Why do "WE"...

[ejaggers]

I "myself" ALSO HOPES "this" thread ends "SOON TOO"!

Well, if it does, what else are we gonna do on a Saturday night with no gig and re-runs on TV?

why do we need nicer cars?

why do we need nicer homes?

why do we need nicer anything?

You forgot, why did the chicken cross the road?

IMO: They are not connected. This is the 5% conversation…

Agreed, the other 95% is BS, gifs, and Jokes.

Here's one back at the OP: who are you, that any of us need to justify ourselves to you? What's your position of authority here?

I think he’s a lieutenant.

What does it matter to you? People are happy with different things.

Because he’s the lieutenant.

Why do some drink Bud, and others 30 year old whiskey? Why did Anthony Jackson spend decades (and thousands of dollars) creating the perfect instrument for him?


Because...

Oh great wise one did you fall asleep?
Did your keyboard stop working?

Or is this the quest for us to find the holy grail on our own?
I promise you I will dedicate my life to solving the forbidden riddle, "Because…"

Oh great wise one you’re also right about whiskey, I haven’t had enough yet to address this post, but I’m working on it.

It's weird how many threads can be boiled down to the exact same thing:

"Why doesn't everyone act and think the way I do?"

And the answer is the same every time:

Because we aren't you.

But theoretically if we all were you, then would all post be the same?
Which reminds me of Einstein's theory of relativity…

A blues bass player and Albert Einstein are sitting next to each other on a plane.
Einstein keeps turning to the blues man bragging about how smart he is.

Saying stuff like “oh people say in the smartest man alive”, or “I’m just so incredibly smart.”
The bass player ignores him and just keeps reading his book.

Finally Einstein catches his attention by giving him a challenge.
He says, “you can ask me any question in the world and if I can’t answer it,
I’ll give you $500 but if I ask you a question and you can’t answer it,
you only have to give me $5.”

So the blues man takes the challenge and asks him the question,
“What climbs up a hill on 4 legs and climbs down on 3?”

Einstein spends half the plane ride trying to figure out the problem.
He has notes and papers everywhere while the blues man keeps reading his book.

Finally after 2 hours, Einstein gives up and hands him $500 dollars like he promised.
The blues man takes the money and goes back to reading his book.

Einstein gives him a look and after a minute asks, “what’s the answer?”
The bass player sighs, sets down his book,
and says, “I have no idea”, and hands Einstein a five dollar bill.

057912

 

[jamro217]

I think you need to find the best fit for you in order to mimic someone else's tone. Tone is not some mystical entity that comes and goes where it will, it is simply the combination of measurable parameters in a recognizable pattern. You can't replicate someone else's hands. You must then use your own in an attempt to recreate what the original artist did sonically. How you achieve that is up to you. There are obvious places to start. Don't attempt 'Roundabout' on an EB-O. Duh. If you need to focus on a particular section of the audio spectrum choose the instrument that is best suited for that quest. Each style of instrument has its strengths and weaknesses. Some are capable of many tones. What is most important is to get an instrument that can accomplish the task that you can comfortably play. Struggling against an instrument instead of playing it is the most miserable feeling known to mankind aside from TMJ or Morton's neuroma. An expensive custom shop or boutique instrument that is effortless to play allows you to concentrate on zeroing in on the tone you're seeking. Bear in mind that some great music was played by real musicians of modest means who couldn't afford decent gear. Trying to get a fantastic instrument to sound like unplayable firewood is almost as hard as the reverse.

 

[Carl Hillman]

Is Hank Hill on TB?
(Somebody warn Peggy...)

So, you know I live in Texas, right?

Well, back when King of the Hill was on the air, one of my friends asked me why I didn't watch the show.

I told him, I wasn't into documentaries.

 

[scubaduba]

...well... WHY DO some of You need to have "better/nicer" basses, than the PLAYERS that didn't NEED to have a "boutique/custom", in order to get "their SOUND" that You're "chasing?"

Not putting anyone, on "the spot." Just curious...

I "HOPE" that this thread ENDS SOON, with... "TO GET THE SOUND THAT IS ALL MY OWN."

Because some people PREFER better/nicer basses, than the players that don’t need to have a boutique/custom in order to get the sound that they’re chasing.

The end.

 

[IamGroot]

Because most of "us/we" are bass player wannabes and our playing sucks. So, in order to make up for lack of talent, we buy an expensive bass. Just owning an expensive bass makes us feel better about our ourselves.

That's a hard core answer to your question. It is also a very generalized opinion.

+1

If someone brings a guitar or bass to a jam, puts it on a table, opens the case and invites others to admire it, I know what's going to happen when they get on stage.

I'm cool with it, but it's part of human nature.

 

[IamGroot]

Don't know but I'm glad for it. Amateurs pay the bills of every music store in the world. And those amateurs frequently buy far nicer instruments that most touring pros, as the amateurs have more money. God bless 'em. I've worked for four music stores and two manufacturers. Never made much money but that money came, overwhelmingly, from amateurs buying really nice instruments. Had any of the companies/stores I'd worked for needed to rely solely on pro-level guys, we'd have been out of business in a month.

Me, I play pretty cheap basses - Cort B4FLs - and granted, I've done some mods of them, but not a one of them cost me over $300. I have one expensive bass - not a Cort - but I'm not taking that out to a bar gig. You get good enough you can make anything sound good....and if you're not, go out and buy something expensive! You're certainly helping some people who work very hard, if nothing else.

And you may find an instrument that's so awesome that you decide to pick up your playing game to match it.

May all you TBers keep buying pricey stuff. I hope you enjoy what you buy, and I hope you keep chasing the tone, the sound, whatever.

+1

 

[TyBo]

I remember reading an interview with Walter Becker in which he was asked why he played more guitar than usual on Steely Dan's "Two Against Nature" comeback album. He answered that he'd gotten a new guitar which just felt really good to him, and made him feel like playing. Sometimes it's a simple as that.

 

[IamGroot]

The OPs message on TB reminds me of preaching sobriety and chastity in the Las Vegas Airport.

 

[Samatza]

I have several boutique/custom basses that I've acquired over 45 years using savings from gig money.

There are several reasons I like them; no dead spots, very quiet electronics, great tonal range, very comfortable and very good action.

I never chased anybody else's tone, just my own and I know you can get all these qualities in a more affordable instrument however I like my boutique basses and all I see every year is prices going up to the point where I couldn't afford one now.

 

[crankypants]

Well, if it does, what else are we gonna do on a Saturday night with no gig and re-runs on TV?

The Fred Willard episode of SNL from 1978 is on NBC with musical guest DEVO.

DEVO just played "Satisfaction."

 

[Stringly]

What is this thread really about?

 

[klejst]

I don't...I perfectly fine playing both of my under $500 basses (what I paid for them). I often shop the used market and believe it or not I actually played a under $100 Fender Squier bass for a good amount of time before too.

To each their own but I have found at least for me I don't need to spend a fortune to get where I need and want to be. Sure "better" gear is nice but $$$ does not always equal better though. Also...you can have $5000+ in gear and it sounds terrible because you 1. don't know how to used it and/or 2. are a terrible player in general.

 

[BOOG]

There are users of expensive boutique instruments and stock cheap instruments at all levels, from absolute beginner to bass legend.
I think people play what they want and/or can afford, regardless of achievements and/or what Mr Mc BassStar do.

Nuff zed

 

[James Collins]

What is this thread really about?

I think his girlfriend left him for a boutique bass.

 

[factory presets]

I bet Stephen King could write a bestseller with a quill pen or a MacBook Pro.

Of course the quill pen bestseller would be much scarier.
The RSI alone would impart a sense of foreboding.

Some reasons people might want a name brand instrument.

Less experienced players may want the confidence their instrument is of a standard they expect from an expensive purchase, without knowing what to look for. I know I've been there.

Some players might want features that just aren't available on a Tokai P bass knock off.

Not everyone wants to spend time regularly playing every bass in the shop that goes into finding one-in-a-thousand budget gems.

You can enjoy owning a bass named after your hero, without for a second believing it will make you play like that player.

I'll leave the intricacies of GAS to those who suffer from it.

 

[Mr Cheese]

MY BASE COSTED $179 CAN "WE" BE FRIENDS?

Got mine for $230.

 

[equill]

Of course the quill pen bestseller would be much scarier.
The RSI alone would impart a sense of foreboding.

Just to digress slightly... it probably wouldn't take him long to replace the quill with its modern re-implementation, the fountain pen. Neal Stephenson is one author who prefers to use those when writing first drafts. In longhand, no less. Neil Gaiman also likes them.
They're actually very nice to write with, on suitable paper; as somebody else phrased it, using a ballpoint pen suddenly feels like trying to write with a four-inch nail. Yes, I know about Caran D'ache ballpoints, but they're not yer typical experience.

I have RSI, but mostly around keyboards and mice. Never had it with fountain-pens, and I use them a lot. So by extension, I'd say that probably wouldn't be the source of that foreboding.

And this brings us to a parallel in that world: fountain-pen GAS. You can get an excellent writer's pen quite cheaply - I have a couple that cost USD25, and one is still in regular use. You can spend more and get more refinements, for a pen that doesn't necessarily write any better, but does feel nicer to use and will probably outlive you. And you can spend thousands of dollars for artworks based around the design of a fountain-pen, that you might also write with... but at that level, I'm pretty sure it's not about the writing any more.

Funny thing about the fountain-pen communities I've interacted with: I've never seen threads like this one.
People accept that others are into it for different things, and when somebody posts about one of the extremely expensive models, the most I've seen is "eh, I just couldn't spend that much on a pen."

 

[equill]

What is this thread really about?

Maybe it's our Seinfeld thread.

 

[IamGroot]

No Bass for You!

 

[equill]

No Bass for You!

Well fielded, sir