I cried in disappointment when Paul McCartney said this...

[Hofnerbacker]

 

[chris_b]

IMO it's refreshing to see someone who isn't tied down to the technicalities and just wants to create.

 

[two fingers]

I've known several ridiculously talented musicians who couldn't tell you the notes of their open guitar strings. Some people just "have it" regardless of their prowess in ancillary areas.

Short version. Dude could sing, play, and (especially) WRITE like crazy. He found a way to tap into the human condition and relate to millions of people before that was possible via Twitter or Insta.

So it doesn't bother me that a guy didn't know what all of the knobs and switched did on his bass. He couldn't exactly Google it either.

There was another recent thread here regarding who played bass on one of their songs. WE obsess over the tiniest little details of their music/gear/recordings. THEY didn't. They just showed up, wrote hits, played whatever instrument was in front of them, and went to lunch without giving it a second thought. WE live in the past. THEY were all about "That's done. What's next?".

 

[tvbop]

I love this stuff. ie Bernard Edwards didn't know or care what strings were on his Stingray, Jamerson too etc. Greatness doesn't need forums, upgrades etc...Greatness just lets the music flow.
Lost track of the times even my fellow weekend musicians have said they care not about what bass I'm playing or gear I'm using as long as I play right.

 

[two fingers]

I love this stuff. ie Bernard Edwards didn't know or care what strings were on his Stingray, Jamerson too etc. Greatness doesn't need forums, upgrades etc...Greatness just lets the music flow.
Lost track of the times even my fellow weekend musicians have said they care not about what bass I'm playing or gear I'm using as long as I play right.

Yeah, I love discussing gear, playing all kinds of basses, trying new amps, changing pickups, etc. My best friend (an accomplished guitarist who has literally done a couple THOUSAND gigs with me) deflates me sometimes. I'll show up with a new bass, or new pickups, or a different amp and be all excited about it. I'll say "Check THIS out!" and play a lick or two. He'll say "Sounds great. Sounds just like you."



(Checking out new/different gear is still fun.)

 

[JRA]

"i cried in disappointment when paul mcartney said this...."

shirley you jest!?

 

[DirtDog]

It’s a Rick. No one knows what those knobs actually do.

 

[NKBassman]

WE obsess over the tiniest little details of their music/gear/recordings. THEY didn't. They just showed up, wrote hits, played whatever instrument was in front of them, and went to lunch without giving it a second thought. WE live in the past. THEY were all about "That's done. What's next?".

Well said

 

[Rabidhamster]

Is that astroturf?

 

[LadyLoveStingRay5]

Some are musical gear nerds, others are musical genius. Could you be both.....sure.

 

[bass12]

A lot of really good players don't seem to care much about gear. To take it one step further, Paul is, technique-wise, a pretty dreadful bassist by any kind of "academic" metric. But he gets the job done and he writes incredible bass lines.

 

[Jeff Hughes]

I thought that was funny. Shows you how much he played that bass. I wonder how they all managed to understand the Bass VI for that matter.

 

[songwriter21]

Some are musical gear nerds, others are musical genius. Could you be both.....sure.

Eric Johnson comes to mind.

 

[Bass Viking]

I owned an Ibanez Musician bass for 20 years, the longest of any bass I’ve ever had in my possession. There was this one mystery knob that I never knew what it’s function was. I just left it alone.

 

[DJ Bebop]

View attachment 4488952

Yup

 

[mtdkingstonheir]

"i cried in disappointment when paul mcartney said this...."

shirley you jest!?

I am jesting, and quit calling me Shirley.

 

[JRA]

 

[knumbskull]

TBF i still don’t know what one of the knobs does on my cheapo electric guitar. I’ve had it for over 20 years!

 

[DJ Bebop]

"i cried in disappointment when paul mcartney said this...."

shirley you jest!?

 

[WG Plum]

I'm not even in the next state over from great, but I remember when my college band was recording at MIT in Minneapolis (a student there needed a band for a recording class) and one of the instructors asked if my PJ-equipped bass was set-up 'hi/low' with regards to the pickups. I said I didn't know, it was a bass and I played it. The look of disgust on his face was brutal.