What Popular Modern Bass Will They Laugh at in 30 Years?

I'm pretty sure that coffee table basses will look absolutely ridiculous in no more than a few years.

 

Bongo
I'm pretty sure Ernie Ball is already laughing.

Before you start flaming, this is meant to be a joke.


Peace

 

Actually I would be inclined to believe that some "coffee tables" would gain historical value, and price speculation would raise their value in thousands of $

what will happen when famous luthiers like Ken Smith or Vinnie Fodera pass away? (hopefully many many years from now)

 

Bongo

that Chapman stick thing

 

Better to be a Coffee Table than a Toilet Seat!!

 

nnot that of a joke, the bongo bass is a very specific type of design, in 30 years something like that could be as "passé" as some designs we laugh about dating back from the 80's.

 

Bongo.

 

Beautiful wood will never go out of style, just like fine antiques.

 

especially when some of these woods can go endangered in years to come.

does anyone remember that cool black wood that was used on upright scales?

the elder ones called it "ebony"...

 

If "coffee table basses" is synonymous with "hippie sandwiches" (i.e., boutique basses made from multiple exotic wood laminates), I wouldn't be so sure: Alembic has been doing swimmingly since the early 1970's, & there's no indication that any more (or fewer) people laugh at them now than when they first came out.

On the other hand, if "coffee table basses" is synonymous with "aircraft carriers" (i.e., extended range instruments with >7 strings & necks the width of a surfboard), then I'm with you on that! 30 years from now bassists and laypeople alike will look at a Conklin 9-string and just burst out laughing. In fact, 30 seconds from now I'm gonna check out a picture of those eBay 15-string pigs and chuckle to myself.

 

The people saying Bongo are seriously misguided.

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People are laughing at them TODAY.

 

How about the first Ergodyne basses, made from "Luthite"?

The new ones out of real wood are much better, and the design concept is interesting, but that old "fake wood" stuff they made the bodies out of...

 

I'm guessing they'll be retriveing those exotic basses to rebuild a likeness of the rain forests.Disney will get the contract.

"There behind the glass sits a single blade of grass, be careful as you pass, move along move along"

 

I think that '80s designs with pointy headstocks and flourescent finishes will always be laughed at, and had been laughed at since 1990.

Nowadays there are no trends anymore; the market is nicely comprised of vintage-style basses and modern designs, and everything in between. 5+ string basses are here to stay, and will continue to gain ground, although 4-string will always be more popular.

I don't think we will laugh at today's basses in 30 years, but cherish them and long for those "all wood" basses. . . "Remember when fretboards were made of real rosewood..." "Children, one upon a time, there was a wood specie called wenge. . . "

I think we've been through every design cycle possible; Fender style, modern Fender style, hippie sandwich/coffee table, graphite, headless, and I think it's really hard to come up with a new radical that works. I personally think that companies like Sadowsky, Fodera, Alleva-Coppolo, Rob Allen, and MTD, to name a few, have taken it as far as it goes.

Kudos to EB/MM for trying, and the Bongo has not been a failure, but I don't think it has revolutionized the market -- not that that was really its goal, though.

 

looks wise, maybe yes. as long as they keep that neck profile and that wonderful electronics package, I could give a crap what the rest of the bass looks like.

 

Who knows? Maybe all the classic shapes will be taken over by something new and ergonomically vastly superior. We might be looking back at Precisions and Jazzes and saying how primitive they were.

 

+1, but I'm not kidding. That thing is ugly as hell.:scowl:

 

Plus, they smelled funny.