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Why do guitarists get all the cool looking gear?

There's your answer, economics. However, I get far more people looking at and asking questions about my Ashdown ABM head and rig (it's the VU I reckon) than the guitar amps in my band and those doing the looking and asking tend to be guitarists. And is there any amp cooler looking than an Ampeg flip top?

Nope - the Ampeg flip top is crazy cool.

Here's a question though - if the reason there's less cool designs in Bass Amps is simply because there's more guitar players, is it possible that the reason there's more is BECAUSE they like the flashy gear? Maybe if bass amp designs were cooler we'd recruit a few more players. Just sayin. :)
 
No no no! This isn't supposed to be a guitarist or gear bashing thread!

What I should have said was - why do you think Guitarists get a much wider variety of gear styles than Bass players?

I kind of disagree. I think there's a lot more innovation in the bass amp market, and it's because we, unlike guitarists, don't all agree that tubes are always better.
 
I kind of disagree. I think there's a lot more innovation in the bass amp market, and it's because we, unlike guitarists, don't all agree that tubes are always better.

I totally agree that bass equipment is WAY better and FAR more advanced than guitar equipment.

Guitarists are so afraid of deviating from the same old same old...the old "it worked in the sixties...it must be good." No self respecting guitarist would touch a transistor with a ten foot pole...yet somehow I think my guitarists Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier sounds way better on solid state than after 5 dozen tube experimentations.

And to just prove a point...take a look at the cost of old new stock tubes compared to tubes created recently under much more stringent quality control measures. In some cases it can be almost 10 times as pricey.

Sounds dumb to me.
 
As an offshoot of the "do you rule out amps based on looks" thread - why do you think Guitarists get all the cool looking gear like this:

501853jpg.jpg


and this:

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and this:

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While us bass players get stuff like this:

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Mind you, I'm not saying that all bass gear (or even the stuff above) is horrible and ugly - it just seems to me that the designs are about 100% more boring than what's available in the guitar world.

What do you think?



All look like old suitcases from the 50's to me. Bleh....
 
I totally agree that bass equipment is WAY better and FAR more advanced than guitar equipment.

Guitarists are so afraid of deviating from the same old same old...the old "it worked in the sixties...it must be good." No self respecting guitarist would touch a transistor with a ten foot pole...yet somehow I think my guitarists Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier sounds way better on solid state than after 5 dozen tube experimentations.

And to just prove a point...take a look at the cost of old new stock tubes compared to tubes created recently under much more stringent quality control measures. In some cases it can be almost 10 times as pricey.

Sounds dumb to me.

it is entirely true that guitarists are more resistant to change than almost any other musician. almost an utter refusal to consider technological advances.
 
Not many guitarists out there with modern looking amps though...

Sure, there are a few vintage looking guitar amps, but the majority are based on the classic Marshall head, with a different front. No guitar amps I can think of that look half as snappy as the new Trace Elliot stuff!
 

The defence rests! :p

Anyway, while not being a huge traditionalist I personally hate with a passion most modern hi-fi kinda amps, basses and gadgetry. I'll listen to people that play that kinda thing happily if it sounds right, I wouldn't expect tool to break out Fender Twin Reverbs or Sunn amps, if they did they'd be a completely different band.

Personally the whole modern classic approach appeals to me for my equipment, stuff like the Bergantino NV range, Badass bridges for Fenders, my Ibanez ATK as a bit of a modernised copy of a Stingray with a few of it's own quirky features etc. I like a traditional sound but I don't like some of the gritty/muddyness that comes with alot of the time, I like the idea of taking some of the cools sounding old amps, and improving them so they have a bit of power and clarity about them.

End of the day for my playing I'm not too bothered about a pristinely clean rig with a frequency response of 2-20,000Hz.

As for looks you've hand picked a few classic, stylish, old school guitar amps, so that's not really fair. Most guys will use a Marshall and they look boring as a Roman Catholic Easter mass in Latin. There are many cool looking bass amps from vintage to modern.
 

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