Wouldn't anyone play a metric bass?

[Watchootognbout]

They tried to convert the U.S. to metric sytem back in the seventies.
Made a big deal about it in school.
Never happened.
Why is that?

 

[mmon77]

I was in elementary school in the 80's and they were still teaching us of the impending switch to the metric system.

 

[HolmeBass]

But the world is chock-full of odd juxtapositions. Me & my neighbours, for instance.

It absolutely is. Which is why a lot of the time I gloss over them without really noticing them. Like this one - I hadn't really noticed this particular metric/Imperial juxtaposition explicitly before even though I've read so many threads on scale length, radius, and string spacing.

 

[macmanlou]

Same goes for weed. It gets sold in 1/8, 1/4, 1/2 ounces or pounds......apparently

Cocaine and hash (I've been told) is sold by the gram. Go figure

 

[macmanlou]

I was in elementary school in the 80's and they were still teaching us of the impending switch to the metric system.

In '79, US automakers started using both metric and fractional size fasteners. It was a great time for the tool companies, but not so great for us wrench-twisters.

 

[mmon77]

In '79, US automakers started using both metric and fractional size fasteners. It was a great time for the tool companies, but not so great for us wrench-twisters.

Yup. Drives me nuts every time I work on my "American" car that was made in Canada.

 

[macmanlou]

I work in the shop of a Harley/BMW/Ducati motorcycle dealer. Harley uses a mixture of metric and fractional size fasteners. Accessory manufacturers mix it up as much as bass guitar manufacturers do.

Want to do quick conversions without going to your smartphone? Get yourself one of these -

And/or one of these...

...and just flip it over after you've set the crossbar.

 

[MrSidecar]

I can't believe I read this whole thread.

Best
Sidecar

 

[Iridescentone]

It's because the musical instrument business is international. The USA is the biggest single market and if your product isn't measured in inches most Americans will have no idea what size it is but will have the suspicion that your product is somehow a threat to their way of life and the purity of their precious bodily fluids.

Not a threat, more like a nuisance. Like a....

(it's multiple choice, pick the descriptor you feel the most comfortable with)

> mosquito
> gnat
> piss ant
> pissant.

 

[Iridescentone]

There ya go. 75% of the world economy operates with the metric system.

Reality check: In the USA we "operate" on both systems. Been that way for decades, largely because much (most?) of our consumer products are imported from countries who's primary systems are metric. Big deal, no one here gives a hoot about it either way. Besides, for those of us who like to work with our hands it's a perfect excuse to buy more tools. Yay!

 

[Doctor Intrepid]

All basses are metric. Just like you are. It's only a system of measurement and not a building material.

 

[Phalex]

 

[MojoPenguin]

Well I'm used to the metric system being French, but had no issues while visiting the USA with that and had a great time. How ? Well I got an app for that on my iPhone lol It's a non issue for most of us nowadays just like currencies exchange rates or finding out with google maps where is that award winning Delicatessen you saw on yelp.

 

[lowendrv]

Anybody who does any kind of engineering in the USA automatically has the metric and SAE numbers in their head. 40 years with Mercedes Benz , Very seldom did I worry about conversion . It's like speaking a non native language . You don't have to think about it . If you know the language .

 

[retslock]

Because it would be confusing to lazy, small American brains like mine. How many centimeters in a deciliter? Stupid Europeans and their hoity-toity elitist units of measurement. They think they're so smart.

Yes - how ignorant of them. Don't they know the good ol' USA is the centre of the Universe?

 

[Iridescentone]

@saabfender, I am afraid you re not even joking So let me fix that for you:


There is a world out there you know right? And in this world, pretty much every kid kicks around a ball. A soccer ball as you would call it

Please allow me to explain the situation in simple terms....

> We (USA) have a long standing, and very popular sport that we call "football". We love our "football" sport and spend billions of "dollars" annually watching and playing our fun sport.

> Over the last few decades, we've (USA) become interested in the sport that the rest of the world calls "football". Even though it's more popular with girls than boys here for obvious reasons, we still have to call it something other than "football"...(stay with me now)...because we (USA) already have a sport that we call "football". With that, we decided to use the 200 year old British term "soccer" in deference to the origins of the game, and to differentiate between the two sports.

You see, we (USA) didn't make up the term "soccer", the Brits did centuries ago. It was derived from the official British name for the sport..."associated football". Blame them, not us okay? In future, please direct all derision and scorn to them. The Brits. Clear?

Exit question: As American-style football appears to be making inroads in other countries, what name will it be given by its adoptive homes?

 

[Max Blasto]

Did Alaska succeed?

Succeed at what?

 

[Max Blasto]

To me, metric makes far more sense than the antiquated imperial or US customary system.

And I've always wondered why we call it football, when the ball is only occasionally kicked!

Because originally the only way you could score was by kicking a field goal. Touchdowns came later and the forward pass later still.

 

[White Beard]

First off, being born and raised in the United States, I can tell you that most people don't even know imperical measurements that well. It's just 5,280 feet in a mile people. As a professional chef, I can tell you that a lot of the people that come to me looking for employment, and even my boss (GM, not a chef), don't know. My wife tracks her fitness and food intake and all of that, and she's always asking me stuff like, "how many ounces are in a whatever?" And I'm like, "weight ounces or fluid ounces? If it's just water, then a fluid ounce weighs one ounce." And then she's like, "you're no help."

I also know my metric conversions.

5ml = 1 tsp
1kg = 2.1 lbs.
roughly 1km = 2/3 mile
1 liter = 1.05 quarts
2.54 cm = 1 inch

My wife got really scared driving in Vancouver and the speed limit was 100. I was in the passenger seat and I said, "just drive 65." I didn't even tell her that km/h was the little numbers on the inside of the speed-o-meter.

One previous poster said something about converting centimeters to deciliters... guess what? You can't. One measures length and the other measures volume. Now, one cubic centimeter (cc) is equal to one milliliter, hence, one deciliter is equal to 100 cubic centimeters.

 

[MojoPenguin]

Just to play devil's advocate for a second. Imperial and metric are not better or worse than one another, these are just systems, it's the age old glass half empty or half full conundrum. I mean in the end it does not really matter, folks will use what they are most comfortable with. The real question is should you go short scale yes or no