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Has anyone bought a bass on a whim just cos of its looks?


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15 hours ago, neepheid said:

Maybe we should buy our clothes blindfolded too? 

 

IME an awful lot of men already appear to be doing this. So long the clothes stop them freezing to death when it gets really cold, and they don't get arrested for indecent exposure at other times, any old crap appears to do.

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6 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

 

IME an awful lot of men already appear to be doing this. So long the clothes stop them freezing to death when it gets really cold, and they don't get arrested for indecent exposure at other times, any old crap appears to do.

 

Hey, how did you know my entire approach to clothes shopping?  Bit generous to call it "shopping" really, it's more a grudging cross between "purchasing" and "procurement" :)

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Steonberger Spirit.

 

The priginal 'berger arrived when I was an impressionable wee young pup,  and I had to have one. 

 

Although the Spirit is rsther a diffrerent beast - but still great in its own right - it looms the part and I will admit to buying it on the basis of its looks alone.

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1 hour ago, BigRedX said:

 

IME an awful lot of men already appear to be doing this. So long the clothes stop them freezing to death when it gets really cold, and they don't get arrested for indecent exposure at other times, any old crap appears to do.

 

Affordable..? Check. Comfortable..? Check. Long-lasting..? Check. Buy. Red, blue or gold lamé..? Not fussed if the first boxes are ticked. No-one's looking at me anyway, and I don't see myself either, so...

Edited by Dad3353
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As a lefty, I have frequently had to resort to buying a bass based on looks alone, simply because I had no way of trying it first :$

Usually I did have some kind of expectation, and sometimes I had experience with the brand prior to buying. 

 

There have been two basses that stand out, and that I bought solely because I thought they looked stunning:

 

In 2009 I ordered a brand new Rickenbacker 4003 in Mapleglo when the Pound was at a low. Of course I had an idea of what a Ric should sound like, based on listening to a lot of Yes, Spock's Beard, old Deep Purple and the Beatles, but I had no idea of I would get on with one. Short answer: I didn't. I loved the tone, absolutely adored the looks, but hated the ergonomics and playability. The neck on mine was somewhat square, and I didn't like the sharp angular sides of the body that dug into my lower arm. I played it for a while in a Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds-esque band, but sold it when I needed money to replace my totalled car and haven't looked back.

 

The second one was my first Status S2 Classic: I fell in love with the bright white body, paired to the beautiful woven-graphite neck with the contrasting, extremely black phenolic fingerboard and roman numeral inlays. I had never laid hands on one or heard one up close. I emailed the seller (I think it was @whynot) but sadly got a reply that it had already been shipped to the US. It kept haunting me though, so I couldn't believe my luck when it popped up 11 years later in Israel. This time I got lucky, and a few weeks later it was delivered to my door, and I love it! I've been deeply impressed with the construction, the excellent playability and the huge range of tones. So much so, that I traded my Stingray 5 for @Bonin-in-the boneyard's 5-string shortly after. That one has been my main bass ever since. 

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I nearly bought a left handed G&L ASAT bass in blue metallic just because I loved it. However, it had the most horrendous neck dive so I chickened out. I regret that now, as it was really pretty, a reasonable price, played nicely apart from the neck dive issue and I've never seen another one.

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Whilst trawling the FaceBook Marketplace for God -knows-what, I happened upon this. In case you can't read the faux-mother-of-pearl logo, it's a Roberts "Savage" bass. About two hours after pressing the button, a very nice man delivered it and scarpered. It was a nice bass - it played well and sounded OK. The pickups needed rewiring (which was mentioned in the "For Sale" ad) but other than that, it was AOK. Sadly, the honeymoon effect kicked in pretty quickly and the more I looked at it, the more I knew I was never going to play the bloody thing. Not even in my Roxy Music tribute band. I managed to find a buyer for it who was thrilled with its distinctive look. I hope he's still thrilled now.

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Not sure whether this qualifies, I am a dyed in the wool Precision player and so the overall shape etc is hardly new to me. Something about this beaten up bass just called to me, from the Bass Gallery website, and I bought it at first sight. It now sports a tort scratchplate and is either called 'the wreck' or my Bo-Rap bass. It was (from the back) once sunburst. Lovely slim B profile neck.

 

Interestingly, the lug that holds the pickup screw on the E string side, has been cut down so there's far more purchase for the thumb. Brilliant idea.

 

The bass was (apparently) put together from bits in Mo Foster's parts drawer.

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On 28/03/2022 at 22:39, Yango said:

 I think that people should be blindfolded when buying any instrument, because it’s all about tone and playability. You WILL fall in love with an instrument that sounds incredible and plays effortlessly, but maybe isn’t your fav colour. But you’ll never get along with your favourite colour bass that plays and sounds like crap. 

I disagree. Unless you put your basses away in a case after every use, they're going to be on view unplayed most of the time. I certainly wouldn't want these on view however, great they handle

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22 hours ago, BigRedX said:

 

IME an awful lot of men already appear to be doing this. So long the clothes stop them freezing to death when it gets really cold, and they don't get arrested for indecent exposure at other times, any old crap appears to do.

Judging by the numbers of bellies I see hanging out below the hems of undersized T/Polo shirts and the tops of 'arrises peeking out over the tops of saggy jeans I'm not even sure they're too bothered about freezing to death. As long as the essentials are kept under wraps, that's all that probably matters

Edited by Barking Spiders
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1 minute ago, Barking Spiders said:

Judging by the numbers of bellies I see hanging out below the hems of undersized T/Polo shirts and the tops of 'arrises peeking out over the tops of saggy jeans I'm not even sure they're too bothered about freezing to death. As long as the essentials are kept under wraps, that's all that probably matters

 

I just poke my legs through a couple of holes in the bottom of a large carrier bag, squirt in half a can of polyurethane foam gap filler and five minutes later I'm good to go!

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29 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

I just poke my legs through a couple of holes in the bottom of a large carrier bag, squirt in half a can of polyurethane foam gap filler and five minutes later I'm good to go!

No leakage there then :laugh1:

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Gretsch Thunderjet. In black, looked absolutely stunning, but sounded a bit lame. I just couldn't get a sound I liked from it at all. That was 20yrs ago, and my taste has changed, I'd probably love it now.

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10 hours ago, Barking Spiders said:

I disagree. Unless you put your basses away in a case after every use, they're going to be on view unplayed most of the time. I certainly wouldn't want these on view however, great they handle

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I generally have my “player” out on a stand, and the rest are in cases. If any one of the basses you posted were my “player”, I’d happily have it out in my jam space. 

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On 30/03/2022 at 10:28, KingBollock said:

I once went to a shop to buy picks and ended up buying a Cort T35 in “Geometric Copper”, because my wife liked the colour…

 

 

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Forgot all about that one! I had the 4-string T-34 - bought it off someone on BC about 8 or 9 years ago for the exact same reason. Amazing finish but incredibly hard to get a good pic.

 

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Never got the chance to gig it but it looked lovely hanging on the wall in direct sunlight! Lost mine in a partial trade for a concrete garage/workshop base when we moved house a couple of years later.

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22 hours ago, Bassassin said:

Forgot all about that one! I had the 4-string T-34 - bought it off someone on BC about 8 or 9 years ago for the exact same reason. Amazing finish but incredibly hard to get a good pic.

 

cortt34a.thumb.jpg.9ea555699650c6f335037901fde24844.jpg

 

Never got the chance to gig it but it looked lovely hanging on the wall in direct sunlight! Lost mine in a partial trade for a concrete garage/workshop base when we moved house a couple of years later.

I really struggled finding a good photo of one on Google. I couldn’t take one of mine because I haven’t moved it into this new house yet. I only have my Warlock with me because it has got a hard case.

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Quote

Has anyone bought a bass on a whim just cos of its looks?

Looking through the comments, I'm feeling really old (which, of course, I am)

 

In my day, when there was very little choice, my friends and myself (who were attempting to form a band, but as 13 year olds couldn't afford any decent instruments) would religiously watch TOTP, and salivate over our chosen instruments when they appeared. The majority of basses on show were P basses - they just looked so futuristic and "other-worldly"!

Imagine when we got word that our local music store had got one in and it was on display in the window. I spent what seemed like hours standing outside that shop, drooling over that sunburst P bass.

It took me about 4 years before I was in a position to indulge in the ultimate retail therapy and actually buy one... on the "never never", of course!

For about the first year It lived in the corner of my bedroom, so If I woke up in the middle of the night, I could turn the light on and admire its wonderful curves.

Now, 53 years later, that very same P bass is on view in my lounge. It's served me well, and continues to do so🙂

 

It was the single most important purchase of my life! I can't say it was "on a whim", but it was most certainly "cos of its looks"

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