I've realised some important sh*t while I've been away from here ..

[Pete Academy]

Seen this kind of thing a lot over the years, especially with beginners. Keep trading in guitars and amps, buying loads of effects, shedloads of books and CDs, instead of actually sitting down and practising.

[BigRedX]

Unless your a complete geeky nerd like me about musical instruments, I think that most of what fuels people's GAS is a dissatisfaction in the music they are playing and/or the people they are playing it with.

[flyfisher]

[quote name='Bilbo' post='1348740' date='Aug 23 2011, 09:50 AM']Completely agree. Any credible, professional standard instrument is good enough. Its the music that counts.[/quote]
Also agree.

For any given bass model there will be many professional musicians out there earning a living with them, which surely confirms that any decent bass is perfectly adequate. A good musician will be able to make good music with pretty much any bass.

[Musicman20]

I am a collector, as well as a player, but I totally understand what you are saying Nigel, and agree.

Ive gigged the now sold Sue Ryder P bass at large, very well PA'd and professional charity gigs. It sounded, well, great!

I think I just like owning them, but Ive started to come out of this rut of selling...and I do buy but that will end soon as I want a nice Audi A4 and I want to take up golf more seriously. Less time to mess about, more time to enjoy.

I do enjoy being a bass nerd though, just like my friends do with cars (and ultimately they spend/lose a LOT more).

[BottomE]

Reached the same conclusions myself. Before Basschat i had 1 bass for 20 odd years. Since I joined Basschat i have bought 8 basses. 5 remain soon to be 4 at which i intend to stop! My eureka moment came at a jam night where there was a guy with a Wal and a guy with a Squier which both sounded fantastic. I then bought a Squier for £75 and gigged it and realised that noone noticed. Still sounded like me

[Wolverinebass]

I dunno. I can see both sides of this. I generally find that I gravitate towards active basses as a sound I like though I'd still sound like me no matter what I played. But, if I got told I could only play a P bass for the rest of my life, I'd go and order the tombstone and hearse right away.

[51m0n]

True Nige.

A musical instrument is a tool for making music. There is at least one joke in there I'm sure...

In todays world of mass production almost anything is a halfway decent bass, certainly with a proper set up I have seen very few basses that couldnt do the job adequately without a good set of strings put on properly (given the required amp and a decent musician etc etc)

Doesnt mean we wouldnt prefer this that or the other in its stead, or that certain instrumetns perform better in certain musical or acoustic environments than others for certain musicians though.

Or that the audience will ever be able to tell.....

[charic]

But I like shiny new things

[urb]

[quote name='Bilbo' post='1348740' date='Aug 23 2011, 09:50 AM']Completely agree. Any credible, professional standard instrument is good enough. Its the music that counts.[/quote]

+1 - pretty much every 'pro' bassist I've seen recently has a good bass - not a stupidly OTT designer one (like mine ) - EG Laurence Cottle mainly plays his Yamaha TRB 5-string - and gets a seriously sweet tone, but as others have said it's the bass player and not the bass that counts - I played the same Warwick for 18 years and finally got around to buying a new bass (OK so I have three good basses) but all I think about now is playing, practicing and gigging - I am absolutely not thinking about new gear right now...

PS everyone who reads this thread should go and do at least half an hour's practice - just to balance out more 'online noodling...'

M

[Sibob]

[quote name='silddx' post='1348456' date='Aug 22 2011, 09:45 PM'].. that this quest for the perfect bass bullshit, is BULLSHIT!

Being on basschat has somewhat corrupted my thinking, that I need a bass that's perfect for me. I don't. I need a good bass, good strings, and my brain. That is all. I've been playing, not talking, and I have found out that all I need is a decent bass. There is little difference between any of the basses I have had, only practical things. Playing and thinking about music has shown me that any decent bass will do. I've talked about bass far too long. When you actually PLAY, you start getting a more real connection with yourself, and the instrument itself becomes less and less important. Your LIFE is what is important. Live it and you will speak though your bass.[/quote]

Mate...you should have asked....coulda told you this ages ago

Si

[Kraken]

there is a zen thinking behind this,

something along the lines of, when you start it is all about the bass, then it becomes about you and the bass untill all that remains is you.

or some such.

on the plus side it does mean once you have a decent bass, you can then start saving for all those little stomp boxes to make it make funky noises.

[Thurbs]

I couldn't agree more with the OP.

Still, I find it useful getting advice from members about stuff.

[Skol303]

Yep, I couldn't agree more with the sentiments of this thread.

So much so that I'm willing to swap anyone's 'pro' basses with more 'zen-friendly' models, which I guarantee will help you to play better and find the true meaning of life! That's a 100% guarantee right here (usual smallprint applies, natch).

Just parcel them up and post 'em to Skol Industries at the usual address. Don't delay - find your zen today!

[Linus27]

This is all very well, but what if the bass is not the right colour Thats more of the problem I have these days

[BigRedX]

[quote name='Linus27' post='1349002' date='Aug 23 2011, 02:00 PM']This is all very well, but what if the bass is not the right colour Thats more of the problem I have these days [/quote]
IMO The best reason to get a new bass...

[Linus27]

[quote name='BigRedX' post='1349026' date='Aug 23 2011, 02:37 PM']IMO The best reason to get a new bass...[/quote]

Top man, and my thoughts exactly

[Low End Bee]

[quote name='Linus27' post='1349002' date='Aug 23 2011, 02:00 PM']This is all very well, but what if the bass is not the right colour Thats more of the problem I have these days [/quote]

There are better basses I'm sure but I like everything about my precision apart from the colour. It's been an uneasy relationship with sunburst for 4 years now.

I may just bite the bullet and respray one day.

[louisthebass]

[quote name='silddx' post='1348456' date='Aug 22 2011, 09:45 PM'].. that this quest for the perfect bass bullshit, is BULLSHIT!

Being on basschat has somewhat corrupted my thinking, that I need a bass that's perfect for me. I don't. I need a good bass, good strings, and my brain. That is all. I've been playing, not talking, and I have found out that all I need is a decent bass. There is little difference between any of the basses I have had, only practical things. Playing and thinking about music has shown me that any decent bass will do. I've talked about bass far too long. When you actually PLAY, you start getting a more real connection with yourself, and the instrument itself becomes less and less important. Your LIFE is what is important. Live it and you will speak though your bass.[/quote]

Totally agree with this - well said that man!

[EdwardHimself]

I know what you mean silddx boy. I've got a £150 peavey bass and a nice bass combo with an extension cab, it plays perfectly well and sounds great. It took me maybe about 2-3 minutes to set all the knobs and i've not touched it since. I could very easily play it in a band, no problem. I don't need a perfect bass. Doesn't stop me from wanting one though lol.

Edited August 23, 2011 by EdwardHimself

[stingrayPete1977]

For all the gear I have most the time at home I just use the acoustic and imagine what it will sound like in the real world it's easier for reading and makes the electrics feel easy to play. I don't really fuss over tone and the finer points these days and put more effort into playing instead
Welcome back Nigel, How's your reading coming along with the time off from here? That bass clef YTS thread has gone verrrrrrrry slow of late.

[xilddx]

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='1349479' date='Aug 23 2011, 08:58 PM']For all the gear I have most the time at home I just use the acoustic and imagine what it will sound like in the real world it's easier for reading and makes the electrics feel easy to play. I don't really fuss over tone and the finer points these days and put more effort into playing instead
Welcome back Nigel, How's your reading coming along with the time off from here? That bass clef YTS thread has gone verrrrrrrry slow of late.[/quote]
That's another thing I realised. I don't need to read to do what I am currently very happy doing. I need more theory. I have realised my ears are good. I used to improvise guitar solos (something I've had to return to with an Indian classical vibe, hence the need for more theory, albeit Indian classical theory), and I can use that approach to write bass lines as I can often sing what I want to play, then play it (not at the nanosecond rate Jake can of course!). I am finally reflecting my personality I think. I got so f***ing confused being on here, and a month out has worked wonders. I play what pleases me now, I hear beautiful things in my head sometimes and try to make them real, when it happens it's a country mile more thrilling than nailing an exercise.

One massive lesson was a couple of weeks ago camping with a bunch of musicians including Sheema, the fabulous sitarist I'm working with. She taught me a sitar melody which has most of the notes on the off beat, the fifth is not played in the melody until it hits the on beat. It is without doubt the most beautiful fifth I've ever heard, it thrills me to the core when she plays it! The trick is to understand why, but a lot of it is in the very subtle articulation of each note, the dynamics. Your heart rate quickens when you get it. It's these questions that have always interested me, the theory is purely support for enabling expression. Theory is a language, but I'm fairly happy that my own language, despite its huge limitations, may be the key to my musical happiness.

If we approached being a human in the same way as many of us approach music, a bland exercise in technicality, we would not get much attention at the party.

[EdwardHimself]

[quote name='silddx' post='1349742' date='Aug 24 2011, 12:07 AM']If we approached being a human in the same way as many of us approach music, a bland exercise in technicality, we would not get much attention at the party.[/quote]

Lol that sounds like me.

[Guest bassman7755]

[quote name='risingson' post='1348590' date='Aug 22 2011, 11:59 PM']I don't subscribe to the quest for tone type of thinking.[/quote]

There is a point of optimal return on "investment" in good sounding kit, economically speaking its a U curve, the trick is to err on the cheap side of the curve not the expensive side

[farmer61]

[quote name='silddx' post='1348456' date='Aug 22 2011, 09:45 PM'].. that this quest for the perfect bass bullshit, is BULLSHIT!

I need a good bass, good strings, and my brain.[/quote]
And working fingers!!

[krysh]

[quote name='silddx' post='1348456' date='Aug 22 2011, 09:45 PM'].. that this quest for the perfect bass bullshit, is BULLSHIT!

Being on basschat has somewhat corrupted my thinking, that I need a bass that's perfect for me. I don't. I need a good bass, good strings, and my brain. That is all. I've been playing, not talking, and I have found out that all I need is a decent bass. There is little difference between any of the basses I have had, only practical things. Playing and thinking about music has shown me that any decent bass will do. I've talked about bass far too long. When you actually PLAY, you start getting a more real connection with yourself, and the instrument itself becomes less and less important. Your LIFE is what is important. Live it and you will speak though your bass.[/quote]
+1