Is it the amp, the player, or a case of trying to keep up with the Jones

[rumpelstiltskin.]

Originally posted by Tom Capasso:

The one thing I disagree with EZ on is keeping up with others.

you may be more correct around here, especially with the long-time members. but i have read tons of posts at harmony-central and talkbass that are essentially:

 

i just bought this amp/cabinet/bass. i thought it would be loud, but it's not? it sucks. i hate it. should i return it? what else should i buy?

it's almost like they stared at a picture of two 810s with a behringer power amp in a musician's fiend catalog for weeks and then decided to buy without playing a single note through them. or maybe that's what they read about in metal edge or alternative press.

 

so in that case, i do think it's a lot of "flavor of the month" or "keeping up with the Timpes" kind of approach.

 

but i always try to promote a "play it first/use your ears" paradigm where people usually don't get burned on their gear purchases. and then they don't have to worry about my preferences getting in their way. but that requires some independent thought, which is often rare.

 

robb.

[MarieJo]

I bought an old old old Seymour-duncan 400 head with a 4x10 Hartke for $400. It does very well the job.

 

I've tried few differents amps but, maybe because I'm used to hear that sound, I still prefer my rig.

 

Everybody's laughing at my 25 years old amp. but I'm so not in that "wow hear that new amp-it sounds so good" mood... I plug and play, realizing that all the sound I want from a amp should comes first from my hands. My EQ is always flat. Maybe when I'll be a senior player, I gotta have something better.

[wade_g]

Lets see...

 

1)my hands' articulation

2)my bass' pickups interpretation

3)my cable's attenuation

4)my 's setting

5)my 's speaker

6)my ears

 

Nope, too many variables for me.

[groover]

Originally posted by robb.:

Originally posted by Tom Capasso:

The one thing I disagree with EZ on is keeping up with others.

you may be more correct around here, especially with the long-time members. but i have read tons of posts at harmony-central and talkbass that are essentially:

 

i just bought this amp/cabinet/bass. i thought it would be loud, but it's not? it sucks. i hate it. should i return it? what else should i buy?

it's almost like they stared at a picture of two 810s with a behringer power amp in a musician's fiend catalog for weeks and then decided to buy without playing a single note through them. or maybe that's what they read about in metal edge or alternative press.

 

so in that case, i do think it's a lot of "flavor of the month" or "keeping up with the Timpes" kind of approach.

 

but i always try to promote a "play it first/use your ears" paradigm where people usually don't get burned on their gear purchases. and then they don't have to worry about my preferences getting in their way. but that requires some independent thought, which is often rare.

 

robb.

I think that there are a lot of young and or inexperienced players that just want some mojo bragging rights. "Hey look at me! I got two 8x10's and they really RAWK!" I was once there, I wanted that SVT 4 and 8x10 cab sooooo bad 12 years ago. Reason, common sense and logic didn't matter one little bit. I wanted to be loud and the envy of my young bass playing peers. Also, I thought that big pro equipment would give the illusion that I'm a big pro level player.

 

Over the past 12 years I gained some experience and a little more maturity and can more accurately determine my needs against what I want to hear from a bass rig. But that doesn't mean I don't WANT that SVT rig anymore.

[carpedebass]

Originally posted by wade_g:

Lets see...

 

1)my hands' articulation

2)my bass' pickups interpretation

3)my cable's attenuation

4)my 's setting

5)my 's speaker

6)my ears

 

Nope, too many variables for me.

Extremely well said!

[way2fat]

I'm all finished buying gear, except for a dream bass someday. I've used Trace, Ampeg, Yorkville, Peavey and liked them all while I was using them. Sometimes I changed just to see what other brands sound like, but usually I had an overall goal of reducing weight and number of cabs, (I'm 51), and wanting to make only one trip in and out with my rig, and still be able to force the guitar player to turn down if it came to that. My rig weighs less than 100lbs, puts out 1600 watts, most of which never get used, and the cab has casters so I'm right where I want to be for load in/out. I sound like myself through all the gear I've had (not necessarily a good thing) but I sound better through my higher end stuff, if that makes sense.