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Vintage vs. Modern, looks only

#41
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i love the vintage look and in the case of the head sound. what you cant see under the grill cloth is all those speakers are new eminences. the old speakers were good, and they had that 70s charm, but the sound reproduction was no where as good as the replacements.
 
#43
K2000 said:
First of all, if I'm paying hundreds (or thousands) dollars for amplification, then it's not unreasonable to ask that it's not an "eyesore". Some of these amps are eyesores.

2nd, if you are a musician there's a chance that you are interested in visually pleasing aesthetics, and not just musically pleasing aesthetics. Some of these amps look like they were designed by twelve year old boys.

3rd, you could extend that line of thinking to all other areas of your life (but I bet you don't). When your car needs to be painted, do you do it with a roller and a can of paint? As long as the car gets you from point A to point B, who cares what it looks like? The idea that "nobody ought to care" sounds good on paper but it's not very realistic. If that's how you feel, good for you. But you shouldn't imply that it's shallow if other people care... it's not.

Speaking of hair metal, you can get some good deals on flourescent pink basses (pointy ones like BC Rich) now that Glam is out of style. Those basses sound good, and they're not expensive... maybe you should buy one? After all, "who cares what they look like, it's all about the sound". ;)
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well then .. I'd have to say you missed the point of my post.

in general you are confusing your opinion about the aesthetics of any given piece of gear for an objective fact, i.e. "some of these amps look they were designed by 12 year old boys". Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

As far as my other point .. really a "style over substance" point, I stand by it. Its not a new phenomenon at all; there have been more than one instance over the 60+ year life of "pop music" of bands/styles that are driven more by a look, or a scene, vs. real musical skill or quality. But that situation always did make me laugh, and still does. I've been around for a lot of that 60 years, and seen a number of very goofy trends come and go. I prefer substance over style myself. That does not automatically suggest that I prefer my car to be painted by a roller :rollno:, or that I would run out and grab a pink pointy bass for any reason :hmm:

of course it also does not mean that you can't happily be a style over substance wanker to your hearts content.

just my opinion.

peace
 
#44
gkstereo.gif


Keepin' up with the Joneses.
 
#46
to be honest, I'm really into the modern look. I use a Warwick bass and a rack setup (with all the lights, lipstick and makeup), and am GASing for a Mesa Roadready cab. I'm currently using an Ampeg 610HLF, and rent Ampeg 8x10s for big live shows.

However, modern looks have their limits. When I first saw Markbass stuff, I thought, "Good lord, did Stryper come out with their own line of PA gear?"
 
#47
I said the same thing about Stryper, then I bought one.

My rig has a split personality. Half Markbass, half B-15N. It's kind of disconcerting. The points about the wattage needing reinforcement that vintage cabs don't have is well-taken, but my B-15 cab will put out some volume with a heavy duty speaker and a 300w amp so I think even the most vintage designs can be adapted to modern gear with no problem.

I'm very much split on which I prefer, as you can see.
 
#50
Rob Mancini said:
Let's keep this discussion centered strictly based on looks, please. Please don't make me bust a cap ;)

Guitarists, aside from the occasional midline metal act with a full endorsement from Krank or Line 6, have completely rejected the modern look. The vast majority of them wouldn't be caught dead with the "exposed cones under steel grills" look. And the only guitarists you ever see using a rack are 80's hairband wankers. Even their solid state amps look vintage now.

But not us. We've fully embraced the racks, the steel grills, and the industrial rat fur. When was the last time you saw a guitar cab done in rat fur? Hell, we even put our tube amps in racks! And steel grills aren't enough...we have to make our cones out of metal just to make them look even more industrial.

What is it about us where we've embraced the modern "form follows function" ethic and the guitarists follow the "amps as furniture" ethic? It really seems odd to me that there's such a difference in aesthetics, especially since Fenders have made such a comeback with bassists in the last 10 years.

And what's really odd is that I double on guitar and I do gigs here and there on it, and I wouldn't ever think of owning an amp that didn't look vintage. Yet when I play bass, I have no problem bringing a rack and a cab covered in rat fur with a steel grill. I have no idea why I can accept modernization with my bass amps but not with my guitar amps. Maybe I need help... :help:

Just thought I'd throw this out there for laughs and see what everyone else thinks. And let's try not to act all superior to guitarists with flip answers about how our brains are better developed and all that. I know plenty of bassists besides myself, so I know the truth.

:hiding:
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in a nutshell, fenders are modern design though
 
#51
()smoke() said:
in a nutshell, fenders are modern design though
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If you split modern and old style into upright and electric bass, I'd say yeah. But the era of what we call modern electric basses started in the 70's with Alembic, and I was kind of using that era as sort of the dividing point, though the 80's would probably be more appropriate.
 
#55
CatastrofyBunny said:
I don't know how you play bass, but exactly what function requires rat fur and metal grilles? Not to mentioned glow in the dark green graphics...

Thank god for Ampeg.
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Ampeg did its share of glow in the dark green graphics. They were way flashier than the other amps of their day.

But as for what functions rat fur and metal grills serve...

Rat fur---takes more abuse, doesn't scuff like tolex, looks better from a dstance longer.

Steel grills---won't tear, won't rattle as easily as cloth, etc.
 
#56
CatastrofyBunny said:
I don't know how you play bass, but exactly what function requires rat fur and metal grilles? Not to mentioned glow in the dark green graphics...

Thank god for Ampeg.
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You've got to be kidding:eek: If you are old enough to remember when speakers have cloth grills that could easily rip and that an errant piece of gear in an equipment truck could punch through and destroy a driver, you know exactly why we all jumped up and down back in the day when metal grills came out.

And... ditto on that horrible tolex stuff that ripped when you looked at it. Say what you want about carpet, it takes WAY more of a beating than Tolex. Trust me, we were all thrilled back in the day when we had the option of metal grills and carpets.
 
#57
JimmyM said:
Ampeg did its share of glow in the dark green graphics. They were way flashier than the other amps of their day.

But as for what functions rat fur and metal grills serve...

Rat fur---takes more abuse, doesn't scuff like tolex, looks better from a dstance longer.

Steel grills---won't tear, won't rattle as easily as cloth, etc.
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yea but when the grill rattles losse it makes a terrible sound...also Ive always suspected that the steel alters the sound, minutly of ciurse but still, imo though
 
#58
I love the look of my Ampeg B100R and B200R combos, nevermind the amazing tone and power these amps put out! They are THE BEST vintage looking bass amps on the market, in my opinion.

I am not much for modern looking gear, but if I HAD to, I guess a Mesa Boogie Titan 1200 and a Mesa Powerhouse cab would work for me!!
 
#60
Prefer the modern myself. Vintage just never looked good to me, to be totally honest.

About the whole carpet vs. tolex thing... is carpet seriously stronger than tolex? That doesn't make sense...

Seriously, I'm trying to wrap my head around it. My 10-odd year old stained (don't ask how o_O) tolex-covered combo's just fine (albeit, it hasn't done tons of gigging). Carpet just seems... ummmm... kinda weak. And smell-absorby...
 

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