Form vs function

[dclaassen]

I wish I could make this a survey question…

 

I personally don’t care much about what my gear looks like. I’ve made out like a bandit rescuing other player’s abandoned and slightly beat up gear. I also would probably not consider playing a jazz, folk, or country gig on upright knowing I can produce an acceptable tone on my fretless Spector. I do, however care a great deal about how my kit works and sounds. 
 

Not being judgmental, just curious…where does the collective land on this subject?

[Gasman]

I'm sure that 99.95% of the punters at a gig don't care what the band's gear looks like or cost, as long as it doesn't sound terrible.

 

The other 0.05% are probably other rather envious bass players who haven't got a gig that night...

[Lozz196]

I care what my gear looks like but I don’t care what others think it looks like. There are undoubtedly some very fine instruments that I would probably love playing but I’m unlikely to ever find out due to how they look. 

[dclaassen]

Just now, Lozz196 said:

I care what my gear looks like but I don’t care what others think it looks like. There are undoubtedly some very fine instruments that I would probably love playing but I’m unlikely to ever find out due to how they look. 

I get that…have a friend that plays one of those single cutaway coffee table sixers. It’s ugly to me but I wouldn’t let that stop me from playing it.

[PaulThePlug]

I'm very form follows function, clean 'n simple and elegance... but it's got work - well, or how you want it to work.

 

But i think 'looks' is different...

Deviation from the expected and familiar can be alarming... both in a good and bad way...

 

Loves the Ibby SR... Body is a P evolution... Spector/Warwick types are a NO. Likes a Jazz, not a MM... I think a proportion is out, but thats visual, or i am missing something in its use.

 

Same with how cars and bikes went all angles and edges 'cos they could with the manf process and materials... but

Around the same time you had the most wonderful Z900 and KH stream-liner-esq and duck tail...  the rounded blob of Suzi G... or the Box of Honda CB

 

Form Follows Function - not to look good or sound good... but to look good and sound good, sound good and look good... to you.

[Paolo85]

I do care about the looks of my basses, quite a bit I think. By that I mean that they have to look nice to me. Slightly or even significantly battered can be ok. A colour that I don't like is an issue.

I do not need to own multiple basses. I just like them and the looks is part of the equation. My basses need to sound, look and feel nice - to me - and balance well, without being heavy. I don't see why I would need to own anything that does not thick all the boxes given that there's plenty of basses that tick all the boxes for me (maybe with some minor mods) and cost only a few hundred pounds.

This may be down to me not being that refined and thinking that basses that cost a few hundred pounds sound and play great. It is possible that people that buy very expensive basses detect nuances that change the equation completely.

Edited July 25, 2023 by Paolo85

[Fishfacefour]

The bass has to invite you to play, whether that's how it looks or that you know that it feels right (despite it's looks).

I quite like the idea of the forlorn looking instrument that you've nursed back to being a great feeling instrument. 

 

 

[chris_b]

My gear has to do 3 things: it has to make me sound good, has to make me play better and, these days, has to be light.

 

I prefer if it looks right but that's an optional requirement.

[dclaassen]

15 minutes ago, Paolo85 said:

I do care about the looks of my basses, quite a bit I think. By that I mean that they have to look nice to me. Slightly or even significantly battered can be ok. A colour that I don't like is an issue.

I do not need to own multiple basses. I just like them and the looks is part of the equation. My basses need to sound, look and feel nice - to me - and balance well, without being heavy. I don't see why I would need to own anything that does not thick all the boxes given that there's plenty of basses that tick all the boxes for me (maybe with some minor mods) and cost only a few hundred pounds.

This may be down to me not being that refined and thinking that basses that cost a few hundred pounds sound and play great. It is possible that people that buy very expensive basses detect nuances that change the equation completely.

Well said! I currently use : different basses, and they all have unique looks and personalities..but they all work beautifully in every context I use them in.

[dclaassen]

Should read 3 different basses..

[Burns-bass]

5 minutes ago, chris_b said:

My gear has to do 3 things: it has to make me sound good, has to make me play better and, these days, has to be light.

 

I prefer if it looks right but that's an optional requirement.

I’d agree and add a fourth - it has to be reliable!

 

Ive played hundreds of basses of all ages and types, from £10 (my first in 2001) to £10,000 (a 64 jazz I sold on here) and the one thing that matters to me now more than anything is that it works.

 

I currently gig a £1500 Fender US jazz with a £100 Harley Benton or Squier as a backup. That’s it. All meticulously cared for, set up, and maintained.

[Waddo Soqable]

I'd have to confess that I do care what an instrument looks like, I tend to prefer the classic designs, something that looks like it's from the 50s or 60s (or 70s at a push) ! 😁

I'm not a fan of a lot of "modern and weird for the sake of it" looking basses, or the hippy sandwich / coffee table type things. 

I'm quite happy with battered relic looking  stuff ( you don't have to worry about bashing it etc) 

Obviously the bottom line is it's got to work as its supposed to and feel right (to me)

I'm not bothered at all how much a bass weighs, which seems to loom large as an issue for many folk it seems. I often wonder if the whole weight thing is just a bass player obsession or do guitarists do the same ? 

[chris_b]

5 minutes ago, Waddo Soqable said:

I'm not bothered at all how much a bass weighs, which seems to loom large as an issue for many folk it seems. I often wonder if the whole weight thing . . . . 

 

You are lucky. I remember when I was the same. Take care. The world can change very quickly.

 

It's not an obsession if you have back or shoulder issues. Then it's called a necessary precaution.

[Waddo Soqable]

Just now, chris_b said:

 

You are lucky. I remember when I was the same. Take care. The world can change very quickly.

 

It's not an obsession if you have back or shoulder issues. Then it's called a necessary precaution.

I do take the point that folk have bad backs etc of course.

I've also had my back (and various other parts) walloped, bashed and abused over the years, but tbh haven't found it makes any difference going from one bass to another for the sake of a pound or two in weight..... (Ps I'm also a old geezer 😁) 

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

I like basses that look like they could have been made in the late 60s even if they were really made earlier this year. Obviously they won't get a look in if they are uncomfortable to play or sound bad. My JMJ mustangs, vintage pro thunderbirds and guild starfire are my favourites.

[dclaassen]

13 minutes ago, Jean-Luc Pickguard said:

I like basses that look like they could have been made in the late 60s even if they were really made earlier this year. Obviously they won't get a look in if they are uncomfortable to play or sound bad. My JMJ mustangs, vintage pro thunderbirds and guild starfire are my favourites.

Kind of subjective to me. I played Fenders for decades, but none now. My Yamaha is close enough to a FSO for most, the fretless is Spector shaped, and the MPV is the only outlier…but I don’t care….:)

[Rosie C]

2 hours ago, dclaassen said:

I personally don’t care much about what my gear looks like. ...  however care a great deal about how my kit works and sounds. 

 

 

I don't worry so much about how my gear looks. But the exception is I do find the audience tends to notice a double bass - especially as mine is white, so I tend to take it to gigs as much as I can as it gets attention that my bass guitars never get.  

[Frank Blank]

I am only just beginning to realise that my ridiculous form way over function habits are what has a) cost me a lot of money over the years and b) had me scratching my head over why I am never satisfied tonally. Some very good advice on here had me buying a compressor recently that I'd never have given a second glance to a few months back. It's ugly but exactly the right compressor. I am hoping this lesson will have me making much better gear purchases from now on. Cheers @Osiris.

[BigRedX]

For me image, and especially something that fits with the overall band image is massively important. One of the reasons why I have never played a P-Bass is because I think they look so boring, I have never even been vaguely tempted to pick one off the wall in a music shop. I don't really have any bass heroes but when I was getting into music and playing in bands most of my favourite bands had bass players with Gibsons or Rickenbackers (certainly the ones where I noticed what the bass player was playing did).

 

As for sound, by the time my bass has passed through the compressor, drive, chorus and delay (if required) and been EQ'd to fit into the band mix it really doesn't matter what it is. Over the years I have used a number of widely different basses, but I have always been able to get the right sound for whatever band I was in at the time out of any of them.

 

Having said all that, in one of my bands I play an Eastwood Hooky 6-string bass. This has been chosen simply because it is the only Bass VI with a suitably wide neck to accommodate my playing style. Luckily because of the Peter Hook association, it also fits the post-punk/goth image of the band, although if I manage to get the funds together it will be replaced with something a bit more interesting looking, but with the same neck dimensions.

[Happy Jack]

8 hours ago, Burns-bass said:

I’d agree and add a fourth - it has to be reliable!

 

Don't know if I'm really careful or just lucky, but I've never ever had a bass 'fail' on me at a gig, and my only major problems with amps have tended to be for external causes. 

 

Manufacturing standards are just so high pretty much everywhere on the planet that it's quite unusual to find an instrument or an amplifier that lets you down.

 

Pedals, now, ah well, that's an entirely different story ...

 

[FinnDave]

Form vs Function? I ride a Harley Davidson, so I think it's fairly clear which end of that spectrum I inhabit!

[Supernaut]

How it plays and sounds is more important than how it looks. If it looks good then that's a bonus. 

[ahpook]

It seems everybody got mixed feelings about the function and the form.

 

[Newfoundfreedom]

11 hours ago, Lozz196 said:

I care what my gear looks like but I don’t care what others think it looks like. There are undoubtedly some very fine instruments that I would probably love playing but I’m unlikely to ever find out due to how they look. 

 

This exactly. If I didn't like the look of a bass I simply wouldn't feel motivated to pick it up and play it. 

 

Whether anyone else likes it or not isn't even an issue. 

 

 

 

 

[BigRedX]

My choice of bass (or guitar) goes like this:

 

1. Looks. If I don't like how it looks it won't even get picked up. I don't care how great it might possibly play or sound, I don't want IMO boring or ugly instruments. It's not the 70s any more where there are only a handful of decent playing and sounding designs and everything else is awful. These days you have to look pretty hard to find a new bass that plays or sounds bad, so pick something you like the look of.

 

2. Playability. Entirely subjective. Spend some time playing without plugging the bass in. Concentrate on how it feels to play. If you gig standing up don't forget to try it on a strap first. I made this mistake with a Squier VMF Jazz. It was fine sitting down in the shop. On the strap I found reaching the G-string machine head difficult.

 

3. Sound. For me not really an issue. I can get the sounds I want out of any bass once it has gone through the Line 6 Helix that I use by adjusting the EQ and/or my playing technique. I've yet to encounter a bass that met the first two criteria that couldn't be made to sound right in the band mix.