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Brand snobbery


Guest MoJo
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I have in my small collection, a Greg Bennett Designed Samick Corsair. I originally bought it thinking it was the 30" short scale version but it turned out to be the long scale model. I think I was the only bidder when it came up on ebay and got it for £50 or thereabouts. It's a joy to play and surprisingly well put together. I swapped out the pickups and had a 3-ply B/W/B pickguard made for it by Sims. It's well balanced and on a couple of occasions, when I've played it at gigs, I've had compliments on it's tone. It balances very well and is relatively light yet.......if I know there's going to be another bass player at a gig, I'll leave it at home and take the Precision instead. I can't bear to think that another bassist will see me playing it. Mad isn't it?

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I do think the correct gear for the gig is important so if it look crap and sounds
about the same, then I'd not want it on the gig, tbh.
When we've had deps in, we've learnt to ask what they'll bring as turning up
with inappropriate kit is somewhat insulting.
By the same token, when we get together and decide what sounds are needed,
a keyboard, for example, needs to have very good sounds and if it doesn't, its
not on the gig, and probably neither is the player.
That's not snobbery, IMO, that is just picking the right person with the appropriate
gear.

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[quote name='MoJo' timestamp='1423403807' post='2684354']
....if I know there's going to be another bass player at a gig, I'll leave it at home and take the Precision instead. I can't bear to think that another bassist will see me playing it. Mad isn't it?
[/quote]
Read a few threads on BC and see how much dislike there is for Fenders of pretty much any kind and perhaps you'll start taking the Greg Bennett instead.

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You'd get plus points from me for having an unusual choice of bass on stage. I love a bit of gear spotting but it gets a bit tedious when you see the Nth P or J.

Also, considering the basses I own and enjoy, I doubt I'd have ever ventured on stage if I worried about what people think of my choice of bass ;)

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I`ve been a bit like that myself in the past, but having done a good few gigs in the last year where both bassists and guitarists have been using Squier/Epiphone instruments, and they`ve sounded great, my attitude has changed a bit.

I put a post up on here about how I loved the sound of my rig the other night, when another bassist was using it - he was using an MIM Jazz. Previously I might have thought "it`s only MIM" but now I just thought how great it sounded. I now choose my basses on their sound and playability. Ok my main bass is a 78 Precision, but it would be a lot easier for me to use my 2008 US Precision, as it`s a fair bit lighter, but I prefer the sound of the 78. If my MIM Precision had the best sound, that would be the one I`d be using live.

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The last 2 bands were very dismissive of bass players in general. They just see a boomy box that makes a loud noise in a pub .
That said , they all liked my various basses.

they seem very precious about their marshals / ludwigs/ sennheisers etc.

I do agree tho' that the average punter just wants to see a good band , and don't care about the equipment in general.
The guvnor wants the level to be on the low side and will slowly relent when the venue gets more packed.
Don't matter what you use- just use it

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Take whatever sounds best. As people have already said, I quite like a bit of gear spotting at gigs and find it somewhat refreshing to see a bassist using anything other than a Fender P or J bass as everybody seems to have at least one. But whatever sounds best for the gig is what to take IMO.

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I tend to be more of a reverse snob...which admittedly is just as bad in its own way.

I take pleasure in turning up with a bitsa or an obscure Chinese brand and have it sound perfectly fine.

I guess it helps that I am not overly fussy in terms if tone. As long as it's a pretty warm sound and not too clanky I'm happy.

Edited by paul h
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[quote name='paul h' timestamp='1423411610' post='2684465']
I tend to be more of a reverse snob...which admittedly is just as bad in its own way.

I take pleasure in turning up with a bitsa or an obscure Chinese brand and have it sound perfectly fine.

I guess it helps that I am not overly fussy in terms if tone. As long as it's a pretty warm sound and not too clanky I'm happy.
[/quote]

that pretty much sums me up too I guess, I have for the last eighteen months played the Cloudbusting gigs with a Westfield PJ, amatuerly defretted, fretboard holes filled with Polyfilla, one string missing and some of the tuners on backwards. Had loads of bass players come up and ask me what it is, also until fairly recently this was paired with an Encore P bass copy.

When I turned up for the audition, I worked out that the guy before me had brought along a flight case for his amp head that was worth more than both the basses I turned up with combined. Glad I wasn't auditioning for JTUK;s band, as I woldnt have even got through the door

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When I played a few gigs with my 24" version for a lark, absolutely no-one noticed. The one exception was a strummist who was used to me playing an orange 5-string Peavey said "Did you paint that?"

Only with the legendary pink daisy do any heads actually turn.

Play it, its black with a black plate and dark fingerboard, so therefore has an aura of intrigue and mystery (and is therefore officially kewl) which can only be improved with a matching headstock!

Edited by Vinny
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I was more prone to being picked at when I had my kingbass with me...the other bassists in bands had Mexican precisions and ibanez sr300's.

"It's missing a bit mate" etc.

And now I've got a USA peavey, which was probably about £1500 new with people thinking its a millennium bxp. Swish.

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[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1423407329' post='2684398']
I do think the correct gear for the gig is important so if it look crap and sounds
about the same, then I'd not want it on the gig, tbh.
When we've had deps in, we've learnt to ask what they'll bring as turning up
with inappropriate kit is somewhat insulting.
By the same token, when we get together and decide what sounds are needed,
a keyboard, for example, needs to have very good sounds and if it doesn't, its
not on the gig, and probably neither is the player.
That's not snobbery, IMO, that is just picking the right person with the appropriate
gear.
[/quote] I think it's important to make a distinction between gigs where that is important and gigs where it isn't.
If I were a 19 year old wanting to get into the big time with my indie pop band then the ubiquitous Fender USA P or J would be an absolute necessity. If you were in a a beatles cover band then a violin bass would be it I guess....
on the other hand me turning up at church to play image really isn't important so as long as it works I can play what I want - the PA guys very much prefer my higher end stuff but some of the other guys play budget stuff.
So it's important (for the sanity of this thread at least) to differentiate between the two extremes and suggest that all bands lie between the two somewhere.

Also it strikes me that ability plays a part.
I imagine if I came to audition to dep for your band and brought my couple of Warwicks I might be nicely asked to go away. I imagine is Pino, or someone of his ability, turned up with the same bass the playing would be what matters.

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Your average punter doesn't care what bass you are playing, the only basses that has been deemed worthy of comment in the last few years were my Warwick Corvette $$ German dealer edition (the guy was a bass player and Warwick fan and recognised it was not a standard Warwick) and my £100 Squier Mike Dirnt Precision ( a guy came up and said "like that bass it sounds great") so my most expensive bass drew a comment from a Warwick fan and my cheapest bass drew comment from a general punter.....it does put gear snobbery in to perspective!

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[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1423421268' post='2684584']
I think it's important to make a distinction between gigs where that is important and gigs where it isn't.
If I were a 19 year old wanting to get into the big time with my indie pop band then the ubiquitous Fender USA P or J would be an absolute necessity. If you were in a a beatles cover band then a violin bass would be it I guess....
on the other hand me turning up at church to play image really isn't important so as long as it works I can play what I want - the PA guys very much prefer my higher end stuff but some of the other guys play budget stuff.
So it's important (for the sanity of this thread at least) to differentiate between the two extremes and suggest that all bands lie between the two somewhere.

Also it strikes me that ability plays a part.
I imagine if I came to audition to dep for your band and brought my couple of Warwicks I might be nicely asked to go away. I imagine is Pino, or someone of his ability, turned up with the same bass the playing would be what matters.
[/quote]

Well, since sound is very important, getting a sound out of your gear is the issue.
With regards to a keyboard gig, we want 3 core sounds, Acoustic piano, Organ and elec Piano..and a decent synth sound
as a bonus. Some keyboards can't even manage one good sound, so if someone turns up with something that sounds
bad or poor, then that isn't going to work... same with drums, gtr and anything else. It kind of defines the deal you bring
to the gig.
You don't need the best gtr/amp to sound good but whatever you do have needs to sound good. There is nowhere to go if you
don't sound any good...

My point really relates to a keyboard who turned up with a 61 key piano which frankly didn't cut it soundwise, and he ran that thru
a poor monitor and headphones. The band couldn't hear him and neither could the audience..even tho he ran thru the P.A as well.
So whilst he came with a good local reputation, you couldn't hear him contribute the the sound of the band...and the few times when
he played the intro to a song, you heard the core sounds just weren't there either..
It did make me question the recommendation as well....hence, that is why that is one of the first things we ask..
what kit?
what monitoring?
what car?
etc etc

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