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When you upgrade, what do you expect?

Dr. Cheese

Dr. Cheese

Supporting Member
Mar 3, 2004
57,342
120,740
Metro St. Louis
#1
I am at peace with being an eternal gearhead who will always run into another cool bass I’d love to have. As I get older, I do think I have become more clear eyed. When I was young, I loved features like two octave necks with zero appreciation of the skills needed to actually benefit from extended range. For years, I mainly played five string basses with fairly narrow string spacing, but hearing people on TB convinced me of the need for wide spacing. I find I can do both comfortably, but both profiles require adjustments in technique.

At this point, I think I have a well established approach to the bass, and I do not think a change in bass will change what I do unless I have a corresponding breakthrough in skills. Of course, if I have a breakthrough in skills, I can change what I do on what I already have.:thumbsup:

I think back to stories I read about Stanley Clarke that he really began to sound like Stanley Clarke once he got an Alembic. What I tended to overlook was that on early albums, like RTF’s Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy, Stanley Clarke already had those crazy chops, his tone just was not as clear as it would be with the Alembic. I guess I am saying that I have no shame in lust for gear and my endless quest for perfect tone and playability, but I accept that skill is about what I know and can actually perform, not what I physically own.
 
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#4
StayLow said:
I used to expect I’d magically sound as good, and get better gigs, as if I’d spent that money on lessons and spent that time on focused practice.

Now I know better.

Want your gear to sound great? Hand it to a great player & listen. It’s a real mind & ear-opener.
Click to expand...

I have had that happen to me a few times myself.:D
 
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#6
I've been playing long enough, and reading here long enough, to all but "know" what I'm getting into when I switch to different gear.

Sometimes I'm pleasantly surprised. My Hammersmith 5 string and Mesa TT800/Subway 115 rig both had "extra" good features. But I still kind of knew what to expect when I got them. I can almost "predict' what a rig will sound like or a bass will feel like.

It's a bit weird, actually.

So I only pull the trigger on "known quantities" in this way.
 
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#7
When I upgrade , I expect an instrument that feels better and plays more easily. The instrument will not only sound better but be lighter in weight and have some special features that aren’t found on your average factory off the shelf instrument . Better build quality and construction. Last but not least , it will be aesthetically appealing and priced not out of reach.
 
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#9
I started on a pretty high quality instrument (more by luck than anything else). If I wanted to be bluntly honest with myself, I really could have used just that instrument and a good fretless for many years without ever really needing to change anything.

Over the years I have bought and sold tons of gear simply because I like gear and I don’t have any hang-ups about it.

While my bass and amp stable has grown more crowded over the years, I would be hesitant to call most of those purchases “upgrades.” Some, absolutely, but most of them were simply additions because I liked them and thought they were cool.
 
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#10
Lo-E said:
I started on a pretty high quality instrument (more by luck than anything else). If I wanted to be bluntly honest with myself, I really could have used just that instrument and a good fretless for many years without ever really needing to change anything.

Over the years I have bought and sold tons of gear simply because I like gear and I don’t have any hang-ups about it.

While my bass and amp stable has grown more crowded over the years, I would be hesitant to call most of those purchases “upgrades.” Some, absolutely, but most of them were simply additions because I liked them and thought they were cool.
Click to expand...

I like your attitude.:)
 
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#11
foal30 said:
I bought my L2 Steinberger in 1990

It definitely made me play better
Click to expand...

Without a doubt, my first good bass, a Rickenbacker 4000, was HUGE advance over a really terrible Jazz Bass copy that was my first bass. It made playing MUCH easier. I was able to do things on the Ric I could not do on my first bass with a horrible action and a tree trunk neck. Good gear makes a big difference and fortunately, budget basses are far better now that were back in the platform shoe era when I started playing.
 
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#17
I started in 88 with a Jazz Bass Special (used) which I used for many, many years and upgraded along (bridge, pickups, etc.), until one band leader hooked me into getting gear and pound shops. As I improved as a player, I got better instruments and ended up with what I'd call high end gear but this was due to job requirements, not because I was searching for my own sound.
 
#19
Dr. Cheese said:
I am at peace with being an eternal gearhead who will always run into another cool bass I’d love to have. As I get older, I do think I have become more clear eyed. When I was young, I loved features like two octave necks with zero appreciation of the skills needed to actually benefit from extended range. For years, I mainly played five string basses with fairly narrow string spacing, but hearing people on TB convinced me of the need for wide spacing. I find I can do both comfortably, but both profiles require adjustments in technique.

At this point, I think I have a well established approach to the bass, and I do not think a change in bass will change what I do unless I have a corresponding breakthrough in skills. Of course, if I have a breakthrough in skills, I can change what I do on what I already have.:thumbsup:

I think back to stories I read about Stanley Clarke that he really began to sound like Stanley Clarke once he got an Alembic. What I tended to overlook was that on early albums, like RTF’s Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy, Stanley Clarke already had those crazy chops, his tone just was not as clear as it would be with the Alembic. I guess I am saying that I have no shame in lust for gear and my endless quest for perfect tone and playability, but I accept that skill is about what I know and can actually perform, not what I physically own.
Click to expand...

Interesting read. I think the deal is you want to be able to express yourself artistically and not be limited by your gear.

That means it could one bass or hundreds, same with amps, speakers and pedals. It could cost you next to nothing or hundreds of thousands of dollars. IMO, it’s not the gear you own, it’s the art you can make from your gear that should be your focus.
 
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