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Kids with expensive basses...

#201
Brad Johnson said:
Because it would be doubly depressing if they not only had better gear and were also better musicians. Being nice people would make it the hater trifecta.
:D

Letting the wares and accomplishments of others be a personal yardstick is a sad way to go through life. As an adult, do I get jealous when I see someone with "better" or more expensive gear than mine? Nope. Do I hope they can't play? Of course not. And fortunately I didn't think that way as a child either. It completely misses the point of being a musician.
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LOL, yes indeed.

I'd imagine that while at a guitar shop someone gave you the evil eye when you whipped out a boutique bass of some sort and/or someone started to try to out-shred you. Insecurity isn't hard to spot.
 
#202
I think it's best to start and spend a few years on a piece of sh1t, as it forces you to work through awful tone to get decent tone, and to be able to play with at least somewhat good technique even on an instrument that is fighting your every movement and denying you any ergonomic advantage.

THEN once you've gotten pretty damn good despite the instrument, shoot straight up to the top of instrument land and get something that practically plays itself, immediately dials in the tone your looking for, etc, etc. You will immediately sound a thousand times better than you did before and more importantly will sound better than if you'd started on that amazing instrument and been lazy this whole time. Your technique will become immaculate, as you've already had to cultivate good physical tactics on the battleground of your old P.O.S. and are now able to fully implement them, and in fact you will probably find a new physical awareness in the foregiving playability of your new bass, bringing the effortlessness of your playing to the ultimate levels of buttercat.
 
#204
When I spent my parents $$, my dfirsty bass was used 1960's Kay Short scale electric @$25 used. I knew nothing of brands, quality or costs. pups died; needed new bass.

My next bass with parents $$ was 1970 Epi...Looked like a better bass... pups died.

By 1972, I knew a lot more. I also knew I would be a a bass player for life].

Although still a teenager, with my own savings, I bought a Rick 4001.

Buy the least you can get buy with until you can afford the best.

Make sure before a younger person buys an expensive instrument that they don't want to change plans and become a mechanic, carpenter..what have you; then needing to sell the bass for a fraction of its cost to buy tools.

An inexpensive bass is worth even less when sold, whereas a more expensive name brand bass will likely ...eventually.... decades later.. recover and exceed in worth ....if well taken care of.
 
#205
Sounds familiar. I knew a kid like these back when I was still in school. Nice lad, and he was actually a damn good guitarist - credit where it's due and all that. But does a 15-year old lad really need a Gibson SG, and two Marshall 4 x 12s to play it through?

And yes, he was good, but we all knew the other kid who made do with his 2nd-hand Epi LP and little combo amp was much better!
 
#206
AllFourths said:
I think it's best to start and spend a few years on a piece of sh1t, as it forces you to work through awful tone to get decent tone, and to be able to play with at least somewhat good technique even on an instrument that is fighting your every movement and denying you any ergonomic advantage.
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My 1st guitar required very high action due to a poorly planed fingerboard and an equally bad fretjob. I also had a Squier that sounded awful and had zero sustain. There was no advantage to learning on these guitars or playing them.
 
#207
Back in the late 60's my brother was playing sax in the high school jazz band. The kid playing Bass had a badly repainted 57 P Bass. He lost interest and sold it to my brother for $40 who took over Bass duties.
 
#209
spade2you said:
My 1st guitar required very high action due to a poorly planed fingerboard and an equally bad fretjob. I also had a Squier that sounded awful and had zero sustain. There was no advantage to learning on these guitars or playing them.
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No, but it would have been good if someone said: "hey, you know that you could improve the playability of your cheap Squier several fold for little money?"

I wish someone had said that to me.

I had a terrible guitar... and persevered with it for about three years before I could buy a nice one.
The nut was too low and I assumed that was it... the guitar had to be thrown away. I had no idea that replacing the nut was easy and cheap, and that fret levelling was also normal and inexpensive, etc.

I did not throw away that guitar, and many years later I made it playable. It was not the best, but it was an ok guitar.

My point is that a little information when starting out can go a long way towards enjoying the instrument, and making up realise that although expensive instruments are generally nicer, all is not lost if you can't afford them.

I am sure that if someone had told me about setting up guitars, I would have had mine fixed within the first few months, and I would have wasted a lot less time complaining that I needed a decent guitar. I would have joined bands earlier...
And now I would be a rich rock star!!!

Well, maybe not that ;-)
 
#210
mcnach said:
No, but it would have been good if someone said: "hey, you know that you could improve the playability of your cheap Squier several fold for little money?"

I wish someone had said that to me.

I had a terrible guitar... and persevered with it for about three years before I could buy a nice one.
The nut was too low and I assumed that was it... the guitar had to be thrown away. I had no idea that replacing the nut was easy and cheap, and that fret levelling was also normal and inexpensive, etc.

I did not throw away that guitar, and many years later I made it playable. It was not the best, but it was an ok guitar.

My point is that a little information when starting out can go a long way towards enjoying the instrument, and making up realise that although expensive instruments are generally nicer, all is not lost if you can't afford them.

I am sure that if someone had told me about setting up guitars, I would have had mine fixed within the first few months, and I would have wasted a lot less time complaining that I needed a decent guitar. I would have joined bands earlier...
And now I would be a rich rock star!!!

Well, maybe not that ;-)
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My GTX Les Paul copy would have required defretting it, planing the fingerboard, and refretting it. Even if I improved the frets of my Squier, it would have still sounded pretty dead. I'd much rather put time into playing than modifying.
 
#213
My first was an embarrasingly cheesy Hondo Explorer bass with P-pickup, white with a bolt on neck. It sounded so bad that i put a set of seymour duncan P-pups in it and it sounded almost as bad, but better. thank the lord that my dad taught me how to solder as a kid. I paid almost as much for the pups as the bass. I "upgraded" to an epiphone explorer, which sounded a world better and had a hardshell case!

they both surpassed my ability level!

the next upgrade was an epiphone thunderbird... which is what i wanted all along but over $300 was too much for me at the time and they had not yet become so commonly used and for sale for under $200 like they are now. I've owned and modified and rocked the F out of (and one time even destroyed) 4 more Epi TB's since then. I don't feel bad cause they're common and inexpensive. There's something to be said about cheap stuff. I can modify it to make what I want it to be. I don't have to be scared that i'll damage it and make it lose it's resale value or collector's appeal.

I got other basses, but simplicity is king for me

I'm sure that Rick is awesome, but don't worry about it. Do your own thang.
 
#214
Ah yes, a violation of the Troph's Law of Gear Proportionality, which promotes the efficient use of gear resources by relating time, operator skill, and money:

"When in public, the value of your rig should never exceed your skill by more than one year of regular practice."

In this case, I find it hard to blame the kid. It's really up to parents to explain this concept to their children, lest the kids make fools of themselves in public without recognizing the risk to their peer respectability. Many a well-meaning parent has unwittingly violated this Law by buying "only the best" for their child without considering the truly horrible consequences.

In my high school years, a surgeon's 16-year old son totaled not one but two brand new Porsche 911s before his family realized the error of their ways and bought him a brand new Mercedes S500 instead, which hardly helped his reputation. The utter waste of sought-after resources was shocking to students and made the poor kid look ridiculous.

Following Troph's Law, they clearly should have purchased him a 1969 Lincoln Continental with reinforced bumpers.
 
#215
spade2you said:
My 1st guitar required very high action due to a poorly planed fingerboard and an equally bad fretjob. I also had a Squier that sounded awful and had zero sustain. There was no advantage to learning on these guitars or playing them.
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+1

Crappy instruments probably caused more people to quit playing than to be inspired. I started out on a sears Hofner copy which I paid for myself. Playing on a cheap, crappy instrument is no advantage. I never heard anyone say that they wish they hadn't started out on a GOOD instrument.
 
#216
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
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Don't worry about it. "This kid" knows that he sucks.
 
#218
I'm one of those kids, I've been incredibly fortunate to have great parents who are incredibly supportive of my musical activities, although I certainly don't think I'm that great of a bassist.

I hope I'm not judged by my equipment, just as I don't judge anyone else for theirs.
 
#220
Interesting thread.

I drooled after Ricks in HS. There was a shop a few blocks away that had them. But I started on a "Series 10" - the cheapest bass within a forty mile radius. Played the heck out of it.

I "upgraded" to an MIM Jazz (for $300 at the time) a year later. Gave the first bass to a buddy. Within a year, he had become a much better bassist than I. On a POS bass. I did stick with the Jbass for many decades.

Just this past year I picked up a Rickenbacker guitar - finally. It's a great, great guitar with some quirks. But well worth the wait.

Nice gear is very nice to have. But you can become a good musician (or more importantly, enjoy yourself) on anything with decent playability and intonation. Once you get lost in the groove of whatever you are doing ("ecstatic," technically speaking) everything else is irrrelevant.
 

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