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What are you talking about, "coffee table" bass?

#42
thiocyclist said:
I think this kind of talk is part of why "coffee table bass" (whether an insult or not) evolved as a term... Some people talk about these things like they are religious artifacts. It just seems a bit pretentious... Yes, as a matter of fact, some people prefer the look of a sunburst Fender to another spalted maple custom whatever the heck. And being a snob about that is no more cool than snobbery in the other direction... We should all be able to understand you can't please all the people all the time. You say you keep an open mind, but "God's work" can't be boring to somebody? That doesn't seem open-minded.
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I thought my post was inclusive and still believe it was, as that is my attitude.

I happen to love my fender sunburst as much as any bass I own:

Jazz%20Sideways.png


Wow, really hit a nerve, even got a giant chill pill.

Pretty cool actually, that is a first!

Best,

BassHappy
www.innertainment.net
 
#43
thiocyclist said:
.. Yes, as a matter of fact, some people prefer the look of a sunburst Fender
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We're not 'wired' one way about this stuff. I can just as easily pull my sunburst JazzBass out of the closet, or my solid black or white basses as well. I love them all! No need for anyone here to be insulting just because some of us like different looks.
 
#47
That's interesting because I think it speaks to what is REALLY on people's minds when they look at solid-color basses (or "auto-body finishes") and coffee-table basses… the associations they bring up, rather than the intrinsic aesthetic qualities.

To me, the more sci-fi/ retro/hot rod/comic book/candy store a bass looks, the better. It brings up associations of when people were more optimistic about technology (the Space Age), when rock and roll was brash and exciting and kind of ugly and weird, and so on. I love metal flake finishes, weird designs (The Big Al and the Retronix RB come to mind), stickers, whatever.
The coffee table basses suggest a continuation of a tradition of craftsmanship and technique, a more thoughtful, nuanced, and mature approach to music and musical instrument design. Which I find less interesting and fun. But of course I admire the beauty of the wood, the lavish attention to detail, and so on. And I think "Wow, if someone gave me one of those I would just stare reverently at it all day. And then I would put it back in its case lovingly, leave it at home, go to band practice and keep banging the headstock of my P-bass into the drummer's cymbals in our tiny, tiny practice room."
 
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#54
Habilis said:
The coffee table basses suggest a continuation of a tradition of craftsmanship and technique, a more thoughtful, nuanced, and mature approach to music and musical instrument design.
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I think you've just put your finger on why they appeal to me. I'm a former medieval reenactor who has dabbled in carpentry and furniture making, and the beauty of the wood, the skill required to craft an instrument from wood and have it come out looking fabulous, just awe me.

I was noodling around with Halo Guitars' custom guitar ordering tool earlier today (they don't yet have the bass version up, but it's coming)(1) and I decided a mahogany neck-through design in natural satin finish with synthetic abalone binding was the shiznit.

If the luthiers involved select the materials properly and do craftsman level work, that puppy will be on display and on my strap at every gig.


(1) I have no financial or other ownership interest in Halo guitars. I simply find their custom ordering tool fascinating, and hope to buy a bass from them down the road, when I can afford it.
 
#55
I just can't wrap my head around the concept that people can be so dismissive and even outright vitriolic over a subject that, as a matter of preference, really doesn't have much to do with them. Don't like "coffee table" basses? Then don't get one. Pick up your 3TSB and Tort Precision and be happy, and leave the other guys alone. Same thing goes the other way.

The capacity for human jackassery without real cause just astounds me.
 
#57
"Coffee table" is a pejorative phrase used as often in jest as in anger, from my observations here. If you grew up on solid-colour Fender basses, then highly ornate, figured natural-finish basses probably look a bit alien.

I think it is fair to say that when "coffee table" is used as a pejorative, some of the time the accuser is bitter that the owner can shell out $3000 + for a custom instrument and not feel the pain, financially.

Having said that, money doesn't buy class or taste, and some "coffee table" basses are fantastically ugly to look at. Perhaps it is best to remember the adage 'class is often whispered, never yelled'.
 
#58
BassHappy said:
I thought my post was inclusive and still believe it was, as that is my attitude.

I happen to love my fender sunburst as much as any bass I own:
Wow, really hit a nerve, even got a giant chill pill.

Pretty cool actually, that is a first!
Best,
BassHappy
Click to expand...
You did see the smiley face? All is good, you just were a little urgent - the beatings weren't working!:D Some people find busy patterns visually disorienting, some aren't that comfortable with nature, some think natural patterns "clash" or look too folksy. If you view your ax as part fashion accessory a wood-tone is one of the hardest things to dress nice against. I personally like wood-grains but appreciate the simplistic, non-distraction of a good paint job too.:bassist:
 
#59
I'm starting to wonder how many here have a coffee table...doesn't seem the concept of coffee table book is understood - it certainly isn't pejorative unless you disdain people with a coffee table.

wiki says this on Coffee Table Book..
A coffee table book is a hardcover book that is intended to sit on a coffee table or similar surface in an area where guests sit and are entertained, thus inspiring conversation or alleviating boredom. They tend to be oversized and of heavy construction, since there is no pressing need for portability. Subject matter is generally confined to non-fiction, and is usually visually oriented (such as a photo-book).

The concept of a book intended essentially for display over perusal was mentioned much earlier by Michel de Montaigne in his essay Upon Some Verses of Virgil, first published in 1580: "I am vexed that my Essays only serve the ladies for a common movable, a book to lay in the parlor window...
 

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