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Kids with expensive basses...

#261
A really good guitarded friend of mine (who I've played in bands with) had his dad buy him a $2500 les Paul for graduating highschool. Every band I was in with him, I had to write his guitar riffs for him and I can't even play a guitar outside of Ramones level power chord stuff. Always felt like a horrible waste of a great instrument.

Then one day he got black out drunk, drove his car into a guard rail and left it in the middle of an intersection with two flat tires with all the doors unlocked. With the les Paul in the trunk. Needless to say at that point his dad repo'ed the guitar from him until he grows up. This was 2009. My friend is now 25 and his dad still has the guitar.
 
#263
If you want nice gear all you have to do is wear a rubber, and work. I honestly prefer to have a bass that I can get a scratch or two or 500 on, but I play everyday for hours with lots of people on lots of settings. I can leave my bass at the bar and it will still be there next week. It's what I call a sleeper. It's a vintage Hondo 2 with twin p's. I always wanted a nicer bass but mine always seemed to play better even when I did have the money. But line I said wrap it up and you'll eventually be able to get any bass / rig you want. Also don't hate at least that kid wanted a bass and a set of turntables.
 
#264
cableguy said:
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..........
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This.. and do that now... while you can. Immerse yourself in it while you have the time to do so. Also be consoled by the thought that.. a decade from now you will probably still be playing bass .. and a better bass at that than the eon you have now.. This other kid may have moved on to something else by then ..
 
#267
My first bass was an ibanez SR, like the cheapest model you could get. I remember trading a gibson Nighthawk to a friend at the age of 15 or 16. I wanted to play bass essentially.

well In less than a year on that bass I was better than everyother player at my school. Not gloating just a fact. The next bass I bought was a slightly better 6 string Ibanez.

I didnt get an expensive bass till my early 20s, and that was a Neck through Warwick. I owned three of them. They were all really pricey.

Did they make me feel like a better player? Nope. I sold them all in like 2005 and bought a Fender american Deluxe for about a grand. I think it was 1100. Ive been a Fender guy ever since.

The instrument doesnt make the man, the man makes the instrument.
 
#270
Eh I can see where the OP is coming from. I consider myself an unbiased person but back in my tween years I remember judging peoples ability to be peers based upon what type of shoe they wore. Good grief.

I did have to buy my first bass myself though, actually all of my bass gear. I don't know that you're in the minority amongst the TB population, which may be why so many of us are telling you to suck it up, hehe.
 
#275
I feel you, I had a Washburn that weighed more than me and had horribly high action (a fixable problem but i was young). I made a parts bass after a few years of research. And although it wasn't cheap (almost $500) it is the only bass I play and plays WAY better than any fender bass. Also whenever I let my friend (who has an sr755 that ran him $800) play it he tells it plays far better than all of his basses.

Just a thought,

Max Pratt
 
#276
Baird6869 said:
And? What is your point?

Is a great early '60's pre-CBS Jazz with a perfectly planed epoxy fretboard crappy?

He adjusted the string height and intonation all the time and had a bass tech.

His bass as set up in the 70's would e no better today.
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My point is quite clear, jaco played a budget bass. Its not like there were boutique basses back then.

He played an average run of the mill bass. Just because those are sought after now doesn't mean they were amazing back then.

He did mods to it? yes, but was it anything more than a standard jazz bass? Nope.
 
#277
Seriously?

Ok, then....

Jheake said:
My point is quite clear
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No it isn't.

Jheake said:
jaco played a budget bass.
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No he didn't.

Jheake said:
Its not like there were boutique basses back then.
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Yes there were. Alembic is only one example.

Jheake said:
He played an average run of the mill bass. Just because those are sought after now doesn't mean they were amazing back then.
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Totally wrong again.

Sorry, do your homework. You have no clue what you are talking about.
 
#278
Baird6869 said:
Seriously?

Ok, then....



No it isn't.



No he didn't.



Yes there were. Alembic is only one example.



Totally wrong again.

Sorry, do your homework. You have no clue what you are talking about.
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Haha, ok bud. sorry you got your panties in a bunch. It's called an opinon.

I'm plenty schooled thank you. woo so the first alembic was made in 1971. Wow thanks for the lesson. Big deal. doesnt change the fact that Jaco still played a standard jazz bass.
 
#279
Budget basses in the hands of a player are still pimpsticks. Set them up right and that 3,000 buck bass dude has is to crappy to play because your 200 bucker has better action and tone. Screw labels learn to adapt. Go to jam nights. Play every bass available to you, then buy you a low rider. Believe me, equipment is only a fraction of what it takes to shred baselines like pulled pork.
 
#280
Boompow said:
Budget basses in the hands of a player are still pimpsticks. Set them up right and that 3,000 buck bass dude has is to crappy to play because your 200 bucker has better action and tone. Screw labels learn to adapt. Go to jam nights. Play every bass available to you, then buy you a low rider. Believe me, equipment is only a fraction of what it takes to shred baselines like pulled pork.
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I totally agree. Anyone who can really get down knows that too.
Aesthetics are just that. Sure there are some more pricey basses out there with better features.

I think there is a reason so many amazing bass players, (Marcus Miller comes to mind) still play Fenders. Because of the sound and feel. They could have all the bells and whistles, and probably have about 20 of those basses in their vault. He (MM) takes a Fender on the road though.
 

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