New toys inspire me to play more....but I still sound like me no matter the bass. Hope you love it!
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Ready to be ridiculed...
- Thread starter Jason Bonilla
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I have played bass since Hector was a pup and have accumulated quite the collection including a few high enders.For the last year or so I've been mostly playing cheapos' like Harley Benton or a recently purchased Gretch Electromatic duo jet Jr. and loving it.
Agreed.
I hard earned every penny I've spent on gear.
For me personally, I currently have three basses that sound and play completely different; they are like different paint brushes or pencils in my opinion. Each one I approach differently whilst playing and adapt to its characteristics, shortcomings, strengths, and quirks. If something bothers me too much I just modify it through trial and error I guess. What I'm getting at is that you'll be forever chasing that unicorn by buying constantly and not letting your instrument broken in/getting used to it.
Whilst I'm over the moon with you getting a sweet new bass, my advise would be if it doesn't work out for you this time, I'd go for something vintage, so it's already broken in and aged. Or maybe a pawn shop Squire or Ibanez you can tinker with without worrying about ruining something expensive or it getting stolen.
My 2 cents there.
Whilst I'm over the moon with you getting a sweet new bass, my advise would be if it doesn't work out for you this time, I'd go for something vintage, so it's already broken in and aged. Or maybe a pawn shop Squire or Ibanez you can tinker with without worrying about ruining something expensive or it getting stolen.
My 2 cents there.
Mental health professional here. Precedent is the best indicator of future performance. Sooner or later you'll get another bass. You'll be back. I don't think most of the folks here will be ridiculing you. They live in glass houses.
Maybe what we all need here is a good 12 step program. Full steps. Not half.
Maybe what we all need here is a good 12 step program. Full steps. Not half.
So what? Everyone is entitled to like what they like. If you have the opportunity to get your dream bass, I say go for it. More power to you. And if the bass is what you hope it will be, it will prompt you to get better.
Sounds like you spend more time shopping for gear than practicing. I don’t know what else to tell you.
It would seem you're a (very young) grown man, and by all means, you should follow your muse, as it were; if this is what makes you happy, go for it. You're a grown man, you can do what you want.
Phew. I got the politically correct, nice, shiny bright answer out there.
Now the Disclaimer: The rest of this is from a 45-year veteran player who's been there done and done that and owned everything from Teiscos to Alembics, and earned my medals the hard way. Here comes:
EVERYBODY sucks at first. But you need to decide if you're going to PLAY or just play at it and pose. Then you dig in, learn and work, and it never ends.
You NEVER go in debt for an instrument. Think you lost money on some of those 10 you rolled over this last year, wait till the new wears off this one, and now you've got credit card debt way past whatever you can sell it for.
I know a grand total of one player in 45 years who's played one bass his entire career. One. And I've known hundreds of bassists. And while I've owned the best there is and certainly admired them for the level of craft and near-perfection they possessed and was thrilled to own them, I can absolutely guarantee you that part of it did absolutely nothing in making me any better as a player because of the instrument.
At the end of the day, it's the player and not the axe. Hand Victor Wooten your bass and he will sound like Victor Wooten. VW would then hand you his bass, and you WON'T sound like VW, you will sound like you. No matter who you are, this is an inescapable truth.
If it was me, I'd have you playing a Squier Precision through a Bronco 40 until you convince me you want to REALLY want to learn to play, and leave these piles of money in the bank. I hear a lot of talk and flashing your business, I don't hear things a musician says.
But then again, I'm some grumpy old geez, and what do I know. . . .
I mean no disrespect, but I think your horizon needs adjusting. Let's say I'm hoping to make you smarter than I was when I was your age. That's the most I could hope to do for anybody.
All the Best,
JW
Phew. I got the politically correct, nice, shiny bright answer out there.
Now the Disclaimer: The rest of this is from a 45-year veteran player who's been there done and done that and owned everything from Teiscos to Alembics, and earned my medals the hard way. Here comes:
EVERYBODY sucks at first. But you need to decide if you're going to PLAY or just play at it and pose. Then you dig in, learn and work, and it never ends.
You NEVER go in debt for an instrument. Think you lost money on some of those 10 you rolled over this last year, wait till the new wears off this one, and now you've got credit card debt way past whatever you can sell it for.
I know a grand total of one player in 45 years who's played one bass his entire career. One. And I've known hundreds of bassists. And while I've owned the best there is and certainly admired them for the level of craft and near-perfection they possessed and was thrilled to own them, I can absolutely guarantee you that part of it did absolutely nothing in making me any better as a player because of the instrument.
At the end of the day, it's the player and not the axe. Hand Victor Wooten your bass and he will sound like Victor Wooten. VW would then hand you his bass, and you WON'T sound like VW, you will sound like you. No matter who you are, this is an inescapable truth.
If it was me, I'd have you playing a Squier Precision through a Bronco 40 until you convince me you want to REALLY want to learn to play, and leave these piles of money in the bank. I hear a lot of talk and flashing your business, I don't hear things a musician says.
But then again, I'm some grumpy old geez, and what do I know. . . .
I mean no disrespect, but I think your horizon needs adjusting. Let's say I'm hoping to make you smarter than I was when I was your age. That's the most I could hope to do for anybody.
All the Best,
JW
If you have the money and want to spend it, go ahead. However, a fancy bass is not a "real motivator" to learn, at least not for "most" people. Every "solid enough" player I know started with a not-so-awesome bass, but had the will and drive to practice. It's like the guy that all of a sudden wants to mountain biker and buys a 4k sweet bike, then goes and rides it 2X.
If you want to become good enough to play in a real band that gigs consistently, then I would put all that thought and energy about bass purchasing into practice, and definitely encourage lessons if you are someone that will practice. If you don't care about actually getting better, and yet want to spend lots of money, go for it.
If you want to become good enough to play in a real band that gigs consistently, then I would put all that thought and energy about bass purchasing into practice, and definitely encourage lessons if you are someone that will practice. If you don't care about actually getting better, and yet want to spend lots of money, go for it.
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I think the problem here is not that you aren”t good enough to justify your purchase - it’s that you don’t have the money.
You may just have to assess or understand why you're here. Not all of us are professional musicians. You may be getting what you need out of it in terms of amusing yourself, taking up time in your day, whatever. One thing I'd point out is that you seem to be erratic in your choices of instruments. While you may think that you can't find what you want, that might not be the case. Many of us have found that the human mind is a powerful and fickle thing. I can pick up my favorite one day and not like the sound for whatever reason. So I have the luxury of putting that one down and picking up another (cause I never sold off those that I thought I didn't like). Three days later, I pick it up again and it sounds great. My point is, you need variety and options in your life to occupy your mind. Additionally, I have the ability to make side by side comparisons and to understand / study the characteristics of each instrument and tie up brain cells that way. You already say that you value the quality instruments. But I don't think you give each instrument a fair chance (maybe keep them for a year before selling them off). In the long run I believe you'll spend more time playing vice shopping/selling. You'll get better, you'll have more fun, you'll have lotsa neat toys. Most of the TB folks here will tell ya.... Buying is ok, suxing at it is ok, but ya gotta STOP SELLING and START PLAYING
I own 20 basses......most of them have different pickup types in different positions ( with overlap, of course) and a few with different string types......I got in this mindset when recording was a part of my income decades ago and finding the right voice for a song.....these days, I still record but most of it is my personal music......It should also be stated that many basses do different things in a studio than in a live setting: some instruments track better than others regardless of its pricetag.........
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I like owning guitars. I keep them for a year then flip for about the same as I paid and everybody is happy - I get to try something new for a bit and it costs me less than renting one.
THAT SAID, there is no magic bass out there which will make you sit down and put the work in; it you don't get that urge on a 100 dollar bass you won't get it on a 100K bass either. There might be basses which inspire you in certain ways or make you want to go in a different direction, but the discipline to sit your ass down and practice comes through love of music and not the bass.
THAT SAID, there is no magic bass out there which will make you sit down and put the work in; it you don't get that urge on a 100 dollar bass you won't get it on a 100K bass either. There might be basses which inspire you in certain ways or make you want to go in a different direction, but the discipline to sit your ass down and practice comes through love of music and not the bass.
I have spent obscene amounts of money on books, CD's and DVD's. Some of that money would have been better spent on basses. I have spent more money on the basses I currently have, than I ever made playing music (cos money was never my end-game). I am not "good enough" for the basses I own, nor will I ever be. But they are good enough for me, though 
You do you, man. Hope this one is the one - whatever it is. I didn't get it from the picture. And if this is not the one, well I hope you will not burden yourself too much. One thing, though: like any relationship, you and your bass need to put in the hours to make it work.
You do you, man. Hope this one is the one - whatever it is. I didn't get it from the picture. And if this is not the one, well I hope you will not burden yourself too much. One thing, though: like any relationship, you and your bass need to put in the hours to make it work.
Please can we have a poll where we can try to guess for how long after selling it you'll still be paying for it?
