It’s just a lump of wood isn’t it?

[Rayman]

12 minutes ago, police squad said:

Yesterday I restrung my Vintage 335 a like. The neck profile is very like my Gibson AFD guitars from 2010. It plays very well and cost a tenth of what the Gibson cost. The Gibson is a far better instrument in everyway but I still like the Vintage.

 

Is it a can of worms? Who knows

Like I say, it’s absolutely down to the personal playing experience, and what makes us happy. If we can afford to spend ££££s then absolutely do it. But your Vintage will do everything the Gibson will, as far as a listening audience is concerned. They wouldn’t know the difference, and couldn’t care less either.

 

 I dunno, maybe I’m just bitter because I’m always skint?

[Ralf1e]

20 hours ago, Frank Blank said:

It’s just a lump of wood isn’t it?
 

Yes.

No. I was recently given an older Rockwood LX 90B by Hohner P bass by a friend who won't do anything with it as he plays guitar.

It is very heavy and knocked about. Close inspection reveals is has a rather thick particle board body. I won't say mdf because there is nothing medium about it.  Its plain dense and heavy.

It plays and sounds sort of OK. It even resonates a bit but,,,🤣

Edited February 18, 2023 by Ralf1e

[Rayman]

9 hours ago, Geek99 said:

I just freaking play them

 

It doesn’t matter if it cost £150 or £15000 it just goes thump in time with drums

Exactly that

[Ralf1e]

12 hours ago, Lozz196 said:

Def need/want as @Paul S says. I want - and have - Fender US Precisions, but my needs would easily be fulfilled by Squier Classic Vibe Precisions. 
 

But the “it’s just a lump of wood”, well that could be considered a bit demeaning towards those that make the instruments.

Having worked for a major furniture manufacturer for some years during that time I got to build for Royal Households and specials where extra strength or one off designs were wanted. Point is if I made your frame it would last a lifetime but I had people in the department who after 40 years of doing the job still built something that was an inadequate piece of junk that might not even get to the factory door without falling apart.😂

Yes it is a bit of wood but who used it is where the money is supposed to be.🤫

Edited February 18, 2023 by Ralf1e

[Barking Spiders]

1 hour ago, Rayman said:

Money can’t buy everything, and it certainly can’t buy love, but it can pay for an expensive hooker that you couldn’t afford.

Love's just for people who can't afford expensive hookers/gigolos

[Ralf1e]

8 hours ago, tauzero said:

Remembering that partially shredding a Banksy doubled its value, sticking a Precision in a wood chipper would not just double its value, it would also improve it.

Meow!!

[nilorius]

20 minutes ago, Ralf1e said:

Having worked for a major furniture manufacturer for some years during that time I got to build for Royal Households and specials where extra strength or one off designs were wanted. Point is if I made your frame it would last a lifetime but I had people in the department who after 40 years of doing the job still built something that was an inadequate piece of junk that might not even get to the factory door without falling apart.😂

Yes it is a bit of wood but who used it is where the money is supposed to be.🤫

No way furniture manufacturing can be comparable to music instrument making.

[Ralf1e]

1 minute ago, nilorius said:

No way furniture manufacturing can be comparable to music instrument making.

It's just a piece of wood isn't it?

Where do you think the boutique guitar makers got all the veneer ideas etc from?

[nilorius]

2 minutes ago, Ralf1e said:

It's just a piece of wood isn't it?

Where do you think the boutique guitar makers got all the veneer ideas etc from?

Yes - it's just a piece of wood for furniture, but not for luthier made music instrument. Body can be made by many pieces and diffrent woods, also the neck and fingerboard. Need to choose the right pickups and install perfectly in to right possitions. Also the electronics. It all gives the level of sound what have You had paid for !

[Ralf1e]

2 minutes ago, nilorius said:

Yes - it's just a piece of wood for furniture, but not for luthier made music instrument. Body can be made by many pieces and diffrent woods, also the neck and fingerboard. Need to choose the right pickups and install perfectly in to right possitions. Also the electronics. It all gives the level of sound what have You had paid for !

You can't teach stupid

[Waddo Soqable]

11 minutes ago, nilorius said:

No way furniture manufacturing can be comparable to music instrument making.

Look at the old "hippy sandwich" type basses, look rather indian coffee table to me 😁

[nilorius]

8 minutes ago, Ralf1e said:

You can't teach stupid

I will not start trolling, better go to google and read about some prime luthier companies, it will make you smarter.

Edited February 18, 2023 by nilorius

[BigRedX]

Unless we are playing music that absolutely requires a particular specialised bass guitar we could all make do with a modern budget precision bass and anything else is simply vanity or pretension.

 

Also half the punters at a typical covers band pub gig wouldn't notice if you turned up and mimed with a tennis racket.

Edited February 18, 2023 by BigRedX

[binky_bass]

@nilorius - Furniture making and luthiery are probably the most comparable industries there are in regard to wood working.

 

if you compare an ACG/Wal/Fodera to a piece of IKEA furniture, then yes - I absolutely agree with you, there are next to zero similarities. So in that context you are right. Similarly, if you compare a cheap Squier Bullit to a master built piece of furniture, then again, there are minimal similarities.

 

But... if you compare hand made basses to artisan/boutique/hand crafted furniture making, then the wood working similarities are extremely close to luthiery.

 

I expect you could ask any luthier, of which there are many on this forum, and they would agree that their craft is extremely comparable to furniture making.

Edited February 18, 2023 by binky_bass

[Ralf1e]

44 minutes ago, nilorius said:

I will not start trolling, better go to google and read about some prime luthier companies, it will make you smarter.

I have seen you post contentious questions as threads on here as well as anwers to others threads more than enough to know as will others that you seem to like starting a row.

[Kiwi]

The prices of stuff, both used and new are so out of proportion to salaries these days.  I would feel like a mug paying some of the asking prices.  Especially given that there are some really good instruments around if you want to stray away from the mainstream brands or even go back twenty years.  It seems like COVID gave mainstream brands an excuse to hike their prices and they're keeping them there until salaries catch up.  But maybe those  lump sum pension payments are a better metric.

[binky_bass]

17 minutes ago, Ralf1e said:

I have seen you post contentious questions as threads on here as well as anwers to others threads more than enough to know as will others that you seem to like starting a row.

Same questions posted by same user on Talkbass. Says it all. 

[Mickyk]

17 hours ago, Dan Dare said:

You could extend this argument to virtually anything we buy or use. For example, I'm an angler. Do I really need a Hardy fly rod when I can buy a perfectly functional rod from China for a fraction of the price that will catch me just as many fish? No, but I can afford a Hardy or two and the pleasure of ownership is worth it. I admit I'm also a bit of a tart and like the cachet of owning nice things. I can't take my money with me when I go.

Well Dan You are a Marketeers Dream, they love people like you. I concede to your analogy regarding Fishing Tackle, I am also a Fisherman ,I own a Daiwa Pole which I have had for some 12 years, my mate has just spent nigh on 4 grand on a Daiwa Air Z pro pole which is one of the lightest poles on the market ,?does this now mean he will win more Fishing matches than me, I doubt it ,I'm just a better Angler. Its the same with Guitars ,it is the person playing it that ticks the boxes.

[TheGreek]

When I first started playing I knew many people who had guitars with half a set of strings sitting in the corner of the room, rarely played. Probably worthless.

 

I, on the other hand, have many well cared for and cherished instruments which maintain their value. I am their caretaker, their value preserver and their user. So in effect I am making more of that piece of wood than others who might not appreciate them as much as I do. They are not "just pieces of wood".

 

I've owned many high end basses - I rarely used them outside of my home in fear of damaging them - one knock can devalue a high end bass by hundreds of pounds. They were, to all intents and purposes, worthless as instruments as they weren't doing what they were designed for. Were they "just pieces of wood?" Certainly beautiful pieces of wood but they were designed to do a job which they weren't being used for. Did they do it better than my current basses? - not measurably.  Could I justify owning them? Yes, I maintained them and could afford to own them (till the fear of taking them out became a real issue). 

 

Those who argue that basses are just pieces of wood should try this argument with the wife's wedding ring. After all the diamond is just a super heated and squashed bit of carbon (like coal). The gold is "just a bit of shiny metal".

 

Get your missus a copper washer and a bit of charcoal and see how much thicker your left ear is.

[neepheid]

As long as there's no gear snobbery going on, play whatever you like.

 

Can't effing stand gear snobbery, it can get in the bin.

[neepheid]

Also, I have a special hatred for geographically based gear snobbery.  That tone of mild disgust when an instrument is MIC and it was so much better when they were MIK or whatever - get lost.

[Burns-bass]

My guitar is pink which usually stops anyone talking to me about it. It’s a piece of wood, but the best piece of wood I’ve found for me.
 

To be honest, I don’t actually know what wood it is. Or the string spacing. Or neck radius. Or action height. Or whether it’s a 60s or 70s spacing. Or its weight. Or the nut material. Or whether they’re vintage pickups. Or who made the pots. Or whether the truss rod is carbon.

 

But I know I like it.

[WAYNESWORLD]

Marketing is the work of the devil. Despite those that will protest we have all fell foul of it and some become continually swayed by other’s opinions through not having confidence in their own.Hopefully we all agree instruments are great and do a job. How we enjoy them is personal and no one has the right to burst our bubble on how we feel about them.

[Burns-bass]

19 minutes ago, WAYNESWORLD said:

Marketing is the work of the devil. Despite those that will protest we have all fell foul of it and some become continually swayed by other’s opinions through not having confidence in their own.Hopefully we all agree instruments are great and do a job. How we enjoy them is personal and no one has the right to burst our bubble on how we feel about them.

Gear snobs are some of the most boring people on earth. In many cases, they can’t play much either. 
 

What matters is that something does its job. The second it doesn’t, it’s gone. 

[SumOne]

An audience might not hear the difference, but if I'm going to spend 100s of hours playing a bass then I'd want one one where I prefer the sound, erganomics, weight, look etc Especially as they pretty much hold their value so it's an investment. Whether the bass that does that for you costs a lot of not is a personal thing, I wouldn't look down on people playing cheap basses or think people are mugs for playing expensive ones (there's quite a lot of that reverse snobery).