Great Advice From Marcus Miller

[-=DanAtkinson=-]

Preach it, Marcus!

So many of us fall into the trap of thinking expensive gear = good player. Of course this is true of every hobby. My father buys really pricey golf clubs, but he's still a mediocre golfer. Marketing is a powerful thing.

 

[VWbug]

HA!

 

[VWbug]

Even if its a real old thread, there's good wisdom here

 

[Funkmabassup]

The best basses are the top-end workingmans basses. Sadowskys, Lulls, Laklands etc. No nonsense fancy bullcrap but top end workmanship, fretwork etc which far surpas productionbasses imao.

 

[selowitch]

Marcus’ comments are very sensible. Get a bass that feels good and sounds good to you. Try it under real-world conditions and return it if you don’t like it. Whether you enjoy sounding great on an $89 SX, a $4,000 Fender, or a $12,000 Heaven-Knows-What, if you can afford it (without resorting to going into debt or sacrificing important financial goals), get it, practice with it and gig with it to your heart’s content and have fun!!!!

 

[VinnyIuspa]

I can see what he's saying, but I also think that there are definitely differences in quality between cheap basses and more expensive ones. I also can see how there could be a diminishing scale of return as you get into really a high price range, like $5,000 or more. I have two main basses, a mexi Jazz and a MM Bongo, both 4 string. The Jazz bass has had a custom tusk nut put in by Bill baker at daves sound, as well as a pickup swap for some bartolinis I foumd for Cheap. The bongo is stock as it should be. Both basses were settup for D standard by Bill, and both basses wear the same heavy gauge Rotosound 66s. They are totally different basses tonally, but the quality, which is reflected in playability and sound, on the bongo is simply vastly superior to the mexi Jazz, even with the aforementioned upgrades. I believe that the higher price point made it possible for MM to craft an all around better bass. The Jazz is awesome in its own right, I'd say better than some american J basses I've played after the upgrades, but it doesn't have the same attention to detail or quality components as the bongo, which cost 3-4 times what I paid for the Jazz. Was it worth the high price to get a bongo bass that is extremely comfortable and sounds amazing? You bet. Is this jazz bass a keeper and definitely worth playing? For Sure! I'd say if you find a bass that sounds and feels great, and you can reasonably afford it, pull the trigger! You'll find that MOST of the time basses that are over $1,000 new will just be all around better than basses significantly less expensive. It is however possible to sound good on cheaper basses, they will just have cheaper components you may want to upgrade.