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Overhyped Features You Just Had to Have

#61
At some point I was convinced that going to a rackmount, preamp + power amp setup would allow me to deliver more power, better sound and better flexibility. Ended up adding a whole lot more variables to control, each of which I knew dangerously little about.

At one point I went toddling down the TB trail of "P-Bass + flats rules the world". That experiment lasted about a day.

I never bought into the single-cut trend, but I do feel that is over-rated.
 
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#63
This!!
Dr. Cheese said:
I posted a few videos of me playing in church on my $70 Peavey Fury (P-bass.) I missed some notes, but my tone was great. It really made me question the point of buying any other bass if my sound was already that perfect for the choir. I went back and posted me playing in the choir with at least three other basses, and my tone was not identical, but it was clearly me, and none of them sounded bad with the choir.

We all know my GAS won't die, but it really made me realize that in my case, I already have a sound, and different basses for me are more about comfort and playability than anything else.
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#65
kesslari said:
I look at my Zon, and think "from the perspective of the Doc's post, it has a lot of 'overhyped features'"
Figured Bubinga top - I have loved beautiful wood on basses since 1982 when I built a bass out of koa. So no overhype.
Active - fits the sound I want. So no overhype.
Composite neck - first time I played a Zon fretless, I realized that it was a tonally unique beast and I fell in love. So no overhype.
5 strings - been playing 5'ers pretty exclusively since 1988. They work for me, I use the B string all the time. So no overhype.
Extended fingerboard - I don't play in the upper, upper registers. However if I hadn't had it built with the extended fingerboard, I would have had Joe put a ramp on that part of the body. Extended fingerboard = ramp, cleaner and easier. Maybe overhype, but I think not.
Extended cutaway - I really don't play that high on the neck , afraid I'd get nosebleeds or something. OK, overhype. But I like it.
Partial fretlines - I LOVE these things. Makes position jumps easy for me. So no overhype.
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I have no problem with exotic tops or graphite. I owned two Steinbergers and two Q5s back in the day. I really loved the Q5s, and I love the modern active tone too. My point is that if a newbie listens to hype, it is easy to think you bass is nothing unless it has the latest hyped features.
 
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#66
Dr. Cheese said:
I have no problem with exotic tops or graphite. I owned two Steinbergers and two Q5s back in the day. I really loved the Q5s, and I love the modern active tone too. My point is that if a newbie listens to hype, it is easy to think you bass is nothing unless it has the latest hyped features.
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I totally get it, Doc.
I simply thought - interesting perspective to think through. Thinking is good for me :D

My next bass will be a red bass, because you can play faster on red basses. :D :D
 
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#68
The first time I bought one was for the hype. The second time, nostalgia.

Ironic.

IMG_0245.JPG
 
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#69
Dr. Cheese said:
I have no problem with exotic tops or graphite. I owned two Steinbergers and two Q5s back in the day. I really loved the Q5s, and I love the modern active tone too. My point is that if a newbie listens to hype, it is easy to think you bass is nothing unless it has the latest hyped features.
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I would say after you spend a bunch of money on a guitar and the neck warps and/ or twists. You start to really appreciate graphite (or other materials). But I would also argue that graphite definitely HAS a Sound. That might be desirable or not but (to me) it has a very substantial impact on the tone.

But to me... Overhyped features would be:
Phase switches
Whiz bang nuts (the really expensive ones that seem to do everything but allow individual adjustment of the strings).
Built in tuners (built into the guitar, like many ABG with the Fishman)
Built in effects (a la gibson)
Fatheads (or other added mass devices on the head stock)

I will say that one(two) of the BEST add ons I have seen lately are:
The pop out battery compartments
And as a related thing, magnetically held on control cavities (replacing screws).
and not new.. But.. Sperzel locking tuners.
 
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#72
For me it was the whole ERB craze of the early 2000's. Man, I jumped into that pool with both feet and straight into the deep end! They were fun to play and, for the band I was in at the time, a valuable writing/composition tool. But after acquiring my Lull M5V from the dearly missed Adrian Garcia, I found my home. I do wish I still had that third one though, simply because it was such a beautiful, and beautifully made instrument.

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#76
Giant racks full of gear. True anecdote: I was playing in a club in Boston in the 80's and the bass player in the other band had this enormous rack full of stuff, bi- or tri-amped, rig. When he turned it all on, there where more lights and things dancing and shimmering than nighttime on the Strip in Vegas. Then he plugged in some exotic bass sans headstock, played a few notes and said to me "I love it - sounds just like a P-bass".
 
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#78
dannylectro said:
Giant racks full of gear. True anecdote: I was playing in a club in Boston in the 80's and the bass player in the other band had this enormous rack full of stuff, bi- or tri-amped, rig. When he turned it all on, there where more lights and things dancing and shimmering than nighttime on the Strip in Vegas. Then he plugged in some exotic bass sans headstock, played a few notes and said to me "I love it - sounds just like a P-bass".
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HEY! I think I know that guy.. Except when I saw him he was using a Padulla.
When I saw him he had 2* 12 or 16 space racks on top of each other. He had more leds blinking than I'd ever seen. It looking like NASA mission control. He had TONS of gear and spent a ton of money to end up getting a really awful sound..
 
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#79
dannylectro said:
Giant racks full of gear. True anecdote: I was playing in a club in Boston in the 80's and the bass player in the other band had this enormous rack full of stuff, bi- or tri-amped, rig. When he turned it all on, there where more lights and things dancing and shimmering than nighttime on the Strip in Vegas. Then he plugged in some exotic bass sans headstock, played a few notes and said to me "I love it - sounds just like a P-bass".
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Oh, the irony! :laugh:
 

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