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Kids with expensive basses...

W

Waster

Nov 24, 2011
148
3
Scotland
#1
One of the few other bassists at my high school just got a new bass; a Rickenbacker 4003.
This kid is thirteen, and is genuinely awful- doesn't know what notes he's playing, can't play eighth notes etc.
Now, obviously I wish I had been able to get equipment like that when I was his age, and I'm a touch jealous, but does it irk anyone else that it always seems to be the sub par musicians that can afford the nice gear? I'm not the best bassist in the world, but I've worked hard and am doing grade 8 next year on an OLP MM2. My parents would love to get me a P-bass, but can't afford it; all of my gear, bar my starter bass and my starter guitar (£100 each) I have had to work and save for. And I know better musicians in crappier positions than me.
This was really just a rant, but feel free to comment or whatever.

Connor
 
#3
you'll have plenty of years to buy nice gear. Learn your theory & fundamentals. Most bands would rather have a good bassist with average gear than a lousy bassist with great gear. As long as your bass stays in tune, work with it until you can afford to upgrade. Besides that kid will probably quit in a year or two and you can buy his bass cheap..........
 
#5
I feel bad, because I'm kind of one of those kids. I'm not horrendous, but I'm not expensive-gear good either. I was pretty lucky that my parents were supportive of my musical endeavors.

I know a kid I graduated with that plays on a cheap starcaster guitar and a crappy little vox combo. He is a tremendous player and probably the best guitarist I've ever seen. He makes that $100 POS sound like SRV's '63, and he makes it sing. Just goes to show that gear isn't everything. Sometimes, gear is nothing.
 
#9
Waster said:
but does it irk anyone else that it always seems to be the sub par musicians that can afford the nice gear?
Click to expand...

Nope, wealthy people will always be able to afford nicer everything than I can. It is always amusing when one of them gets smoked by someone such as yourself with $100 worth of gear. It might be worthwhile to be patient and friendly with him. Could be he will get bored one day and sell you his Ric for a couple of quid....

Ken ;)
 
#11
His parents can afford such things, probably they can afford a Fodera but they gave him a Rickenbacker 4003 as starter bass, nothing wrong with it, neither with your parents giving you a Rondo bass. By the way I am an anwfull player that can't even play 8ths notes but I have a Dingwall, Sadowsky, Laklands and Fenders, all of them thanks to my job as a doctor...oh yeah , my 1 year old son is can '' play'' all of them.
 
#14
Waster said:
One of the few other bassists at my high school just got a new bass; a Rickenbacker 4003.
This kid is thirteen, and is genuinely awful- doesn't know what notes he's playing, can't play eighth notes etc.
Now, obviously I wish I had been able to get equipment like that when I was his age, and I'm a touch jealous, but does it irk anyone else that it always seems to be the sub par musicians that can afford the nice gear? I'm not the best bassist in the world, but I've worked hard and am doing grade 8 next year on an OLP MM2. My parents would love to get me a P-bass, but can't afford it; all of my gear, bar my starter bass and my starter guitar (£100 each) I have had to work and save for. And I know better musicians in crappier positions than me.
This was really just a rant, but feel free to comment or whatever.

Connor
Click to expand...

I felt much the same way in high school; but once I got the opportunity to get a job in college, I found that I had money to spend on better gear. I bought my first nice bass, a used 2005 Fender Jazz that sounds fantastic and plays very well. I used to bemoan the fact that there was nothing I could do about not being able to afford nice stuff, while others had it all but handed to them, but there really is a huge difference when you can get a paying job, and although you shouldn't spend TOO much in college, to avoid all those nasty student debt issues, it's a perfect time for disposable income, since you're not self sufficient for rent, heating, food, etc. Of course that's all in the Tuition, but you're getting more outside help with it in college than you ever will again, so take the time to upgrade when it's not quite as risky.

18 years of life experience, so take that for what it's worth. Not Yoda by any means.

Edit: You WILL run into people here saying that you should suck it up and stop whining. That's just how a lot of people seem to be about issues like this. A lot of people have trouble seeing those teenage years in the present, which is a lot different than hindsight. That said, feel free to feel that it's unfair, but if you think about it, it will be worse. Just play, work, and climb that ladder. There's time, believe me.
 
#16
MUSHROOMSeAcOw said:
Just goes to show that gear isn't everything. Sometimes, gear is nothing.
Click to expand...

Well said. Expensive flashy gear is nothing if your skills don't stand on their own. Just spending money to play better just doesn't work, it makes no sense. You'll sound better, sure, but you won't play better.

I'm quite new to bass, only a year and a half or so, but my view is this: How awesome the bass looks comes before how it actually sounds until I'm good enough to back up a great-sounding instrument. For now, I'll enjoy looks over sound. I'll worry about the fancy stuff when I'm better. Naive as it sounds. :p
 
#17
There's good advice here, but I still understand where you're coming from. I'm 19 and have been playing for four or five years, and the most expensive instrument I own is my Squier VM Jazz. Regardless, I love my instruments, and starting out on something lower end ultimately can make you a better player. If you can get good on a cheap instrument and learn how to work on it, imagine how good you'll be on an expensive, high quality instrument.

Still...for instance, my friend is 3 years older than me and has no job. His parents are buying him a new $700 laptop for Christmas, and of course he's got to make sure that it's nicer than the one I worked to buy last year. It really burns me up!
 

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