bass snobbery

[andy67]

defo a snob!

hate dead string as well!

made in Mexico or China doesn't work for me! basses that is!

So sorry for being a snob...It took me nearly 30 years to find a bass which works for me in terms of tone, feel and playability!

anyhoo its easy being a gear snob when you are a lazy rubbish player like me! lol.

[Doc B]

I've just sold my Status and replaced it with a Squier VM Jazz.

If anything I am a bass inverted-snob as I don't believe that my (lack of) playing ability and my not being in a band justified having such a nice instrument.

[Jobiebass]

[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]

I know what you mean, I fit that catogory, I wouldnt say I was a snob but I dont like sub standard stuff even though I have very little bass knowledge. I did snub the MM Sub i played and I bought a 'ray just because people said they were good, hadnt actually played on before I picked it up. But I was on a winner with it cause I didnt realise how bad my Jazz sucked till I got that and plus it was an AMAZING example of a 'ray, played 2-3 rays since and they weighed a ton and I still prefer my own.


On a truthful note..
I guess I just have more money then sence and dont like buying sub standard kit cause in the back of my mind ill always know I could have got better. But TBH, I think ive got it in my head at the moment that if I buy better kit ill be a better bass player, which we all know is a load of bull. Makes me smile though although im crying out to find a tutour.

[niceguyhomer]

I don't care what make my bass is so long as it's comfortable to play, stays in tune and sounds good. Along my well publicised (and criticised) route to finding basses that fit into this category, I've had some quite expensive stuff including an American Lakland but I've now settled on a Korean bass and one from Mexico.

I could go out and buy a Fodera or a USA Sadowsky but what I've got works.

[lowhand_mike]

having the finances certainly helps to fitting into the snob catagory, which i dont so i cant
though i'd like to be a snob but then i aint even fussed what brand of beans i get.

guess i'm kind of a pseudo snob, in that i cant sit here and say i'd never buy a P bass for example cos they are sh*te and arias are for schools but having played neither. its a dream world of GAS, i think alot of us live in

hmm that didnt make much sense

[andy67]

does make sense - in a nonsensical kind of way lol.

my college tutor played a through neck late seventies early eighties sattelite p/j bass, from a kays catalogue, through a trace blx 80 and it sounded superb. he did though have a stunning technique which leads to to believe that playing is all in the hands not the instrument or amp.

[cheddatom]

I think the best question would have been to ask: "what bass would you want to turn down if you were stuck at a gig without a bass and needed to borrow".

I personally wouldn't turn down any bass I was offered. Would you turn down anything but a fender?

[Adrenochrome]

I can't afford to be a bass snob and possibly never will be able to afford to be. The sound of my all Ashdown/Peavey set-up is more than adequate for reasonably well paid gigs. There are quite a few semi-pro and pro players earning good money playing Squiers, Peaveys, Arias and the like. Of course there is absolutely nothing wrong with appreciating the craftsmanship and sheer quality of the better basses as long as you're not down on the likes of us who can't afford the expensive gear.

[DanOwens]

How about the fact that I would like an SX or a Squier but don't want to show up to a gig or session and be faced with the snobbery of other musicians.

My Darkstar Precision is a parts bass, and I took the work 'Fender' off the decal and left 'Precision' as I don't really want to claim it is what it isn't but some of my fellow bassplayers and some of my students have said things like "I'd never play a Squier/parts bass ... but yours is excellent."

So am I the snob too because I don't want to be face with other's snobbery? Should I bite the proverbial bullet and smack 'em in the face if they slag off my bit of wood?

Dan

[Adrenochrome]

[quote name='TheBrokenDoor' post='190342' date='May 2 2008, 10:23 AM']How about the fact that I would like an SX or a Squier but don't want to show up to a gig or session and be faced with the snobbery of other musicians.

My Darkstar Precision is a parts bass, and I took the work 'Fender' off the decal and left 'Precision' as I don't really want to claim it is what it isn't but some of my fellow bassplayers and some of my students have said things like "I'd never play a Squier/parts bass ... but yours is excellent."

So am I the snob too because I don't want to be face with other's snobbery? Should I bite the proverbial bullet and smack 'em in the face if they slag off my bit of wood?

Dan[/quote]

As you are playing bass for a living then I think you should do what you have to do to get paid. Worrying about anything else should be a distant second place.

[DanOwens]

Yeah, I do, but most bandleaders only care about the sound, not the label, it's the other band members that get territorial and who can blame them. If they go out and spend £1k on an instrument, they'll be livid when your £300 home-job sounds better!!

Dan

[LukeFRC]

too much about music for young folk (which i count myself in) is about image. so much of their band sounds and looks like something they saw in NME. The image is almost as important as the music.
The punk spirit flows through this type of music still, the whole - who cares as long as it makes a noise.
Add that to the image conciousness and quickly the squier or encore they had isnt good enough purely cos a fender is 700 quid more and looks cooler. so they go buy a fender.
Working a gigs like i used to for DF concerts it was all Fenders.
Big kudos to the guitarist for the Test Icicles (the fella who is lightspeed champion) who played with a bright pink squier showmaster.

I wanted the P-sound. Bizzarly what i really wanted was a maplenecked JV Squier but i couldn't afford it/have accesss to one so went for a CIJ Fender '57 RI
mad eh?

[ironside1966]

[quote name='Adrenochrome' post='190337' date='May 2 2008, 10:13 AM']I can't afford to be a bass snob and possibly never will be able to afford to be. The sound of my all Ashdown/Peavey set-up is more than adequate for reasonably well paid gigs. There are quite a few semi-pro and pro players earning good money playing Squiers, Peaveys, Arias and the like. Of course there is absolutely nothing wrong with appreciating the craftsmanship and sheer quality of the better basses as long as you're not down on the likes of us who can't afford the expensive gear.[/quote]

There is nothing wrong with preference, or wanting or owning a professional instrument.
If you’re a pro you need pro gear.

Even cheapest of instruments nowadays are quit playable if set up correctly.
The benefit of staring out on a cheaper instrument is you learn how to get the best from your guitar, this is a skill you take with you when you do eventually up grade to a pro instrument.

The snobbery I don’t like is when people look down on other people because bank of mum and dad won’t pay for a Musicman or MIA Jazz bass.

The grumpy old man part of me thinks when I hear the kids say things like “ I would not be seen dead with a Squier”
What would you own if you had to pay for your gear own of the money you make from playing.



Maybe a good idea would be if someone puts up a few sound clips of basses of different quality,
see if every body spots the cheap one

[cetera]

I'm kind of a 'reverse-snob'....

I turn my nose up when I see people playing 6,7,8 etc string basses..... there's no need!

Or maybe I'm just a little jealous?
Nah!

[Jobiebass]

[quote name='ironside1966' post='190441' date='May 2 2008, 12:48 PM']Maybe a good idea would be if someone puts up a few sound clips of basses of different quality,
see if every body spots the cheap one[/quote]

here you go. [url="http://youtube.com/watch?v=AL2guMhudXQ"]EBMM 'Ray[/url] a awesome bass played badly by a drunk me.

feel free to leave comments

[greyparrot]

i loved all the basses i have had, and one of the best had been an indie 6 string, it wa great, but now have orderd a status 5 s2 cocabolo top, mapl on graphite finger board, etc, i cant wait for it, (next week) but i also have a dean bromberg b2, which is one of the best basses i have had. I have a warwick, which is niice and an rks which is very cool, but my chioce for gigs would be the b2, and the status.

[stingrayfan]

Oh yes. I always wanted a Stingray when I was younger. Now I've got one, I barely play it!

[Dubs]

I am definitely a bass snob and I’m not really ashamed to admit it. I bought a Stingray purely because I thought they looked cool!! How sad is that?!
My first bass was a Warwick Streamer STD (not rockbass) and I think my snobbery has escalated since then although I don’t think I’ll be buying any brand new mass produced basses any time soon. I’d rather buy a rarer bass with a bit of history…the snobbery continues

[Bassassin]

I'll probably always hanker after a vintage Rick 4001 with all the early 70s bells & whistles, but ultimately I'd sooner have 10 unusual & interesting basses than one "pro" bass with a four-figure price tag.

I could not give a baboon's arse what people think about my choice of basses - if you still think it's crap [i]after[/i] you've heard me play it - then we can discuss it!

Jon.

[cheddatom]

[quote name='Bassassin' post='190512' date='May 2 2008, 01:49 PM']I could not give a baboon's arse what people think about my choice of basses - if you still think it's crap [i]after[/i] you've heard me play it - then we can discuss it!

Jon.[/quote]

I'm the same about my pedal board. I get so many moans before i've played through it. "that's a sound man's nightmare!" etc.

[Jase]

[quote name='cheddatom' post='190324' date='May 2 2008, 10:01 AM']I think the best question would have been to ask: "what bass would you want to turn down if you were stuck at a gig without a bass and needed to borrow".

I personally wouldn't turn down any bass I was offered. Would you turn down anything but a fender?[/quote]


If that happened to me...stuck at a gig with no bass, I'd be right up sh*t creek because I'd turn them all down and if it had more than 4 strings, I'd probably start crying, not out of snobbery but due to the fact that I couldn't play more than 4 strings, or if the bass had a different scale length, active, different pick up configuration, I'd be buggered But it's different for amps and cabs, I don't care what it is really, if I was stuck at a gig without my usual gear that wouldn't bother me at all.

[Sparky]

i agree - it's all about the playing. not sure it's so much to do with not being able to Afford to be a snob, i rekon it's more to do with having the fingers to back it up. all the gear but no idea huh?

i'm much more impressed when a guy (or gal) turns up with a no name bass and rips it up, than someone who turns up with an expensive bass, pro-rig and no talent.

our guitarist has two strats (one squire, one fender) both bought new, but totally worn and mojo'd from his own use. he's awesome anyway, but i love it when he plays the squire because somehow, it makes him (and therefore us! ) [i]Even[/i] better because he still sounds sh*tHot even when playing the cheaper instrument. he uses the fender for regular and the squire for slide tuning.. and leaves the £1000 les paul at home!

[Sparky]

[quote name='cheddatom' post='190324' date='May 2 2008, 10:01 AM']I think the best question would have been to ask: "what bass would you want to turn down if you were stuck at a gig without a bass and needed to borrow".[/quote]
i'm sure i've seen another thread about people who turn up to gigs without their own gear! as bad, if not worse than bass snobs IMO!

[cheddatom]

[quote name='Sparky' post='190575' date='May 2 2008, 02:40 PM']i'm sure i've seen another thread about people who turn up to gigs without their own gear! as bad, if not worse than bass snobs IMO! [/quote]

Yes, I agree. I'm talking about a hypothetical situation, e.g it was the biggest gig of your life so you had to play even though your house full of vintage precisions just blew up.

[Sparky]

ooh, a hypothetical situation with a bitter twist - my favourite type