Why is picking a color so difficult?

[J-Mags]

I belong to several crews, checking in for all of them at the same time:

• Never tort crew
• Never sunburst, natural, or black finish crew
• White finish barely better than black crew

That makes my recommendation very easy:

Red with pearl

I'm with you on never tort and never sunburst. I'm fine with natural, black & white though. And if it's butterscotch it better actually be old.

However some of my favorite basses and guitars have been sunburst, purchased despite the color rather than because of it.

 

[lordradish]

I'm a natural woods guy, so that presents a whole other slew of choice problems.

 

[timmus]

I had to vote "other". I tend to lean towards deep blue colors or if not available, Boomer Burst™ is my second choice. Tort guards are my choice on Boomer Burst™ basses, no PG on Blue Burst basses.

 

[39-Bassist]

I am a CAR person but the White is nice too. The only thing I would do on both of them would be to put on a 3 ply Black (or black pearl pg)
This would make both colors of the bass look much nicer. IMHO

But hey that is just my 1-1/2 cents.

 

[JC BASS 91]

Of the presented options, the only one that appeals to me personally is the black & tort. I have two basses with that color scheme and really like the way it looks.

 

[JRMK]

I voted white/tort.

If you are given option to go tort you should always do.

 

[bassdude51]

I dig the red one!

Same!

 

[Jefenator]

I almost always buy used. After almost 50 purchases over 35 years, I don't think I've ever once picked the color.

 

[Kahfi92]

White Bod, Tort 'Guard, Black 'Stock

 

[TerribleTim68]

If I've learned anything from being on TalkBass, it's that the correct answer is "It's a P-Bass, get one in every color."

 

[bassfran]

Black goes with everything and allows you to flash up your clothes for the gig if you can/want.

 

[TeeSee]

I'm not sure what Tort is as I'm Yoorpeean but I've voted Black/Tort. - Ah I understand now you meant tortoisehell pickguard, I thought it was an American color. I've never really liked tortoiseshell I always wondered why they put a 19th Century instrument decor onto a 20th Century instrument. Anyway it's not about me. Either way, the colour choice has nothing to do with my P Bass colour, absolutely nothing at all...

 

[Dbassmon]

Choose something different than anything you already own.

 

[jd56hawk]

That's easy, black and tort...and I'm not even a tort guy.

 

[J Posega]

Red and white pearloid is just flashy enough to be interesting but not so loud that it won't work for any situation.

 

[bigdaddybass12]

Black, don’t over-think it,,,,

 

[CaribooBass]

You are not going to like this, who cares about Colour ?
What if the bass you like in the colouring factor feels horrible in your hands?
Does colour make the bass sound better?
Why are relic bases so popular when those same colours are half scrapped off?
You want to make a good impression on stage, do it with moving people hearts and ears.
Some of the best music ever recorded was done on instruments that barely stayed together.

I will see myself out!

 

[stingray69]

Of all the different color basses I've owned, white has been the least owned color, but it also looks the best on-stage of all my previous basses. IMO/YMMV.

Of course Red always catches my eye too - and also looks great on stage.

My vote is for White or Red (in that order).

 

[micguy]

Never mind that I should be working. Never mind that I swore off Indonesian basses. Never mind that I have a self imposed 5 bass limit and now have 6.

I don't think you and I have the same definition of "limit".

As to colors, if you have to go painted, I'd suggest black and white body/pickguard, or the other way around- contrast with some white in the thing. No matter what the lighting is, that'll work.

I've never understood parchment or mint - they're 99 percent the same as white under most stage light, except for the occasional 1 percent of the time where they look dingy.

 

[Tom Bomb]

Backin' black.​