Don't be a bass snob!

[Musicman666]

8 hours ago, TRBboy said:

Whilst I've never been a gear 'Snob' (insofar that I've always believed there are great budget choices, and would certainly never belittle anyone's gear), I think in my younger days I was made to feel like if I didn't have a more expensive bass with some prestige, I wouldn't be taken seriously as a player. And whilst expensive gear can be great, so can cheap gear. I've played fantastic and terrible examples at opposing ends of the spectrum. In retrospect though, most of the cheaper instruments I didn't like was because of fit and finish, whereas at the higher end I guess it's more just preference and what fits my taste. I've hated/loved electronics at both ends though.

 

Through the years, I've gotten to know what I like more, and gained more appreciation for inexpensive instruments, and I guess with age comes less inhibition about judgement from others.

 

I'm really enjoying the Ibanez GAXB-150 medium scale I scored recently, and also love my Yamaha BBN5 I customised. For me, Yamaha and Ibanez consistently nail the budget bass thing, offering great QC, feel, playability, and usually pretty decent electronics for the money. I had planned to change the pickups on the BB, but you know what, there's nothing wrong with them. As Josh Scott says, 'if it sounds good, it IS good!'

(Excuse the poor pictures, lighting is crappy in my cellar/music room)

 

 

I've also just been helping a local player sort her bass out. She bought an EMG PJ set for her Ibanez GSR200, but was having some trouble with the installation. She's an absolutely killer player, always sounds great, and she's been rinsing this thing bog standard for years. It feels fantastic, and she's played it so much, it has a feel on par with true 'vintage' instruments just because of how played-in it is.

Whilst this has been out of action, she's been borrowing a Yamaha TRBX174. I played that too the other week at a jam, and that absolutely blew me away for an entry level bass too.

 

 

If it feels good in your hands, that's the main thing in my opinion. Pickups and electronics can always be changed if necessary, which are what creates the sound/tone on a solid body instrument (without wanting to get into the ol' tonewood debate 🫣). Pretty much anything else is just paying for aesthetics/brand name/prestige, which is fine if that's what you want.

 

Obviously aesthetics matter to everyone, to lesser and greater degrees. But I genuinely think a lot of people would be just as happy and save money if they judged with their hands and ears first and foremost, rather than eyes/brand/price.

 

That said, I love my Sandberg! 🤣

whenever I wander around a music shop I often just grab basses and guitars off the wall to play ..sometimes I get one that's a real player.. then I look at the price ..and then I quickly put it back on the wall.

Edited February 3 by Musicman666

[Len_derby]

As it’s been said before, budget instruments used to be of poor quality, but mostly not anymore.

I’ve been thinking about this topic with relation to the jam night and open mics I go to. I’ve realised that, generally, if someone gets up with an expensive instrument they are most likely to be a fumbling newbie!

(Nothing wrong with being a fumbling newbie, we all were once).

It could be that someone who wants to start out and has the money still believes that you have to spend a lot to get an adequate instrument.

[TRBboy]

2 hours ago, Len_derby said:

As it’s been said before, budget instruments used to be of poor quality, but mostly not anymore.

I’ve been thinking about this topic with relation to the jam night and open mics I go to. I’ve realised that, generally, if someone gets up with an expensive instrument they are most likely to be a fumbling newbie!

(Nothing wrong with being a fumbling newbie, we all were once).

It could be that someone who wants to start out and has the money still believes that you have to spend a lot to get an adequate instrument.

Yeah absolutely right. I've seen some incredible musicians on cheap instruments and some who aren't on very expensive ones. 

 

Could also just be that if you've got the money, why not get something more expensive?

 

Horses for courses and all that.

 

I still maintain that most inexpensive instruments will get the job done just fine though.

[BigRedX]

12 hours ago, TRBboy said:

Obviously aesthetics matter to everyone, to lesser and greater degrees. But I genuinely think a lot of people would be just as happy and save money if they judged with their hands and ears first and foremost, rather than eyes/brand/price.

 

Since image is very important to me, and by the time they have passed through my Helix all my basses sound near to identical, so long as I find them playable the aesthetics come first and foremost. I'm not a bedroom/studio only player, and when we gig my band do gig, we don't play on a darkened stage or behind a curtain so how my instruments look matters. I once bought a competitively priced, very ordinary, electric guitar thinking that since I was only going to be using for writing it didn't matter that looked dull and boring; within a couple of years I found myself needing to play guitar live in my band at which point it was replaced with something far more exciting looking (and also considerably more expensive).

 

I would love it for interesting-looking guitars and basses to be priced at Squier/Epiphone/Yamaha Pacifica levels, but that's simply not the case. Currently my least expensive bass - a Burns Barracuda - cost me about £600 and that's just my back-up Bass VI. All my other guitars and basses cost me between £1k and £2k.

Edited February 3 by BigRedX

[TRBboy]

28 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

 

Since image is very important to me, and by the time they have passed through my Helix all my basses sound near to identical, so long as I find them playable the aesthetics come first and foremost. I'm not a bedroom/studio only player, and when we gig my band do gig, we don't play on a darkened stage or behind a curtain so how my instruments look matters. I once bought a competitively priced, very ordinary, electric guitar thinking that since I was only going to be using for writing it didn't matter that looked dull and boring; within a couple of years I found myself needing to play guitar live in my band at which point it was replaced with something far more exciting looking (and also considerably more expensive).

 

I would love it for interesting-looking guitars and basses to be priced at Squier/Epiphone/Yamaha Pacifica levels, but that's simply not the case. Currently my least expensive bass - a Burns Barracuda - cost me about £600 and that's just my back-up Bass VI. All my other guitars and basses cost me between £1k and £2k.

Completely get this, and that's why I said to lesser and greater degrees. I remember seeing photos and videos of you, and the aesthetic is clearly a big part of the 'package' 😎👌 Also completely agree that there's less choice of original designs at the lower end of the price scale, but I guess that's because if you want to mass produce budget instruments, they need to be kinda 'safe' and universally appealing. There are some quirky budget shapes around though, especially on the used market.

 

Am I right in thinking you had a Gus at some point, or is my memory as bad as I suspect? 🤣

[TRBboy]

@BigRedX I replied to you, and then went on FB and saw this for £350! 🤣👌

[BigRedX]

33 minutes ago, TRBboy said:

@BigRedX I replied to you, and then went on FB and saw this for £350! 🤣👌

 

Thanks!

 

However these days I need 5-string basses for one band and Bass VIs for the other, so unfortunately this doesn't have enough strings for me.

[diskwave]

Yep, Im pretty old and owned a ton of just about everything. Now play a Squire CV70's walnut P bass. Probably the most ..'playable' bass Ive ever owned. Fat neck, thick sounding PU's and feels solid like an old P bass, and most oddly watching the playback vid of a recent outdoor gig, sounded like a J bass on bridge PU only with more heft....perfect.