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Loyalty to Any Specific Brand?

Hmm...

Good question!

I have one Peavey currently, a Fury. It's a good solid bass, and I'll hang onto it as it's not worth much to sell anyway.

I own one Schecter, a 2005 C-4 XXX. It has a thin neck, great pickups and sounds great, especially when you take into account that I bought it for $150! It's not going anywhere.

I have a Tele Star (Teisco) that is a miserable little bass. It's just like the bass that I owned in the 1970's and was so bad that it made me a drummer for forty years before I got back into bass.

I own a 1995 EBMM Stingray 4 that I traded a drum set for. It's a great bass, a real keeper for sure.

So far, you notice that I own one of each...

Fender is a different Story. I always wanted to own a jazz bass. When I started playing I discovered that I really, really like Precisions better. I ended up buying a 60th Anniversary P. I kept looking for a good Jazz and finally found an American Standard Jazz that was good for me. I fell into an amazing deal on a 1972 Telecaster bass that a good friend bought used in 1975. Then I came across a MIJ P that plays great and is THE bass to take everywhere without worrying about it.

So, I own four Fenders, but I wouldn't call myself a Fender loyalist.

In drums I own 7 sets currently, one DW, one Gretsch USA, a Leedy, a Remo and three Slingerlands. My 26 snares are from Ayotte, DW, Gretsch, Legend, Ludwig, Mapex, Noble & Cooley, Remo, Rogers and Slingerland. My over eighty cymbals include Zildjian, Paiste, Sabian and Bosphorus.

What I'm saying is that I am loyal to only one music equipment company and that is Vic Firth drumsticks. Otherwise I will buy and play any gear from anyone.
 
I mostly play Fenders but I've shown up with all manner of basses on my gigs. But the only gear I'm what you'd call "loyal to" these days are my Ampeg amps, my A-Designs REDDI, and when it comes to active basses, EMG. I just like to mix up the basses and pedals now and then.
 
From a practical standpoint, loyalty to some brands makes more sense to me than others. Many brands are no more than a name on a headstock, and the basses are made at various generic factories around the world. Others are made in one factory or shop and the whole process from development to production is done by the same people. The second group seems like the one that could earn loyalty more easily, especially if there is great customer service.

I am a Carvin/Lakland loyalist to a good degree. I like the way they design and produce their products, I like the smaller company based in one location, and the quality is consistently high.

F BASS.

That's all I will play.

I gotta' get my hands on one to try out one of these days!

I pretty much have found:

Laklands/Carlo for electric basses (Carlo is Carl Pedigo and he does GREAT custom work!)
Rick Turner for semi- acoustics
Michael Kelly for full acoustics

These basses just "feel right" and sound great to me and ALL of the companies have bent over backwards in customer service....

the CS is a huge deal with me.....huge.

Yep, customer service is a big one for me, too.

I mostly play Fenders but I've shown up with all manner of basses on my gigs. But the only gear I'm what you'd call "loyal to" these days are my Ampeg amps, my A-Designs REDDI, and when it comes to active basses, EMG. I just like to mix up the basses and pedals now and then.

Jimmy, you play Ampeg? Really? Why have you been keeping it a secret? ;)
 
Hey guys, I was wondering if any of you guys out there who are dedicated to one specific brand over all others.

..............

So what basses are you guys most partial to? I am simply trying to understand what makes you guys want to spend thousands of dollars on several basses of the same brand.

.........

Personally, I'm a Rick fan.
I have others, but usually when I play them I'm thinking my Ricks sound and play better to my tastes.
I've got a Peavey 5 string and a VM Jazz, and they're both quite good for the money and different tonally, both play pretty nicely too, but Ricks are my thing (I have 4).

I finally got all of my gear in one place, so I have a 'family' pic:
100_0878_zps20c18c30.gif


My reasoning for having four of a same brand is that they're all slightly different, one is tuned down 1/2 step and wearing flats, 2 have rounds but one is a single pup 4000 and the other is my main player with a Hipshot D Tuner added, and obviously the other is a doubleneck, so it does what the others can't as well.
Four different tones and or purposes (not to mention finishes, a common reason to have more than one Rick).)
 
"Granted, it's not a handmade German model"
handmade and warwick are long divorced...


I went all around to come back, have to say that there are classics and for a good reason, I am now partial to vintage Fender USA, 1977 P Bass, an EBMM Stingray Classic 5, and an extremely underrated Yamaha BB2000.

In the process I had japanese Fenders, Westbury, Kramer, Warwicks, Ibanez and an Elrick.

I wish I could afford an Elrick Classic 5, the rest of the list are substitutes to the ones I own, I realized I was trying to add fx to make all my basses sound like the P-Bass does plugged straight into the amp. Oh yes, the amp is a big part of the sound also, my rig is a 1970's Fender bassman t100 and a 4 x 10 markbass cabinet, found my sound with it.
 
Most of my basses were made by one luthier.
Generally,I like to keep my equipment european but not from a particular Builder or Company.
At this point all of it but my computer and interface is.
 
I think I'm like most ppl on here; play mostly one brand but open to others.
started on a fender and that is what I have typically owned.
at this point I have 5 basses.
my upright I will exclude from this conversation.
an ibenaz, a fender, a Music man, and a Traben.

I have owned a G&L, a couple other fenders, and a MTD Z series.
I'd like to try a jazz bass and a fretless, so they might show up in the future. and I loved the tone of the MTD so I might see if I can get that again too.

at this point in my life I can have more then a few basses so I think I will try a bunch out rather then sticking to one brand.
 
I used to play a lot of Ricks ... but then I got involved with certain forums and discovered the cult like mentality ... etc ... I became a lot less into Rics ... I am down to 2 these days ...

I am not a fan-boy of any brand these days ...

Rimg1142.jpg


As a generalization, Ric addicts are really and truly Ric addicts. Bless them for that, now I do not have to know anything about them, I can ask my local Ric guy.
 
I have tried almost all of the non-boutique brands (only cause I am not of that tax bracket), and it always seems like the Fenders are the ones that fall out of the sifter. There are certain brands that I now know that I DON'T like...mostly cause of feel, but I have become a "Fender guy" by accident (certainly not by endorsement,;) though I wouldn't say no to that:hyper:)
 
I'm a big advocate of Peavey's stuff. So much so that I am constantly searching for the next one, even though I'm happy with what I have. Never really felt that way about another brand.
 
I'm loyal to Brubaker Basses for many reasons. However I do still have a very nice Geddy Lee Jazz bass I won't part with. The JB reminds me of Larry Graham and Bootsy. Two of my main inspirations for playing bass from the start. When I was into them they both played JB's.