SBL: When is a bass maker no longer boutique?

[Dr. Cheese]

This is a long video and I am not going to watch all of it, but it raises some good questions. I think many boutique makers now mainly license their designs. Frankly, I like that they do since I do not have the discretionary income for a true boutique bass, but I am very happy designs by Sadowsky, MTD, Spector, and Lakland, can be had a various price points.

 

[MattZilla]

I’m happy for those old guitar repairmen that there was/is a market to support 1st- them being able to open their own shop and support their family as well as a few employees then 2nd- expansion into modest-scale mass production of a few of their improvements over Leo’s design of a humble electric musical-ensemble tool.

looking forward to listening to this vid while cleaning later.

 

[LadyLoveStingRay5]

They seem to not realize or care that young bass students might subscribe and watch SBL. Their colorful language is getting to be too much for me .

 

[Dr. Cheese]

They seem to not realize or care that young bass students might subscribe and watch SBL. Their colorful language is getting to be too much for me .

They probably feel the cuss words attract their desired demographic.

 

[poochiecheeks]

They seem to not realize or care that young bass students might subscribe and watch SBL. Their colorful language is getting to be too much for me .

They probably feel the cuss words attract their desired demographic.

A lot of the information in their long form podcast videos is quite simplified and or geared towards beginners or entry level players, especially to push their paid lesson thing. Interesting that they would use any language like that and alienate a large part of who their videos are geared for...
SBL is a fraction of what it was years ago when it was just Scott giving real advice and experience, and at this point is nothing more than concentrated cringe like 90% of music youtube channels are now

 

[Dr. Cheese]

A lot of the information in their long form podcast videos is quite simplified and or geared towards beginners or entry level players, especially to push their paid lesson thing. Interesting that they would use any language like that and alienate a large part of who their videos are geared for...
SBL is a fraction of what it was years ago when it was just Scott giving real advice and experience, and at this point is nothing more than concentrated cringe like 90% of music youtube channels are now

In other words, SBL has gone from boutique to mass produced itself. Once something is mass produced, advertising and “buzz” are needed to maintain interest.

 

[Swerve]

They seem to not realize or care that young bass students might subscribe and watch SBL. Their colorful language is getting to be too much for me .

Young people don’t seem to care about cursing compared to previous generations. They still get offended over certain words, likely many that you use on a regular basis without giving it a second thought, but not cursing.

I personally don’t understand getting upset over any words at all. For me it’s the intention that matters. ::shrug::

 

[devnulljp]

'colourful language' is all cultural imperialism anyway. Mostly Anglo-Saxon words, which were deemed unacceptable by the Normans after the Norman conquest, which is why all the Latin/French-derived words are OK, but the gutteral Anglo words aren't.
Although I never thought of 'nipples' as colourful

 

[jimmydean]

If the bass is not made by the original builder in the same city, state and or country , that bass is not "BOUTIQUE "in any shape or form . I am aware there are builders (USA) who have their neck and bodies made made out of the country , but frets/electronics/misc. are all finished in USA because of cost ......not boutique !

 

[LadyLoveStingRay5]

Young people don’t seem to care about cursing compared to previous generations. They still get offended over certain words, likely many that you use on a regular basis without giving it a second thought, but not cursing.

I personally don’t understand getting upset over any words at all. For me it’s the intention that matters. ::shrug::

I guess it depends on your idea of young and the type of young people you are around .
But I’m seeing players as young as elementary age that are learning and playing quite well. This is the age group I’m talking about. But if the words don’t bother you, that’s fine too. We all have a choice of what we want to entertain and what we don’t.

 

[J Wilson]

When you are a small builder, it's a tough row to hoe to make any money building maybe no more than a 100 axes a year, if that. If for no other reason, you could spend all day online or on the phone fielding all kind questions from navel-gazers who probably will never buy anything. Or if they do, burn you to the ground online for no reasonable reason. Then there's apprentices, business licenses, the bank, cost of materials which is considerable as lots of these guys use exceptional woods, and on and on.

Licensing somewhat simpler versions of their instruments is a way for them to make money from a different revenue stream, and provided he has some oversight and the instruments are faithful if less expensive versions of the handbuilts, I'm all for it. It's tough to only break even or make just a little money and get by in this world, much less be able to keep building a business.

 

[Dr. Cheese]

Young people don’t seem to care about cursing compared to previous generations. They still get offended over certain words, likely many that you use on a regular basis without giving it a second thought, but not cursing.

I personally don’t understand getting upset over any words at all. For me it’s the intention that matters. ::shrug::

I think coming up listening to Rap has desensitized the youth when it comes to profanity.

 

[poochiecheeks]

In other words, SBL has gone from boutique to mass produced itself. Once something is mass produced, advertising and “buzz” are needed to maintain interest.

Indeed. For most young people the notion of "curse words" has lost all its meaning, with myself included in that. In this example it seems the sense of professionalism is lost for a given SBL video despite them being well edited and produced.

 

[Plectrum72]

noun: boutique; plural noun: boutiques

1. a small store selling fashionable clothes or accessories.
2. a business or establishment that is small and sophisticated or fashionable

If you operate a small store, business, or establishment and you produce fashionable or sophisticated basses, you make boutique basses.

Edited to add: There seems to be more discussion about the language used in the video than about what constitutes a boutique bass.

 

[MaxSpinrun]

Information, concepts , ideas etc. can be expressed without out being offensive. Me personally when it goes off the rails with offensive language, then it makes it hard for me to continue, but that is MY PERSONAL CHOICE, without being judgmental, I’m just making a choice that works for me. Will look to another explanation or information that is expressed more articulately.

 

[bass12]

I think coming up listening to Rap has desensitized the youth when it comes to profanity.

I rarely bother with SBL anymore. It’s not that all of it is uninteresting, I’m just tired of the “click” game that all these content providers are playing.

As for profanity, rap has no doubt had a huge impact - not just directly but through other music. There’s also a lot more swearing in T.V. series and films than there used to be. Then there’s social media and the internet in general - and porn is a huge part of that for a lot of young males.

 

[Dr. Cheese]

I rarely bother with SBL anymore. It’s not that all of it is uninteresting, I’m just tired of the “click” game that all these content providers are playing.

As for profanity, rap has no doubt had a huge impact - not just directly but through other music. There’s also a lot more swearing in T.V. series and films than there used to be. Then there’s social media and the internet in general - and porn is a huge part of that for a lot of young males.

You are right, the culture in general has grown more coarse, it is not just Rap.

 

[petermwright]

They seem to not realize or care that young bass students might subscribe and watch SBL. Their colorful language is getting to be too much for me .

Yeah, I don't disagree. It doesn't bother me as such, but I sometimes like to watch these videos while I'm cooking, and the kids are around - it's not great.

 

[Nek07]

What is all the strong reaction to language?
I am French and I honestly do not get it. People talk as they please and I do not get offended in any way. It feels childish to me to get offended by people's way of talking, it kind of negate their personallity and their right to free speach.
I realise that in the French language, we can use flowery words as ponctuation, so maybe I am desencitized, but I would not expect people to behave in a manner that I like, it would just be projecting expectation.
If someone english speaking native could explain that to me, I would apreciate the insight.

As for SBL, I feel this chanel is going downhill since last couple years, Scott does not offer much interesting advices anymore (well, he sells those things now) and that podcast format is kind of people talking but saying nothing of importance. Sometime an idea is up, but they seem to not really follow any line anyway.

And finally, to me, is boutique a small operation that do their stuff on site as a premium line and in small numbers, regardless of having or not a cheaper variation using asian plants who will turn their design into mass production. Zeimatis is one of the first to have gone the mass production way (that I know off) with the Cort Zeimatis line, Greg Kurbow did the same also with Cort 20 years ago or so. That is the point where they stop being boutique. For instance, JHS was boutique but now has grown into mass production and is, imo, comparable to EHX or MXR in size now while still being US made.

 

[Razman]

Is this like, "when is an original band no longer original" when all of the original members have been replaced? Does it become a cover band? I digress...

I have the great privilege to possess a Conklin Custom Shop bass made by Bill (presumably) within a year and a half before his death. I've heard rumors that Conklin will or is being revived by his surviving wife and others who worked with him, and to that end I hope it does and his vision is carried forward.

Even when the Groove Tools line was being produced, the originals were still 'boutique' to me.