SBL: When is a bass maker no longer boutique?

[Koshchei]

SBL has a solid pedagogy, but these videos irritate the hell out of me.

Who cares?

 

[LowendG]

Scott and Ian have just gotten so freaking annoying lately, I feel like I'm watching two coked-up bass bros lately.

I gotta agree. And they really seem to have run out of things to say.

 

[MCF]

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

I quit watching him about six or so years ago. Don’t miss it in the least.

 

[AngelCrusher]

At the end when he mentions recording with Dave Bendeth, that was wild because I know that guy, lol. Anyway for rock music I agree that passive basses really cook in the studio. Boutique basses can bring too much to the table for that style of playing. There are exceptions like Stingrays, etc but you can't go wrong showing up with a J or P for rock sessions.

But for fusion/jazz/funk even (or maybe especially) dance music the active basses can really deliver.

Reading the room is the key takeaway here. That's why I have passive and actives.

 

[ardgedee]

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.

Independent designers are hired in to work on big company products more frequently than you might expect. They usually don't get to put their names on it -- the Ibanez AFR (designed by Rolf Spuler) and the Cort Curbows are the rare exceptions, but the designers are still more like hired hands than leaders of new industries. This is unlike Dingwall or Sadowsky, who have separate fully-fledged mass-production and boutique operations.

 

[HelpImaRock]

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.

It goes back to the puritanical reasons some English left for North America to begin with. I can't really comment on anything further than that, but feel free to DM me if you'd like to have this discussion.

 

[Swerve]

My dad was a biker, very much a Lemmy type of character. So I grew up from a young age around his biker buddies. They were rough around the edges and cursed like sailors but would give you the shirt off their back if you needed it.

I also grew up around buttoned up types that spoke politely but were vicious behind closed doors.

It taught me from a young age to judge people by what they do, not what they say. I don’t curse much and taught my kids to refrain from it around most people but with me they can relax and be themselves. Sticks and stones yada yada.

So as for the topic…

I have no opinion on boutiques because I’ve never owned one. Glad they exist though!

 

[5StringBlues]

If I wanna hear a bunch of talking heads I'll go put on more songs about buildings and food.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

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.

‘Good video. I enjoyed it much.

 

[Grinderman]

They probably feel the cuss words attract their desired demographic.

"We'd cuss more in our songs
And cut down on guitar solos"

 

[MattZilla]

Scott uses a lot of words. A LOT OF WORDS. None of them offend me, but I do wish he would get to the point more quickly

most non-fiction videos I watch I crank the Playback Speed 1.5-2x, including ol Scotty.

 

[Guitalia]

'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

An Anglocentric perspective. From a quick search:

"A swear word is like a linguistic punch in the nose. Virtually every language and culture has them—and virtually every language and culture formally disapproves of them. But that doesn't stop them from being used widely, loudly, and lustily."

 

[Dincrest]

So... what's the elevator-pitch gist of the video? I don't have the time or patience to watch a YouTube video as long as a feature-length movie. Please summarize what it's saying about the nature of boutique basses.

 

[hooky_marr]

Young people don’t seem to care about cursing compared to previous generations.

Have you seen the price of eye of newt lately? Gen Y will probably never earn enough to buy their own cauldrons, much less a scrying-glass!

 

[retslock]

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.

For a short time I was interested out of curiosity and mutual interest but I baled out years ago when the ad pressure got too much.

 

[ChrisAlan]

So at this point, 3 pages of random complaining/debating/discussing the language.
How about debating the content? No, that would just be stupid.
Let's just crybaby about everything else.

Go to another thread if you don't like this one.

 

[CryingBass]

Forced myself to listen to the entire thing, not bad, some comments:

Not a single mention of Marleaux. Very odd, to me. No mention of Serek, which should be mentioned.

2 seconds ( and no experience with Alembic ), and about 2 seconds on Wal.

That's ok, there are so many. To each their own - house payment

 

[JonathanPDX]

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.

We are America, founded by puritans who were too uptight for the British. Our entire brand is taking offense to things. Don't even get me started on the people who claim to be bastions of moral purity but support politicians who, uh, clearly are the opposite of that. Oh, and those same people who LOVE a book about decapitations, incest, and child murder, but freak out if someone shows a nipple on TV.

We are a truly unserious nation.

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.

That's quite a feat! Do you think he'll go back to building basses once he's been revived?

 

[LowendG]

Scott uses a lot of words. A LOT OF WORDS. None of them offend me, but I do wish he would get to the point more quickly.

Those two guys will just yammer on and on and then arrive at some totally banal observation - "Oh MY God, Breaking News!!! Pbasses with flats sound really good in a mix!!!".

 

[ChrisAlan]

"Oh MY God, Breaking News!!! Pbasses with flats sound really good in a mix!!!".

Then why do you watch them?
Just stop.