I think I stop believing in expensive basses!

[lucas vigor]

anyway, I think i am done with this thread. Typical internet BS where people make totally nonsensical comments, and far too many people believe them...despite all the real world evidence all around them.
pros use great equiptment. Hi-end basses are not just cosmetic props. You guys who claim tone does not matter much are really, really out there. Good day.


I said good day!

 

[nostatic]

The sound on a recording (or even at many live gigs) is somewhat of a moot point due to the number of variables that occur between plucking a note and someone in the audience hearing it. The real intimacy in playing is flesh touching wood and metal and the player's hearing/feeling the note. You can push around a sound fairly well after the fact (though there are inherent differences), but the way the bass feels when I play it, and the way the notes respond - that is key.

This is why the "blind listening tests" are meaningless to me. You can't eliminate bias when you're playing - I'm not getting paid to play a "Double Blind Listening Test" show. Making music is a process and a journey, not a destination.

 

[Bernin]

Most of you seem to have missed my point completely. Nowhere did I say that you have to play a 4000+ Fodera, and that is the only bass that sounds good.

I merely pointed out that a 180 dollar budget bass from China cannot be compared to a 3000 dollar bass, and will never sound or play as well.

believe what you want. I went back and re-read some of the SX threads....and for the most part, a lot of the players were amatuers or weekend warriors who probably could not hear or feel any real difference. The others are just people who refuse to admit that they get a preverse pleasure in rocking the budget bass....because they think it says something about who they are an their awesome ability to make anything sound good.

Coming from someone whose signature implies they play in a band called 'The Hula Girls', this made me chuckle.

I think that yes, when you play in your bedroom or cushy 'home studio', that Sadowsky might appeal to you more than an SX with appropriate tweaks or even a stock Fender. But, take a guitar, drummer, keys, and whatever else your group may have and throw it into a single mix, and it'll be alot more difficult to A/B that Sadowsky vs. the other Jazz bass.

 

[nickbass79]

I like high end basses because I can tell a difference. After 25 years of playing MANY different genres, I know what tone I want, how to get it and what I like to play while getting that tone. This is my opinion and NOBODY can change my mind. Especially if the evidence doesn't hold up.

If you don't like high end basses. Good! That's your opinion and I'm definitely not going to try to change your mind. Don't try to change mine.

 

[lucas vigor]

Coming from someone whose signature implies they play in a band called 'The Hula Girls', this made me chuckle.

QUOTE]


I used to play in that band, and when I did, we opened for a lot of major rockabilly artists. In fact, I could name drop quite a few of them....but I am not gonna bother. With my other band (a straight hawaiian band) we do about 60-80 gigs a year, all of them paid gigs.. Now I mostly play in orchestras.

 

[capnsandwich]

There are plenty of styles of music where you can hear the bass cleanly, and clearly....and where hi-fi tone is mandatory.

Ever heard the Yellowjackets? The recordings they do are so clean you can practically hear Jimmy Haslip farting.

Yes, I have heard of the Yellowjackets and Jimmy Haslip. However, can you tell, without previously knowing, what kind of bass he's playing? I'm not arguing, just curious. I can understand guys like Jimmy Haslip, Tom Kennedy, Victor Wooten, etc. having their tones up in the mix. They're bass gods. However, some regular bass bum, like myself, recording on an average band's CD with my $2000 Elrick will sound no different than a $700 Lakland 55-01. I can't tell you, by experience, what an SX or a Squier would sound like on a CD because I have no experience with them. All I know is that both basses I used on a certain project, they're mixed so much to the point that I really can't tell what bass I used on what song.

 

[DuhBassMan]

OK, I'll show you a couple. Now do you believe?

Ok...but why do you need two 5 strings.....

 

[lfmn16]

It's really quite hard to believe that some people think that because they can't hear a difference between an inexpensive bass and a custom that NOBODY can. I guess I was right in my earlier post when I said some people will say anything to make themselves feel good about their decisions. I do believe that some people can't tell the difference, I'm just not one of them.

I'm not saying there is anything wrong with inexpensive basses; I have one myself that I like very much and think was an outstanding value. I just don't run around telling everyone that it is as good as a $10,000 Fodera (which I don't own). Everyone should play the bass they like the best, but as the old saying goes, "don't piss on my leg and tell me it's raining."

 

[slobake]

In following this thread one thing jumps out at me. Someone builds an object, prices it expensive and says it's better. Someone else may experience that object and say it is better ...because it's expensive! Someone else works real hard and sacrifices to own that expensive object and is happy with his desire/fulfillment.

That's called "America", friend.

The one thing I CANNOT abide is the person who owns the expensive object and ridicules anyone for owning anything "less".

That's called an "Ass****".

"A fool knows the price of everything and the value of nothing." Duane Gonzales

Bummer I'm only 6' tall, I do have blue eyes though.

 

[ksandvik]

It is true that with modern productions with the bass track being compressed, eq:ed with vintage emulator equalizers plus all kinds of saturation plug-ins and other effects, the original tone gets more and more lost in the mix. Same is true with a stage setup with a set of pedals and the actual amp colorizing the final sound. So there's a line where a high-end specific sound is pretty much colorized away and the only thing left is the ergonomics.

 

[MVPBASS]

Ok...but why do you need two 5 strings.....

This is america, you have the freedom to buy what you like.

 

[nostatic]

In Soviet Russia, bass buys you.

 

[WoodyG3]

In Soviet Russia, bass buys you.

Big, bad Boris builds bass balalaikas.

The SX ones cost less, though...

 

[itsmecraigl]

I've played a LOT of basses. Owned a LOT of basses. I think there is a point of diminishing returns as the cost increases. I don't think it's necessary to play a boutique bass in the average bar/club band.
I've not played an SX bass, but I assume the quality is good enough and I wouldn't hesitate to buy one based on what I've read here.
We are all individuals here, so I don't see why it matters what we play as long as we do our job and feel comfortable with the tone and feel.
I gotta tell you, I always get a good laugh when I see a live band play where the bass player is playing one of those flashy, expensive basses, but doesn't play it very well. It's like they're using for aesthetics to overcome lack of talent. On the other hand, when I see someone playing a cheap or middle class bass well, I know where they're coming from. I can relate. My Dad wasn't a Dr. or Lawyer so my first bass was financed and co-signed by the music store owner. If you have the money to buy an expensive bass, then by all means, buy what you like.
So, to sum it up, this thread started out with a perfectly legitimate topic, but as always happens, it turned into a bar brawl. Geeze.

 

[GregC]

When one is unable to add any commentary of worth or rebuttal of thoughtful value, a self-righteous ad hominem attack is of course the tool of choice for every thoughtful intellectual.

This screed reflects far more on the individual who spews it than it does upon its target. The grammatical and spelling errors are only the frosting on the cake.

iJazz - Thanks for playing, Alrod. I knew I could count on you.

I will admit that I havent followed with fanatic devotion the history of Fedora.

argue strenuously to defend their ego

I have to add that I was very surprised to see that Fedora has added a PLEK machine.

Please understand that I have no particular axe to grind with Fedora.

The rabid devotees of the boutique market so much as accuse me of being a musical Luddite incapable of the appreciative discernment of the qualities upon which I comment. While they are certainly entitled to their opinion, they are wrong but I am secure enough and mature enough to not engage that battle for it is senseless. The reason I make my views public is so that those who are maturing through their reading of TB can appreciate that hype is everywhere and that critical thought can and should be applied when the Emperor (no pun intended, but it sort of works) announces the delivery of a new set of clothes.

GregC--enjoying the irony.

 

[spade2you]

GregC--enjoying the irony.

You might have to dumb it down several notches to explain it to him.

 

[alaskaleftybass]

I think it boils down to quality control/construction.

The maple you can find in a squier, can be the same quality as you find in a ken smith, if you put a Fodera pickup and pre on another bass with the same woods, it will sound the same.

i know boutique means that you pay more for a better fretboard finish, neck joint, hardware, aesthetic etc etc but..

I've tried many boutique basses with single coil configuration, and the end result is almost the same: a Marcus miller/pastorious, fender jazz bass tone, in some cases a good pre can give you more power and tonal options.

You can see very repetitive between luthiers from around the world, all converging on the same, Hipshot tuners, obp3 aguilar pre, Bartolini pickups, (hey i'm not saying this is bad) different basses using the same parts will sound the same at the end!

All this is just maybe crazy allegations from me, in my humble opinion, i have 3 good basses, one of them a boutique bass, and i'm really tired of saving money to buy more expensive instruments, I need to raise money for other life plans!

At the end, the musician begins to mature in this sense, and only if we have the money and that boutique bass makes us happy, we bought it, but a 5000$ bass will not make us best bassist, we should worry more on study!

I'm a 30+ year bass player and I've owned more basses than fingers and toes over the years, many of them economy models, always selling them every couple years due to GAS. I just bought an Ibanez GSR100EXBKL from eBay fro $129 plus shipping, and I know I can modify this bass with hardware to suit my needs. My only concern as already mentioned is if the bass has green wood and isn't quite "cured." Then I'll suffer from warpage, and once that's stabilized I'll sell it.

I bought a guitar from eBay for $89 lol and found out it was made in the same factory as Corts and Ibanez, and it was supposed to list for $499. Now by no means is this a high quality instrument but it stays in tune, and if I accidentally bump it against something I won't be worried. I learned this lesson from a friend many years ago. He had very expensive guitars at home that he used for recording, but on the road he acutally used guitars he assembled himself from old eBay guitar parts, i.e. Fender or MusicMan bodies, etc.

I've never paid more than 2000 for a bass but one day I'm going to make the boss (wife) very unhappy and take one home, just to say I did. For now? I like my home-remedy basses and guitars, they have character once I modify them, and I won't go through traumas if they accidentally "walk away."

 

[MikeBass]

well, too bad. I can. It's not at all hard to differentiate between a bass that costs 100 dollars, and one that costs 4000. But why don't you tell the Fodera guy why his bass sounds the same to you as a 100 dollar bass made in china. Go ahead.

OK, I will...... in context, they will achieve the same thing.
Period.
It sounds like a bass.

I would love for some way to have you show us your magic ears.
I'm not claiming that it doesn't matter, because it does, but to make a heady statement that you could exactly tell which is which specifically is, how should I put this....poppycock.

I've owned many of the basses discussed here. And I've gigged them from clubs to 10,000 seat rooms on the road.
And I've been to WAY too festivals (as a player and watcher) where the basses run the gamut price wise and really, they all end up sounding pretty damn close.

Sorta like this:

 

[lucas vigor]

anyone who is unable to tell the difference in tone from an SX to a Fodera should just get out of the music business, period. That's no joke!

 

[Aureus]

oh come on guys.

like when u could afford a 15,000$ bass u would rather play a 400$ mim Fender cause there is no difference ... sheesh. some people have the money or the endorsement to play boutique, and if i had one of the two, hell yes, i would play boutique basses too.

cause i dont have an endorsement or big money, i tried to get the best bang for the buck for me, my opinion,my play and my personal needs. simple as that.

you know in the bottom line, it is about what makes YOU happy. can be a boutique bass, can be a 60$ fender as long as you love that thing and play it.