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Is it really your gear that's holding you back?

mattj1stc

mattj1stc

Gold Supporting Member
Jan 13, 2009
1,250
1,477
Dallas, TX USA
#1
I sometimes see threads about the relationship between gear and a player's technical abilities. It's usually posed as a a GAS driven thought that goes something like "I think I be able to play better if I could replace my current, cheap gear by buying my more expensive dream gear." There are even threads where people will question whether a Squier is a good enough bass to gig with. Well, I have an unfortunate answer - the problem is not your gear, it's you. Please don't take offense - this applies to me too.

How do I know this?

Well, we're taking our first vacation since the pandemic and we found ourselves passing through Jackson, MS tonight. Luckily, we were able to find out about Hal and Mal's, where on Monday's, they have a special Blues night. It's sponsored by the Central Mississippi Blues Society and it's called Blue Monday.

CMBS Blue Monday (centralmississippibluessociety.com)

We were especially lucky because they only recently resumed this weekly event, and sadly, because Covid is spiking again, tonight was the last one that they'll have for a while. Still, I highly recommend checking this recurring event out when it starts up again if you are in Jackson.

Anyway, it's been a long time since I've seen live music, and this was a real treat. Wonderful musicians playing in a relaxed setting to an appreciative audience - really jazz caliber musicians working within the blues framework. Even better, their bass player was amazing. He was truly inventive and pushed the boundaries of what you'd normally call the blues. Best of all, he played a Squier (with a wonky output jack) through a small Hartke amp. He was more than twice the player that I am, and his gear costs about half what mine does.

Short answer, if he's killing it on budget gear, then it's probably not your gear that's holding you back.

IMG_2062.jpg
 
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#4
Some people adapt better to what they have. Some people are simply more talented players than others and more willing to deal with what they have. Others are more picky and thats fine. My philosophy has always been to have the best possible instruments for myself (price having nothing to do with it) so there can be nothing hindering me, no excuses, no reason to ever blame the instrument. Only me.
 
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#5
Not really. I used to have that idea when i played guitar (only because my lucky friends had higher grade gibsons) while i had a squier (90's model tele) but that was because i was too dumb to tell that one was not like the other...
In saying that i happily suck at both so it works out fine :D
 
#6
mattj1stc said:
...
...
There are even threads where people will question whether a Squier is a good enough bass to gig with. Well, I have an unfortunate answer - the problem is not your gear, it's you. Please don't take offense - this applies to me too.
...
Click to expand...

There are some basic functional requirements that must be met before a piece of kit is good enough to gig with. Basic reliability, staying in tune, taking and holding a good setup, low environmental sensitivity, solid clean wiring, etc. These days, most entry-level instruments meet or exceed these needs, but that was not always the case. There are plenty of folks, myself included, for whom 'entry-level' means non-functional truss rods, self-adjusting intonation and self-lowering action, soft fret wire with more undulation than the Rockies, crackly pots that barely worked as switches, banana necks and stop/go tuning machines. Thankfully those things are ancient history, but those memories and biases persist.

FWIW, I had one of the first JV Squier Precisions from 1982 and it was a great bass that blew the competition completely out of the water and raised the bar to previously unimaginable heights that are now taken for granted. In terms of playability and sound, gear really could hold you back. These days, not so much. Same goes for amps and pedals.
 
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#7
Apart frm what @SteveCS said, another basic, functional thing is the fretjob. Sure, some people can be fine but a good fretjob goes a long way. Myself, for example, I can play much better with lower action. I can play with higher action if you just handed me another bass but I'd get tired faster and I wouldn't be as fast.

Sure, that doesn't automatically translate into "I need a bass that costs 4000 euros" and quality (even if at least adequate) can be found in much lower price points.

Still, as I said in another thread, people don't go out and buy expensive stuff because they'll make them better players. It's because the quality (and QC) is much more guaranteed and, a lot of times, components are higher quality and that translates to stability and longevity, as well. Taste and unique wood choices and all that are also in the picture.

So, yeah, might not necessarily make me a better player but I'd still like a Marleaux or a custom Sandberg or or or...
 
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#8
I always say you should play whatever helps you make your best music, we all have our individual lists of what we think we got to have.

However.

In the last several years, my wife's deteriorating health and loss of her income required me to sell a pair of cherished Alembic five-strings. It's OK, I'm fine, I'd far prefer their sale paying my bills for 6 months till we got back on our feet to me sitting here dead broke . . . . with two Alembics. No way.

So I looked up and suddenly I don't have a bass in the house, not one. Now I don't have the disposable income I used to have. I ran across the James Johnston Signature Squier Jazz Bass. I was always a complete sucker for that matching-headstock-Lake-Placid-Blue look, so I bought one, it fit the budget. GREAT little axe.

The funny thing was instead of having Alembic withdrawal and thinking 'geez, a SQUIER ?', two things happened:

First I found out I enjoyed it quite a bit, and was dumbstruck at how good it was for 1/10th the price of my either or my previous rides.

And second, I STILL sounded like me. Granted, I sounded like a little better me on the Alembics, but it was not the night & day (or worse, a noticeably inferior tone), and how close I got was frankly unsettling.

Since then, I've bought the legendary Sguier VM Precision Bass Five, and the Contemporary Active Jazz Bass Five, and they're both TERRIFIC instruments, the Cont Jazz in particular. The PB5 simply sounds uncannily like a regular PB . . . . with a few extra low notes where required, it just works. And across all three of them, the tone is fine, they stay in tune, they hold a setup, they're quiet and I'd have zero qualms about gigging with them (if I was still gigging . . . . . ).

I have no illusions that the build quality, components, and time spent building them are planets apart, but . .
It has prompted me to utterly re-evaluate just how much I honestly need to spend on EXpensive BAsses . . . which for now seems to be a big 'why would I?' It has really introduced me to a concept of modest sufficiency where I've got basses that just work, regardless of the price or snob appeal.

For a guy like me to go from Alembics to Squiers is indeed a huge jump, but honestly, these little 'cheap' basses have really prompted a total re-think about axes, and taught me that enjoyment is not price-dependent. In fact, I'm not sure I don't enjoy them more than their expen$ive predecessors: They're like my favorite Wranglers instead of an expensive suit.

Regardless, whether it's an Affinity or an Alembic, WE have to make them walk and talk. They don't play themselves, it's the man or woman under the strap.

Not to mention how often I saw a guy in a scary beer joint with a really worn Fender Precision playing through an old stack that was almost arcing it was so raggedy, and the guy would just kill on it. Go 'cross town, another band, and a guy with a 10-grand rig in a nicer venue, and he couldn't find his ass with both hands. This happens more than I used to snobbily like to admit.
 
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#12
Gear is the last percent (maybe 2). It can help you feel inspired to practice, which is the most important thing it can do. So long as the thing can be set up well, and is reasonably good ergonomically, the gear makes little difference.

I still spend a lot of time tweaking my gear (I'm an Engineer - like sharks need to swim to live, I need to optimize things), but I'm under no illusion that it makes me a better musician. Practice is what does that.
 
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#18
JW56789 said:
And second, I STILL sounded like me. Granted, I sounded like a little better me on the Alembics, but it was not the night & day (or worse, a noticeably inferior tone), and how close I got was frankly unsettling.
Click to expand...

JWilson, I have this issue and its bugging me. I went with a boutique builder and waited/paid-for a custom build. The bass looks fantastic and I am very pleased with it. However, my much cheaper Warmoth Frankenstein-bass feels almost as good and sounds same/similar/better depending on situation. And with both basses, it still sounds like me. So, my delimma is...do I sell the expensive bass and just play the Warmoth? It is frustrating and I'm kicking myself for not knowing this before I went through the process of getting the new bass.
 

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