Too precious about equipment?

[mushers]

when i were a lad i took my bass apart and packed the neck out with two folded golden virginia packets (the foil ones) to bring the action down it worked not so well i also bashed a would be mugger in the gonads with a pointy headstock on another bass
needless to say neither of those basses are still with me
15 years on i would not consider packing out a neck with foil or hitting people with a bass, and it even troubles me no matter the age or cost of the bass the ammount of buckle rash i see on some basses im sure its avoidable to a degree
i have become a bit precious about my gear but im not yet one of those crazies that start a fight because you stepped on my lead

[NickH]

[quote name='mushers' timestamp='1336679487' post='1649517']
15 years on i would not consider packing out a neck with foil or hitting people with a bass,
[/quote]

Safe to say that no matter what age I reach or what expensive mint condition bass I might own, I'll ALWAYS bash a mugger in the gonads with it

[3below]

I have very mixed (confused lol) points on kit. My G&L is beat, and was before I got it. Does not bother me. Cheapo Peavey (£40) has small scratches on it - annoys me. One Warwick Rockbass is perfect, would be annoyed if I marked it, the other is used and dented - so what. Both Warwicks were £140 basses, so no big deal. Resale is a big part of keeping kit pristine, wish I had kept some basses, tags etc just as new.

[skankdelvar]

[quote name='4 Strings' timestamp='1336666419' post='1649219']
Right, that does it! The sticker is off the bottom of my amp and IN THE BIN! I've rebelled and I'm still only 52!
[/quote]

Fly your freak flag high, brother!

[quote name='4 Strings' timestamp='1336666577' post='1649223']
Remember in the old days, new cars used to come with clear plastic seat covers. [/quote]

That was sofas. In the old days the car seats were [i]made[/i] out of shiny plastic.

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1336667094' post='1649236']
flip, I'm an artist/designer by trade and I'm struggling to think of an £8 pencil.[/quote]

Must be a Fodera of pencils

[quote name='CS2' timestamp='1336669531' post='1649287']
any damage to the neck is unacceptable, I've had necks repairs because they had tiny amounts of damage. I've not bought instruments because the neck was dinged, even one. [/quote]

Polyfilla

Edited May 10, 2012 by skankdelvar

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1336686930' post='1649665']
That was sofas. In the old days the car seats were [i]made[/i] out of shiny plastic.
[/quote]
Never had a new sofa till I was 40 either.

[skankdelvar]

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1336687280' post='1649672']
Never had a new sofa till I was 40 either.[/quote]

Well [i]we[/i] lived in a septic tank in't middle of lake, etc. Nowhere to [i]put[/i] a sofa.

[WalMan]

[quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1336687455' post='1649678']
Well [i]we[/i] lived in a septic tank in't middle of lake, etc. Nowhere to [i]put[/i] a sofa.
[/quote]LUXURY!! etc., etc..

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1336687455' post='1649678']
Well [i]we[/i] lived in a septic tank in't middle of lake, etc. Nowhere to [i]put[/i] a sofa.
[/quote]
You could have put it on the edge of the lake, that would have been very nice.

[bobbass4k]

Sometimes it is justified, a bassist friend of my housemates came round once and I let him have a jam on my gear, for some reason I assumed he knew what he was doing. He plugged in to my tube amp and flicked both switches on simultaneously and then complained there was no sound coming out. After that no one was allowed near the gear without an extensive and patronising lecture.

[4 Strings]

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1336669834' post='1649294']
I'm no wiser.
[/quote]

This type of thing "I had a wonderful jazz last year- a real joy of an instrument but it had been kept so well I was slightly scared to play it- i just had got it and it wasn't 'my bass' yet that I wouldn't have minded damage. Ultimately I moved it on."

We all look after our gear, that's fair enough, no-one is suggesting its ok to abuse it.

But, I get the feeling that we've gone overboard on it, there's me with my sticker and door jambs being less critical if damaged than a cab, friends with expensive (but not unique) basses which don't come out the wardrobe, let alone house and a general feeling that changing one screw is somehow sacrilege and even enjoying these restrictions due to additional perceived value.

This seems to make the gear rather less useful and I recalled a time when this didn't seem to be the case, yet the gear was relatively more expensive then. Are we more precious about it now than we used to be?

[gub]

I treat all my stuff the same , I have always looked after my things even when I was a kid (well apart from one car that I smashed up to make it look like it had been in an accident ) I did have to think twice the other day when the guitarist asked if he could use my orange terror cover to prop up a monitor as he had used his for the other side ! I gave in reluctantly thinking its a cover FFs !

[cheddatom]

When I was a kid we loved cricket but couldn't afford a bat. We tried to fashion one from wood but it didn't work. The 62 strat my uncle had in his loft was perfect once we'd cut the sides off. Later, once I fell out of love with cricket and took up the guitar, I just glued some new chipboard sides on so it looked cool... what's the problem?

[4 Strings]

[quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1336725892' post='1649923']
When I was a kid we loved cricket but couldn't afford a bat. We tried to fashion one from wood but it didn't work. The 62 strat my uncle had in his loft was perfect once we'd cut the sides off. Later, once I fell out of love with cricket and took up the guitar, I just glued some new chipboard sides on so it looked cool... what's the problem?
[/quote]

None! Strats (and their basses) are normally three bits of wood in the body so the outer two are just shapes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=1fbGntY3QH8

You can here the Thanet sand can't you! Let's hope he doesn't use acrylic paint and hold the sound in.

[Spoombung]

This thread is reminding me I must update my tatty stuff for something a bit more pristine...

[neepheid]

[quote name='4 Strings' timestamp='1336721395' post='1649866']
This type of thing "I had a wonderful jazz last year- a real joy of an instrument but it had been kept so well I was slightly scared to play it- i just had got it and it wasn't 'my bass' yet that I wouldn't have minded damage. Ultimately I moved it on."

We all look after our gear, that's fair enough, no-one is suggesting its ok to abuse it.

But, I get the feeling that we've gone overboard on it, there's me with my sticker and door jambs being less critical if damaged than a cab, friends with expensive (but not unique) basses which don't come out the wardrobe, let alone house and a general feeling that changing one screw is somehow sacrilege and even enjoying these restrictions due to additional perceived value.

This seems to make the gear rather less useful and I recalled a time when this didn't seem to be the case, yet the gear was relatively more expensive then. Are we more precious about it now than we used to be?
[/quote]

Right, I get where you're coming from. From my point of view I don't think I'm precious about it. All my basses get played on rotation because I love playing all of them. What's the point in having them if you don't play them?

I am not scared to take a Guild B402-A (one of only 335 ever made) to a marquee gig at floor level. I'm happy to play a Gibson RD Artist down the pub. But I'm not going to take my lovingly restored Victory Artist or my IV with me to Belladrum festival. I'll be taking something which is 1) inexpensive and 2) in current production so easily replaceable. Which means either the Yamaha BB614 or the G&L Tribute L-2000. That's just being sensible, not precious.

In my house if an instrument is not being played then it is sold. I have sold my first bass, and recently my first Gibson bass - the G-3 set me off on a noble path but it just wasn't getting played like it used to. There's no room for sentimentality, it's expensive. Same goes for my wife - she recently sold her saxophone because she wasn't playing it. Instruments are to be played - my wife's only rule regarding my hobby. That and threatening to divorce me if I bring a pointy bass home

I do think that irreversible modifications on basses above a certain price threshold is folly. I guess I do have one eye on the future and values etc. in that regard. If I want to muck about, I'll do it on something current and something cheap. I think we learn from our predecessors' mistakes. When I see RD Artists with their Moog boards removed it makes me cringe. It's what made it an RD Artist, you muppet! It's not as if they didn't provide a passive model (the RD Standard), you could/should have used one of those. RD Castrato anyone? I think that it's relevant that solid bodied electric basses and guitars as we know them have only been around in a meaningful, accessible and plentiful form for just over 60 years. That's only one lifetime. They're still very young in the grand scheme of things and we've only had a grandparent's and a parent's triumphs and mistakes to learn from so far. That's not a deep well of experience to draw from.

[4 Strings]

"I have sold my first bass, and recently my first Gibson bass - the G-3 set me off on a noble path but it just wasn't getting played like it used to. There's no room for sentimentality, it's expensive. Same goes for my wife - "

>I wondered where this was going to go!

"Instruments are to be played - my wife's only rule regarding my hobby."

>A good rule!

"I do think that irreversible modifications on basses above a certain price threshold is folly. I guess I do have one eye on the future and values etc."

>But what if it makes it more useful? Back in the day (here we go again) people used to saw the bottom off Hammonds and put them on stands with the pedals etc remote. This meant it could be lifted into a van with the other stuff and not require one to itself. Can you imagine that happening now?

[4 Strings]

[quote name='Spoombung' timestamp='1336727534' post='1649955'] This thread is reminding me I must update my tatty stuff for something a bit more pristine... [/quote]

That little H||H combo is exactly what I mean! If that was bought new now some people would be keeping it in its cardboard box.

I'm ignoring the 'elephant in the room' part of the picture!

[Beer of the Bass]

[quote name='4 Strings' timestamp='1336729467' post='1650013']
I'm ignoring the 'elephant in the room' part of the picture!
[/quote]

What, the eight quid pencil in the mug on the table?

[discreet]

[quote name='4 Strings' timestamp='1336729467' post='1650013']
I'm ignoring the 'elephant in the room' part of the picture!
[/quote]

Yes, those sliding louvre doors are [i]so [/i]'seventies'.

Edited May 11, 2012 by discreet

[discreet]

H | I Electronic?? Don't think I've heard of them.

[Spoombung]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1336730177' post='1650028']
H | I Electronic?? Don't think I've heard of them.
[/quote]
hahaha! Exactly.

[neepheid]

[quote name='4 Strings' timestamp='1336729276' post='1650005']
>But what if it makes it more useful? Back in the day (here we go again) people used to saw the bottom off Hammonds and put them on stands with the pedals etc remote. This meant it could be lifted into a van with the other stuff and not require one to itself. Can you imagine that happening now?
[/quote]

Given that when it comes down to it, electric basses are all the same (in the sense that you wear them on a strap and the neck is some flavour of horizontal when you play (in other words, not vertical)) and there is so much variety out there (again, this was not always the case) that if you need to mod a bass in an irreversible way then it's more likely now that you have the wrong bass and there is probably one more suited to your needs without attacking the one you have with a spokeshave or a drill.

The Hammond example is compelling, but with the plethora of good quality, highly portable synths out there there's really no need for this practice any more. Our organ grinder has a Hammond at home but at gigs he uses a [url="http://www.nordkeyboards.com/main.asp?tm=Products&clpm=Nord_Electro_2&clnem=Information"]Nord Electro 2[/url]. Why knacker yourself if you're not Keith Emerson with a squad of roadies and an artic lorry all to yourself?

[tauzero]

[quote name='neepheid' timestamp='1336727659' post='1649958']
In my house if an instrument is not being played then it is sold. I have sold my first bass, and recently my first Gibson bass - the G-3 set me off on a noble path but it just wasn't getting played like it used to. There's no room for sentimentality, it's expensive. Same goes for my wife
[/quote]

I hope she's not reading that over your shoulder...

[tauzero]

[quote name='4 Strings' timestamp='1336663585' post='1649153']
Anyway, no-ones going to put beer on an amp head with open vents.
[/quote]

You're not getting out enough, you know. That's something I see pretty regularly.

I use my instruments and gear, and avoid abusing them without (I hope) being too precious about them. Since starting to play, I've always had at least a gig bag for carrying them in. I find it astonishing that perhaps 20% of the guitarists and bassist that use the rehearsal studio that I frequent have either no protection at all or just a bin-bag for their instruments.

[neepheid]

[quote name='tauzero' timestamp='1336734048' post='1650120']
I hope she's not reading that over your shoulder...
[/quote]

I used to be quite sceptical of people in bother who claim to have been "misquoted", but with scamps like you guys around, I now understand completely