It's not about the gear...

[4dog]

Years ago not saying how long, heh, a coupla guys and i were talking about this very subject, so we got a gig and found the worst gear we could find, i had a kustom 30 watt head going thru
An old alamo cab that couldnt have been 10 inches deep no ports , and a beat up old Kay bass ( i think ) toy paper headed drums, dont remember the guitarists equip. anyway it sounded different but the playing was all there and people got into it, and the musicians in the place were floored, i never worried much about gear after that.

 

[Clef_de_fa]

Stanley Clark : Alembic
Victor Wooten : Fodera
Marcus Miller : Modded Fender jazz
Anthony Jackson : Fodera
Alain Caron : F bass
Micheal Manring : Zon
John Patitucci : High end Yamaha
Steve Bailey : Warwick

All of them play very expensive gear and they all play complex jazz music. So why don't they play inexpensive gear since they all could make them sound good since it is all in the hands like most people say ? I think the gear they use cater to a particular need for creating the music they want to, for the ease of playing.

 

[ibateur]

Because they can.

If they had to, they would all play whatever they could.

 

[theduke1]

I must agree on the Cheap Gear of today. I am a USA G&L player since 1986 and now own a 2006 L2500 and a 1996 L2500F, but last week i traded a bass rig for a China Doll Squire P 4 string mostly cause I couldn't sell the amp and the color of the P just grabed me. Its Redish/pinkish with a tort pg.
anyway, The fit, finish and playability really surprised me and the sound was good, not a G&Lby any means, but great for what is.

 

[Pacman]

Yep, Jaco Pastorius is all the proof anyone should ever need, he took a $60 pawn shop find and made it sing.

The corollary to that is, none of us are Jaco Pastorius.

 

[Astreaux]

Stanley Clark : Alembic
Victor Wooten : Fodera
Marcus Miller : Modded Fender jazz
Anthony Jackson : Fodera
Alain Caron : F bass
Micheal Manring : Zon
John Patitucci : High end Yamaha
Steve Bailey : Warwick

All of them play very expensive gear and they all play complex jazz music. So why don't they play inexpensive gear since they all could make them sound good since it is all in the hands like most people say ? I think the gear they use cater to a particular need for creating the music they want to, for the ease of playing.

Free gear from sponsors?

 

[BayStateBass]

Well, to me, it's kinda like this;

Buy the best you can afford and learn to use it.

I agree that just buying nice stuff doesn't make you any better of a player, however I also think that better equipment helps you get the most out of your ability.

You will enjoy the sound and features more, so you will probably practice more. And you'll practice more so you'll get better.

 

[bassfran]

I upgrade when I can afford to-(these are my tools, after all) and I won't tolerate shorting cables, extraneous amp noise, etc.. Set up is more important than the name on the headstock.

I learned an important lesson on this subject a long time ago.

I played in the house band for an open mic night in a local blues club for two years.

One night a guy came in with his guitar in a shopping bag and a nasty old, coiled cable. We all looked at each other and were dreading what might happen. I swear he looked like he was homeless and was actually sort of belligerent toward us as well.

He plugged in, yelled "A!", and stomped a 4 count and we were off to the races. Dude killed it. No idea who he was or where he came from, but he just cut everyone in the room. We were stunned.


"You can't judge a book by lookin' at the cover."

 

[Clef_de_fa]

Free gear from sponsors?

I don't think so. Victor was playing Fodera before he was known. Fodera and Wooten both said that Victor is paying every instrument he has. It must be the same for Anthony who paid a lot to make his dream come true.

I'm sure Micheal Manring paid his Hyperbass and he joked about that if you want one you may have to sell your car.

I don't know for John Patitucci but he doesn't have a lot of basses, I always see him with either a black or red Yamaha signature bass.

I saw an interview with Alain Caron like 20 years ago where he said that he paid for every instrument he uses and since Uzeb used a lot of stuff back in the day, even if they were making a lot of money for a jazz fusion band, they don't have that much money left with the GAS.

 

[joebar]

i had cheap gear for years
i bought what was affordable it it got the job done.
i grew up fending for myself; never had fancy clothes,shoes,cars...i have had to be frugal but never felt i have went without.

learned how to play that cheap bass and play it well. studied music intensely from day one. learned the importance of perfect time early on. learned and developed relative pitch; years later i discovered that i had degrees of perfect pitch as well.

it never occured to me for 25 years to upgrade anything.
many hard years go by of providing for my family and i never had funds for anything as luxurious as a new bass or amp.
always had my priorities in order.
i have friends who hoard\sell\collect\use gear at a startling rate and because of the power of association, i started wheeling and dealing too and trying many different basses etc.

i am in a position in my life where after everything is said and done, i can afford almost any bass i want and i have some really nice instruments. i struggle when i see people who are buying luxury items knowing they cannot make ends meet elsewhere. it is none of my business but still...

i suspect that there must be a certain amount of denial in a lot of musicians. a lot guys are tone-chasers; searching for the sound in your head...some never find it and spend a lot of time,money and energy looking for the holy grail instead of learning how to be the best musician they can be. one has to resign themselves to the fact that they may never find it.
if you chase tone for your hobby or you are ed friedland who demos tons of gear because he reviews it- great; but don't think you will be a better musician because of it.

a good player can sound good on anything and probably isn't that fussy and wrapped up in his gear.
i play nice gear because i can afford it now-no other reason
i sound just as good on a cheap bass; playing a nicer instrument only enhances my playing. a poor musician is poor no matter what.

the guitarist in my band (who is also an old friend) has three boutique amps, boutique pedalboard and gorgeous name brand guitars. oodles of money invested never mind years of dedication searching for that ulti-tone...believe me when i say he has achieved it; best sounding rig i have ever heard...
i asked him a question today about a scenario that will likely arise-when we go to play live somewhere, would he be able to get by with one amp? i am betting more times than not that a soundman will give him one mike on one speaker and no more; i think he is being unrealistic if he thinks he could use his whole rig. what would he do if he couldn't run stereo? if he couldn't switch amps for a clean tone? he had a hard time responding to that question-i told him he needed a contingency plan soon.
i have yet to play a show recently where i wasn't using a house rig DIed into the board. i could care less; i have yet to use my rig for a show(not that i have played many...) i am glad i don't get wrapped up in that fact because i would be disappointed. always sound good on stage regardless.
yes-its not the gear; it IS the player

 

[carlthegroover]

the bassist was playing a Squier bass, I think that it was an Affinity.

Come on, the Squier Affinities aren't that bad... or are they? Well, I can't say because the only Squier I've ever owned was a Classic Vibe one and it was pretty good.

They put on a great show and yes, they can play. That what it's all about.

I have to agree with this. I guess that, for starters, a great talent makes up for cheapo equipment. And a nice setup and PA system wouldn't hurt either.

 

[Thomas Kievit]

The corollary to that is, none of us are Jaco Pastorius.

Nope! And with that said, it's about the player

If it was the gear, then a Fodera would be on it's way right now xD

 

[Thomas Kievit]

Stanley Clark : Alembic
Victor Wooten : Fodera
Marcus Miller : Modded Fender jazz
Anthony Jackson : Fodera
Alain Caron : F bass
Micheal Manring : Zon
John Patitucci : High end Yamaha
Steve Bailey : Warwick

All of them play very expensive gear and they all play complex jazz music. So why don't they play inexpensive gear since they all could make them sound good since it is all in the hands like most people say ? I think the gear they use cater to a particular need for creating the music they want to, for the ease of playing.

I have to say in some cases I'm not so sure about their gear. I remember in 2010 when Victor Wooten gave a clinic in Rotterdam, Holland, he said in a interview that Fodera has the sound he wants. But didn't he play Alembic basses long before Fodera exist? And if Fodera didn't exist at all, what ''would have his sound then'' ?

 

[Hopkins]

Sometime we get caught up in the "latest and greatest", I'm as bad as anyone about it. Tonight I got a little reminder.

If I don't have a gig my sweetie like to go see other bands and support them. Tonight a fairly well known (regionally) band was playing at my favorite local bar. The front man was playing some cheapy off brand guitar, the bassist was playing a Squier bass, I think that it was an Affinity. The drummer was playing and inexpensive imported jazz kit. Yes, they had a nice sound systen and good amps. But nothing on stage was at all flashy.

They put on a great show and yes, they can play. That what it's all about.

This tells me that good equipment is more important than a good instrument. But I already knew that

 

[Just Thumpin']

He played an Alembic before 1983 when he was a very young man. The reason that he got a Fodera was because the engineer on a session he was doing back in 1983 did not like the sound of his Alembic at all. Vic also felt that it was a bit large and neck heavy. One of the people in the studio that day gave Joey Lauricella (my partner at Fodera) a call and he brought two Monarch 4-strings to the studio for him to try. They were the 11th and 37th Foderas ever built. Vic is on record as saying he immediately fell in love with the basses from both a feel and sound standpoint. He selected #37 and has been playing Fodera ever since.

And yes, he paid for that instrument...

Regards,

Jason

I have to say in some cases I'm not so sure about their gear. I remember in 2010 when Victor Wooten gave a clinic in Rotterdam, Holland, he said in a interview that Fodera has the sound he wants. But didn't he play Alembic basses long before Fodera exist? And if Fodera didn't exist at all, what ''would have his sound then'' ?

 

[Geroi Asfalta]

Some guys can afford nice gear. I think it all boils down to what works at the moment. I mean....Steve Harris has been playing the same P-Bass for how long? Marcus and his modded Jazz, nowhere near the cost of Wooten's Fodera or Clark's Alembic. When people get uber snobby about gear, I show them a picture of Jaco playing an Ibanez.

My most expensive piece of gear I own is my JP-90. I paid $350 for it and it has almost all the tone I need. My free peavey and my $200 jazz bass get the rest of it done. As much as I would like to play a Ric split between an Ampeg and a Trace Elliot, I get by with a squier and a Behringer.

My entire group plays on cheap gear. My guitarist plays a python strat copy through a Crate guitar combo and gets some amazing tones, while my drummer plays on an entry level Sonor learner's kit. My rig at the studio is a CV jazz or Affinity P and a BX4210. Overall, I think all our gear (including our PA and a month of studio rent) can be bought for less than the cost of a nice bass rig.

Yes, I am a tone chaser, but that doesn't stop me from playing what I have. When I pick up some new gear, I try to dial in the tone in my head. If it doesn't show up, I just play with whichever tone sounds awesomest (depending on the specific song being played). I do test out lots of gear at the shop though....turns out the tone in my head is a RIC with flats through an ampeg.

 

[Bert Slide]

It's the Indian not the arrow but it is fun to have a few different arrows in your quiver. You don't need expensive gear to make great music. Robert Johson nailed wires to a rail in a barn to play on before he had a guitar.

 

[Thomas Kievit]

Thank you, Jason! I knew I could count on you!

He played an Alembic before 1983 when he was a very young man. The reason that he got a Fodera was because the engineer on a session he was doing back in 1983 did not like the sound of his Alembic at all. Vic also felt that it was a bit large and neck heavy. One of the people in the studio that day gave Joey Lauricella (my partner at Fodera) a call and he brought two Monarch 4-strings to the studio for him to try. They were the 11th and 37th Foderas ever built. Vic is on record as saying he immediately fell in love with the basses from both a feel and sound standpoint. He selected #37 and has been playing Fodera ever since.

And yes, he paid for that instrument...

Regards,

Jason

 

[Tupac]

I think saying “It's not about the gear...” is a little too general of a blanket statement, and that "latest and greatest" is often actually “best marketed and trendiest”.

Huh? It's music, not fashion. As far as non boutique gear goes, people have just bought Fenders since the 60s.

 

[Thomas Kievit]

Huh? It's music, not fashion. As far as non boutique gear goes, people have just bought Fenders since the 60s.

Cause people care most for the sound. And if they know Fender gives them that sound, they will buy it