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instrument shape & genre

How connected do you think an instrument's shape is to the genre it's being used?

  • A little

  • half & half

  • A lot

  • carrots - not at all

Results are only viewable after voting.
#102
MYLOWFREQ said:
I get your point, but I also think a live show is a visual event as well. There's this saying "let your eyes listen to rock music".



I auditioned for a rock band that I ended up playing with for a few years. I showed up with a steinberger. After the audition, the singer came to me and said something like "man you're great, but can you please get yourself a real bass?" I showed up with my with my black precision bass the next time and everyone was happy :)
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I woulda said “hey man thanks but would you get yourself a LIFE”? Lol
 
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#103
James Collins said:
The better way to think about it might be that certain types of basses will not be used in certain types of music because of how they look.

Most of the common basses could be used in any genre: Rickenbacker, NS, Thumb, Precision, Stingray, Jazz, etc.

Some shapes are styled to suit certain genres worse: 500/1, Star, Longhorn, Warlock, Spirit, etc more because of the look than the sound.

Like guitar, you can play metal on a Telecaster, but you will look better playing metal on a Bich.
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John 5 is one of the most metal guitarists on the planet and his main guitar is a telecaster.

upload_2019-5-27_12-18-48.jpeg


The idea of what “fits” in a particular genre is kind of up in the air these days. Besides, putting something where it doesn’t normally seem to belong gets you a lot more attention.
 
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#106
I went with half and half. The instrument is kind of like the clothes you wear and the tone you dial in, it should fit.
The classics/icons are used everywhere, usually with just a change in aesthetic: black with black hardware to rock hard, white with gold hardware at the church, natural wood and an Ace strap for the hippy band.
However, pointy and angular designs that sound proper may not look right for some genres.
I use a '55 style Partscision bass for old school country gigs, a 5 string American Dlx P V/J V for modern stuff and a Peavey Patriot and Dyna Bass with green strings for the 80s band.
 
#110
Mastodon2 said:
I recall Per Nilsson of Scar Symmetry used a blue Floral Pattern for tracking leads in the studio. I'm sure there's more dull metal acts out there using them too.

As for dynamically capable, Steve has always used those silky smooth Dimarzios that can do a lot of gain but clean up incredibly too. They can get such a range of tones and sound so pure, but that is lost on metal guitarists, with their generally awful live and studio mixes. Compare the Jem and Universe series to the "djent" (cringe) focused guitars of the last decade, with their harsh and spiky mid-hump pickups, or the compressed EMGs that were popular for the decade before that. The upwards trend for harsh, high output pickups hasn't helped the generally poor aural soundscape of metal.
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Yes, but we were talking more about the actual guitar and the fact of the matter is that you could swap the pups into a base model RG and nobody could reliably tell the difference except the guy that isnt enjoying the feel of the better instrument. Furthermore, he has used a bunch of dimarzios in his signature models over the years so its not like he has one pickup that he has lived by for ages. Besides, once the signal runs through the rest of his rig, any characteristics of his pickups have been smoothed out or compensated so its moot.
Also, I feel that you dont really regard metal as good and thats fine... but lets remember that vai's music has also been described as guitarist wank material that is a needless showcasing of technical abilities instead of any enjoyable musicality, and is only listened to by guitar players that live out their fantasies inside of their homes. Sure, he's a stellar musician and then some but at the end of the day he's just another shredder soaked in delay.

btw for reference, I owned a Jem 7VWH as my main guitar for half a decade as well as an 01' Prestige RG a 96' RG470 and an 87' RG570 so I have some solid personal reference points for the difference in sound between the four having the same body shapes with different pickups.
 
#111
MordBass said:
Yes, but we were talking more about the actual guitar and the fact of the matter is that you could swap the pups into a base model RG and nobody could reliably tell the difference except the guy that isnt enjoying the feel of the better instrument. Furthermore, he has used a bunch of dimarzios in his signature models over the years so its not like he has one pickup that he has lived by for ages. Besides, once the signal runs through the rest of his rig, any characteristics of his pickups have been smoothed out or compensated so its moot.
Also, I feel that you dont really regard metal as good and thats fine... but lets remember that vai's music has also been described as guitarist wank material that is a needless showcasing of technical abilities instead of any enjoyable musicality, and is only listened to by guitar players that live out their fantasies inside of their homes. Sure, he's a stellar musician and then some but at the end of the day he's just another shredder soaked in delay.

btw for reference, I owned a Jem 7VWH as my main guitar for half a decade as well as an 01' Prestige RG a 96' RG470 and an 87' RG570 so I have some solid personal reference points for the difference in sound between the four having the same body shapes with different pickups.
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Cool.
 
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#115
Mastodon2 said:
I think it's pretty obvious. It's a lot of guitar for what Steve Vai himself would call "chunga chunga stuff".
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ALL "chunga chunga stuff"? And how many metal bands are you familiar with? Have you, or even Vai, heard every style, every artist? You must have to be such an authority on it. Certainly you are not going off one sideways comment from Steve Vai who I'm sure spends more time mastering his craft rather than studying enough metal bands to actually pass an informed judgment.
 
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#117
Ellery said:
ALL "chunga chunga stuff"? And how many metal bands are you familiar with? Have you, or even Vai, heard every style, every artist? You must have to be such an authority on it. Certainly you are not going off one sideways comment from Steve Vai who I'm sure spends more time mastering his craft rather than studying enough metal bands to actually pass an informed judgment.
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Ever seen vai live? The entire crowd is "those guys" that are super skilled yet none are in bands because theyre the insufferable upturned noses of the rock scene.:roflmao:
 
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#119
I really think its 50/50. Serek basses for example look great anywhere very much like a Ric 4003, P, or J. Thunderbird or RD I don't see being played in a lot of situations. Same goes for a guild starfire. Don't see it getting played in a trash band but a doom band is another story.
 

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