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bass snobbery


ashgeezer
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Hmmm.. well, I think I am a bit snobby to an extent. Maybe more because I am VERY fussy about my basses. Very few (if any) off the shelf cater to my needs, so I found that my best option in that case was to go custom.

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate instruments for a nice feel and great tone... oh and a nice lump of wood generally. It's just rare for me to find all the 'magic' on a stock instrument.

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I've only had poor experience with Encore and Stagg. But apparently Stagg have sorted out their quality now.


I don't like basses with an inherently 'cutting', 'hard', 'trebly' tone; so would probably leave some of the stereotypically sterile basses alone.

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[quote name='paul, the' post='190166' date='May 1 2008, 11:46 PM']I hate my bass. It sounds so dull.[/quote]


I hate every bass with dead strings... eugghhoo!!! just not my cup of tea!



- oh speaking of which.. anyone fancy a brew?

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Well, for me it has to be about simplicity, a bass with too many controls, eq settings, batteries, exotic woods, etc is something I wouldn't be able to get on with, don't get me wrong, some of the custom and boutique basses I've seen and heard through this forum are incredible, I can certainly appreciate the craftsmanship. I actually prefer second hand, worn in basses and of course only Fender :)

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I would have said yes a couple of years ago, as I wanted a Fender, and that was that. Then I got a Squier VMJ last year and have been impressed by other brands.

So, no, not any more.

People who do give you grief over your gear are in my opinion, shallow bastards, they can have their opinion all they like, but if somone tells me x piece of gear is crap because it's x brand (barring general consensus reached by a multitude of forum members, ie: Behringer pedals (not the DI one)), then I'd probably think they're being prats if they haven't tried said item out.

If they've tried it out, it's an informed opinion based on their experience ie, they may have tried 5 different badly setup friday afternoon squiers, therefore deem all squiers are crap. Which I'll take in mind then probably ignore.

And I quote: "Opinions are like arseholes; everyone has got one".

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The pedal board looks amazing by the way.
Buzz i agree with you `100% you will always get snotty bastards regarding basses, personally if your bass plays nice then you should be happy with it,regardless of its price.
I have a really cheap precision copy ( and i mean cheap ) and it sounds excellent, its not a patch on my fender but it sounds really nice for he price.

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I'm not keen on Fenders, purely because they are so copied. I freely admit; it's snobbish and superficial of me, but if I was to make the significant investment of the price of a USA Fender, I couldn't handle the thought that someone could mistake it visually for one of the £79 copies in the window of the music shop down the road.

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I don't have a lot of patience for cheap basses that sound crap but I can be impressed by a cheap bass that sounds good. However I'm not sure a cheap bass would persuade me to permenantly stop playing Smiths/Celinders etc. I got all my basses primarily because of the sounds they make and resale values were excellent. Meant the risk of losing money because of depreciation if I sold up was minimised as much as possible. I'm certainly not brand loyal, and that I'm considering changing my boutique-y Smiths for a homegrown Shuker or two at some point could speak for itself I guess.

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Yeah I would say i'm guilty of this. I couldn't see myself ever with a Peavey / Aria / Cort despite them being decent instruments. I've been very impressed by Yamahas in the past but they just seem to lack a little 'spirit'. I think ultimately if I could afford it - i'd stick with Musicman basses as they suit me very well.

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[quote name='ironside1966' post='190212' date='May 2 2008, 02:14 AM']There is a lot of snobbery amongst the kids, the worst offenders for gear snobbery are the ones that know and have done the least.[/quote]

Thats not snobbery thats ignorance....!

Snobbery is KNOWING that something cheaper is just as good as a XXX but buying XXX anyway because it has a name.....

I'm not a snob. I believe you get what you pay for, to a degree! I normally buy the best [i]QUALITY[/i] that I can afford and therein lies the rub-

who decides what quality is?

Persoanlly I feel thats very subjective, I know waht quality feels and sounds like to me.... To someone else it maybe utter 5hite....

I know for a fact that Ped would hate my swampy PRS as it sounds dull and definatly not twangy, but I love that sound!

So for me having watched lots of bands and played a bit of bass now, I prefer to assess what the sound is like and work out what it is that makes it that way....

It could be a cheap and ugly Squire or a very expensive Sei..... makes no difference to me.

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[quote name='The Burpster' post='190269' date='May 2 2008, 08:48 AM']I know for a fact that Ped would hate my swampy PRS as it sounds dull and definatly not twangy, but I love that sound![/quote]
Michael Manring's PRS hardly sounded swampy on his first album. What have you done to it Bob? :)

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Gear elitism isn't my style at all. One of the best basses I own is a Shine 5 string that cost me just over £100 on Ebay. It was my first 5 string and it was exactly what I needed at the time. If I keep fresh strings on it and really crank it out, it sounds excellent.

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Some of my favourite sounds for me have come from 'cheaper' basses. They're just tools at the end of the day.

I just recorded a fair portion of my album with an old jap bass I bought off ebay ages ago, it sounds great in the mix..

When it comes to recording and capturing sounds, you'll find that gear snobbery doesn't really wash in the mix. Most things sounds good as long as they are intoned correctly and played very tight. More often than not, compression and EQ is used during the mix to the extent where it takes on a sound of it's own anyway.

It all depends on the individual. I prefer 2nd or 3rd hand basses that have a story to tell. I've played a variety of brands from cheap to expensive and they all bring something different to the table. IMO of course.

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