Is your bass gear better than you are?

[Jobiebass]

My gear MASSIVLY outweighs how good I am.

But I have a lot of spare cash and I like nice things so why not spend it on things you love?
Check my sig.. you would have thought id have been in a band at some point gigging.... oh no, 100% bedroom use. (Edit: and down the practice room.) closest ive got to a gig is the other night I asked a bassplayer after their set what bass it was cause I play... she threw it on me and made me play infront of everyone. bit unnerving to say the least as it was a 1955 Gibson Les Paul Bass and ive never stood infront of 150 people and played before. ive got a pic of the bass on my phone if anyones interested.

But yeah, im a sh*te bass player compaired to my gear...

to prove a point, I just paid £875 for a 2nd hand Roland electric drumkit even though I cant play drums. But how I see it is like this... you buy 2nd hand, play it for however long you want then generally you can sell it for the same price you bought it. Much better then money in the bank.

edit: Cheeper Gear seams to loose value much more then mid/high end 2nd hand stuff.

Edited April 14, 2009 by Jobiebass

[martthebass]

[quote name='Jobiebass' post='462336' date='Apr 14 2009, 05:55 PM']My gear MASSIVELY outweighs how good I am.[/quote]

You could donate the FBass to me then JB

Know what you mean tho. My band's on a sabatical at the mo so why the hell do I have 3 decent quality 4 stringers sat around the house playing along to the bloody IPod?

[odub]

I'm glad people have been saying the gear is too good for them, I feel the same. One of the main things that stops me buying anything more expensive (for now).

Counter Argument
But I like nice things, and why not

Counter-Counter argument
I've seen really good players, playing very cheap stuff and sounding ace

[Josh]

The modesty on here is getting silly.

To be fair, if you ask most pro's if they feel they deserve their instrument, I'm pretty sure you'll get a similar answer to one in this thread. Probably not Jeff Berlin though.

Still, I see expensive basses as an incentive to up my game and luckily I have and am having fun doing so and will continue to do so.

[OldGit]

[quote name='Josh' post='462358' date='Apr 14 2009, 06:25 PM']The modesty on here is getting silly.

To be fair, if you ask most pro's if they feel they deserve their instrument, I'm pretty sure you'll get a similar answer to one in this thread. Probably not Jeff Berlin though.

Still, I see expensive basses as an incentive to up my game and luckily I have and am having fun doing so and will continue to do so.[/quote]


I'm guessing Jeff doesn't pay for his gear - well not directly anyway ...

[leschirons]

I consider that my gear is quite high end equipment and, both the bands I'm in have told me it that I am the perfect guy for the job and would find it impossible to function without me. I suppose that could have something to do with it being my P.A. and van, no, no, I'm sure it hasn't. Drummers and guitarists are nicer than that I'm sure.

(Of course my gear is better than me but it's nice to have good stuff and toys)

[casapete]

[quote name='Jobiebass' post='462336' date='Apr 14 2009, 05:55 PM']My gear MASSIVLY outweighs how good I am.

But I have a lot of spare cash and I like nice things so why not spend it on things you love?
Check my sig.. you would have thought id have been in a band at some point gigging.... oh no, 100% bedroom use. (Edit: and down the practice room.) closest ive got to a gig is the other night I asked a bassplayer after their set what bass it was cause I play... she threw it on me and made me play infront of everyone. bit unnerving to say the least as it was a 1955 Gibson Les Paul Bass and ive never stood infront of 150 people and played before. ive got a pic of the bass on my phone if anyones interested.

But yeah, im a sh*te bass player compaired to my gear...

to prove a point, I just paid £875 for a 2nd hand Roland electric drumkit even though I cant play drums. But how I see it is like this... you buy 2nd hand, play it for however long you want then generally you can sell it for the same price you bought it. Much better then money in the bank.

edit: Cheeper Gear seams to loose value much more then mid/high end 2nd hand stuff.[/quote]

Think someone's having you on with the 1955 Les Paul bass bit - Gibson did n't make 'em till 1969.

Edited April 14, 2009 by casapete

[andy67]

[quote name='odub' post='462356' date='Apr 14 2009, 06:25 PM'][size=4][b]I've seen really good players, playing very cheap stuff and sounding ace[/b][/size][/quote]


I think this is the mark of a real bass player.

[BigAlonBass]

I'm old and battered. So's everything I play with/through. If people think I sound good, they're surprised because I've got rubbish equipment. If they think I sound terrible, I tell them it's BECAUSE I've got rubbish equipment. Win/Win.

[Telebass]

My gear is good middling quality, well up to the job. So it's a bit better than me...

[Jobiebass]

[quote name='casapete' post='462445' date='Apr 14 2009, 08:05 PM']Think someone's having you on with the 1955 Les Paul bass bit - Gibson did n't make 'em till 1969.[/quote]

I was pretty drunk so I may have got the date wrong.
is WELL vintage tho, the fretboard has groves on the 5th and 7th fret at the bottom from wear of her fingers over the years.

and its a nice shade of tobacco brown altho it was originally white.

Edited April 14, 2009 by Jobiebass

[OutToPlayJazz]

There's a lot of self-depreciation here today. I hope you all realise how important your playing really is...

[Merton]

Yes, my basses are better than I am

[paul h]

My basses do more for charity, they are better looking and much more generous in bed.

[urb]

Well I spent 18 years playing pretty much one bass - my 1990 Thumb - ans when I first got it I definitely felt like I had boought something way out of my league. Likewise when I finally traded up from my humble Trace Elliot 715 combo to one of the original Nemesis combos I felt like I had steped into a new world of sonic quality, that immediately highlighted any short fall in my technique....

But in both cases I reached the point where I got frustrated with the sound and with the bass in particular it stopped being inspiring and turned into an almost literal millstone around my neck - it was so damn heavy it might as well have been! Plus recording with it was nightmare, as I could never get a tone I liked, and I started hearing a different tone that I was desperate to achieve - so I've fially graduated to top of the line kit and think after 25 years of devotion to bass I have earned myself some good kit.


M

PS

I'll never forget the my Warwick arrived - I'd sent a cheque for the bass plus a Trace 715 combo and told them what I wanted in a little note (I'd called up first to check both were in stock). It arrived about two weeks later in a van from the old Bass Cenre in Wapping - and boy did they pick me a beauty - it was really cool and very exciting.

But what is shocking to me today is that I didn't choose the bass (maybe it chose me? ) - I just said "Send me a Thumb bass, though neck please..." I guess I was pretty naïve about how to go about things and it all seems really quaint in those pre-internet days. My (hippy-ish) dad summed up the bass when he saw it, he said "wow, that's totally total..." - I think my Sei bass is kind of "totally total" now.

[Lfalex v1.1]

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='462468' date='Apr 14 2009, 08:41 PM']I hope you all realise how important your playing really is...[/quote]

Rich has a point here.
Whilst good gear may give you power and that [i]killer[/i] tone, they won't give you wicked riffs, excellent timing, a sense of rhythm/harmony and knowing what to play and when not to play it.

OTOH, my gear is somewhat better than I am. Or so I thought until I changed from my Status to my Ibanez, and found that I sounded amazing on the Ibanez- It was hiding some of the [s]finer points[/s] [i]nuances[/i] of my playing. As well as covering some errors!

[Mr. Foxen]

I play totally rubbish basses into barely working amps. It's 'my sound', its also not a sound that people generally want form a bass.

[Kiwi]

I think my gear is about OK for me. I have just enough instruments and no more, the stuff is good sounding brands that will sell on easily and (apart from the Shuker) none of it is particularly flashy in appearance. I have more amps than I need, for sure but there's an [i]intended[/i] use for all of them bar one perhaps. I was out of my depth with a Ken Smith BSR6GN that I bought in 2004 but now I have the Shuker 6, I feel less out of my depth than back then so I dunno...its all stuff I can grow into maybe?

At the moment I have quite a bit of MIDI gear to learn how to use and that's keeping me gainfully occupied. It took me 6 months to learn how to use my Lexicon MPXG2 so I'm anticipating years for some of this kit...and I have a bit of re-learning with Pro Tools as well now.

[ARGH]

[quote name='martthebass' post='462062' date='Apr 14 2009, 01:01 PM'] Have any of you guys got to the point where you think your bass gear is better than you are (or even worse - could be)?

Don't get me wrong I love to play on a really nice bass but when you go to the odd jam night and someone plays the hell out of a £100 bass does it make you feel like leaving your £1000 baby in the gig bag and hacking about on the 'house bass'?[/quote]
Nope,my gear is good...Im good..no worries.

[Buzz]

The cusp of the matter is that your gear doesn't matter price or quality wise too much.
It's all about finding "the one" really, or as close as possible to the one, for some that'll be a £2500 Celinder, for others, a sub £200 SX.

Once you find the one, that's where it matters as you can then focus on bassplaying and not the instrument itself.

I'm a terrible bassist, but currently I'm not really enjoying my jazz basses, which means I'm not improving as I'm not playing them as much as I should be. Once I find the one or ones that I get along with perfectly, then I'll end up playing more and improving. You can only do so much on an instrument that you're not enjoying.

Same goes for amps and cabs, although it's less of an issue as it's not the instrument.

[bythesea]

[quote name='martthebass' post='462062' date='Apr 14 2009, 01:01 PM'] Have any of you guys got to the point where you think your bass gear is better than you are (or even worse - could be)?[/quote]

Today? Certainly not... Tomorrow? (when my bass arrives) - definitely!

Went to a jam session at a local pub recently (listening) - house bass player was using a Yamaha TRB John Patitucci model. If I was to go along I would have to take a cheap one...

[Count Bassy]

My basses are generally better than my playing warrants, my combo is probably about right.

The problem with having nice kit is that it raises peoples expectations as to what they're going to hear.

[Zoe_BillySheehan]

I suppose some people are just lucky when it comes to being able to afford equipment.

but it really isnt the equipment that makes you a great bassist,
although having a bass, set up perfectly, that plays like butter, has gotta help.

but if your gunna spend £1000 on a bass, and not put time n effort into learning,
then whats the point?

i guess some people just have money to throw around like that!

Z
x

[Shambo]

It's been mentioned a couple of times already in this thread but, from my experience, when I gave away my EB-0 copy and spent my life savings on a '73 Jazz, my game improved dramatically. My jealous guitar playing friend described it as "taking a rolls royce to the corner shop for a pint of milk" but I gradually got to grips with the b'stard and will forever regret selling it.

[silverfoxnik]

[quote name='chris_b' post='462242' date='Apr 14 2009, 04:14 PM']My imagination is always better than I am but my playing usually takes several steps forward when I buy better gear. In my experience better gear helps to improve your confidence and playing ability.[/quote]
+1

It's a constant process, trying to improve your playing, then your sound.. then your imagination goes up a level, and so the whole thing continues.. Having said that, I think there's a point where you probably can't get much better gear once you spend over a certain amount of money, but contiually working on your playing will always improve you as a musician.