolling his eyes about YAWFT*. :rolleyes:

I know this needs to be discussed, and I don't even care if it happens every day. It's just that it is always the same. Now I'm whinning. :crying:


But seriously, when I record or do a broadcast (which is also always a recording, but with no "take two"), I discuss in advance what instrument is desired by the person who is hiring me. Who would not do that?

For an audition, I am prepared and not only know the material, I know what kind of sound is desired, and may select an instrument based on that.

Really kids, you will rarely meet working musicians who care about anything but the music (aside from the paycheck). The brand of your bass, your coffee, and the color of your shorts doesn't interest them. It's how the music sounds. I have had problems with a bass I brought, but only when an engineer objected to some aspect of the sound (like hum), not the brand. BTW, it was a Fender Jazz.

The only time I was asked to re-record something with a different instrument was when several tunes on a CD were redone with upright instead of my Sadowsky. The (paying) artist wanted it, and I did it gladly. It was to achieve the sound he desired, and he got it. Done. :bassist:






* Yet Another "Why Fender?" Thread.
 
#20
Hmmm,

I wonder who the producer and sound man work for? I for one could care less what instrument others think I should play. And when I did the sound for a band in the 80's I could have cared less what instruments the guys used.

It was their band, their sound. I was just there to reproduce the sound they wanted in the room. Or as close as I could get to what they wanted.

As for now, I may ooh and ahhh some bases and say meh, not my cup of tea about others. However, what a guy or gal can do with that instrument is all that counts.

Names on head stocks and worrying about them are so low on my big list of things that matter they barely register.

That being said, if I was a gigging musician and I needed money to do stupid things like eat, I would borrow or buy what was needed to get the gig, as long as I could get into that gig.
 

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