Members honeyiscool Posted February 21, 2011 Members Share Posted February 21, 2011 Guitarists deem to instinctively understand that sleek woody finishes and over-engineered and sleek looks make the instrument kind of wimpy looking. Bassists seem to desire that look. So yeah, I like playing both equally, but give me a solid color Fender over this any day: I'd be embarrassed to have an instrument that looked like that, no matter how many gearheads in the audience are impressed by my axe. It's not that it looks bad. I just don't wanna be that guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mistersully Posted February 21, 2011 Members Share Posted February 21, 2011 generalising much? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WithNoHands Posted February 21, 2011 Members Share Posted February 21, 2011 *I* think it looks cool... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Darkstorm Posted February 21, 2011 Members Share Posted February 21, 2011 Makes note, none of them kewl looking quilt or flame maple or natural finish guitars for this guy. Lol. Even if it custom bc rich beast etc, or something by monson or moser etc. I think audiance members into the instrumentation notice and appreciate both fancy wood finish axes as well as yer more basic kewl looking black with black hardware approach. Hum, heres a wicked kewl looking natural finish, sleek in its own way. Dont look wimpy to me. Lol. http://www.monsonguitars.com/guitars/savage.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members golias Posted February 21, 2011 Members Share Posted February 21, 2011 As long as we're overgeneralizing, guitarists are staunch traditionalists who evaluate how "beautiful" a guitar is by how much it looks like the guitar played by the idols of their young days, while bassists tend to value function over form and appreciate any and all new innovations which produce a playing feel & tone they like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members honeyiscool Posted February 22, 2011 Author Members Share Posted February 22, 2011 Oh both guitarists and bassists mistakenly assume that anyone in the audience other than other musicians give any hoot about how thier guitar sounds, looks, or feels. Anyway doesn't the P-Bass still badly outsell everything else? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sk8centilli Posted February 22, 2011 Members Share Posted February 22, 2011 Mine looks like this: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fiveoclockhero Posted February 22, 2011 Members Share Posted February 22, 2011 There are SO MANY guitarists who love natural finishes and are obsessed with luthier-crafted museum pieces. Sure, you've got the Fender guys who care more about utilitarianism and simple functionality than anything else but I'd say that "Fender" group accounts for about 40% of guitar players and about 80% of bass players. If anything, you're exactly backwards. Reading the title of this thread, I assumed you were going to say that bass players stick to the classics too much. Anyway doesn't the P-Bass still badly outsell everything else? P's and J's dominate the bass market and not by a small margin, either. It's a drastic, tremendous landslide of Fender domination among the bass players of the world. I am a bass player as well as being a guitarist and I played bass for many, many years in bands and I know what I'm talking about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fiveoclockhero Posted February 22, 2011 Members Share Posted February 22, 2011 As long as we're overgeneralizing, guitarists are staunch traditionalists who evaluate how "beautiful" a guitar is by how much it looks like the guitar played by the idols of their young days, while bassists tend to value function over form and appreciate any and all new innovations which produce a playing feel & tone they like. This tends to be true as well. Guitarists want to sound LIKE someone and LOOK like someone and the ability to emulate famous guitar players is the strictest criteria when judging an instrument's functionality, aesthetic and sound. Bass players tend to be more about playability and sticking to what works... they will play P's and J's until the world ends. Innovation among bass players is embraced but only insofar that it helps them achieve their ends more effectively. They really don't give a damn what instruments look like or how sexy they are (although I happen to think Fenders are sexy anyway, it's incidental to a bass player). Innovation among guitar players is embraced but only insofar that it helps them sound like a specific player or even recording. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mrbrown49 Posted February 22, 2011 Members Share Posted February 22, 2011 Mine looks like this: Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh. That's niiiice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cratz2 Posted February 22, 2011 Members Share Posted February 22, 2011 I agree with everyone in the thread other than the OP. I even agree with sk8centilli when he says, 'Mine looks like this' since my main bass looks like this: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fiveoclockhero Posted February 22, 2011 Members Share Posted February 22, 2011 There's some fine looking J basses on this thread right now. The only bass I have in my apartment is also my first bass and most trusted bass, my old Squier P-Bass Special (J neck, P body and both pickups): That but with Duncan Quarter Pounders instead of the rather bland stock pickups. I know she's ordinary-looking but she's dead reliable... for 11 years and countless adventures, including every jam session I went to in college. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mrbrown49 Posted February 22, 2011 Members Share Posted February 22, 2011 I'm actually shopping for a bass right now, my old one is developing a strange neck issue. Detail? And do you like it? Same question to you sk8centilli. I've been wanting a jazz bass variant of some type but know even less about bass than I do about guitars. I agree with everyone in the thread other than the OP. I even agree with sk8centilli when he says, 'Mine looks like this' since my main bass looks like this: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Special J Posted February 22, 2011 Members Share Posted February 22, 2011 Guitarists deem to instinctively understand that sleek woody finishes and over-engineered and sleek looks make the instrument kind of wimpy looking. No, no they don't really. What do you mean by "over-engineered"? Since when are natural finishes wimpy? Bassists seem to desire that look. Not any more than guitarists do, IME. Bassists seem to desire instruments that work well for them. Since we're generalizing here, I've found that bassists tend to be more interested in being musicians than posing as rock stars. They also tend to stick to a small number of high quality instruments rather than a huge stable of low-budget ones. So yeah, I like playing both equally, but give me a solid color Fender over this any day: I'd be embarrassed to have an instrument that looked like that, no matter how many gearheads in the audience are impressed by my axe. It's not that it looks bad. I just don't wanna be that guy. Alembic has been producing incredible axes for a long time. They are one of the first widely recognized boutique builders. I'd be proud to own one. The only thing embarrasing about that bass is that somebody doesn't know how to trim their strings after putting them on. It's got one more string then I typically like too, but whatever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cratz2 Posted February 22, 2011 Members Share Posted February 22, 2011 No weird issues with mine. I've had it about three years and bought it from the original owner that bought it in high school. It's a Japanese Fernandes. I can usually get guitars set up very well, but I just can't seem to get this one setup up quite super great. I have a more modern one... 5 strings, active pickups, preamp etc... and it plays frickin SWEET. But, just as the OP would suggest, I just feel more comfortable on the Fernandes Jazz bass. There are lots of great deals on used basses at Guitar Center, craigslist etc... Seems there are always better financial deals on used basses than guitars. At least around these parts. I want to get a lighter weight, but still gigable bass amp and every time I look at GC, they have at least five used basses I'd be glad to own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mrbrown49 Posted February 22, 2011 Members Share Posted February 22, 2011 No weird issues with mine. I've had it about three years and bought it from the original owner that bought it in high school.It's a Japanese Fernandes. Ah, very cool. Mine's an early eighties bottom of the barrel epiphone bass. It actually played and sounded great for years but started to develop issues. It has a paper thin neck down by nut and for some reason all the relief comes in before the fifth fret, and slightly twists under pressure. I've tried a compression fretting technique but it just doesn't hold up to the pressure. It would need some extra reenforcement to be usable at this point, graphite rods for example. Oh well. Got it for 50 bucks in 97 so I think I got my moneys worth out of it anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cratz2 Posted February 22, 2011 Members Share Posted February 22, 2011 Oh well. Got it for 50 bucks in 97 so I think I got my moneys worth out of it anyway. I'd say so... That breaks down to about thirty cents a month. Most of us spend more than that on mustard. What city do you live in? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ExiledCrow Posted February 22, 2011 Members Share Posted February 22, 2011 I know she's ordinary-looking but she's dead reliable... for 11 years and countless adventures, including every jam session I went to in college. This. Without this there's simply no point to anything else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mrbrown49 Posted February 22, 2011 Members Share Posted February 22, 2011 I'd say so... That breaks down to about thirty cents a month. Most of us spend more than that on mustard. What city do you live in? Rochester NY. Used market here is so so, but the occasional deal does pop up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fiveoclockhero Posted February 22, 2011 Members Share Posted February 22, 2011 This. Without this there's simply no point to anything else. I agree. I was always surprised by how much mileage I got out of a Squier, especially considering this was before CV and VM series Squiers took the pole position in the budget market. Back then, you had Standards and Affinitys and buying a Squier was generally kind of hit or miss. I could have easily wound up with a clunker but I lucked out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sk8centilli Posted February 23, 2011 Members Share Posted February 23, 2011 I'm actually shopping for a bass right now, my old one is developing a strange neck issue. Detail? And do you like it?Same question to you sk8centilli. I've been wanting a jazz bass variant of some type but know even less about bass than I do about guitars. I dig it. I grew up playing bass; in fact, I got my first electric 6-string just a few years ago. I've had a Gibson, Rickenbacker, an Ibanez Musician and now this. I can't say it's my favorite, but it's impossible for me to say why. It very well could be that I got it after getting out of a band. All of the others were heavily used and played much more frequently. Yeah, I suppose that's why. It feels great and sounds beautiful. If you're looking for a Jazz type, I solidly recommend the Squier Vintage Modified 70's Jazz. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mrbrown49 Posted February 23, 2011 Members Share Posted February 23, 2011 I dig it. I grew up playing bass; in fact, I got my first electric 6-string just a few years ago. I've had a Gibson, Rickenbacker, an Ibanez Musician and now this. I can't say it's my favorite, but it's impossible for me to say why. It very well could be that I got it after getting out of a band. All of the others were heavily used and played much more frequently. Yeah, I suppose that's why. It feels great and sounds beautiful.If you're looking for a Jazz type, I solidly recommend the Squier Vintage Modified 70's Jazz. One might have to play a few to find the good one, but when they do they found themselves a keeper. Thanks for the tip. I was actually eyeing those online yesterday. I'll have to track one down and give it a shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cratz2 Posted February 23, 2011 Members Share Posted February 23, 2011 And, while it's certainly not the most versatile bass in the world, one local shop has one of the cool single pickup 50s P Bass from the Classic Vibe series. That one particular example is a great-playing bass. A family member works at the store so one day while we were just shooting the {censored}, I literally handled every one of the basses I had remotely any interest in and that bass KILLED! The last thing I need is another bass, but I do have the hots for the fiesta red P bass: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members eric.chambers Posted February 23, 2011 Members Share Posted February 23, 2011 I dunno. I really consider myself a bass player at heart. All the bands I've ever been in, I always played bass. I've only recently started to focus more on my guitar playing. From day one, the coolest looking instruments *to me* have always been vintage, or vintage in style. I think my tastes are really the same for both guitar and bass. My Tele is a Daphne Blue '60's styled guitar, and my bass is a '62 reissue Precision. I never liked pointy guitars, not even back in the '80's when guys were trading in vintage Fenders to buy Kramers and rack gear. Nothing against pointy guitars, they just are not for me. As far as that first bass in the OP goes, I'd never buy it. I'm sure it's nice and all, but give me a P-bass and an SVT any day! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fiveoclockhero Posted February 23, 2011 Members Share Posted February 23, 2011 cratz - I love the CV 50's P Bass. It's a brilliant instrument, especially for the cash. I think it's a spiritual partner to my 50's CV Tele. Unfortunately, I'm not crazy about that blue color. If they changed THAT and kept the rest of it the same, I would consider it if I ever buy another bass again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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