Guy Pratt new signature bass

[MiltyG565]

[quote name='paul h' timestamp='1371289549' post='2112124']
It's all in the fingers. Your argument is invalid.

BOOM! POW!

I WIN AT BASSCHAT!!!!


[/quote]

Haha!

I wanted to win it

[paul h]

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1371289614' post='2112126']
Haha!

I wanted to win it
[/quote]

Just tell me I'm wrong and the crown is yours!

That's how it works isn't it?

[BigRedX]

[quote name='Bassman Sam' timestamp='1371259976' post='2111936']
And that would sound like Guy's Warwick? You're having a laugh mate. Have a word yourself

Edit, to say: Sorry if that came over a bit strong but they are not comparable.
.
[/quote]

There's a good chance that it might sound better than Guy's Warwick since this instrument was designed completely around the sliding pickup, rather than being an existing bass which has had the sliding mechanism shoe-horned into it. Plus the Westone scores over the Warwick by not having that ugly paddle headstock!

[waynepunkdude]

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1371289614' post='2112126']
Haha!

I wanted to win it
[/quote]

From what I've seen you may be last.

[MiltyG565]

[quote name='waynepunkdude' timestamp='1371290187' post='2112138']
From what I've seen you may be last.
[/quote]

Sssshhh, it can be our little secret

[Billy Apple]

[quote name='paul h' timestamp='1371289701' post='2112130']
Just tell me I'm wrong and the crown is yours!

That's how it works isn't it?


[/quote]

No. And you are Hitler.

I win

[White Cloud]

We will all have our own opinions on this bass but the bottom line is that music is creative art and therefore there are no rules. Most of us all have our own subjective creative vision about what we want from a bass.

This is Guy's (current) vision in the flesh. It has certainly sparked a bit of a reaction. Warwick will be happy!

[lowdown]

[quote name='White Cloud' timestamp='1371290849' post='2112170']
[size=4]This is Guy's (current) vision in the flesh. It has certainly sparked a bit of a reaction. Warwick will be happy![/size]
[/quote]

Yep - Job done.
It's been a good couple of weeks for Warwick and Backer ricken.


[size=4]Garry[/size]

[Bassman Sam]

[quote name='waynepunkdude' timestamp='1371289328' post='2112119']
Thank you, I shall have 'cantaloupe'.
[/quote][size=4][quote name='paul h' timestamp='1371289549' post='2112124'][/size]
It's all in the fingers. Your argument is invalid.

BOOM! POW!

I WIN AT BASSCHAT!!!!


[/quote]

Edited June 15, 2013 by Bassman Sam

[flyfisher]

[quote name='Bassman Sam' timestamp='1371168753' post='2110906']
Trying to remember the pup positions for a particular tone in a gigging situation would be a PITA. There must be a hell of a lot of options there.
[/quote]

It's certainly true that a multi-position pup adds a lot more config options than fixed ones, but I don't see why that would be a particular problem when some players seem to manage perfectly well with multiple tone controls on a bass and multi-band graphic equalisers on an amp.

[flyfisher]

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1371200416' post='2111042']
Beyond the first month I bet those pups get set and left where they are.
[/quote]

Quite possibly . . . . a bit like all the tone, graphic equaliser and multiple pedal controls on many bass rigs.

[flyfisher]

[quote name='iceonaboy' timestamp='1371202935' post='2111081']
I actually think, the "perfect bass" is a marriage of tone and looks. You dont want something that sounds awesome , but looks pants and vice versa
[/quote]

Interesting. Do we really not put awesome sound above looks? Will the music-buying public really care? Will it really matter in a studio? Could be an issue for live shows, I guess, or for people who like basses as wall-hanging ornaments.

[flyfisher]

[quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1371211044' post='2111227']
The 'Fairtrade' deal with our overseas custom shop ensures high quality at crazy low prices. Hence the mere three bags for our Joe Walsh Cocktailmatic sig model.


[/quote]

Is this a good time to point out the lack of guards on that machine? No, I guess not. Carry on . . . .

[wombatboter]

Like the sound... don't like the hole... You can't slap on these basses too because the hole doesn't give you the support for your fingers, just for those who like the occasional pluck.

[BigRedX]

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1371297805' post='2112256']
Interesting. Do we really not put awesome sound above looks? Will the music-buying public really care? Will it really matter in a studio? Could be an issue for live shows, I guess, or for people who like basses as wall-hanging ornaments.
[/quote]

I think the days when a great sounding instrument that looked horrible was acceptable ended about 30 years ago. As a live performer I certainly couldn't bring myself to play something that didn't completely satisfy me in all three aspects - sound, playability and looks, no matter how much it might excel in any one or two of them.

[BigRedX]

[quote name='wombatboter' timestamp='1371298567' post='2112262']
Like the sound... don't like the hole... You can't slap on these basses too because the hole doesn't give you the support for your fingers, just for those who like the occasional pluck.
[/quote]

That to me is one of its advantages! ;-)

[mr zed]

Having watched the video clip and listened carefully to the tones of the bass my conclusion is that I like the shape and the colour scheme and it sounds fantastic. The big hole is a big no no for me. So if I could get the tones, the shape & the colour scheme in a top quality package I'd be happy. Musicman Reflex HSS anyone? Or even better, the wonderful finish you get the the 25th Anniversary.

[BigRedX]

[quote name='mr zed' timestamp='1371302930' post='2112341']
Having watched the video clip and listened carefully to the tones of the bass my conclusion is that I like the shape and the colour scheme and it sounds fantastic. The big hole is a big no no for me. So if I could get the tones, the shape & the colour scheme in a top quality package I'd be happy. Musicman Reflex HSS anyone? Or even better, the wonderful finish you get the the 25th Anniversary.
[/quote]

Warwick already do a version without the big hole and sliding pickups so if the fixed positions of the pickups give you what you want you need to be looking at the [url=http://www.warwickbass.com/en/Warwick--Instruments--Made-in-Germany--Warwick-Series--Star-Bass-II.html#D0539239001354198219A1395]Star Bass II Single Cut[/url].

[Kiwi]

[quote name='White Cloud' timestamp='1371290849' post='2112170']
We will all have our own opinions on this bass but the bottom line is that music is creative art and therefore there are no rules.
[/quote]
Of course there are rules in music... sonatas, movements, madrigals, ANY piece by Bach, three minute pop song, intro/verse/verse/chorus/verse/chorus/bridge/solo/verse/chorus/repeat and fade, root fourth fifth, first third fifth....bottom line is this is a piece of industrial design not a specific genre of music that deliberately avoids riules such as avante garde jazz.

[MiltyG565]

[quote name='Kiwi' timestamp='1371310114' post='2112452']
Of course there are rules in music... sonatas, movements, madrigals, ANY piece by Bach, three minute pop song, intro/verse/verse/chorus/verse/chorus/bridge/solo/verse/chorus/repeat and fade, root fourth fifth, first third fifth....bottom line is this is a piece of industrial design not a specific genre of music that deliberately avoids riules such as avante garde jazz.
[/quote]

You don't really have to follow those rules in music, BUT, we are talking about design, not music, and design has many rules. Can the fretboard have a loop-de-loop? no. There's just one example. What Guy Pratt and Warwick have done here isn't radical, and it isn't breaking any rules, so let's not get all "Music is a free art form" about this. It's not music, it's a bass. My reservations about it aren't based on how different it looks, or how unconventional it might be, but just that, with the ability to place as many or as few pickups and controls on the bass as he liked, and in whatever arrangement he liked, according to his own personal taste, he chose to have a rail. It just baffles me. Rails are what you have when you want to market a bass for everyone. It's no longer a bass to "get that sound" that "Guy Pratt has", it's just a bass he helped design.

[Kiwi]

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1371310682' post='2112461']
You don't really have to follow those rules in music, BUT, we are talking about design, not music, and design has many rules.
[/quote]

There are design principles (such as form follows function) but they're not rules. With design, the process is just as important as the outcome. So the principles can be side tracked if there is enough justification. Basschatters might be justified in asking 'what sort of process did Warwick follow in developing this instrument'? The additional context might help them understand how Warwick arrived at the outcome they did.

[skankdelvar]

Sig models are a difficult pony to wrangle if the aim is to present a new idea and not simply a replica of the artist's existing, perhaps personalised instrument.

Too 'out there' and the hobbyist musician's natural conservatism kicks in. By contrast, if the item is distinguishable only by a particular livery, some subdued 'personal' cosmetic appointments and a discreet sig, it will engender lassitude and a terse 'Pardon me, but so what?'

Perhaps the best artist sig I've seen recently is the Johnny Marr Jaguar. Pretty much [i]looks[/i] the same as a normal Jag, but lots of useful little tweaks and redesigns that address original design flaws while adding a useful breadth of tone. Best of all, it looks equally lush in a choice of either white or metallic tangerine. It is as cool as cool can be.

While we're at it, I'd suggest that getting a 'new' bass to sound good (or at least, OK) is far easier than getting it to [i]look [/i]good to the majority of potential buyers, particularly if the mfr strays from the established norms. Our dialogue here goes someway to proving both this and the adage that one takes one's first bite with the eyes.

Edited June 15, 2013 by skankdelvar

[MiltyG565]

[quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1371311813' post='2112478']
one takes one's first bite with the eyes.
[/quote]

There's never a truer word spoken than this. A few years ago, the school canteen my aunt was in charge of shut down, and was relocated into a brand spanking new canteen. The old one was VERY old, and very run down, but as you'd expect, the new one was all lovely and shiny and bright. Anyway, one day, one of the kids in the canteen said to my aunt how great the new canteen was, and how nice the food was. My aunt lead with "Do you think the food is nicer than it was in the old canteen", the answer was an indefinite yes. The recipes and suppliers hadn't changed. The only thing that had changed was the canteen. We like to think that these things don't matter to us, but they really do. Anyway...

I agree with what you are saying. Too few modifications, and it's a bit of a "why would I buy that over a standard one?" kind of deal, and too radical, people gasp and faint and drop their monocles into their not so reasonably priced French wine. Trying to get something that is aesthetically pleasing the a large demographic is, I imagine, incredibly hard. Personally, I quite like the shape of the bass, and how it looks generally. To me, it's kind of an improved Les Paul kind of shape. I don't even mind the massive route in the middle of it, but I just don't like the idea that he could have made it sound however he wanted, but it's nearly as if he sat on the fence and said "let's make it sound like EVERYTHING!", which isn't a bad idea, but it's not what I expect to see from a signature model.

[skankdelvar]

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1371312549' post='2112490']
it's not what I expect to see from a signature model.
[/quote]

Endorsees are not always the best judge of what is most saleable. Direct from the early 1970's, let's welcome the Gibson 'Les Paul Recording', the design and execution for which were - IIRC - very much at the behest of The Great Man.



Think that's ugly? Here's the top bout detail of the 'Les Paul Personal'. XLR out as standard (!)



None of this is to suggest that Mr Pratt's model is ugly, no siree. I quite like it, myself.

Edited June 15, 2013 by skankdelvar

[MiltyG565]

[quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1371313006' post='2112496']
Endorsees are not always the best judge of what is most saleable. Direct from the early 1970's, let's welcome the Gibson 'Les Paul Recording', the design and execution for which were - IIRC - very much at the behest of The Great Man.


[/quote]

The only thing that I can see wrong with that is that control plate. Who loaded the gun with switches and buttons and aimed it at that guitar?