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Help me to appreciate matching headstocks

#221
But this is better
Bass.jpg

Than this
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Juicy HB aside. A go-faster Mustang has to have the body-colour headstock or it's like grey plastic wing mirrors.

cheapbasslovin said:
Why would you put matches in or on a headstock?
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Ironically (given your name), that's exactly what I did to improve the nut of a Hondo.
 
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#222
OP says he needs help to appreciate matching headstocks.

I think all of us like the looks of some basses with headstocks that are matched but also those that don't. AND don't like some that are matched and un-matched. Maybe one day you'll meet one which will make you change heart :)

Meantime, let's make music :bassist:
 
#227
Does my USA Musicman SUB Bass count as a matching headstock?

Black body
Single ply black pickguard with black screws
Black painted neck back
All black headstock ..front and back
Rosewood fretboard.

Her name is none blacker.
She just disappears when the lights go out!! :D
 
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#229
There's nothing to help you appreciate. You either like it or you don't.

I'd always pick a non-matching one before a matching one, as I don't like most of them either. I do dig the old school vintage Fender pastel colors (lake placid blue, surf green, certain pastel reds etc) with matching headstocks, but that's about it. I pretty much loathe burst finishes on a headstock, but oh well. Oh, and I dig black headstocks on certain basses. And that's fine, we all like different things.

EDIT: My general rule is - if I dig the color, I'd probably be ok with a matching headstock (or even love the look of it), if I don't dig the color, I'll hate it even more with a matching headstock. Safest bet though - color I like & a wood headstock.

EDIT2: Man those vintage Fender colors look awesome with matching headstocks though. I definitely love those.
 
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#230
Personally, I don't see why you wouldn't want a matching headstock.

Back in the day when acoustic instruments ruled the roost, most stringed instruments like violins and double basses had matching headstocks, and it seems to me to be the natural way to go about it. However, that was when all instruments were hand-built, before Leo Fender and the mass production of electric instruments.

When you make instruments on what amounts to an assembly line using bolt-on parts, it makes sense from a production point of view not to have matching headstocks, as you can then use the same neck for all the different colour treatments of that particular instrument, thus saving production costs. But it's a very utilitarian type of decision, and does not, in my opinion, make the instrument more beautiful. Instead of a single complete unit, it looks like exactly what it is - a body with something different bolted onto it. For that reason alone, I prefer matching headstocks.

Now as with everything else, there are good and bad examples of matching headstocks, and - again in my opinion - there's absolutely no need to go to town with fancy and complicated headstock finishes. A simple colour match will do admirably, or if your bass has a fancy wood top, you can duplicate that on the headstock if you absolutely must. Sunbursts and the like are a mistake, I think, as the headstock is too small for the feathering to work properly in respect to the body, and it will end up looking as bolted on as any standard neck.

Anyway, here's mine:
IMG_3326.JPG
IMG_3329.JPG
 
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#232
It's perfectly fine for you to hate matching headstocks.... or relic basses, class D amps, slapstyle or pickstyle technique, extended range basses, fanned-fret basses, active basses, low-end import basses, "coffee table" boutiques, effects/compressors, clip-on tuners, or any of the many other topics that bassists are strongly opinionated about.

On that note, it's nothing more than opinion -- personal preference. So, here's the thing: it is NOT fine to disrespect others for having different preferences than you. That would be a D-bag move. But you didn't do that.


All that said: having an open mind is a WONDERFUL thing -- it's in way too short supply these days, with folks sitting in their "I'm right and everyone who disagrees with me is a loser" silos. So, props to you for considering the previously-unthinkable. :thumbsup: But even if you decide that you still hate matching headstocks, that's perfectly OK (as long as you don't throw shade on those who do like 'em).
 
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#236
Fuzzbass said:
It's perfectly fine for you to hate matching headstocks.... or relic basses, class D amps, slapstyle or pickstyle technique, extended range basses, fanned-fret basses, active basses, low-end import basses, "coffee table" boutiques, effects/compressors, clip-on tuners, or any of the many other topics that bassists are strongly opinionated about.

On that note, it's nothing more than opinion -- personal preference. So, here's the thing: it is NOT fine to disrespect others for having different preferences than you. That would be a D-bag move. But you didn't do that.


All that said: having an open mind is a WONDERFUL thing -- it's in way too short supply these days, with folks sitting in their "I'm right and everyone who disagrees with me is a loser" silos. So, props to you for considering the previously-unthinkable. :thumbsup: But even if you decide that you still hate matching headstocks, that's perfectly OK (as long as you don't throw shade on those who do like 'em).
Click to expand...

Right, the important thing is that he hates something, and tells the world about it.

A day without hate, is like a day without sunshine on Talkbass. ;)
 

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