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I love High End Gear!!!!!
- Thread starter Tony G
- Start date
This is the point...people who cant play playing high end expensive equipment.
People spending thousands in a boat and equipment who couldnt catch a fish if it jumped in their boats.
Weekend golfers who chop huge divits with thousand dollar drivers to send a ball 12 feet.
Just because some are able to afford more than his or her ability to use it doesnt mean we cant all get a good hard laugh out of them when they look like fools with all their expensive gear.
I say buy to your ability...if your good get the best you can afford if you stink dont...but if you are too blind to see your money is bigger than your talents...we have the right to
at you.
Okay, since you want to make this clear, help me understand (so it's clear to me). Why is there something positively wrong with a guy who can barely play spending thousands on a bass and rig?
Also clarify this for me: who are these "most people" who get upset with this? And, why do they get upset?
See...all this isn't clear to me, so please enlighten me.
What a ridiculous analogy. A slum is dangerous and depressing and dirty and noisy and a negative influence on children.
Pretty much none of that applies to basses. Some are noisy, including "high end" ones (and I've never heard more noise than from some very "high end" amps I've had), but usually you needn't spend more than a few dollars to fix a noisy bass ... especially if it's of a simple "low end" passive design. There are many giant holes in your example, but I'll just point out those.
Even if there were a similie there, with "boutique" basses people are more often than not paying a premium for hand made construction, unique shapes, and fancy woods, none of which makes any difference in the mix and arguably no difference in playability with very few exceptions like 9-string MIDI, etc. The top woods and ability to call something "hand made" is more akin to having hand-sculpted gold bathroom faucets.
In many cases it's actually worse than that - people with no real idea picking based on the results of polls from a laundry list of options based mostly on looks and unproven supposed tonal properties to be assembled by someone who doesn't even play with the result destined to be in the For Sale section mere weeks after the obligatory "I haven't opened the box yet and I can assert this is the best bass I've every played !!!" thread. Many of these people clearly spend more time posting about their specs, waiting for the bass, and reviewing it than they ever spend playing it. Still, it's your every right and I couldn't care less, but don't try to pretend the hand-sculpted gold faucets are any more functional because that's the real insult and so people might call BS as is their every right.
Even a Ferarri just sits in traffic at a red light, and although I own paintings that most people would call very expensive I won't pretend that makes me a more evolved or discerning viewer, or that those walls with the paintings on 'em are more structurally sound.
What I see are a lot of really cheap justifications and IMO the ones making those cheap justifications are the ones who really have the problem with fancy gear ... and using the Search function apparently, since here we are again.
Then there are equally ridiculous slags like this offered by some justifiers :
"A lot of guys who slag on boutique basses are without a doubt "why" guys who generally accept the traditionally defined role of a bassist. On the flipside, nimrods like me thrive on defining my role as a bassist."
"Without a doubt?" You can't "define your role as a bassist" with a 4 or 5-string Fender or 6 or 7-string Conklin Groove Tools? That's a shame.
Someone said that Eden was high-end. That's news to me. Someone else said MarkBass. I have no opinion on Eden and I like my LMII so I'm not disagreeing - it just proves how silly such vague terms as "high end" are.
Others say "buy what you can afford". More silliness. I can afford quite a bit so should I spend $25k on a Ritter Royal just because?
Fact - if your mortgage ain't paid and your retirement ain't funded then you can't really afford frivolities such as $300 tops and whatnot. Then factor starving millions ... hey I'm no saint or great philanthropist but I can see where that one extremely hostile guy (I guess his posts got deleted?) was coming from.
I am often blown away by guys playing very humble gear - in fact I go to over 100 gigs a year and I can count on one hand the boutique basses or stacks I've seen in use and half of them were inaudible in the mix anyway.
That said, I've got nice gear including a fancy handmade bass and a $3k 6-string on the way and I can't even play a 6'er. I do play and record in several bands in varied genres, but I'm not going to pretend I need any of that stuff. Currently my favourite bass is my cheapest, and my amp of choice for the past year has been the new amp I paid the least for. It blows away several "boutique" amps I had that cost multiples more.
If someone calls me out on this stuff being overkill, I can just say "yeah, you're right". Not so hard. Gosh, this is just a website - your audiences and bandleaders generally don't know what you play and couldn't care less so long as you play well with a suitable tone. If anyone's opinion matters other than your own, it's theirs not people on the internet.
If someone asks "Do people need custom boutiques?" we can just reply "Ask JimmyM, he's right about almost everything" ... but to make sure ask other real pros, though most are too busy working to read Talkbass or even find out about most "boutqiues" but here's one now, blessing us with one of the best posts ever on this site :
Is this only true of instruments, or should you not wear good clothes until you're really buff, or not eat a good diet until you're in tiptop shape, or not buy a Ferrari until you can drive like Jeff Gordon?
In any case, if I feel like spending $5K or more on a bass because I think its a fine wall decoration and I never intend to play it at all, so what?
(And I've read many times that it's best for children to start out on *decent* instruments. Not the best money can buy, but not some POS out of tune pawn shop reject either.)
I say buy to your ability...if your good get the best you can afford if you stink dont...but if you are too blind to see your money is bigger than your talents...we have the right to
I wonder how you can't possibly recognize how ignorant that sounds....
Maybe you should start a rating agency where a musicians skills are evaluated on a scale of 1 to 10. Instruments/gear can then also be rated with a similar scale. We can imprision anyone who attempts to purchase gear above their skill level.
This comes from a guy who has $1,000,000 on his GAS List
How dare you! I am right about EVERYTHING, no almost about it!
I take that back. I was wrong once...at least I thought I was. In the end, it turned out that I was right.
Okay, since you want to make this clear, help me understand (so it's clear to me). Why is there something positively wrong with a guy who can barely play spending thousands on a bass and rig?
Also clarify this for me: who are these "most people" who get upset with this? And, why do they get upset?
See...all this isn't clear to me, so please enlighten me.
I totally agree!
I'll answer your question. Jealousy......
If you can afford expensive basses you can then afford to find a bass that is perfect for you. You may not be the greatest bass player ever but there's no reason playing a bass you don't like if you can afford a mor eexpensive one that you like. That's not to say that all the best basses are expensive, tastes differ wildly from person to person. I don't care if people buy expensive equipment, it's their money and they earned it, let them have their fun, there's no reason to dislike people because of it.
How dare you! I am right about EVERYTHING, no almost about it!
I take that back. I was wrong once...at least I thought I was. In the end, it turned out that I was right.
No, you were wrong about that "everyone plays to get chicks" stuff.
That was long ago though, but it makes me wonder ... should we all get the best ... sorry I mean "most expensive" chicks we can afford? Are they better chicks if they have implants, even though that doesn't help the function and some people think implants are hoirribly ugly? Is there anything wrong with a fat boorish loser enjoying the company of an expensive chick, so long as he doesn't try to convince others that she's into him for his wit and charm?
Ah, I digress. Keep up the good work, JimmyM.
Okay, since you want to make this clear, help me understand (so it's clear to me). Why is there something positively wrong with a guy who can barely play spending thousands on a bass and rig?
Also clarify this for me: who are these "most people" who get upset with this? And, why do they get upset?
See...all this isn't clear to me, so please enlighten me.
Whoa Whoa Whoa, it was an opinion, i guess i have seen too much posers who spend a ton of money in a AAA rig, and do nothing but boast and be cocky about it, instead of give people who's listening to them the gift of music or at least try to do so...that´s my point of view. I´m no Jaco or VIC or some world class player, but i can hold a groove, keep time and adapt to various musical situations sounding good while i´m at it (according to what i´ve heard form the people who HIRE me) and i have stated that GOOD instruments are necessary to perform a good job.
i´m very sorry if i have offended people with EXPENSIVE rigs who cannot play AT ALL (you know who you are) but i was assuming that the people who posted here on this thread were accomplished players who were defending the importance of USING THE BEST TOOLS AVAILABLE to accomplish the task of actually PLAYING MUSIC. And i´m not questioning the right that everyone has to purchase, for instance....a FODERA BECAUSE IT MATCHES THE FURNITURE IN THE LIVING ROOM!!!....heck!! everyone can do with their money what they want. Sooo to those persons who Have the PREMIUM rig and cannot play at all....Very Sorry...i didn´t know there were so many of you, i totally respect the right to capitalize in HIGH END gear....as one poster said it (what a comfort
) it´s better to do that than throw money in drugs or alcohol:scowl:
good clubs won't correct a bad swing and a good gun wont hit the target by itself, good gear is made by guys with good swings who did hit the target, eventually, that's for sure.
No clue. I may like the high end gear, but don't typically indulge in much other stuff. I'm very fortunate in the sense that I can work tons of overtime, which is what funds my purchases. Outside of bass and competitive cycling, I keep a low profile financially.
Okay, I agree that posers who buy top notch stuff and end up being too busy bragging about owning it to actually use it is irritating and ********, but that's life. Life is about who has money to blow and who doesn't, unfortunately, especially when those people are ignorant plugs who deserve to die in a hole.
I can tell from your reply to my post you are one of the of people i would be laughing at.
Ya always hopin for the bucks pal ...aint we all:scowl:
Honestly, how many n00bs do you see playing Foderas??? This argument leads me to believe that the notion of boutique snobs are pretty close to being a myth. Without being very serious about bass, it's hard to know about brands like Fodera in the first place.
T
TylerlovesAva
Guest
Conversely, I also find players who own 'adequate' gear, can play, and still go on this personal crusade of mocking people who own 'high-end' gear just because they think they're all bad ass for playing 'common' basses and getting by equally irritating. If it was 'all in the fingers' or 'it's all about the music' to these people (and I am a firm believer that it IS in the end all in the fingers/about the music) , why would they bother commenting on other's equipment? Are they that unhappy with what they got? Just sounds too much like sour graping to me.
I've gigged and done studio work with a cheap P-bass copy. I've played an Aria pro II, what some people would consider low end, as a professional musician. I still own a tribute, and wouldn't hesitate on gigging with it. Out of personal preferences, I also couldn't care less about 'beautiful' top woods. Doesn't stop me from appreciating them, and being happy for people who have them and are happy with them, regardless of skill level (because honestly, you HEAR it if a bass player is happy, almost like you know it when people smile while you're on the phone with them, and gear still plays a part).
Don't get me wrong; I also find it cool that some cats are more than content with their yamaha BBs, they are in fact fine basses. I have friends who stand by them and wouldn't trade them for anything in the world. But these same people still think it's cool if you want a bass with 17 strings, or own a bajillion of them with different pickup configurations. Because at the end of the day, they found what works for them, and would maybe rather spend the extra cash on something else, and the 'high end' owners presumably found what works for them as well. C'est friggin la vie, I say.
This is in no way a knock on you by the way, RBK900player, or on anyone for that matter.
