I think I stop believing in expensive basses!

[1SHOT1HIT]

Well they are entitled...it is a free country, after all...but, it still makes me mad. Mad, and jealous....jealous because I wish I could afford them myself.

Way back when, I was starting out and had a terrible bass...but I made very rapid progress and quickly became the best bassist in my school...so good that I replaced the outgoing senior in the school's jazz band....yet my bass was laughably bad. An SX would have been an improvement. I wished and drooled and gassed but no matter how many lawns I mowed, a real brand name bass was an impossible dream back then. I had no money, and neither did my parents.

However, one kid whose parents were rich and could barely play was given an Alembic bass for Christmas, followed by another within a month. So, he could barely play and had 2 alembics. While I could definitely play, I had a bass that sounded like it was being played from underneath a blanket.

I have resented it ever since.

This is one of those things that happen during our childhood that help us to learn and accept that not everyone is equal when it comes to material possessions.
It's a point in life where we make a decision to be better than those that brought us into the world, a choice to work harder and strive for greater success and see it through.

Most people use it as their driving force and motivation to fuel the fire within them.

But you've decided to let it turn you self admittedly sour, bitter, resentful, envious, hateful, jealous, and sad.
How can you possibly resent someone for getting a gift? Or being more fortunate than you.

What a sad way to go through life. If you want something bust your ass and make it happen.
If you have failed to do that the only resentment should be self addressed. You have failed yourself.

 

[Roy Vogt]

Well they are entitled...it is a free country, after all...but, it still makes me mad. Mad, and jealous....jealous because I wish I could afford them myself.

Way back when, I was starting out and had a terrible bass...but I made very rapid progress and quickly became the best bassist in my school...so good that I replaced the outgoing senior in the school's jazz band....yet my bass was laughably bad. An SX would have been an improvement. I wished and drooled and gassed but no matter how many lawns I mowed, a real brand name bass was an impossible dream back then. I had no money, and neither did my parents.

However, one kid whose parents were rich and could barely play was given an Alembic bass for Christmas, followed by another within a month. So, he could barely play and had 2 alembics. While I could definitely play, I had a bass that sounded like it was being played from underneath a blanket.

I have resented it ever since.

I must have gone to school with his cousin. A friend of mine in High School decided he wanted to start a Rock Band and via tantrum "convinced" his Father that he needed an Acoustic 360, Rickenbacker Bass, Guitar Amps for his buddies, a drum kit and a PA.
My Dad knew his Dad and when I was complaining about my marginally talented friend's good fortune said, "This is how he gets his instruments-do you want that for yourself?" I decided in my 17 year old brain there was no dignity that way. Summer jobs bought every piece of gear I ever had, from my first bass and amp that I paid for working on the loading dock of my Dad's plumbing supply business at 14 to the upgrades I paid for by mowing lawns and finally getting good enough to play gigs and get paid for them (my Alembic was paid for by a Summer Tour with a showband between my Sophomore and Junior years of college).
And my friend? He is a successful Personal Injury Attorney but has had several stays in rehab for drugs and alcohol abuse.
Thanks, Dad! I owe you one for teaching me to get things for myself. I miss you....

 

[Legattabass]

Well they are entitled...it is a free country, after all...but, it still makes me mad. Mad, and jealous....jealous because I wish I could afford them myself.

Way back when, I was starting out and had a terrible bass...but I made very rapid progress and quickly became the best bassist in my school...so good that I replaced the outgoing senior in the school's jazz band....yet my bass was laughably bad. An SX would have been an improvement. I wished and drooled and gassed but no matter how many lawns I mowed, a real brand name bass was an impossible dream back then. I had no money, and neither did my parents.

However, one kid whose parents were rich and could barely play was given an Alembic bass for Christmas, followed by another within a month. So, he could barely play and had 2 alembics. While I could definitely play, I had a bass that sounded like it was being played from underneath a blanket.

I have resented it ever since.

When I started playing, I compensated for my lousy skill by buying moderately priced gear, expensive for a beginner and amateur out of college. In and out of my house the gear went, traded in, traded up, every purchase making me more insecure about my playing. All that gear couldn't mask a basic lack of understanding. I envied every kid on their $150 Yamaha who could actually play bass.

You were gifted. Why waste time with envy?

As for boutique basses, TLDR; your money, free country. I haven't played any, cant judge them, probably never will. But anything crafted with care and treated like art, expensive or poor, is worthy in some respect.

 

[TRichardsbass]

My good friend and sometime bassist Glen Burtnick (Styx) and I had a discussion about a bass he took apart and painted. (Picture below) He had an Epiphone EB-0, and decided to paint it psychodelic. I complimented him on the paint job, then asked, somewhat rhetorically, to tell me it was and Epi copy and not a real, vintage Gibson. He replied with this:

"The piece of wood on the left is an Epiphone. Yeah, I guess I wouldn't do it to a Gibson, but that's kinda ridiculous. I mean, are assembly line manufactured cookie cut out instruments really precious & holy? Guitars are tools."

I think that sums this thread up and hopefully closes it down.

When it all boils down to it, its a piece of wood, a tool to express yourself. So if you can express yourself like Da Vinci with an SX, or just adequate like me on the Brubaker KXB-5, it doesn't matter. They are all worth the same. That is, they are worth to you what you percieve them to be. And they are pieces of wood (except Modulus, Status and some Steinbergers) that make noise.

The care and effort that go into boutique instruments do justify the cost. The care and effort that go into an SX also justifies its cost. After that, its what you make of it.

 

[TRichardsbass]

Here is what he was talking about:

 

[Calaverasgrande]

sheesh, if I am to believe what i read on Talkbass it doesn't matter what bass, amp or even strings I use. "It's all in the fingers."
Heck it won't matter if the bass is made out of pine or maple or oak. Because only the bridge and the frets touch the strings. So may as well buy a daisy rock bass and have it setup by a pro right?
It cant possibly play or sound better than a Lakland, MM or Sadowsky.

 

[Immigrant]

More pics!

Of course, after it's in my hands. It's damn hard to wait when one is used to instant gratification! I've never had a Saturday FedEx delivery, and I'm glad they offer it so I don't have to wait two more days.

 

[lucas vigor]

This is one of those things that happen during our childhood that help us to learn and accept that not everyone is equal when it comes to material possessions.
It's a point in life where we make a decision to be better than those that brought us into the world, a choice to work harder and strive for greater success and see it through.

Most people use it as their driving force and motivation to fuel the fire within them.

But you've decided to let it turn you self admittedly sour, bitter, resentful, envious, hateful, jealous, and sad.
How can you possibly resent someone for getting a gift? Or being more fortunate than you.

What a sad way to go through life. If you want something bust your ass and make it happen.
If you have failed to do that the only resentment should be self addressed. You have failed yourself.

You and the other poster who didn't like my post...who the hell are you, any way? You know nothing about me. I am in my late 40s...and have had to work for every goddamn single piece of equiptment I have ever owned. No one has ever bought me anything. Nice how you assume so much, and engage in personal attacks towards me.
If any of you had bothered asking, instead of assuming, I could have told you that I was 12/13 years old at the time my "friend" got to Alembics. get it? How much ass-busting hard work were you expecting me to do at the time?

 

[dvh]

sheesh, if I am to believe what i read on Talkbass it doesn't matter what bass, amp or even strings I use. "It's all in the fingers."
Heck it won't matter if the bass is made out of pine or maple or oak. Because only the bridge and the frets touch the strings. So may as well buy a daisy rock bass and have it setup by a pro right?
It cant possibly play or sound better than a Lakland, MM or Sadowsky.

One has to accept the fact it's entirely possible - likely even - that the daisy rock led music will make a person dance and want the recording as much as any boutique led music.

It's not about what bass one plays except ONLY in as much as it facilitates their chops.

In the end, the output, the thing that people will hear, is what matters. If that's achieved on a cheap bass, so be it.

 

[Truktek2]

You guys are.....

 

[metron]

Relax man. I think everyone assumed you were young in your story based on context clues such as christmas presents and high school jazz band.

 

[lucas vigor]

I will relax when people stop saying I am "sour, bitter, resentful, envious, hateful, jealous, and sad, very young and immature."

All I said was I resented the fact that I was poor, and could not afford a decent bass when I very badly needed one. Yet these people read all that into what I said. Everyone here is so perfect, they never feel a bit jealous some times? Never?

 

[armybass]

I grew up being envious of some of the cool gear that other people had. I don't think I have ever concerned myself with how good they played or if they deserved their gear. I was often inspired to know that if they could have that cool bass...then I could too. I would just have to do what it takes to get there. Now I am in my 40's and have a good job and gig a lot and can buy the gear I want and see that I was right. It takes time...nobody owes me anything nor am I resentful of people who have more or nicer things than me. I was not brought up to think that way, and I am thankful for that. I have friends who are my age that literally try to make me feel bad or say things about how many basses or amps I own now. They say things like "oh well I am poor, I can't afford that...must be nice". LOL, we came from the same damn neighborhood and went to the same schools and had all the same opportunities in life...but made different life choices. I notice that those same friends do not have day gigs and never thought that it was necessary to have a career. When I was 21 I realized that I wanted to be a bass player but that I also liked eating and wanted to have a family someday. And now, because I made the choices to do what it took to get me here.....I am the greedy bad guy who has more than he needs or deserves. That is a sad way to see the world. I won’t raise my kids to resent anyone else for having money or things. That is a setup for failure if there ever was one.

 

[Roy Vogt]

sheesh, if I am to believe what i read on Talkbass it doesn't matter what bass, amp or even strings I use. "It's all in the fingers."
Heck it won't matter if the bass is made out of pine or maple or oak. Because only the bridge and the frets touch the strings. So may as well buy a daisy rock bass and have it setup by a pro right?
It cant possibly play or sound better than a Lakland, MM or Sadowsky.

Remember, it's just fingers on a computer keyboard on here. No notes are being played, it's just words and opinions.
"Writing about music is like dancing about architecture"-Martin Mull
http://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/11/08/writing-about-music/

 

[armybass]

With that said.....I have a few moderately priced nice basses....but none of them can do anything more than my 1986 Tiawanese Yamaha BB5000! And I paid $500 for that bass.

 

[Modern Growl]

Chill out with your "I'm going to take on the world through an internet forum and make my message heard!!"

PS - YOU SAID YOU WERE RESENTFULL, HAD "HATE" AND JEALOUS!

 

[lucas vigor]

I grew up being envious of some of the cool gear that other people had. I don't think I have ever concerned myself with how good they played or if they deserved their gear. I was often inspired to know that if they could have that cool bass...then I could too. I would just have to do what it takes to get there. Now I am in my 40's and have a good job and gig a lot and can buy the gear I want and see that I was right. It takes time...nobody owes me anything nor am I resentful of people who have more or nicer things than me. I was not brought up to think that way, and I am thankful for that. I have friends who are my age that literally try to make me feel bad or say things about how many basses or amps I own now. They say things like "oh well I am poor, I can't afford that...must be nice". LOL, we came from the same damn neighborhood and went to the same schools and had all the same opportunities in life...but made different life choices. I notice that those same friends do not have day gigs and never thought that it was necessary to have a career. When I was 21 I realized that I wanted to be a bass player but that I also liked eating and wanted to have a family someday. And now, because I made the choices to do what it took to get me here.....I am the greedy bad guy who has more than he needs or deserves. That is a sad way to see the world. I won’t raise my kids to resent anyone else for having money or things. That is a setup for failure if there ever was one.

Did I ever say that the fact that this non-talented kid had two alembic basses destroyed my life in any way? Boy, you people really are reading WAAAAAYYYYY too much into a 5 word line I typed. How do you know whether or not I am succesful NOW, and whether or not I earned everything myself NOW? Huh?
Again, all of you are so perfect that you don't see injustice in the world and feel jealous about someone else's underserved good fortune, not even once, not even a little? Never? So perfect are you? So moral, so smart?

 

[lucas vigor]

Oh that's right, this is the internet....where everyone is a cross between Abraham Lincoln, Mother Theresa, Bruce lee and Jaco....of course, all in their own minds and only on the internet. In real life, you are probably less then perfect, as I am.

 

[superdick2112]

I remember someone once said "People will say things to each other on the internet that they would never say in person", or something to that effect - and this over-heated, troll-baiting dead horse of a "discussion" proves that to be true beyond a doubt.

Someone please do us all a favor & pull the plug on this rapidly spiraling thread.

 

[armybass]

Did I ever say that the fact that this non-talented kid had two alembic basses destroyed my life in any way? Boy, you people really are reading WAAAAAYYYYY too much into a 5 word line I typed. How do you know whether or not I am succesful NOW, and whether or not I earned everything myself NOW? Huh?
Again, all of you are so perfect that you don't see injustice in the world and feel jealous about someone else's underserved good fortune, not even once, not even a little? Never? So perfect are you? So moral, so smart?

DUDE....... I ws not responding to you nor commenting on your post! AT ALL!