Music Man Big Al

[Billy3000]

There's something about bass players. Despite being the lynchpin about which the group smoothly spins - if they have it in them - and despite there being plenty of fine-looking 'classic' basses available to suit pretty much any budget, the bass player who fancies himself rotten always seems to gravitate towards the most hideously ill-conceived, malformed monstrosities humanity ever dreamt up.

After having spent quite a bit of time lurking on TalkBass, I'd have to agree.

I think that really only applies to the douchebags at talkbass though, not to the majority of bass players. You don't see as many of these hideously ugly things among actual professional bands. Most people that aren't just the bass versions of blues lawyers stick to the classic designs.

I love the look of Stingrays, but for some reason all their other current basses are ugly. I remember liking the sound of the bongo when I played one way back when they first came out, but I hated the way that they looked. I still do.

I sold my stingray last year to buy my Rickenbacker 4003, and until a couple months ago I didn't miss it, then I went into the studio to do some quick recordings in december. I used the producer's stingray because I wouldn't have to set up and EQ my basses for his DI, it was already set up for the stingray. I used it and pretty quickly realized everything that I loved about the stingray, it is probably the best designed bass ever. It just sits perfectly on me, so it's not uncomfortable at all during hours of playing standing up, even though most of them are heavy as hell. I still prefer the tone of my p bass and my rickenbacker over the stingray, but I was able to get a pretty close tone to the p bass out of the stingray by just rolling back on the mid knob. It's super easy for recording with the onboard preamp, and it just feels perfect. I really want another stingray now!

[Josh]

This is the truth. I think a lot of ugly basses get their ugliness from having an overly long and thin upper horn to help balance out the neck when standing. Of course, Fender basses have perfectly proportionate upper horns and balance perfectly, so there's no excuse.

No they don't
My Jazz Bass and old Precision copy are both neck heavy. I just use grippy cloth straps to counter the dive.

what kind of copy was it? i had a squier vm p-bass and it never had any neck dive problems. jazz bass i can't speak for since i never really owned one/used one standing up.

[UlricvonCatalyst]

You don't see as many of these hideously ugly things among actual professional bands. Most people that aren't just the bass versions of blues lawyers stick to the classic designs.

Au contraire....though I guess my version of hideously ugly may well vary from yours. I was actually thinking of - just as a f'rinstance - the contrast between Andy Rourke's choice of bass seen in the gatefold sleeve of Hatful of Hollow and every guitar played by Johnny Marr then and now. The prevalence of fuckin' fugly as fuck Warwick basses amongst bassists who have arrived is another case in point.

Watch any episode of Later with Jools and check out what the session-dood bassists are playing (NOT real band members - I mean those shit-hot, sight-reading, pro-bass guys who hate the fact they aren't allowed to slap and pop their way through every lame song this shitty 'artist' they have to back up to make a living plays; those guys pick hideous, headless, mis-shapen atrocities every time over a Fender or Rickenbacker cuz this axe totally nails [their] signature tone).

I stand by my original assertion: they're a breed apart, guys who play bass (as opposed to guitarists who switch to bass reluctantly or otherwise).

[ProcessedMeatMan]

There's something about bass players. Despite being the lynchpin about which the group smoothly spins - if they have it in them - and despite there being plenty of fine-looking 'classic' basses available to suit pretty much any budget, the bass player who fancies himself rotten always seems to gravitate towards the most hideously ill-conceived, malformed monstrosities humanity ever dreamt up.

After having spent quite a bit of time lurking on TalkBass, I'd have to agree.

I think that really only applies to the douchebags at talkbass though, not to the majority of bass players. You don't see as many of these hideously ugly things among actual professional bands. Most people that aren't just the bass versions of blues lawyers stick to the classic designs.

The phrase "fancy themselves rotten" stuck out to me. There are a lot of arrogant, snobby, douchebaggy bass players on TalkBass.

[Billy3000]

You don't see as many of these hideously ugly things among actual professional bands. Most people that aren't just the bass versions of blues lawyers stick to the classic designs.

Au contraire....though I guess my version of hideously ugly may well vary from yours. I was actually thinking of - just as a f'rinstance - the contrast between Andy Rourke's choice of bass seen in the gatefold sleeve of Hatful of Hollow and every guitar played by Johnny Marr then and now. The prevalence of fuckin' fugly as fuck Warwick basses amongst bassists who have arrived is another case in point.

Watch any episode of Later with Jools and check out what the session-dood bassists are playing (NOT real band members - I mean those shit-hot, sight-reading, pro-bass guys who hate the fact they aren't allowed to slap and pop their way through every lame song this shitty 'artist' they have to back up to make a living plays; those guys pick hideous, headless, mis-shapen atrocities every time over a Fender or Rickenbacker cuz this axe totally nails [their] signature tone).

I stand by my original assertion: they're a breed apart, guys who play bass (as opposed to guitarists who switch to bass reluctantly or otherwise).

Session bassists are different from what I was saying though. I meant actual band members, you don't see them playing these ugly warwicks or coffee table basses. I will give you that, when I see the bands backing up various pop artists, they do often play those, but session bassists are much more on the same level as the douchebags on talkbass. Same as with guitarists, You also see a lot of those session guitarists playing blues lawyer guitars, whereas most of the time actual band members play classic Fenders or gibsons, the session guitarists more often play some stupid fender knock off with a flame top for extra hot blooz lawyer riffs!

I will say that there does seem to be more of an abundance of ugly basses and ugly bass amps, than for guitar though. This is fairly apparent by walking into any guitar center, most of the guitar section is comprised of pretty classic designs, the fenders, the gibsons, and then the ibanezes for the metal guys. But the bass section is about half and half, fender/musicman/a few gibson classic design basses, and then ugly ass warwick/whatever gross basses. This seems to be more apparent with the amps too. I don't know what it is about companies designing bass amps. Guitar amps are all pretty nice, clean, classic looking, tolex covered and with grill cloth covering the speakers. But then you look at the bass amps, and other than Ampeg, Orange, and Mesa, the majority of the bass amps are covered in that disgusting looking rat fur instead of tolex, and instead of grill cloth they have crappy metal fencing looking material.

[Ankhanu]

There are a lot of arrogant, snobby, douchebaggy bass players on TalkBass.

As a bass player, I won't go to TalkBass... it's just so full of bullshit.

[Ankhanu]

This is the truth. I think a lot of ugly basses get their ugliness from having an overly long and thin upper horn to help balance out the neck when standing. Of course, Fender basses have perfectly proportionate upper horns and balance perfectly, so there's no excuse.

No they don't
My Jazz Bass and old Precision copy are both neck heavy. I just use grippy cloth straps to counter the dive.

what kind of copy was it? i had a squier vm p-bass and it never had any neck dive problems. jazz bass i can't speak for since i never really owned one/used one standing up.

It was a Profile branded P-bass; my first bass (it's now been converted to fretless with a Yamaha neck). The body wasn't notably light on it, however, it was pretty much as standard a P-bass as you might come across; played quite good for a cheap bass too!
The Jazz is a Fender Aerodyne; and I do recognize that the basswood body might contribute to the dive/balance. In general, I think the larger lower bout on the Jazz Bass tends to counter the neck nicely.

With a heavy enough body, yeah, there'd likely be no dive, but with a light body, there is.

[Billy3000]

There are a lot of arrogant, snobby, douchebaggy bass players on TalkBass.

As a bass player, I won't go to TalkBass... it's just so full of bullshit.

Agreed. I can't stand it there.

[ProcessedMeatMan]

I don't mind certain sections. I've learned some useful technical stuff there. I also got a sweet deal on a used Stingray5 in the classifieds. I tend to avoid the snobbery when it pops up.

[nyck]

Talkbass is like 50/50 between 6 string coffee tablers and old dude bar banders whose answer to all of life's questions is a P-bass with flats (just like the motown dude!) that provides a sound thats inaudible enough so that their ego cant be heard over their weekend warrior cover of "Mississippi Queen"

[BoringPostcards]

[quote="nyck"]Talkbass is like 50/50 between 6 string coffee tablers and old dude bar banders whose answer to all of life's questions is a P-bass with flats (just like the motown dude!) that provides a sound thats inaudible enough so that their ego cant be heard over their weekend warrior cover of "Mississippi Queen"[/quote

Lots of forums are like this. I've noticed that many of them aren't even good musicians. Some of them have been playing their whole lives and sound like they started two weeks ago. Yet, they know everything there is to know about TONE.

[Ankhanu]

Lots of forums are like this. I've noticed that many of them aren't even good musicians. Some of them have been playing their whole lives and sound like they started two weeks ago. Yet, they know everything there is to know about TONE.

Meh, this isn't unlike me... though I don't know everything about tone Been playing since about '94, still can't play for shit.

[UlricvonCatalyst]

Lots of forums are like this. I've noticed that many of them aren't even good musicians. Some of them have been playing their whole lives and sound like they started two weeks ago. Yet, they know everything there is to know about TONE.

Meh, this isn't unlike me... though I don't know everything about tone Been playing since about '94, still can't play for shit.

I'll see your '94 and raise you a "been playing since '79 and really ought to be much better than I am".

So is the goal of playing an instrument to get really good at it? I mostly play guitar to accompany myself singing songs or just for something to do that's enjoyable or will help someone else's musical project.

I honestly didn't give much thought to tone till I started posting on guitar forums about two years ago. I pretty much just thought either 'that sounds good' or 'that sounds horrible', now I occasionally wonder if I've been underthinking this important question all these years.