Perhaps I'm belaboring the point but we seem to go round and round in this thread. Just to clarify, are you saying the values of simplicity and avoidance of material consumption outweigh the advantages that a professional musician finds in owning a wide variety of instruments?
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So this thing followed me home ....
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Ok, if that's how you see it, to you one bass is the same as the next. There may be variations, but they all provide basically the same result.
With all due respect, I have to ask:
Why are you reading "New Charcoal Pencil Set" threads on this forum?
Anything to keep the strawman alive, although "Dead Man Walking" might be more appropriate at this juncture?
Yes, the bass has many variations, but its not the variations of charcoal pencil sets that are important, its how you use the one in front of you. I lust after more instruments and gear all the time, and when i do get something new it can be inspiring, but i have found just having one really good bass (the best for me) is far more creative. I own almost nothing that is not an implement and aside from a couple posters no ornaments, no trinkets, no toys. I find life to be almost impossibly complex and any opportunity to simplify it i take. Getting rid of arbitrary choices such as which bass to pick up lets me concentrate on my technique and composition. The old japanese proverb "he who grasps too has a weak grip" has a lot of weight for me, and i already grasp too many.
I rather like my new Casady Bass.
It sounded fantastic this weekend...I used it for all 3 gigs this weekend. Cut through while still having a solid foundation, and was a joy to play.
It sounded fantastic this weekend...I used it for all 3 gigs this weekend. Cut through while still having a solid foundation, and was a joy to play.
Maybe this is the point of contention?
To many of us the selection process is anything but arbitrary. It is considered and deliberate. Sometimes 'good enough' simply isn't good enough...
Cool!
Did you end up messing about with the impedence controls? On Saturday I took my Ibanez Artcore with Casady pup-n-guts out live for the first time in years. Loved the tone but even with the raised pickup and the pot swap (mine had the fairly common dropoff problem) it's still pretty much a bass that I have to play on the loudest impedence position and with the tone wide open.
The tone is so worth it though. There's magic in that pickup. Lovely, rich and thick yet still has enough bite to come through nicely in the mix. I only used her for 1 of 3 sets but she might get 2 of 3 this coming weekend.
I use GHS Roundcores on most basses, GHS Brite Flats on the rest. This one has the Roundcores
I kept her on the 600 setting, though through my REDDI I had plenty of volume with any of the settings. With this band the 600 sounded best though. I had several comments on how great the tone was.
Your Artcore sounds like a very cool bass !
I've also had many compliments on the tone of my JC. That pickup has a really high output so it's easy to overdrive the amp's input - which also sounds great in the right situations
Wasn't easy as Epiphone won't sell you the stuff.
I waited around until a fellow here was showing off a build he did for a customer putting a darkstar into a Cassady. I dropped him a line and he put me in touch with the owner who sold me the pup and harness for a song. Couldn't figure out the wiring so I had a local shop do it. I drilled a hole in the lower bout for the rotary, enlarged the route a touch and installed it up myself. Sounded great but unfortnately it had the dreaded drop-off pots that seem to plague some JC basses. Eventually settled on 1000k fender amp pots based on a suggestion here. The volume now works pretty well but the tone still has some drop-off. Since then the bass has also gotten a set of ultralight clovers. Wasn't really anything wrong with the stock Y's but they didn't really match the vintage look.
Build-wise it's about as good as the JC's (no surprise from Ibanez) but the bridge is better and I love the trans-brown finish. Bought it on closeout new with case but including installation and upgrades, I think I'm still at less than the price of a used Jack bass.
Again back to the charfoal pencil sets. An artist can have 50 of them and claim the choice of which to use is considered and deliberate, but is it really? Are you going to say a bass player is better with more basses than one with a single really good one ?
You are reaching for a way to justify your gear lust. I think its better to just control your impulses and find new appreciation in a main instrument. The relationship with ones instrument to me is almost sacred and more instruments just dilute that relationship.
Have we gotten an answer yet to whether or not you are a professional musician.
Are you?
If you aren't, then you simply don't know what the requirements of a professional are. I think this is the case and all your yammering about philosophy, psychology, and quasi-religious thought are practically meaningless when held against the experience and necessities of a person who actually makes their living through music.
And, of course number of basses has no correlation to the quality of the bass player. That's a straw man you just set up there and no one in this thread has made that claim.
However, it's a near certainty that the bassist that can pick from a variety of instruments to satisfy the whims of a recording engineer or producer is far more likely to get future recording gigs. And, to a somewhat lesser extent, having the "right" bass for a given show, gig, production, etc -even if it's just for appearances- is going to keep your musical employers happy and help ensure future gigs.
Enjoy your one bass and bond with it all you want, but you're way out of your depth here with this incredibly presumptuous idea that you know what's best for a professional musician.
Yes i am a professional producer and have been playing bass for 22 years. i asked a question, that cant be a strawman. You need to brush up on your logical fallacies. Its one thing to have a few instrument to choose from, but any bass player worth his salt knows there is far more variation in the fingers and technique than between 2 basses, and buying 2 basses a month is beyond overkill and by any reasonable standard hoarding behavior. Its simple human nature, and compulsive behavior and you know it. Sorry, but at this point its like buying a bunch of shoes and trying to claim the choice is not arbitrary and you need 20 different pairs of loafers for the right occasions. I am simply the voice in the back of your head telling you that its not rational no matter how you try to make excuses, but you dont want to hear it.
Thank you for answering my question. I confess am slightly humbled but also a bit suprised as most professionals I've met, -not to mention those I've read- have far more than one instrument and very real requirements for which to have them. You seem to be in the minority, but if it works for you then who am I to question your acquisitional style? You seem to have no qualms about judging the aquisitions of other professionals but that is your perogative.
Enjoy your bass and your moral high ground.
One last thing regarding the hoarding behavior that you keep bringing up. He certainly doesn't need me to defend him, but a brief search of the classifieds section, clearly shows that Dark Horse may be buying alot of basses, but he's selling alot also. That certainly doesn't seem like classic hoarding behavior.
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He's a "professional producer" that plays bass, as opposed to a professional bassist that also produces, etc. It's highly unlikely that he's playing all the bass on a huge variety of genres day in and day out. And since he's the "producer", he makes the call on the sound he wants. It's unlikely that he's being asked to sound like Pino on a fretless for one session, and then Jamerson on the next.
Fortunately, there is a handy "ignore" feature on the forum.
WM, I am crazy and I buy 2-5 basses every freaking day since 1978 and I have so many basses at home and in the studio! Actually I can't even count them all! Yes, I'm a very bad materilalist and I love the money and I'm rich and I spend all my money on electric and upright basses. And I am a professional bass player too (studied an upright bass at Berklee colege of music back in the '80s)! Listen to me, I just bought another 5 string hollow body bass with flats just 5 minutes ago! And right now I'm looking at a very nice used fender american special sunburst jazz bass and you know what, I'll buy it too! Oh and that's why my ex wife left me 6 years ago. LOL.
Dark Horse, those epiphones are great basses indeed! I bought my semi-hollow epiphone zenith bass used in mint condition for $400 last year and I love it! Congrats!
Here's my Epi Zenith bass:
u
Dark Horse, those epiphones are great basses indeed! I bought my semi-hollow epiphone zenith bass used in mint condition for $400 last year and I love it! Congrats!
Here's my Epi Zenith bass:
