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Two vintages basses....crying in pain

#61
MattyH said:
You all say "it's his stuff", but you KNOW you'd think twice about it if you were there.
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No I wouldn't....

I'd let the kid treat his gear how he wants.

In the back of my mind, I might think he's a bit careless....but I certainly wouldn't say anything about it....I'm sure his Dad knows what gear he has....after all, he went with a P and a Ric right, and kept them in decent condition?...so obviously he has some knowledge...

And if Dad's ok with the way HIS gear is being treated....that's the only one who can determine what happens with it.
 
#62
beebassdude said:
this thing was in PRISTINE shape, probably worth 2k easy considering how nice it was.
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So it sat under a bed or in the closet for several years and dad decided to break it out because his son showed some interest in in playing. Hmm. :hmm:

beebassdude said:
and hes hacking through these terrible songs, poorly, with a ridiculous bass.
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How can one play poorly when you have already determined that the songs are terrible? :eyebrow:

beebassdude said:
so im feeling so sorry for this bass, not only did it have this strap on it that cried "im lame" but its being used by someone who has 0 clue how to play.
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The kid is 15 years old. How does a strap make him lame? I still have a Gibson strap with a lightning bolt that in the past I used with my 75 Precision. WHY DIDN"T SOMEBODY TELL ME I'M LAME?! :D

beebassdude said:
after their set, i comment on how nice the tone was (cause it did sound good despite the poor playing) to which his singer says "you should check out his backup bass".
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Of course this is my opinion, but I submit that the tone of the instrument is only as good as the person playing it.

beebassdude said:
so in short, i was just shocked that some dad out there is letting his son go to gigs with gorgeous pieces of pristine history to play terrible highschool rock.
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What history? The only thing you know about these instruments is the period when they were built. Much of what Fender built in the 70's were considered by many to be inferior to previous offerings. (I love my 75 P)

beebassdude said:
and if that dad posts here and reads this, maybe start junior off with something a little less expensive and more his speed?
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I find this comment to be very disrespectful, but I'm sure you will find my comments not to your liking. Then again... :smug:
 
#64
I can see both points. I would have asked the kid if he knew how desirable those basses were. If he got the 'look' in his eye that said his dad had made him aware, then OK, but if he had blown it off with a 'whatever' then I'd have felt bad...(and made an offer for the P bass...)

I'm with those that wouldn't let my kids play my stuff until they understood it's value. My son didn't keep up with music (he did have a hi school band in which he played drums) but he knows the value of an instrument.

I HATE to see parents allowing kids to bang on a piano keyboard. You see it all the time at church and other places since you can't really 'put away' a piano....Mine were never allowed near one unless they were attempting to PLAY something.
 
#65
Look plain and simple, we've all been at that point in our lives where we were out playing gigs that would cause more "seasoned veterans" to laugh at out poor abilities. But eventually, most of us got better at what we were doing.

If the kid is serious about playing and he has access to the instruments why shouldn't he use them? The bass is too nice for him to use? If anything he is more likely to progress more rapidly with access to better instruments. I saved up my money for a Warrior when I was 16 and bought it myself when I "had no business playing a bass that nice." :bassist: I began progressing much more rapidly after that, the bass was just so easy to play. I learned that quality gear really mattered. Here recently, I've been playing a lot of acoustic guitar. I went from a $250 ovation I had to a $1500 Martin and again the learning curve has been accelerated.


So if the dad has the gear and doesn't mind the kid using it, why the problem?

BTW, the driving analogies don't work guys. A better analogy would be to say your son wants to race dirt bikes. Are you gonna get him an undersized, underpowered, poorly setup bike? Or would you want him on something that can compete with the others in terms of power, and overall responsiveness? Depends if you want him to be a contender or just an also ran.
 
#66
Muzoid said:
I would imagine if you found out the kid is getting a mint condition Cobra GT for his birthday, your head would explode...because he certainly isn't a good enough driver to "earn the right" to drive it.

:)
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Are you certain he is not a good driver? Is his age the determining factor (like the proposed value of the instruments)? Btw, what is a Cobra GT?




Kidding. :D
 
#69
MattyH said:
To the OP, I'm with you to a point. I think what you're saying is that you'd probably be impressed, and have a different attitude if you could have had an intelligent conversation with the kid about his gear. Instead, he's got the classic high school kid strap, and has no idea what he has. That's the problem. He has no idea what kind of history he's hammering on. I remember when I started playing around that age. My dad would never let me play his good stuff until I proved I could take care of my own stuff, and that I was serious about playing. He bought me a cheap Ibanez and an amp, and I loved it. Learned, got decent, and gained the trust of my dad when it came to this type of stuff. I was serious, I wanted to play, and I had respect for it. I can't say the kid you're talking about doesn't have respect for it, or doesn't take it seriously. And they aren't super rare basses, but c'mon no one can deny them being nice, quality, basses, that most people here would also be jealous of, even if they say they aren't. And would definitely think twice when seeing a kid dragging them around. You all say "it's his stuff", but you KNOW you'd think twice about it if you were there. I think most of all, if anyone else here saw this, they'd be more concerned about the well being of the basses! They should be in hardshells!
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exactly. somehow this concept got lost on a lot of people but oh well. glad you see where i was coming from.

the strap killed me even more. police line crossing straps are just rough, to see that on a vintage ric was like tenfold terrible lol (awaits offending all of the dudes who post here that wear that strap).
 
#70
semiprohooker said:
BTW, the driving analogies don't work guys. A better analogy would be to say your son wants to race dirt bikes. Are you gonna get him an undersized, underpowered, poorly setup bike? Or would you want him on something that can compete with the others in terms of power, and overall responsiveness? Depends if you want him to be a contender or just an also ran.
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I don't know about that. There's plenty of inexpensive basses out there where you can get a good setup on. That and a decent $50 pickup and you're good to go. Music isn't a competition like bike or car racing where the equipment can be a determining factor like in racing.

The funny thing is 99% of the audience doesn't care if the kids plays a Squier or a vintage Fender as long as it sounds good.
 
#72
MattyH said:
To the OP, I'm with you to a point. I think what you're saying is that you'd probably be impressed, and have a different attitude if you could have had an intelligent conversation with the kid about his gear. Instead, he's got the classic high school kid strap, and has no idea what he has. That's the problem. He has no idea what kind of history he's hammering on. I remember when I started playing around that age. My dad would never let me play his good stuff until I proved I could take care of my own stuff, and that I was serious about playing. He bought me a cheap Ibanez and an amp, and I loved it. Learned, got decent, and gained the trust of my dad when it came to this type of stuff. I was serious, I wanted to play, and I had respect for it. I can't say the kid you're talking about doesn't have respect for it, or doesn't take it seriously. And they aren't super rare basses, but c'mon no one can deny them being nice, quality, basses, that most people here would also be jealous of, even if they say they aren't. And would definitely think twice when seeing a kid dragging them around. You all say "it's his stuff", but you KNOW you'd think twice about it if you were there. I think most of all, if anyone else here saw this, they'd be more concerned about the well being of the basses! They should be in hardshells!
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Some of us can't afford hardshell cases man. Personally I couldn't give a flying f¥EURk what kind of bass dude had or what he carried them in. I'd rather see some fifteen year old kid tearing S#!+ up on stage with em than a middle aged guy to afraid to keep it out of a hard case. Please don't take this as an insult man. I just really think that if dudes dad let's em play them then folks shouldn't judge. Besides we all look lame when we were fifteen.
 
#73
More and more, this feels like an opening act grabbing at straws to gripe about the band that follows them. Those dumb kids were probably just playing "songs" and not real music like Math rock or mathcore.... right.
 
#76
farbeyondwillie said:
Some of us can't afford hardshell cases man.
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and some of that can, keep our <$2000 basses in gig bags exclusively.

back to my days as a young teen sporting a 'pre CBS' fender guitar... my grandfather gave me his 'beater guitar'. His pride and joy was a 64 Guild Starfire.

For all we know the 70s Fender and Ric are the beaters and the father is playing a '58 P, '63 J and an '82 Smith hand crafted by Vinny Fodera
 
#78
Now, I'm sort of boggled...

So, there's some kid somewhere who got ahold of his dad's "pristine" 70's basses and stuffed them in a gig bag in order to play "terrible" at some Ozzfest sockhop??

Something just doesn't add up.


I don't see very many dads dropping a 70's Ric or 70's P-bass on any of their children to play...let alone "pristine" instruments. Wouldn't the dad have a hard case for the things? Did he say "take the basses son...they're perfect but don't worry" and as the kid walked away he said "Aack, aack!" *hands son a gig bag* "Not the cases though, son. You don't know how scuffed they might get". That makes no sense. There's no dad anywhere on earth carrying around a "pristine" vintage ANYTHING in a gig bag. 90% of the vintage Rics on the market anywhere you look come with a hard case like it was meant to be. The other 10% bought one the day after.

Are you sure these were legit? It's not hard to pop up on stage with a knock-off and keep most people from noticing.
 
#79
I think it is summed like this:

"My little Johnny want to [insert some activity here]. So, to be sure Johnny knows I love him, I'm going to get [insert highest value option].

Options:
1) Play Bass - let him use my Ric
2) First Car - give them a BMW
3) New Jeans - get them a $150 piece of denim
4) Cell Phone - I-Phone


If you want to do this with your children, who are we to stop you? But if you do this, be ready for folks like me that had to break my back for everything I ever had (including my first car, guitar, bass, etc) to ridicule or pass judgment against you.
 

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