Do Basses have Trends?!

[rodacademy]

What I mean by that is, it seems that from time to time certain models and makers are the must have. Thoughs if u can be bothered chums!
Cheers

[chriswareham]

I know what you mean - for instance in the mid 1980's it seemed like nearly all funk and pop bassists used a Stingray, but a few years later it was those Warwick Corvette things. Around the same time every indie, punk or goth bassist seemed to play a Precision. I seemed to be the exception with my Westone!

In the last fifteen years I think the web's been a great leveller though, enabling people to indulge in all manner of basses via online shops where in the past they were limited to the handful of models their local music shop stocked. As a result, when I now go to gigs I'd would be surprised to see two bands featuring bassists with the same model of bass.

[neepheid]

One day, it'll be Gibson. Perhaps not in my lifetime

[Count Bassy]

[quote name='chriswareham' timestamp='1395181815' post='2399628']
As a result, when I now go to gigs I'd would be surprised to see two bands featuring bassists with the same model of bass.
[/quote]

Seems to me that the vast majority of bands I see are using a Precision or Jazz (or derivative of), or occasionally a Stingray.

[discreet]

The P bass became popular in the early fifties and is still popular today. Er... that's it.

[waynepunkdude]

Sue Ryder anyone?

[mikegatward]

Whatever I happen to be selling always seems to be out of fashion / no longer favour of the month. I seem to be a trendsetter in reverse

[thumperbob 2002]

Fenders are always on trend.

[MoonBassAlpha]

Trenders?

[martthebass]

[quote name='mikegatward' timestamp='1395228910' post='2399901']
Whatever I happen to be selling always seems to be out of fashion / no longer favour of the month. I seem to be a trendsetter in reverse
[/quote]

We must be related Mike!!!

[Norris]

A lot of the bass players I know seem to be using R***********s, so at my last gig I dragged out the T-bird. Copy that!

[EliasMooseblaster]

When we were still playing the Camden toilet circuit on a semi-regular basis, you could bet your bottom dollar that if the other bands looked like f***ing hipsters, their bassist would be going onstage with a Fender P or J. (Not that I have anything against them; I have lusted after a US Precision for most of my bass-playing life!) It's always nice to buck the trend and whip out my SG or, more recently, my T-bird. They certainly turn heads.

Didn't actually see that much variation in basses around those gigs, now I think about it. Too many f***ing hipsters, I suspect.

[lonestar]

Proggers and-wealthier punks in the 70s had Rics
Lots of through neck arias and bare wood finishes in the 80s or silly looking no headstock things
All the younger bands on telly since the 90's seem to have old p and jazz basses
Soul, jazz and what is now called R'n'B seem to use 5 strings on expensive looking(see 80s) wood.

As tubeway army may have said: Are trends eclectic?

[Musicman20]

Every boutique manufacturer is jumping on the P bass with a zillion strings, 40" scale, yet still just sounds like a P bass trend.

P basses have always been popular, but they are currently very very popular indeed!

[Roland Rock]

Bands I've been playing with have mostly been using Fenders, with the occasional Warwick, Yamaha, Musicman and Double Bass.
I don't think I've ever played with someone using a Ric or TBird

[ead]

[quote name='lonestar' timestamp='1395234100' post='2399982']
As tubeway army may have said: Are trends eclectic?
[/quote]



Just accidentally snorted hot coffee. Not recommended fellow BCers, too many Health & Safety Issues; plus it ****** stings a bit too.

Edited March 19, 2014 by ead

[Dingus]

[quote name='thumperbob 2002' timestamp='1395231088' post='2399934']
Fenders are always on trend.
[/quote]

No, that's not true!

Right around the time I started playing right at the beginning of the 1980's Fenders were out of fashion in the same way that Victoriana went out of fashion in the 1950's. The general consensus was that Fenders were old fashioned, outmoded and boring. If you did have a Fender it had to modernized, with a big heavy bridge and hi-tech pickups to try and drag it into the Modern Age. This was the era when so many Fenders were vandalized in the name of progress.

The renaissance of Fender basses is a far more recent phenomena than you might think, although they have of course been a residual presence regardless of whatever the trend in basses and never completely went away. Nowadays, it's as if history has been rewritten to assert that bass player's dalliance with basses other than Fenders and similar vintage models was a big but short-lived mistake, but up to about fifteen years ago most of the basses in high-end shops were modern hi-tech designs and, to a greater or lesser extent , that is what most serious players aspired to in the era from the mid-1970's to the turn of the Millennium . During that era, a lot of bass players might indeed have a Fender bass, but as another option to their main bass which would be an up-to-date contemporary design.

Edited March 19, 2014 by Dingus

[Musicman20]

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1395237446' post='2400043']
No, that's not true!

Right around the time I started playing right at the beginning of the 1980's Fenders were out of fashion in the same way that Victoriana went out of fashion in the 1950's. The general consensus was that Fenders were old fashioned, outmoded and boring. If you did have a Fender it had to modernized, with a big heavy bridge and hi-tech pickups to try and drag it into the Modern Age. This was the era when so many Fenders were vandalized in the name of progress.

The renaissance of Fender basses is a far more recent phenomena than you might think, although they have of course been a residual presence regardless of whatever the trend in basses and never completely went away. Nowadays, it's as if history has been rewritten to assert that bass player's dalliance with basses other than Fenders and similar vintage models was a big but short-lived mistake, but up to about fifteen years ago most of the basses in high-end shops were modern hi-tech designs and, to a greater or lesser extent , that is what most serious players aspired to in the era from the mid-1970's to the turn of the Millennium . During that era, a lot of bass players might indeed have a Fender bass, but as another option to their main bass which would be an up-to-date contemporary design.
[/quote]

I agree. Even into the 90s I usually found quite modern shaped basses, very slim necks, almost Warwick-like styles.

I found the shops had a few Fender's but not like it is now.

That or Stingrays...which seemed (in my area) to be the holy grail (and they still are for me!).

[Dingus]

What amuses me about trends in basses is how uber- trendy bass players nowadays assert that retro-style basses strung with flatwounds and old tube amps are preferable with exactly the same zeal and unerring confidence as trendy bass players asserted that hi-tech fancy basses with active electronics and bi-amped amplification rigs were the way to go back in the 1980's. The same folks would have been using the opposite equipment what they do now and espousing the opposite philosophy regarding playing it . There was was an age when , in the world of bass, more was better and to play the style known as "more" you needed up-to-date gear. One day, that style will return.

[Dingus]

[quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1395237575' post='2400046']
I agree. Even into the 90s I usually found quite modern shaped basses, very slim necks, almost Warwick-like styles.

I found the shops had a few Fender's but not like it is now.

That or Stingrays...which seemed (in my area) to be the holy grail (and they still are for me!).
[/quote]

Stingray is an interesting case, because it is both modern and traditional at the same time, but they have[i] always[/i] been popular, regardless of trends. In the end, a good design will always win through, I suppose, and a Stingray is such a useful and practical bass guitar for so many styles of music that they will always be perennially popular.

Edited March 19, 2014 by Dingus

[lonestar]

I guess the trends come and go as with all fashion and design but I would wager that the majority of recorded popular music since the 1950's
will have and continue to feature a Precision, Jazz or maybe a Stingray providing the bass line

[lonestar]

[quote name='ead' timestamp='1395237115' post='2400031']


Just accidentally snorted hot coffee. Not recommended fellow BCers, too many Health & Safety Issues; plus it ****** stings a bit too.
[/quote]
Sorry !

[Conan]

Status basses (the original headless ones) were popular for a short time in the mid-to-late 1980s. Just around the time when I bought mine, in fact!

[EliasMooseblaster]

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1395237446' post='2400043']
The renaissance of Fender basses is a far more recent phenomena than you might think, although they have of course been a residual presence regardless of whatever the trend in basses and never completely went away.
[/quote]

That reminds me - and goes back to my point about f***ing hipsters a little - but has anyone else encountered a curious level of contempt for Stratocasters? Now, I realise they have quite a particular sound, which is not to everyone's taste. But in the last few years, I have encountered a handful of people, usually with some combination of silly haircuts/naff facial hair/cardigans/tight jeans/gratuitous misuse of the word 'ironic', who regard Strat-toting guitarists with the same level of disgust normally reserved for convicted child molesters.

The most memorable example was a gig for which my blues trio's guitarist borrowed my cheap SG copy, as his Strat was in for a service. Some chap from the audience approached him and waxed lyrical about how good his playing was...until our guitarist said he normally played a Strat, and then received a look as if he'd just revealed that he was Jimmy Saville in disguise.

[TheGreek]

Single cut basses - I currently own one - almost certainly will not be in favour in a few years.
You can't buy a second-hand Status Kingbass at the moment for love nor money.
When I was trying to buy a Wal a few years ago, again, rare as...second-hand. There are a couple for sale here at the moment. Wasn't there a time, not that long ago, that you could pick one up for virtually nothing?
Similar case with Warwicks - the only ones that seem to hold their value are the Thumbs - a friend of mine sold his German made Corvette for £200 a couple of years ago - ridiculous considering that it was probably £1500 new 3-4 years earlier. When I was selling my Dolphin a couple of years ago I couldn't get a sniff - now I'd have people beating my door down.
There was also a time when the thing to have was a Jaydee (great basses BTW) - when I was selling my series 2 and my GA24 nobody wanted them.
Exotic woods seem not to be "in" at the moment despite there being some beautiful examples available.

On this basis it can only be a matter of time before flying Vs are the height of desirability...

Edited March 19, 2014 by TheGreek