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what makes a bass a bass?

#21
Basses that are made of parts of different brands are often identified that way. For instance, if you see a bass at Bass Northwest with a Warmoth body and a Fender neck (or vice versa), it will usually be listed as a Warmoth/Fender or something like that. A Precision with a Jazz neck is a Precision with a Jazz neck. It is not a Precision or a Jazz. However, if you take a Precision and put EMG pickups in it, it is still a Precision. If you take an Ibanez BTB and replace the electronics with Bartolini stuff, it's still an Ibanez BTB. I know it's not gonna sound like a stock Ibanez BTB, but it still is one.

If you get a Fender USA neck and put it on a Squier body, very few people will know this is not a Fender USA bass, and it will make no difference unless you try to sell it as a Fender USA bass, in which case you are committing fraud.

So, I guess I'm saying is that a bass is pretty much the sum of its parts. The only time it makes a real difference is when you are selling the bass, in which case any deviations from factory equipment should be disclosed. For instance, if you have a Fernandes bass that you put DiMarzio pickups in, you can say, "this is my Fernandes bass." But if you sell it, you shouldn't represent it as an unmodified Fernandes bass, just in case there are any Fernandes collectors out there :rolleyes: that want stock FGI pickups.

If you buy parts from Warmoth, Mighty Mite, Gotoh, Basslines and some others, and assemble them all yourself, you could probably say "Look at my new FunkThumb bass," and be pretty accurate.

Is this making sense?
 
#22
I have a MIM Jazz Bass that I'm upgrading- virtually every part will be phased out, over a period of time. I am not extremely unhappy with any part of the bass (except the pickups- those are the next to go), but I just like to futz with things like that. It's like having a project bass I can play in the meantime. Once I throw in a new neck, I'll put my name on the headstock (I'm egotistical like that ;)) and I'll stop calling it a Fender w/ parts, it will be a Project Bass w/ a Fender body. Actually, since it's a fretless Jazz bass I'm gonna call it my Used To Be A (Fender). (Bonus points if you get the reference.)

My DeArmond is a DeArmond until I put EMGs in it, and then it will be a DeArmond With EMGs In It.
 
#23
another example......(just to make one think)

uhhh...alright...say you take three bases of similar cost from 3 different companies...just for argument's sake.....an epiphone....a yamaha(.?.) and a MTD..... remove all parts and do not alter...here are the rules...each part (lets say all parts are generic and will fit anything more or less) that was on one guitar must be moved to another....so then, which guitar gets the label... epiphone, yamaha or MTD...would the brand name move with the body of the guitar or with another part.........
ideas,comments, threats?
 
#25
Well, in theory there could be a smooth continuum of states between one bass and any other bass, or between a bass and any other stringed instrument...

So, my answer is that there is "bass-ness" and "thingsthatarenotbass-ness", and different things have varying degrees of both.

Should that be "bass-osity?" Fundamentalitis? Treble-challenged instrument?

Hmm.. important questions, these.
 
#26
Originally posted by FunkThumb
another example......(just to make one think)

uhhh...alright...say you take three bases of similar cost from 3 different companies...just for argument's sake.....an epiphone....a yamaha(.?.) and a MTD..... remove all parts and do not alter...here are the rules...each part (lets say all parts are generic and will fit anything more or less) that was on one guitar must be moved to another....so then, which guitar gets the label... epiphone, yamaha or MTD...would the brand name move with the body of the guitar or with another part.........
ideas,comments, threats?
Click to expand...

Ok. I got it. When the majority of parts or electronics is on a particuler body, then it can be called the bass with those respective parts.

Or it can be the body with those parts on it

Examples: This is an epiphone on a yamaha body
or
This is my yamaha with epiphone parts

I dunno just some speculation:)
 
#29
Originally posted by Gopher Bob
What makes people call a Piccolo bass a bass? Its tuned to the EADG of guitar. Did someone just assume its a bass because that one dude Stanley Clarke that played basses got Karl Thompson to make the first one? Or does the Longer neck make it a bass?
Click to expand...

I thought it was because it has a longer neck, like you said, and there's four strings that are generally widely spaced, like a bass; and you play it with your fingers, like you would a bass.
 
#30
Originally posted by FunkThumb
another example......(just to make one think)

uhhh...alright...say you take three bases of similar cost from 3 different companies...just for argument's sake.....an epiphone....a yamaha(.?.) and a MTD..... remove all parts and do not alter...here are the rules...each part (lets say all parts are generic and will fit anything more or less) that was on one guitar must be moved to another....so then, which guitar gets the label... epiphone, yamaha or MTD...would the brand name move with the body of the guitar or with another part.........
ideas,comments, threats?
Click to expand...

IMO, if you take a Yamaha body, and put an MTD neck on it, it's neither. It's what folks call a Frankenbass. It's a collection of parts, and that's all it is. Elderly Instruments recently sold a Precision that someone had removed the original electronics from and put two humbuckers in, with an active circuit, IIRC. That's a pretty severe mod, so they called it a "Fender Precision - highly modified" or something like that. The reason an MTD Kingston is an MTD Kingston is that it is the sum of parts designed to go together. If you change the pickup, say for a Kent Armstrong that is a direct replacement, it doesn't cease to be an MTD Kingston, because the fundamental character of the instrument isn't changed. Likewise, many replacement pickups, bridges, and other parts are made for Fender Precisions, but they're not designed to make it into something else. I'm using the Precision for an example because I'm familiar with them, and so are most bassists. If you put a DiMarzio, Seymour Duncan, EMG, or other pickup in a Fender Precision, it doesn't cease to be what it is, because these parts are designed for the instrument. If you put Rickenbacker pickups and electronics into your P, well, it's a "highly modified" P. But if you cut the body in half and glue a Carvin neck-thru neck in between the halves, you now have a bass that is neither a Carvin nor a Fender. So what I'm saying is that if you mix everything up, you may have a playable bass, but you will have destroyed any brand identity that existed.

I don't really understand why this is so important to you, or why I'm trying so hard to answer your question, but theres my opinion, and I think it fits in with how most people would classify basses in terms of brand names and modifications.

Hope this helps.
 
#34
this thread is everything but bass/music related.

I'd say the thread is best placed in the new TalkAdvocate.com site as the answer to the threadstarter's question can only mean something if you are sued for false advertising a bass.

anyway, to add my 0.2 new israeli sheqels I'd say that if you are like that guy who calls his Squier "my Fender" then you will call the bass after its most valuable part.
example: put Ken Smith strings on that 100 $ affinity series and call it "my Ken Smith", kapisch?
 

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