What do Ur basses say about U?

[Malafaia]

The day I hear my bass saying something about me (or anyone, anything) I will look for a rehab quickly.

 

[Frndmoretti]

I have a single Tagima '51 style P bass (with split coils) and flats. I mostly play a mix of funk, samba and post-punk.

I'm a traditionalist when it comes to looks, and I'm also a lot about appearance being more important than ergonomics. I like basic and classic sunglasses, I hate the appearance of mothern cars, I'm buying '50s style furniture for my new house, but with amodern spin.

I don't know what it says about me because, while I'm a design traditionalist I'm not a conservative or traditionalist at all when it comes to other stuff.

 

[retslock]

I started out with an early ‘70s Precision but when I moved to 5 strings, the bass I bought happened to be a 2 pickup with preamp model. It played well and was what I could afford at the time. Most of my basses are active now but I prefer to use them passively.
My playing is steady and solid as is my personality. I’m a no fuss kind of guy but you would think I have a preference for a jazz configuration if you saw me on stage but you’d be wrong. I always use the neck pickup so go figure.
Perhaps that says I don’t like to be pigeon-holed. Maybe it says you shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover.

 

[Dr. Cheese]

My basses reflect my superior intellect, rugged good looks, my well endowed physique, and terminally mediocre playing technique, but not necessarily in that order.

 

[mexicanyella]

I am utterly lacking in personal style and work outside on a farm. I am often wearing grubby cargo shorts and muddy work boots. I am casual about things like shaving and haircuts. I drive a Dodge minivan with 155K on the clock and play a dinged-up white Squier P-bass through a hodgepodge rig that is simple and just loud enough for the knucklehead original rock trio I play with. I chose my gear because of cheap functionality and it seems to fit “where I’m at.” It just seems to work for what I can do on the instrument.

 

[Whippet]

more ego than talent

 

[NOVAX]

Silence.

 

[Chickenwheels]

Mine say: “He’s highbanez on Ibanez.”

View attachment 3393565

Popcorn thread!!!!
I had one of those Ibanez Jazz basses. I found it on a hard rubbish throw out pile near my house. It was great! I sold it to a mate as I already have a pile of Fender basses that are okay.

 

[Pedullist]

My basses are gorgeous

 

[neil|lien]

What do my basses say about me?

You'll see me playing 5 strings more often than 4, so what does that say?

I play primarily Dingwalls with fanned frets. What does that say?

I also have a Warmoth and a Kiesel. What does that say?

I have a Rickenbacker 4003 I trot out once in a while, as well as a Warwick Katana NT in a glossy blue finish. What does that say?

I'll let you decide, since I know what these things mean to me, but there's no way a person just looking is going to be able to read my mind.

Well, i'm couldn't possibly decide. I think the point of my thread is to find out if U, in all honesty, think that Ur bass/gear collection reflects Ur character at all, or if it's more a consequence of just running into a good deal on the second-hand market or other events.

There is a certain image attached to some instruments, Sunburst PBasses will say Soul, White Pbasses will remind U of punk pioneers, semi-hollow bodies will make U think of a specific genre or era or player & maybe that player & U share certain character traits...

Honestly, it's a complex question, & as much as i appreciate the funny replies & do laugh a lot reading U all, the serious answers are also very very welcome!

 

[Chickenwheels]

I have about a dozen basses. All vintage, mostly Fenders. My number 1 is a 1954 Fender Precision that I don’t baby and I play the s**t out of it. I like classy, authentic, old school, creative, and tubes.

Group photo please. Including Starfire.

 

[neil|lien]

Never judge a book by its cover.

i do not agree:

Usually, the cover of a book is there to encourage U to read it, so it has to reflect to some extent what's inside or give hints ;°)

 

[neil|lien]

Will hit 50 in october, no tats, short hair, nothing is special about my appearance. I go on stage to rock and entertain. I have basses with not a lot of knobs, and my SVT doesn't have a lot of knobs, I like it simple and effective. I have a tiny pedalboard that serves me well, I'm not looking for "my tone". I simply am a rocker: tell me what we'll play and I'll rock it, anywhere, anytime, under any conditions. You can't kill rock n roll, and it can never die.

All I'm saying is my gear reflects the obvious: I'm a simple man.

So U're a simple & effective man!

That's what i'm looking for ! See guys? He talks about his philosophy & attitude towards music, & links it to his gear & wider considerations about life, his appearance ... ;°)

 

[neil|lien]

I'm actually more interested in what your usage of U instead of "you" and Ur instead of "your" says about you.

I expected a post filled with texting abbreviations however your punctuation was mostly correct and you know how to use capital letters yet you use those two abbreviations through your whole post. I'm especially intrigued as to why the letters Ur (you are) would be used to represent "your".

Anyway..... just wondering out loud.

What do two relatively cheap Franken basses which play better than new bases selling for thousands of dollars, a budget 8-string which is booked in to the luthier to help it play better and a cheap short scale Jag that is much better than it has any right to be at its' price point say about me?

Don't know what U & Ur say about me. It's funny how many reactions this specific element of my original post has gathered. Glad i got Ur attention ;°) It's a choice, the same reason why i don't use capitals on my name or my "i"s. Don't know if it says anything about me, but i bet U don't have to scroll back up to see the profile picture of who posted this when U read me ;°p

Maybe Ur bass collection says that U're very effective in life, that U're not afraid of putting it the work if it can save U some money, that U believe in giving a chance to lower quality things & are open to maybe being blown away or just surprised by something modest? But the reason why i started the threat was for U to tell me who U are. Not for U to have me guess things about U. i'm no psychologist or sociologist... i just thought it would be fun to share thoughts on this.

 

[Chickenwheels]

My basses tell me I’m living in the past. But no more so than any other band member.
Luckily, people pay good money to hear us interpret living in the past so they can join in (remembering) living in the past, too.
It’s called fun, apparently. I’m loving it. It pays the bills (just) too.
Wow.

 

[neil|lien]

Lot of text there... Maybe add a few pics next time for the likes of me ;P

Anyway, in my case, not entirely. I bought the best I could afford at the time and stuck to it. I think my (huge)GAS list might say more about me... But it remains a mix of what I like to play (funky stuff) and the type of bands I'm in (old blues and church band) which decide what I buy.

So in Ur case, it was more circumstances that made U buy the gear that U have. i guess Ur GAS list will probably say more about Ur character then!

& here's a pic of what i own (except the Vintage Fretless that is in my profile picture, couldn't take it with me when i moved but will get it back this summer: can't wait!):

 

[neil|lien]

I started out with an early ‘70s Precision but when I moved to 5 strings, the bass I bought happened to be a 2 pickup with preamp model. It played well and was what I could afford at the time. Most of my basses are active now but I prefer to use them passively.
My playing is steady and solid as is my personality. I’m a no fuss kind of guy but you would think I have a preference for a jazz configuration if you saw me on stage but you’d be wrong. I always use the neck pickup so go figure.
Perhaps that says I don’t like to be pigeon-holed. Maybe it says you shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover.

That's the kind of reply i'm looking for! Good parallel between Ur gear & Ur character!

 

[2F/2F]

Cutting edge?

View attachment 3393978

Or cutting board?

 

[2F/2F]

my basses say

this guy never plays a stock bass … never

View attachment 3393841

More tort.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

Hey Bass players,

First thread i start, ever. And i’m starting it here…

Don’t know if U guys have ever wondered about this specific thing - it’s probably not essential to Ur bass-playing skills or Ur career as a musician - but i’ve been asking myself if the basses we choose reflect in any way who we are inside.

Let me explain: U know how sometimes a person’s personality is reflected by how tidy their room is, or how they drive. For instance, a person who’s insecure might constantly be correcting their trajectory & drive too slowly for example, nervously checking all available mirrors every other second. Geniuses are usually imagined next to a messy blackboard full of white chalk undecypherable scriptures… See where i’m going?

I have this friend who is a FANTASTIC bass player & his playing style & gear reflect, IMO, his personality. His clothes are the right size, his shaving is always perfectly executed, his car is classy, his flat is always well kept & presents no useless items that might get in the way.

His gear? (Keep in mind that i’m no gear-geek so i’m not sure about the names & references i give, but i’m pretty close) Well, it’s the same: three basses (Corvette $$ 4str, Yamaha TRB1005 or superior, and an MTD 636 Walnut or similar - so one four-strings, one five-strings & one six-strings, not a hoarder, just the essentials for his style of playing), a Moog, a Markbass 2x15 (that’s actually the piece of equipment i’m the least sure of) with an amp head (don’t know the brand, & an Ampeg combo for smaller rehearsals.

His playing style? Like his apartment, clean, nothing useless in the way, functional, everything where it’s supposed to be, when it’s supposed to be there.

There’s probably a correlation between the colours people wear & their introspective or outgoing nature, a link between the type & colour of car U drive & Ur character. We’re all humans, we have instincts & behaviours in common, & there are so many of us that eventually, we end up falling under a category or stereotype of people.

MY CASE:

i’m in my thirties, have tattoos everywhere, even used to have a man-bun with the sides & back of my head shaven. To people who i walk past on the streets, i probably belong to the hipster category. i don’t consider myself one, i don’t know what makes a hipster a hipster & i don’t hang out with them, so i assume i’m not one of them. Bassistically, i currently own a TMB30 (short scale, P/J configuration, passive, black nylon strings on, Mint Green finish…), a Cort C6 Plus ZBMH (six strings, active 9V, with factory default strings but want to change, Tobacco Burst Open Pores finish), a Harley Benton BZ-6000 (six strings, active 18V, neck through, Natural High Gloss finish, would like to try flats strings on it - anybody knows anything about the Ibanez IEBS6C by the way???) & a Vintage V74MRPJ (fretless, passive, 4 strings, Jazz bass, road worn finish « à la Jaco »). i only own one combo, a Warwick Blue Cab 15.1, a RC-20XL Looper & GT-1B multi-FX pedal.

Before i got to that particular collection (which still doesn’t satisfy me, but i’m on a very, VERY tight budget), i’ve bought a sold about 15 basses. i almost wrote « i’ve tried everything » but it wouldn’t be true. i’ve never owned any of those metal specific models, the TMB is my firs short scale & green bass ever, never owned expensive instruments… i’m more of a natural satin or mat finish kind of guy too… FYI: i love Soul, Neo-Soul, Jazz & the more sophisticated type of Pop.

I think that that alone is symptomatic of a few things: that i constantly question myself, that i’m searching for something artistically but also as a person. The constant GASsing over gear is also probably symptomatic of a quest for happiness & achieving a better level of musicianship (yeah, i know there is no direct correlation between the quality of Ur playing & the instrument, see Adam Neely’s « Does Gear Matter? » video?).

So here’s my question: What do U feel Ur basses & Ur playing style say about U? Do U think there are correlations?

By the way - and i will end here this lengthy post - my real-life collection is limited by budget, but don’t let money be a parameter to Ur answers: GASsing over instruments U can’t afford is also part of who U are & might also reveal something about who U are!

Thanks for reading through, looking forward to reading Ur opinions & testimonials on this!

Ur basses? The Sumerians had basses?