Finding *THE* bass - following from the 'end of GAS' topic...

[Gust0o]

So, retiring to bed at a reasonable hour for a change, I picked up my now tattered copy of Guy Pratt's "My bass and other animals". It's a good read for tucking down the side of the bed, light-hearted and entertaining. You're unlikely to drift off and dream of hoodoo after flicking through a few pages; though if you want something to cut through insomnia, James Joyce would be a better bet.

However, I thumbed it open on the pages where he discovers his love for what is now his stacked-knob jazz, Betsy - from discovering it in someone elses hands, to finding it on his doorstep post-wedding.

It's quite nice, that idea that people find "the one" - and, when you start to think about it, there are plenty of other examples. Sure, a lot of players have played all kinds of things, but so many of them go back to that special one.

A bit like romance. You'll flirt with some; make a fool of yourself with others; but you know true love.

Or do you?

I'll admit, I don't. Avoiding the gaze of my fellow commuters this morning, I felt a failure. I don't have one. I'm the bass-playing equivalent of shagging around - a little bit here, a little bit there. It's like being a teenager again.

Can you find bass-playing love? Or are you doomed to wandering-eyes and loose hands, doomed to brief dalliances and fits of ecstasy... before chucking it into For Sale?

[Jigster]

I wonder though how much we'd chop and change the way some of us seem to do on here if the Internet had never come along - I think forums such as BC and a million others in different walks of life ( ie EBay et al) just enable that immediacy of change and trade etc ???????

[Bilbo]

Commitment. That's all it takes. Buy a decent professional quality bass of a similar type to the ones your favourite players play (could be a Jazz, a Fodera or a Wal or whatever; its your call) and stop looking at everything else until you learn how to play the one you have properly. I bought my Wal (£740 mail order) because Percy Jones, John Giblin and a few other players I liked had them. That was in 1986 and I have not really looked at another bass since. Same with my amp - if its good enough for Gary Willis etc, its good enough for me. Everything else seems like chasing rainbows.

[neepheid]

Basses are inanimate objects, and therefore have no feelings. There's nothing to hurt, so own, fool around with and discard as you see fit

[Legion]

It's a difficult thing with all this temptation around...

I had something of an epiphany myself the other night and realised the Lakland decade is my sound. Now all I need is the courage of my conviction to sell what I've ultimately realised are lovely, but totally unecessary basses (my Sadowsky and Fender)

Bear in mind that Bilbo is also happy to admit he can't tell (and/or doesnt care about) the difference between a P, J, sintgray or anything else. So I guess for those of us that have been looking for a certain tonal quality, a little bit of shopping around to find what you like is justified?

[skej21]

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1330595814' post='1559843']
Commitment. That's all it takes.

if its good enough for Gary Willis etc, its good enough for me. Everything else seems like chasing rainbows.
[/quote]

I agree with the first bit, it is about commitment and sticking with something and seeing it through.

However, picking something to try based on other players is tricky and saying 'if it's good enough for X player then it's good enough for me' doesn't take into account the cynical nature of the business.

Best example I can give us Mark King throwing his signature all over the expensive Ashdown Sig Head and then still sticking with his Trace for gigs. Players endorse and use gear for the money or because they get it free/cheap, which is totally different to me picking a bass to play.

Would Wooten still play an expensive Fodera if he was just your average bedroom player with a normal, average salary job? Probably not.

All I'm saying is, maybe a bit of experimentation is needed with instruments to find what you like if you don't have the cash to just splash out and buy all the gear your hero has.

Plus, as we all know, its bloody good fun searching for 'the one' and makes it all the more special when you find it

Edited March 1, 2012 by skej21

[Earbrass]

I think there's a lot to be said for sticking with one instrument as far as possible - getting so familiar with its feel and sounds that you forget the instrument and concentrate on the music.

[Bilbo]

True but in 1986, Wal was a new company and their basses were not being given away as part of a sponsorship deal (never were, if I am correct). Same with Eden; they were a new company back when I got my Eden. I say look at what your people actually use rather than the adverts. When I say 'if its good enough for them...' what I am actually suggesting is that mastering your instrument is only partially about the kit and more about your ears and mind. If your bass is, for want of a better word, 'good enough', why stress about that detail; spend some time on the music.

[skej21]

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1330596798' post='1559869']
True but in 1986, Wal was a new company and their basses were not being given away as part of a sponsorship deal (never were, if I am correct). Same with Eden; they were a new company back when I got my Eden. I say look at what your people actually use rather than the adverts. When I say 'if its good enough for them...' what I am actually suggesting is that mastering your instrument is only partially about the kit and more about your ears and mind. If your bass is, for want of a better word, 'good enough', why stress about that detail; spend some time on the music.
[/quote]

Too true. One of the main reasons I love my Geddy is because I learnt to play on it. I know it like the back of my hand and as a result, I can play without thinking about the technical side of things like positioning etc.

That just leaves me free to think about what I want to say as a musician and although there are plenty of others that play a jazz/Geddy jazz, I can let my style come out through my playing, rather than a specific 'signature' tone (like some players aspire to)

But each to their own! Everyone gets there by different roads and thats what makes music so diverse and interesting, so long may it continue!

Edited March 1, 2012 by skej21

[thisnameistaken]

I think some people have silly expectations so they are never satisfied with what they have, some think a reasonably priced instrument can't possibly be good enough so they are always looking to spend more money for the reassurance of having spent more money, some think they have to have every sound ever recorded available to them so they buy a dozen or more basses, some just have a compulsion to buy pretty things when they see them, whether they need them or not.

In my experience the peak of the bang:buck bell curve tends to happen around the £6-700 mark - it will get you a bass from a good factory with no structural or electrical issues. And you should be able to play that for the rest of your life. You probably won't experience 'true love' as a result but you'll probably never experience that anyway.

[discreet]

[quote name='Gust0o' timestamp='1330594643' post='1559809']
I'm the bass-playing equivalent of shagging around...
[/quote]

No shame in that. A lot of people on here are the bass-playing equivalent of chronic masturbators!

[Muzz]

"I only like tomato soup - I had a tin of Heinz back in 1976, and that were it for me. All other soup is unnecessary."

There's a flip side to only playing one bass: if you try different basses, they induce (sometimes even enforce) different playing styles and approaches which you might not consider after x years playing the same bass. I had a BB3000 for twenty years, and only when I started buying, trying and selling basses over the last few years did I realise there's much more potential out there if you give it a try. I'm now of the opinion that for me, there isn't a single bass which will do it all, because 'it all' is so diverse there would have to be compromises which would reduce the experience. Probably three basses would cover it, and why not? I don't listen to one type of music, I don't wear one colour or style of clothes.

This is all, of course, supplementary and very much subordinate to the music itself, but the bass is a medium for the music you produce, and it can be a substantial influence.

[Gust0o]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1330597599' post='1559889']
No shame in that. A lot of people on here are the bass-playing equivalent of chronic masturbators!
[/quote]

[redstriper]

[quote name='Jigster' timestamp='1330595075' post='1559828']
I wonder though how much we'd chop and change the way some of us seem to do on here if the Internet had never come along - I think forums such as BC and a million others in different walks of life ( ie EBay et al) just enable that immediacy of change and trade etc ???????
[/quote]

This is true.

I had just one bass for 30 years until I found this forum and I've gone through at least a dozen in the past couple of years.
It's so easy to buy here and sell on again at no great loss and I'm on a constant quest for 'the one'.
The funny thing is - I think I've already got 'the one' but just can't quite accept it.

I now own 6 basses but I still use the old one at every gig and recording sesh.

[xilddx]

[quote name='Gust0o' timestamp='1330594643' post='1559809']
So, retiring to bed at a reasonable hour for a change, I picked up my now tattered copy of Guy Pratt's "My bass and other animals". It's a good read for tucking down the side of the bed, light-hearted and entertaining. You're unlikely to drift off and dream of hoodoo after flicking through a few pages; though if you want something to cut through insomnia, James Joyce would be a better bet.

However, I thumbed it open on the pages where he discovers his love for what is now his stacked-knob jazz, Betsy - from discovering it in someone elses hands, to finding it on his doorstep post-wedding.

It's quite nice, that idea that people find "the one" - and, when you start to think about it, there are plenty of other examples. Sure, a lot of players have played all kinds of things, but so many of them go back to that special one.

A bit like romance. You'll flirt with some; make a fool of yourself with others; but you know true love.

Or do you?

I'll admit, I don't. Avoiding the gaze of my fellow commuters this morning, I felt a failure. I don't have one. I'm the bass-playing equivalent of shagging around - a little bit here, a little bit there. It's like being a teenager again.

Can you find bass-playing love? Or are you doomed to wandering-eyes and loose hands, doomed to brief dalliances and fits of ecstasy... before chucking it into For Sale?
[/quote]

I have found true love in my chrome Warwick Streamer. I adore it so much that I sold all my other basses. It is the ONE.

[Gust0o]

[quote name='silddx' timestamp='1330605632' post='1560149']
I have found true love in my chrome Warwick Streamer. I adore it so much that I sold all my other basses. It is the ONE.
[/quote]

What will I feel when I get there? I mean, do I already own 'the one' and am just too ignorant to know it? Or will it leap out at me, and be heads and shoulders above anything else?

I feel a bit of failure for not having worked this out.

[LemonCello]

Chop, change, thrap and enjoy!

[LukeFRC]

I always wanted a warwick, I got old bluey from Warwickhunt and.... hated it, tried hard but did.
Picked up my current warwick for dirt cheap secondhand and sold bluey.
Current one was way way better than bluey but still wasn't sure.... thinking of selling and swapping and changing so much.
Luckily I had a sum of money a year or so ago what I could buy a 3rd bass so could try stuff out, I got to have some great great gear. Then really couldn't justify 3 basses so sold the one I had at the time and bought my amp (best move I could make to be honest)

Then would keep coming back to my old warwick and it felt like coming home- even if I didn't like the sound amazingly- pickups change and suddenly I'm happy.

So it took me about 3 years to realise.
I dare say if I had sold it I would have flitted between lots of things for years, not being settled on one bass.

[xilddx]

[quote name='Gust0o' timestamp='1330606101' post='1560169']
What will I feel when I get there? I mean, do I already own 'the one' and am just too ignorant to know it? Or will it leap out at me, and be heads and shoulders above anything else?

I feel a bit of failure for not having worked this out.
[/quote]

I don't feel like I have to polish it and stare lovingly at it all the time, or talk about it all the time, or feel compelled to play it all the time. It just IS.

Mine sometimes stays in its case for a week after a rehearsal, or sits in the corner of my studio unplayed (I rarely practice or work on my technique, I just play), I don't think about my amazing bass all the time or anything like that. HOWEVER, when I strap that bass on and play, or restring it, or clean and oil the fingerboard, do maintenance, whatever - there is a deep feeling of peace, familiarity, comfort, care, and one-ness. It is MY bass and everything about it fits my requirements, the looks, the weight, balance, the materials, the feel of the neck, the gorgeous slab of ebony with the bell brass frets and the ovangkol neck contrasting with the chrome body is beautiful, the controls layout, the pickups (reverse P & J suits me perfectly), everything feels right.

There is not a single part of my mind that would consider selling it, absolutely no corruption of the relationship at all. But also, if it gets broken or damaged or stolen, I won't cry, I won't miss it, I will just go to Warwick and get another one.

[xilddx]

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1330607295' post='1560217']
I always wanted a warwick, I got old bluey from Warwickhunt and.... hated it, tried hard but did.
Picked up my current warwick for dirt cheap secondhand and sold bluey.
Current one was way way better than bluey but still wasn't sure.... thinking of selling and swapping and changing so much.
Luckily I had a sum of money a year or so ago what I could buy a 3rd bass so could try stuff out, I got to have some great great gear. Then really couldn't justify 3 basses so sold the one I had at the time and bought my amp (best move I could make to be honest)

Then would keep coming back to my old warwick and it felt like coming home- even if I didn't like the sound amazingly- pickups change and suddenly I'm happy.

[b]So it took me about 3 years to realise.[/b]
I dare say if I had sold it I would have flitted between lots of things for years, not being settled on one bass.
[/quote]

Same here, I bought and sold loads of basses including my prized Warwick Corvette $$ with ebony fingerboard. I came back to Warwick in the end, it really does feeling like you've come back to your nest after a long journey.

[Legion]

I wonder if thats the point though - do you have to play other basses in order to realise that the one you had was already what you wanted?

Bit like the travel thing - lots of people travel the world looking for something, only to find that they had left it behind them. Resulting from the experience, they now find what they could not see before.

Only by going, can you come back.

Bit deep for lunch time. I better make a cuppa

[Clarky]

I'm sure a big part of my perennial chopping and changing is that I'm not actually very good at bass ('solid' is probably the best description of my abilities) and its easy to think that A.N.Other bass will make me play better. I suspect a lot of us on this site address our own feelings of inadequacy by chopping and changing, especially as (as noted above) the BassChat for sale forum makes it so easy to do.

Edited March 1, 2012 by Clarky

[Truckstop]

I think you can find 'the one'. I havent yet, but some basses I've owned have come pretty close to being perfect for me. I know the characteristics I look for in instruments now so maybe one day I'll see a bass with all the technical aspects I know I like, but also has that extra je ne sais quois and it'll be the one!

Truckstop

[4000]

[quote name='Muzz' timestamp='1330599214' post='1559952'] "I only like tomato soup - I had a tin of Heinz back in 1976, and that were it for me. All other soup is unnecessary." There's a flip side to only playing one bass: if you try different basses, they induce (sometimes even enforce) different playing styles and approaches which you might not consider after x years playing the same bass. I had a BB3000 for twenty years, and only when I started buying, trying and selling basses over the last few years did I realise there's much more potential out there if you give it a try. I'm now of the opinion that for me, there isn't a single bass which will do it all, because 'it all' is so diverse there would have to be compromises which would reduce the experience. Probably three basses would cover it, and why not? I don't listen to one type of music, I don't wear one colour or style of clothes. This is all, of course, supplementary and very much subordinate to the music itself, but the bass is a medium for the music you produce, and it can be a substantial influence. [/quote] Absolutely +1. Different basses make me play differently and in addition the sonics of them work in completely different ways depending on musical context. Imagine playing in a Hadrien Feraud style with a Jah Wobble sound (and no, I don't believe everything can be sorted via eq). If I take either of my current Rics and compare them to my current Sei, my Sei is far more modern-sounding. However the response of the instrument is also different. The Rics sound much bigger and deeper in the upper register, the Sei rounder and fatter in the lower register; both also have a very different response to touch. The actual timbre of the instruments is completely different and as I play somewhat according to the sonics and response of the instrument it affects the way I play. It it doesn't matter to you then it doesn't matter, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't matter to everyone else.

Edited March 1, 2012 by 4000

[4000]

[quote name='Legion' timestamp='1330608239' post='1560255']
I wonder if thats the point though - do you have to play other basses in order to realise that the one you had was already what you wanted?

Bit like the travel thing - lots of people travel the world looking for something, only to find that they had left it behind them. Resulting from the experience, they now find what they could not see before.

Only by going, can you come back.

Bit deep for lunch time. I better make a cuppa
[/quote]

Ah, the Alchemist eh?