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Kids with expensive basses...

#81
xxx666 said:
I'd boast about my setup to those guys from High School but funnily enough not one of them still plays or probably even cares what gear I have... Not now that their parents aren't buying it for them.
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Exactly this...

I wouldn't worry about what gear you have/ can afford,
chances are you'll eventually save up for some better gear and you will appreciate it so much more!

I heard an awesome saying recently which is:

Once you have everything you have everything to lose.

My first bass was a used Squire with a Laney 35 watt amp I luckily got for £50 in about 2006
I upgraded (bought a £200 peavey) in about janruary 2011 and i appreciate it so much more when i know ive worked for it and saved up
 
#82
step 1: join a band
step 2: play some gigs
step 3: use the money to buy a better bass/amp
step 4: REJOICE!

try to get regular at a local bar/restaurant and then you don't spend time looking for more places to play at

but this is only if you want a better bass, i have a rondo 100$ bass, in most cases its the player, not the bass. and if you get in a band and you have a deal with a bar or someplace like that, then look at the audience that comes there, and learn to play songs by request, that will give you tips and easy money. but if the audience is like your parents age, then ask them what they listened to as kids/teens so you will have some songs that they will tip for.

practice makes better, not perfect
 
#83
There will always be the "haves" and "have nots". Don't worry about what someone else's parents bought them. Work hard, improve your skills by playing with other people and buy what you want when you can afford it.

That's the way I did it (and still am doing it!)...and have been playing for 38+ years. BTW, I still have my first Peavey bass and play it out occasionally (I also have an Alembic and Carvin...that I bought when I could).
 
#84
The irony is that while someone maybe be jealous or envious of someone's else's expensive gear, somebody else may be very envious of the person with cheap gear because they have no gear. I think about stories I have heard of African musicians who could not afford a bass at all. They were oly able to play basses that club owners let them use. Linley Marthe, the great fusion bassist, is known for that old Jazz Bass he plays, that old Fender was literally the only bass on the island of Mauritius (in the Indian Ocean and part of the African Union) when he got it!

Richard Bona did not have a bass of his own for years coming up in Cameroon. I doubt if Marthe or Bona spent much time envying American or European bassists, they just got extremely good and now they can have any bass they want!
 
#86
Kids with expensive gear at 13? Thats as bad as having your first Iphone/Ipad at age 4. Back in my day (talking mid 90's) my parents bought me a pawnshop bass for christmas (no amp - it was a Sunburst Rogue bass). SO till I saved up for an amp I borrowed a VCR Amp (from the 70's) and a speaker from my parents old Stereo system (also 70's) and rocked out on that for 8 months before I bought a small squier practice amp.
 
#87
Baird6869 said:
Funny, the teacher thought it was a cheap Fender knockoff!
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Hilarious! Lots of good advice in this thread to the OP. From my perspective, I started at age 18 with a $200 bass I bought with my own money. 30 years on, I've learned that you appreciate things more when you earn them for yourself - and I thank my parents for NOT buying me an expensive bass. This might not make sense to you now, but it will one day.
Keep playing and learning. As somebody pointed out earlier, learn how to set up and care for your bass. this will save you a fortune over the years and allow you to play to your potential on any instrument you own.
 
#88
Nothing wrong with his parents buying him a nice bass. Im a terrible bass player. I have tons of nice guitars. Sounds like your pretty envious. Get over it. Im envious of guys who win the lottery and people who can play music for a living. I dont find it unfair though.
 
#89
Jealous of a Rickenbacker? I'd feel sorry for the kid! :D But seriously, have you priced the violins a lot of kids of that age play? Get the best instrument you can and don't worry about the Joneses.
 
#91
3234718 said:
I think if you can avoid caring about what other people have, you'll be better off. Just keep practicing. It's better to be better than him than to have a better bass.
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+1.

I went to a high school with a lot of rich kids and it seemed like they always had the best of the best. A mom and dad once surprised a girl on her 16th birthday during our lunch period by driving up a new Lexus SUV to the front of the school with a big bow on it.

I see it all the time though where musicians (not just bassists) have expensive gear, however cannot play it to save their life. I always say the bass does not make the player, the player plays the bass.
 
#93
I recall being envious when a friend's dad bought him a brand-new 1966 Jazz Bass - and he wa a sax player who couldn't play any other instrument and had no interest in it. At the time I had a Kay bass from Spiegels that my mom bought for me. Within a year I traded it for a Gagliano, made by Hofner, because it looked more like a P bass. A year after that, I bought a used '59 P for $175. Haven't had gear envy since.
 
#94
Perhaps it would be nice if you offered to jam with that kid with the rick. Instead of envy you should have empathy for him.It must suck to have a good bass and not be able to play it.I would imagine your envy of him will stop once the 2 of you in and play.
 
#95
Diminshing returns+ Kool Aid drinking= Boutique basses...

I have played most all of them, and can say, they just USUALLY are not worth the massive upcharge.

I play a USA P-Bass, I don't need/nor want any kind of active elctronics, (Just another PIA to deal with IME). Therefore other than exotic woods, fancy finishes, and sometimes a UNIQUE look the boutiques are not twice, nor three times as good as my USA P-Bass, in fact if I give them anything I'd say they are MAYBE 15% better. The Lakland, P-bass copy, is like a P-bass but with cheaper plastic knobs (go figure).
Now expensive Bass tube heads like the Reeves 225, That I can see the value and should my finances improve will not hesitate to drop $2K on one.
 
#96
Interesting how the classical and pop worlds seem to diverge on the point of good instruments at a young age/beginner level. I don't know why anyone thinks there's any inherent virtue in starting off with a bad instrument. :/
 
#98
My first bass was a Lazer P-bass copy (it cost me around $100 NEW!!! so you could imagine the bass)...I loved that thing, and was my only bass for about two years, when I decided I want a 5 st; at that time I was 18 and my work only payed me around $25 at week, so I go every weekend to my local music shop and gave them $15 to pay my new bass, a Cort Viva 5st.
Many years later, I found myself playing basses that I only imagine how they could sound, but the feeling every time I pick up a bass (whatever brand, cheap or expensive) its still there... and thats why I´m still playing, about 22 years later.
Its completely true that a good bass will make you play easier, with better sound, play better I can said, but NEVER will make you a better player.... its soooooooo diferent!!! The sound it´s in YOUR hands... and in YOUR hearth!!!!
 
#99
I was an amp tech for a music store that serviced and provided band instruments to over 100 schools here in Wisconsin. You wouldn't believe how kids treat the equipment in the band room. I repaired so many amps that were horribly damaged. The worst was a silverface Fender 4X10 bass amp that took a tumble down a flight of marble stairs. Every joint in the cabinet broken, and the chassis was badly bent due to the heavy transformers. I had to strip the chassis down, and remember beating on it on the cement floor with a 3lb hammer to straighten it out. Once fixed it looked like new.

Another was a Kasino bass amp from a MIDDLE SCHOOL. Behind the grill was a used, florescent condom. When I wrote up the repair bill, I added "removed used condom from behind the speaker grill." My supervisor was mad at first, but after a little thought, decided to leave it on the bill.

Most stuff came in with broken pots, torn tolex and grill cloth, who knows what spilled in them, scratched, dirty, dusty, bent, broken.

I always repaired the equipment and then cleaned everything up, replaced torn grill cloth, repaired torn tolex, and got everything looking as new as possible, thinking, if it looked good and new, maybe, just maybe those disrespectful mouthbreathers would take a little better care of it. (I can dream, can't I?)

There are spoiled rotten kids everywhere. No respect, no common sense...If they break it, who cares...buy a new one.

My favorite backup bass is one I put together from parts for less than $100...a Musicman sort of 5 string. I wouldn't trade the kid for his Rick.
 

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