Why do people mess up good basses?

[Tupac]

Excuse you for not liking their art style. It's a punk thing, clearly.

 

[CrimsonGhost]

I took a week old Geddy lee Jazz, Sent out the stock pickguard to Chandler asking them to cut me a B/W/B cut for a p-pup, then I chopped out the route with a dremel and loaded it with a creme dimarzio p/j set. Sounded great, looked great. who cares.. Still couldnt hang with a p-bass becuase of that too-skinny neck that ended up sinking the truss rod.

 

[Catbuster]

Pete Townsend said it best: "I paid for the f-ing guitar, I'll do whatever the f I want to it". That said, most of my gear is stock.

 

[137h4lone]

what if you don't think the bass is good, then can you do anything to it ?

 

[The Lemon]

what if you don't think the bass is good, then can you do anything to it ?

Of course. It is yours, after all.

 

[Darnell Jones]

Really, You should be shot.

Just saw a guy in my local store with this and I wanted to beat him with my bass just to prove a point.
I have never understood why people do this and I never will.

I'm guessing this kind of thing comes up all the time with different subjects.

 

[THand]

I took a week old Geddy lee Jazz, Sent out the stock pickguard to Chandler asking them to cut me a B/W/B cut for a p-pup, then I chopped out the route with a dremel and loaded it with a creme dimarzio p/j set. Sounded great, looked great. who cares.. Still couldnt hang with a p-bass becuase of that too-skinny neck that ended up sinking the truss rod.

Bought a Geddy and put on a Hoppus P-neck on it, then I put a P pup in after ditching the J's. Plays and sounds great now.

 

[THand]

I also bought a Jaco relic and had it refinished white, installed a tort guard, and had it re-fretted....it's awesome now.

 

[Darnell Jones]

We may not agree on the best bass for metal, but I think this is clearly the best bass for steampunk.

I was thinking Bollywood.

 

[Darnell Jones]

Generally, I don't care what someone else does to an instrument they own. They paid for the right. However, if a teeny bopper bought Jaco's bass, spray-painted it pink and stuck "Hello Kitty" stickers all over it, most of us on this board would be a bit peeved. A select few instruments stop being tools and start becoming history.

That's a funny example considering how Jaco treated his basses.

I think we can all learn something from Charlton Heston here.

 

[vin*tone]

Yes, we get it, your a "artist". But why did you have to mess up that MM with a black sharpie drawing your cartoons on it. Really, You should be shot.

Sorry about the rant. Just saw a guy in my local store with this and I wanted to beat him with my bass just to prove a point.
I have never understood why people do this and I never will.

Did he look like this?

 

[THand]

That's a funny example considering how Jaco treated his basses.

I think we can all learn something from Charlton Heston here.

Yes, and IIRC, Jaco had sprayed bits of purple on it before he destroyed it. Well, what people who don't have Kevin Kaufman at their disposal would consider "destroyed" anyway.

 

[SurferJoe46]

I think we can all learn something from Charlton Heston here.

Yes --- people who graffiti their instruments need a holy intervention.

 

[mongo2]

Why shouldn't someone personalize their bass if they want?

Why go through life being one of the millions of bass sheeple all keeping their ticky-tac production instruments stock?

Why conform to what other's think should be done regarding the appearance of an instrument?

Why would anybody feel they have a right to denigrate what another does regarding the appearance of an instrument?

There are some real control freaks here...don't listen to them.

 

[KingRazor]

To me that's like saying "it's my dog, I bought it, i'll beat it if I want to." LOL.

That poor MM, I bet he keeps it in a cage.

It's kind of different when, you know, a living thing is involved.

Just remember, people buy cows/pigs for the purpose of fattening them up, killing them and eating them. Really, is a dog that much different than a pig?

But I digress. I agree with the statement that if you bought the bass, you should be able to do whatever you want to it.

 

[pica]

Some guy was trying to sell a bass on CL covered in Detroit Lions stickers. Yea, that will sell.

 

[THand]

Yes --- people who graffiti their instruments need a holy intervention.

I thought Charlton Heston's ghost was pointing out the disturbed people who dared to be different to the NRA so they could be shot, by the OP's orders.

This thread is silly. No body wants to see a desirable instrument destroyed because it wasn't appreciated, like the Taliban destroying the Buddha's in Afghanistan.... At the same time, we are supposed to be artist, who are stereotypically more understanding and tolerant of others. The notion that you may also be in favor of shooting Miles Davis for not keeping his horn minty clean seems possible. Didn't Jamerson have something written on his bass with an ink pen? That ungrateful, ignorant punk!
What the OP seems to reflect is the attitude of gear worship, and instruments as investments, rather than recognizing that the bass is nothing more than a brush for the artist to paint with. It doesn't matter how clean he keeps the finish, or the label on the headstock. What matters is his ability to use it to express musical ideas.

 

[RED J]

Yes, we get it, your a "artist". But why did you have to mess up that MM with a black sharpie drawing your cartoons on it. Really, You should be shot.

Sorry about the rant. Just saw a guy in my local store with this and I wanted to beat him with my bass just to prove a point.
I have never understood why people do this and I never will.

There may be something you like that he would like to beat you over.

Classic case of "It ain't me, so it can't be". Usually includes "I just don't understand" phrase.

When we give our own opinions the weight of law, do you think maybe we take ourselves just a bit too seriously ?

 

[Spleenface92]

I can actually relate to this, in the defense of letting people do what they want to their guitars. I've got a mid 2000's Gibson SG Special Faded Triple Pickup. Kind of a rare-ish guitar, as I haven't seen many of them out there. Well, when I first got it, it looked like this:
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Wanna know what it looks like now?
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And I've also "ruined" my fender Jaguar bass (according to one person on youtube)
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[FrednBass]

And how about all those vintage Fender Stratocasters and Gibson Les Pauls that Peter Townsend smashed over the years? How much do one of Townsend's "Smashed Strats" fetch these days?

Pete Townshend once said he never smashed good or special guitars. There's and interview of John Entwistle that he says that there was a concert that the roadie handed the wrong Les Paul to Pete in the last song, so he ended up smashing one of his dearest LP's instead of the crappy once he bought so he could break it. John said Pete was almost in tears in the backstage.