What defines a "cool" bass to you?

[Number6]

The grass is always greener on the other side.....for this reason i normally see most basses 6 string and under as pretty cool.

Of course as soon as i buy one they become way less cool but i hope that somebody with the same affliction as i covets my bass as i covet their.

😆

[TheGreek]

I like stuff that others don't have - if everybody played the same thing, how would that be cool?

[Roland Rock]

It's all to do with associations; I used to associate Steinberger Cricket bats with cheesy 80s acts, and thought they were very uncool. Then I discovered Robbie Shakespeare played one, and suddenly they are ultra cool. How shallow

[CHW]

As mentioned previously cool is in the eye of the beholder. But in this beholder:

Any fender bass that is road worn by the hands of the player. (Cool points only begin once the player-bass relationship is 15 years old though)
Danelectro basses- Dano's have a certain coolness, even the ugly longhorn is still cool.
A budget/beginner instrument that still lives with its original owner and sits alongside it's more expensive cousins.
Any home made bass

[JapanAxe]

Like beauty, cool is in the eye of the beholder.

[Roland Rock]

I'll stick my neck out and say that no coffee table/exotic topped bass can be cool. Beautiful, elegant, masterpiece maybe, but cool? No.

[Mykesbass]

[quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1454164296' post='2967117']
I'll stick my neck out and say that no coffee table/exotic topped bass can be cool. Beautiful, elegant, masterpiece maybe, but cool? No.
[/quote]

Are spalted tops coffee table? If so, I disagree. If they are not, then I'd better go back and edit my post, as I completely agree on the exotics!

[Mykesbass]

Oh, and I loved the Peterbuilt Dynamite Box Telebass that someone on here owns. That was very cool IMO.

[ped]

I like a paddle shaped headstock, pickups with a ramp, preferably active electronics and I like gadgets too so something innovative excites me. Although I don't really like the look of fanned frets.

Sonically I like a well defined clear sound with a bit of top end clank and a crisp slap sound. Low tension strings.

[BassTractor]

Christopher, dear, low tension strings are not cool. Use your eyes!

[ped]

[quote name='BassTractor' timestamp='1454171213' post='2967230']
Christopher, dear, low tension strings are not cool. Use your eyes!

[/quote]

Low tension, like me! And my mum says I'm cool

[Si600]

Tort and sunburst are not, and never can be cool

[BassTractor]

[quote name='ped' timestamp='1454171408' post='2967232']
Low tension, like me! And my mum says I'm cool
[/quote]

Now [b]that[/b] was a philosophically deep point. Low tension people are [b]the[/b] cool people, so maybe I've been wrong all these decades, and low tension strings are in fact [b]the[/b] cool strings.
If that then is true, then probably well-designed basses are cool anyway (yay!), and the regular sunburst P is not (yay!).

Ped, you's bin shooked my world!

[JoeEvans]

It's not cool to have to try too hard, or to need complex and expensive kit to get a good sound, so a simple, classic bass is cool.
However, it's also not cool to be the same as everyone else, and it's cool to be an early adopter of new things or a connoisseur of the rare and exotic, so a simple, classic bass is uncool, and a unique and unusual bass is cool.
I hope that helps.

Edited January 30, 2016 by JoeEvans

[gjones]

My Jazz bass is sonic blue. I've always wanted a sonic blue Jazz Bass because I think they look cooooool.

My drummer said he thought it looked sh*t.

He likes black basses.

Oh well.

[blue]

[quote name='colgraff' timestamp='1454142795' post='2966800']
Although I can't define it, the look of a bass is very important to me. If I don't like the look of a bass, I won't enjoy playing it. Eg, I don't like the look of a Status King Bass (too blocky) but I do like the look of a Ritter.
[/quote]

It's very important to me too. I have several basses that I think look cool but others wouldn't.All the classics look cool to me.

My Gibson Gold Top Les Paul bass and my 1991 Gibson Thunderbird.

Blue

Edited January 30, 2016 by blue

[Sausages]

I have to say that I think the sound of a Jazz bass is cool. I don't tend to fetishise basses for their looks. As others have said; if it sounds good and is played well, it's cool.

[BassTractor]

[quote name='JoeEvans' timestamp='1454173813' post='2967259']
It's not cool to have to try too hard, or to need complex and expensive kit to get a good sound, so a simple, classic bass is cool.
However, it's also not cool to be the same as everyone else, and it's cool to be an early adopter of new things or a connoisseur of the rare and exotic, so a simple, classic bass is uncool, and a unique and unusual bass is cool.
I hope that helps.
[/quote]

Classic!
I like you're thinking.
I also like your thinking.

[jezzaboy]

The coolest bass is a Thunderbird. But they are, for me, the most uncomfortable basses ever made so I don`t play one.

[martin8708]

A 59' sunburst P-bass is cool .

Fano basses are pretty cool ,too.

[lurksalot]

never mind all this blue

the coolest is the Spector Emerald green flamed maple , on a Euro 4 it is most excellently cool , but hey, on a Legend would look just as good

[blue]

[quote name='Sausages' timestamp='1454175529' post='2967292']
I have to say that I think the sound of a Jazz bass is cool. I don't tend to fetishise basses for their looks. As others have said; if it sounds good and is played well, it's cool.
[/quote]

Looks and name brand are important to me as Well as playability and sound.

I like the classic look of my Gibson Custom Shop ES-335 as much as my German made Hofner limited edition Club Bass.

Big picture, if a bass has proper intonation, and good action your 99% of the way there.

Blue

[White Cloud]

Utterly and completely subjective topic....one mans meat is another mans poison

[Roland Rock]

[quote name='jezzaboy' timestamp='1454188701' post='2967432']
The coolest bass is a Thunderbird. But they are, for me, the most uncomfortable basses ever made so I don`t play one.
[/quote]

Style and practicality seldom go hand in hand

[alyctes]

The player.