World's most beautiful basses

[JimmyM]

Shergolds!

I'm gonna get hammered for this.....! trust me, if all you TBers could play my Marathon, you would have your mind blown away! My opinion anyway....

Why would we hammer you? I'm sure it's a good player. Not exactly my thing lookswise, but I've played much worse.

 

[Fassa Albrecht]

Why would we hammer you? I'm sure it's a good player. Not exactly my thing lookswise, but I've played much worse.

There are certain people on (I mention no names!) that HATE Shergolds and can't see why I make such a fuss over them.

 

[blowinblue]

M. M.

 

[Baryonyx]

There are certain people on (I mention no names!) that HATE Shergolds and can't see why I make such a fuss over them.

Can't see why you make a fuss over them...so ugly...what a shape...looks terrible...should try a Wal instead...talk about quality...etc etc....

 

[Crabby]

Thanks!!

The pics don't do it justice....Jerzy is a true artist.

No offence but this bass looks kind of moldy and rotten to me. I like nice wood but this is a little extreme for my taste.

 

[A9X]

Can't see why you make a fuss over them...so ugly...what a shape...looks terrible...should try a Wal instead...talk about quality...etc etc....

Agreed. But I think many Wals are ugly too. I just want the electronics package in them.

 

[funky hobbit]

Hi Mark, I heard you had gotten rid of the Fodera to fund a new kitchen!

You might be surprised, as many have been, to hear that I traded my Kubicki Ex-Factor for a Status Stealth bass! Funny to think that I lusted after one for so long, but was able to find it in my heart to let it go. Newcastle has one less Kubicki player now! Do you have any photos of the Status Empathy?

Hey up, nice to hear from you.
Shame that you have sold the kubicki. I have had a couple, a 90 custom shop cherry burst and an 87 solid red one.
Great tone but they do sound a bit soft when you have to cut through overdriven guitars in the mix.
I must say you have balls of steel playing a 6 string.
25 years on and I am still discovering new tones and chops on the 4 string.

Anyway, just for you another beautiful bass. My old pre truss rod Empathy 4 string in flamed walnut from about 1994 I think.

Regards,Mark

 

[Carver]

No offence but this bass looks kind of moldy and rotten to me. I like nice wood but this is a little extreme for my taste.

None taken

That wood isn't for everyone...I asked Jerzy for some over-the-top buckeye and thats what he came up with. Personally, I love it (The pics really don't represent the true appearance). Here are the others which aren't quite as showy.

 

[spade2you]

But I'd bet Spade2you might be biased towards something like this:

If I didn't dig the tone, I could at least dig a ditch with it.

 

[Baryonyx]

Hey up, nice to hear from you.
Shame that you have sold the kubicki. I have had a couple, a 90 custom shop cherry burst and an 87 solid red one.
Great tone but they do sound a bit soft when you have to cut through overdriven guitars in the mix.
I must say you have balls of steel playing a 6 string.
25 years on and I am still discovering new tones and chops on the 4 string.

Anyway, just for you another beautiful bass. My old pre truss rod Empathy 4 string in flamed walnut from about 1994 I think.

Regards,Mark

Wow, if I'm ever in your neck of the toon I'm coming to give that one a go!

Can't remember if I posted this here but...

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As for balls of steel, well, maybe...but I'm a lot more of a rounded player than I was the last time we played together! Back in those days it was all about Stuart Hamm, but now Geddy Lee and Jonas Hellborg have came along too! I still slap like it's 1985, but I'm always diversifying, going on your advice that fingerstyle gets the gigs! I've pretty much given up on tapping too!

 

[Raul Amador]

There will never be a consensus as to beauty! Love the one you are with!

 

[Debased]

None taken

That wood isn't for everyone...I asked Jerzy for some over-the-top buckeye and thats what he came up with. Personally, I love it (The pics really don't represent the true appearance). Here are the others which aren't quite as showy.

I think your new JD looks fantastic. Burls are usually hit and miss for me, but that bass has spectacular patterning and the rich, smoky color is gorgeous.

 

[Carver]

I think your new JD looks fantastic. Burls are usually hit and miss for me, but that bass has spectacular patterning and the rich, smoky color is gorgeous.

Thanks

Your Legend is also one of my all time fav's!!!

 

[MoSlevin]

Thanks!

I bet MoSlevin just adores those "hugely disproportionate" horns.

Yeah, that was the kind of furniture bass I was talking about. I can agree that there's a certain beauty to the artistry and workmanship that goes into something like that. I guess I just can't wrap my head around the idea of *playing* it - it's just not my vibe, but to each his own.

However, it does beg the question - are there basses that are "too pretty to play?"

 

[JonathanD]

I very strongly dislike wood tone basses.
I think they are ugly as hell.
Jonathan

 

[spade2you]

I very strongly dislike wood tone basses.
I think they are ugly as hell.
Jonathan

So the bass has to have no tone to look good?

 

[ehque]

No offence but this bass looks kind of moldy and rotten to me. I like nice wood but this is a little extreme for my taste.

the idea is not to think of it as wood. If you want to look at nice wood, there's always a lumberyard. I think this is nice for a SURFACE.

 

[spade2you]

The proverb about a poor carpenter immediately comes to mind.


So far I've gotten nothing but love for every instrument I've shown up with. By other musicians, contracters, audience members, etc. IME what producers hate is people who don't know what they're doing... and take forever trying to do it. I've had zero backlash bringing anything I felt like bringing with one memorable exception.

The Zon Legacy Standard fretless 5 (my avatar) was used almost exclusively for over a year. During that time I played with one particular group about a dozen times. Got compliments on everything until one of the keyboard players gave me his updated opinion. It took him about six months to notice the bass was fretless, even though it's unlined. At that point he told me he didn't think fretless should be used for the type of music we were doing: 70's R&B and Funk, smooth Jazz, etc. I thanked him for his opinion and reminded him that he didn't even know it was a fretless because I didn't play it like one the vast majority of the time and more important, the guy who hired me and was paying me loved it.


Last week the leader of a busy band I work with walked past me as we were about to break and said "That bass sounds great. All of your basses sound great". I don't play them like I'm afraid of getting a ding, I play them like I would any instrument I own. I have no doubt that affects some folks' playing. I also have no doubt that a large number of bassists don't truly know what they're doing... and it's much easier to blame a bass for a shortcoming. I know people who've been playing 20 years who are clueless when it comes to setting controls and EQ. Clueless when it comes to technique. Clueless about how everything works together.

I have had mixed reviews of my boutiques/custom stuff. Audiophiles, guys with carpenter/woodworking skills, and experimental musicians tend to really enjoy the looks and tone. I'm big into the tone and comfort, I consider the looks a perk.

Oddly enough, for everyone who really loves my fretli, there's someone who is irate over 'em. I can smell a lot of jealousy, though. There's a problem when people get pissed before I play a single note.

 

[Fassa Albrecht]

Can't see why you make a fuss over them...so ugly...what a shape...looks terrible...should try a Wal instead...talk about quality...etc etc....

The Shergold company really only lasted 10 years or so and so the Shergold range of basses was largely an experimental manufacture.
The Shergold Marathon you see me playing is also a Mark 1- the Mark 1a and Mk.2 series were much more refined in shape and sound.


Plus, 2 words for you- Peter Hook. Need I say more?

 

[TheButler]

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Saw those guys on a channel 4 program this morning. The bassist plays a shergold