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How important is expensive gear? (from SMG)

#181
Robroy said:
Speaking of tone:

I joined a local southern gospel band that plays at local Kentucky churches. Most of them have attendance of 20-60 people. All the gear is in the trailer so I use what they give me. I play a nice Made in USA fender jazz, natural wood, high gloss finish, flat wounds. I play it through a small crate 1x15. Problem was that everyone complained about the volume. I was always too loud, no matter what. Before me, their bass player(s) were not very good. You know the kind. Playing on the one and two, 1st and 5th, often just staying on the key of the song even though it doesn't work.

Anyway, about the tone. One day I had an epiphany. The cab has a five or six band eq and I scooped the HELL out of it. Cranked the bottom as well as the top one all the way up, and the rest were pretty much at zero. It actually made that cab sound kinda deep and all that pesky mid-bass stuff was left to other instruments. Even I liked the new sound.

I think "feel" is in the hands, and a lot of tone can come from the hands (e.g. playing close to the bridge), but I depend on the electronics for a lot of it.
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Great
Believe me or not, also us roman catholic over here we're strivin' to get as much floor as we're capable of, and the way is to play for the young durin' our celebrations.
Initially even the guys invitin' me to join the plot, were doubtful about havin' a bass player to add to the array of folk guitars and the (obligatory) organ, problem bein' the amount of natural reverb in the church no matter the instruments... The risk to sound too boomy and been asked to walk away's always there
Then I just scooped the graph eq to the point to add a bit more bite and avoid unwanted lowend, and there I was... Playin' not only 4ers but also Ibanez Gerald Veasley's (6 string bass my friend!) thru a not so predictable Hartke HyDrive 250w!

Cheers,
Wallace
 
#182
Wallace320 said:
Great
Believe me or not, also us roman catholic over here we're strivin' to get as much floor as we're capable of, and the way is to play for the young durin' our celebrations.
Initially even the guys invitin' me to join the plot, were doubtful about havin' a bass player to add to the array of folk guitars and the (obligatory) organ, problem bein' the amount of natural reverb in the church no matter the instruments... The risk to sound too boomy and been asked to walk away's always there
Then I just scooped the graph eq to the point to add a bit more bite and avoid unwanted lowend, and there I was... Playin' not only 4ers but also Ibanez Gerald Veasley's (6 string bass my friend!) thru a not so predictable Hartke HyDrive 250w!

Cheers,
Wallace
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It was a revelation, wasn't it? :-)

It goes from stressful and painful to just plain awesome FUN.
 
#185
/\/\3phist0 said:
Look, the metric should be, get the equipment, that YOU LIKE. It makes you more confident, and play better when you sound better.
Put your money where the weak points are.
A Dean budget bass into a team COULD work, but it is just so imbalanced.
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I gig with cheapo basses of RondoMusic. Love 'em. The ONLY bass I have that cost me more than $160 is my first bass that I bought in 1997. A Yamaha BN5 that I had Mike Lull put 18 volt Bartollinis in. I really like it, but I like the other basses just as much (I have six).
 
#186
Robroy said:
I gig with cheapo basses of RondoMusic. Love 'em. The ONLY bass I have that cost me more than $160 is my first bass that I bought in 1997. A Yamaha BN5 that I had Mike Lull put 18 volt Bartollinis in. I really like it, but I like the other basses just as much (I have six).
Click to expand...

Edit: I forgot about my Dean Accoustic electric that I got from Bass NW back around the turn of the century for about $350. I like it too, but it's harder to play, partly because of the balance.
 
#187
I play what works, I have a Squier, an old Goya Japanese bass, a Michael Kelly acoustic bass, a carvin kit B4, and Warwick Dolphin

My point is, A 3000 dollar bass rig, and a Crapola starter bass is for the most part wasted cash.

A better balance, would be for example:
A mim jazz/precision with a good amp, Carvin, GK, Fender, Ampeg etc heck for 3k get a good level instrument of any brand and a serviceable amp that speaks to you.

Good tone does not NEED to cost money, most of it comes from knowing HOW TO WORK WHAT YOU HAVE. I play the Squier more than anything either at home or gigging
 
#188
/\/\3phist0 said:
I play what works, I have a Squier, an old Goya Japanese bass, a Michael Kelly acoustic bass, a carvin kit B4, and Warwick Dolphin

My point is, A 3000 dollar bass rig, and a Crapola starter bass is for the most part wasted cash.

A better balance, would be for example:
A mim jazz/precision with a good amp, Carvin, GK, Fender, Ampeg etc heck for 3k get a good level instrument of any brand and a serviceable amp that speaks to you.

Good tone does not NEED to cost money, most of it comes from knowing HOW TO WORK WHAT YOU HAVE.
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Kinda reminds me of when I sold hi-fi in the mid-late 1970's. I would tell customers the weak link in a modern stereo is the parts that physically move. That means the needle/cartridge/turntable and the speakers, the speakers being the most significant. I'd let them know that getting a $600 class A tube amp with a pair of $100 speakers was dumb. Better to get a good receiver for $400 and $200 speakers.

Looking at 2015 tech, my biggest investment would be the speakers still. The rest is not all that relevant. Class D amp (500 watts or so), a "good looking" bass from Rondo Music with the correct number of strings, and I'm good to go. Extra credit for getting the bass professionally set up. ;-)

Oh, and I'm 62. Above EVERYTHING else is weight.
 
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#189
Robroy said:
It was a revelation, wasn't it? :)

It goes from stressful and painful to just plain awesome FUN.
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Yeah: just that... Revelation

Second part, yes and no (for me)... As I said, more like feelin' from mumblin' and gettin' bored to...
"Woa guys... What did I tell ya? Here I am: that's how I play... Do I have the job?"

The best part: kids (woa... kids in a chappel!) kids findin' us pleasant and entertainin', they're back to attendin' the preachin'!

Cheers,
Wallace
 
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#190
Wallace320 said:
Yeah: just that... Revelation

Second part, yes and no (for me)... As I said, more like feelin' from mumblin' and gettin' bored to...
"Woa guys... What did I tell ya? Here I am: that's how I play... Do I have the job?"

And the best part: kids (woa... kids in a chappel!) kids find us pleasant and entertainin'

Cheers,
Wallace
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Actually, you articulated the second part better.
 
#192
I don't know. There's a lotta folks beating this guy up but I like him. There is much truth in what he says if you can get past your personal bias or justifications. Getting lost in how he presents the message just gives a convenient excuse to not acknowledge that message.
 
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#194
FlatwoundFunk said:
There's a old saying I learned here in the south, "toss a brick in pack of dawgs, and the one that got hit will yell". It really seems like the guy in the video challenged some peoples egos. The ego can not take corrective criticism or advice without putting in one's mind feelings of personal attack. Notice, the word that keeps coming up, "but"? And it keeps coming up after the word(s) true, truth, point(s). My Uncle Bobby told me when I was teenager, "A man don't get mad at the truth!", "he just accepts it and see's IF he needs to make a change". I'm glad he taught me that.
FF
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Great words, FF. He mentioned you in the next video, BTW.
 
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#196
He is right. The audience won't care about your gear in general. However, he is also wrong, because there is at least one person who must care about it: yourself.
Besides, people probably don't notice if you're playing through an Ampeg SVT or a Behringer, but they can say which one sounded better (especially for guitars).
Yet, when you are young and you have a show with another band, it's true that if you're a beginner, you may be intimidated if you are playing with your Line6 combo and the other guy has Ampeg SVT with an 8x10 cab to match. Now I wouldn't care, but at that time, I was kinda scared haha
 
#198
OzJazzCat said:
I think for the most part, he is referring to young players who feel they need the best gear to get started. Not so much, people who have money and want to buy top shelf gear.
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I agree. I really don't know why people are complaining on this fourm. His videos make ALLOT of good points about plagues in the music industry. ESPECIALLY bass players! I love his bass player humor! His message was NOT "Don't waste your money on expensive gear period." to me, his message was "Go with what you can afford when you are starting out." Im really sick of all these people on TB who can't learn to behave maturely when someone that works in the industry for a living is right, or making allot of good points. I don't always agree with him when it comes to music opinions, but thats his opinions.
 
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#200
I would bet with eyes closed, 3/4 of us could not tell the difference in sound between a MIM P or a Lull P (picking one example) in a typical live setting. Certainly not saying one is not better than another, but I think people go WAY overboard with regards to equipment.
 
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