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The gear snob in the audience

#41
b_carville said:
I see a lot of mediocre to poor bassists my way who have fantastic gear.

Of course they all have great day jobs or well to do wives or girlfriends.
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Tehe. Do you consider a fEarful cab to be fantastic gear?

I just started playing again (22) and haven't played since I was 14 ^.^
I sold all my gear to buy a motorcycle :rollno:

Got bit by the bug of wanting to play an instrument again after doing some German folk music with a friend's tuba club (played tuba in high school).

Decided pickin' up the bass again would be cheaper than buying a multithousand dollar tuba of the quality I'm accustomed to (cheap tubas really are just that...cheap sounding)

Dusted off the old Squier p-bass with modified electronics,
found a cheap Fender 160 watt head on craigslist, and started designing a cab.

Out of sheer luck I found the info on the fEarful cab through google searches.... and now I'm dead set on making one.


...Long story to say: I can't play for **** but I'll be damned if I won't build myself a fEarful 15/6/1 ^.^
Ordered the JBL waveguide this morning haha.
 
#42
Kahooli said:
Decided pickin' up the bass again would be cheaper than buying a multithousand dollar tuba of the quality I'm accustomed to (cheap tubas really are just that...cheap sounding).
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Whew, you said it. I occasionally think about taking up saxophone again, but even a decent student model can be pricey. We bass players really do have it good.
 
#43
I had a similar experience recently. This older gentleman came up to me before our gig and was looking at my gear. I let him strap on my two basses (my 6-string Ibanez SDGR fretted and my 5-string Schecter fretless). He started talking to me about having years of studio experience, then being out of it for awhile, and coming back onto the scene and buying a "cheepy Ibanez bass." I was like, "yeah, my 6-string is an Ibanez..." LOL He actually felt a little bad, but I was like "no, Ibanez basses are very affordable, and some of them are pretty great." lol
 
#44
my band played a gig at a biker gathering in a barn no pa support for amps,the other bassist had some big 1000 watt rig and two four tens,ive only got a 250watt combo pretty loud tho does the job.he comes up "oh come check out my rig its this powerful ect ect i suppose your little combo might manage".so both bands played everyone ignored to second band cos they were generic classic rock and while my bands rock we change it up abit setlist wise.we had messages from the bikers saying everyone asked about us and forgot about the 2nd band lol.
 
#45
It's so fun to deal with the random gear snob. They are either highly over-opinionated and/or too drunk to realize what they're saying.

If I meet one of the types, I just do the same thing you did. Make nice and wait for them to realize they've accidentally stuck their size 10 in their mouth.

Although about 9/10 strangers are super cool and fun to talk to. Usually if they have a bad attitude, you can detect the booze cloud before they even reach you....
 
#46
Craig630 said:
^I started with a squier affinity and a Peavey Minx110 and I sounded fine. I find that the nicer stuff is generally less forgiving of minute mistakes.

YMMV, IMHO, LMNOP, BBQ, ETC...
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As a terrible bass player (guitar player AND golfer!), I love unforgiving gear!! After playing golf for two years, I started playing with forged clubs. While it was a rough start, it's definitely improved my swing and overall play. Playing unforgiving gear as a guitar player (Tele :D) has really helped me clean up my playing and made me a better player. I can totally see why a lot of people will be turned off by unforgiving gear.
 
#47
I've had the exact same thing with my OLP MM3. except mine was with another bass player (we were supporting his band) he came up raving about my stingray and asked if i wanted to trade for his USA Fender Jazz.

when i said it wasnt a "real" musicman he was a bit pissed and wouldnt trade with me lol
 
#49
intheory said:
I had a similar experience recently. This older gentleman came up to me before our gig and was looking at my gear. I let him strap on my two basses (my 6-string Ibanez SDGR fretted and my 5-string Schecter fretless). He started talking to me about having years of studio experience, then being out of it for awhile, and coming back onto the scene and buying a "cheepy Ibanez bass." I was like, "yeah, my 6-string is an Ibanez..." LOL He actually felt a little bad, but I was like "no, Ibanez basses are very affordable, and some of them are pretty great." lol
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Possibly the only upside to playing left-handed is that I never have to deal with people wanting to play my basses.
 
#52
mcnach said:
I played this gig at a local bar once and I brought my trusty OLP MM2, a stingray clone. I had put a Seymour Duncan pickup and a 3-band preamp in it and it was (still is!) a sweet bass that sounded huge.

I do own a MM Stingray (2-band EQ version) and the OLP doesn't feel a million miles different and sounds great. But some people would just look at the headstock and say "bah, a copy".

So I play in thsi place, and afterwards I'm hanging out for a while and this guy comes to me, he compliments me on my playing and sound (always nice :)) and goes on to say that of course, a Stingray is the best bass blah blah blah. He continues this monologue about Stingrays while I listen and nod politely just waiting for him to go and let me keep talking to my friends. Then he says that of course I have good taste, a real Stingray, because so many other peple would play a copy and it's nothing like a Stingray even if it looks like one, and continues this rant against Stingray clones... So I just listen, smile and let him talk.
When he finished, I tell him "actually, I was playing an OLP tonight". :D

His face! I wish I could have taken a picture. After he said mine sounded so good, he couldn't now say that it was a bad bass. Gotcha!
He didn't say anything else, just gave me a weird look and walked away.

I loved it.

I love my Stingray, but I also have two OLPs that are *fantastic* (with some not too expensive upgrades).
I hate gear snobs.
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Not "gear" snob... "BRAND" snob :P
 
#53
MNAirHead said:
At least you dind't bring in a $$$$$$ botique for the dude to go "when are you getting a fender"
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I had exactly this happen to me last year.

I wa splaying a wedding using a spalted maple MTD535 and a tiny little Genz Shuttle 3.0T for stage monitoring (venue had a decibel meter so we put almost all foh sound in the engineer's hands).

Midway through the first set I spotted a young(ish) guy watching my fingers really closely & I recognised the tell-tale signs of another bass player.

At half time he came over & said that he thought my sound was really nice given what a tiny little cab I was using. Before I got a chance to say that he would have been hearing the foh mix not my little GB he started rattling on about how the Fender Jazz was the ultimate bass and that he'd just bought a new one.

He then jumped in again before I could say that I had one sitting at home (a nice '78) to tell me that if I couldn't afford a US made one then the Mexican models were really well made.

Now - all of this wouldn't have been that big a deal but it was the totally condescending way that he said 'if I couldn't afford an American Standard' that wound me up a little.

I pointed at my MTD and asked if he'd ever tried one - he looked at like it was a piece of crap and, before he could say anything, I said that they were really nicely made and, at $3,000 or so they were a really good buy on the used market. . .

His jaw literally dropped wide open & he slunk off with a muttered goodbye. Didn't see him at all during the second set :)
 
#54
every gig i played i used to get crap for bringing my work horses

DSCI0058-1.jpg

squier jazz and a japanese p-bass i fixed up

its NEVER from anyone over the age of 35

its always from medeocore bass players (aged 16-34)

we played a gig where a band in there 40s were playing and they loved my p-bass saying i had done a great job fixing it up and i reall knew how to make the most of a bass i got for £45
 
#55
gotta love it.
the proof is in the playing, not on a headstock.
if i was in that situation, id consider it a compliment.
also you blew his mind, which was well worth it.

one of my favorite basses i own....a squier II pbass.
love the sound, so why get something that has "fender" written on the headstock?
i used to be a semi gear snob, but i could care less what someone plays its how they play it that matters.
 
#56
touji said:
As a terrible bass player (guitar player AND golfer!), I love unforgiving gear!! After playing golf for two years, I started playing with forged clubs. While it was a rough start, it's definitely improved my swing and overall play. Playing unforgiving gear as a guitar player (Tele :D) has really helped me clean up my playing and made me a better player. I can totally see why a lot of people will be turned off by unforgiving gear.
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There's no doubt that it has improved my technique.

But, for someone just starting out an incredibly unforgiving bass could turn them off from playing all together. Once you've got the basics down, go for the good stuff, refine your technique and rock out with your... sock out!

I didn't realize how unforgiving my 'wick was until I jammed out on the Squier for a few weeks and then went back to the 'wick.
 
#57
I've seen this a couple of times, other "bassists" are shocked I run a pedal board, had no idea washburn built a bass, and have never seen a 3x10 stack from Kustom.

Then it's go time, and most of their yapping stops, and the staring begins, as they try to figure out *** I'm doing.

I'm contra tuned 4 string and with a wireless I wander around having fun with people, and I can always see another bassist because his eyes get stuck on my fretboard trying to figure out where that low B came from.
 
#58
One time a weird guy approached me after playing a set in a place called the V Bar (a casino lounge).

He handed me a napkin. At first I thought "If this is a phone number written in lipstick I am out of here."

Upon reading it. I was informed that our guitars were flat. (We were tuned to Eb that night to help our singer out).

It said "Guitars are flat. Musician I am".

Hahhaa I dunno why this story kinda reminded me of that and I thought it was funny.
 

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