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Some Pros use cheap basses
- Thread starter Hevy T
- Start date
I would say that last example is the exception rather than the rule.
There are plenty of endorsing artists out there whose 'sweet deal' only gets them a discount.
There are plenty of endorsing artists out there whose 'sweet deal' only gets them a discount.
Here's my $.02 for what it's worth.
My main axe is a custom made, several thousand dollar instrument. It's THE best instrument I've ever played and I've played almost every boutique bass out there.
I also own a few cheap Ibanez, I have a 69 Fender P... But that custom made bass is just so easy to play that it's the bass I always grab.
Can you gig with a cheap bass? Sure! But... if you can afford one, and if you have the patients to wait for a custom build from a great luthier, than it's worth every penny.
I've been playing for 25 years, I can justify to myself spending a good chunk of change on a great bass.
I've been fly fishing for a couple of years and I have a $100 rod and a $50 reel. I see guys that have been fishing their entire life with $1,000 rods and reels. I still catch fish and so do they. But the difference is their gear doesn't fight them the same way my gear does.
Same is true with a bass. A boutique instrument just does what you want it to do. Plain and simple. And anyone that disagrees with that hasn't experienced the type of quality instrument I'm talking about.
My main axe is a custom made, several thousand dollar instrument. It's THE best instrument I've ever played and I've played almost every boutique bass out there.
I also own a few cheap Ibanez, I have a 69 Fender P... But that custom made bass is just so easy to play that it's the bass I always grab.
Can you gig with a cheap bass? Sure! But... if you can afford one, and if you have the patients to wait for a custom build from a great luthier, than it's worth every penny.
I've been playing for 25 years, I can justify to myself spending a good chunk of change on a great bass.
I've been fly fishing for a couple of years and I have a $100 rod and a $50 reel. I see guys that have been fishing their entire life with $1,000 rods and reels. I still catch fish and so do they. But the difference is their gear doesn't fight them the same way my gear does.
Same is true with a bass. A boutique instrument just does what you want it to do. Plain and simple. And anyone that disagrees with that hasn't experienced the type of quality instrument I'm talking about.
EXCELLENT points. But we only do car analogies here. Fishing analogies are strictly forbidden. Carry on.
I'm not saying it happens with every artist, but I too have some inside info on famous bass players playing basses that only LOOK like production model basses. When in reality, they were built from scratch to the exacting specs of the artist.
Why waste money on an expensive bass for a loud concert? You're not going to hear any difference between that $300 bass and a $12,000 Fodera in that environment. Even if you did, the player may prefer the sound of the cheap bass for his genre.
I've seen more crap players with gear I drool over than great players with great gear. I've seen plenty of amazing players with forgettable, but well setup, instruments.
Like jaco... My high school had the same bass as him. Old fender jazz with worn finish... But we weren't allowed to rip the frets out.
Poor players think they can get the sound with great axes. Great players get the most out of any axe. Better may be preferable, but not often needed.
Like jaco... My high school had the same bass as him. Old fender jazz with worn finish... But we weren't allowed to rip the frets out.
Poor players think they can get the sound with great axes. Great players get the most out of any axe. Better may be preferable, but not often needed.
I kind of like it when my gear fights back a little. I like a quality amp, but an oddball or weird bass please.
I agree, though my amps aren't all that high end either. And keeping with the car analogy rule, it is more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow.
Well, it's a good amp for what I can afford. Carvin - the Peavey of the employed...
Today even low cost basses can be of great quality; the main differences compared to expensive stuff are better mics and electronics, nicer pieces of wood and the setup. Give a lower end bass a makeover with better mics and a professional setup job that takes care of the neck, the frets, the intonation, etc, and you may have an instrument that is equal to a boutique bass in most ways except for maybe not having an exotic wood top.
A lot of that probably has to do with hobby player vs. struggling pro. If you really try to make a living from creative arts like music, photography, painting etc, you have to treat it as a business and make do with what you can afford and still make a profit. You can't buy the fanciest stuff, that's for us enthusiastic hobbyists that have a better paying day job. It's a bit unfair of course, many dirt poor players blow the hobby players out of the water musically but can't afford the gear their skill really deserves.
Actually, I almost never see that here - what I see more often is people demonstrating a pathetic need to justify the fact that they can't or won't spend more money to buy higher quality instruments... They come up with lame, tired arguments of "just as good", or "some pros play cheap instruments" - in an effort to make themselves feel better, I suppose - and sometimes to take a cheap shot at those who don't mind spending substantial money to play quality instruments...
By all means, show us a few posts of people "looking down on those with perceived 'inferior' products" - if it happens, as you say...
I completely agree with your last sentence, and will add: play what YOU like, and don't concern yourself with the gear choices of others - you'll be happier that way...
- georgestrings
It's meaningless comparing apples to oranges, this shows up in other discussions like camera gear, golf clubs, whatever. Why compare a crap player with great gear to a great player with crap gear? Compare the great player's result given bad or good gear instead.
As to looking down on others, that is as common from up high as it is from down low, so to speak. I guess people need to motivate their own choices (or lack of possibilities) by somehow talking themselves into being better than others in some way. Sad behaviour, and it only hurts themselves really.
As to looking down on others, that is as common from up high as it is from down low, so to speak. I guess people need to motivate their own choices (or lack of possibilities) by somehow talking themselves into being better than others in some way. Sad behaviour, and it only hurts themselves really.
