Do you care what brand the "pros" play??

naetog

naetog

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I dabble in TalkBass forums, and it has dawned on me that I don't give two shits about the brand of bass or amp (etc) the "pros" play. This came from a topic about Victor Wooten playing (trying) Hartke gear.

I enjoy the technique and musicality more than anything. This is not to say I don't get inspired to use a delay or flanger, etc., but "brand names" don't really enter my mind.

There is so much available to us, that I'd rather go on my own gear "journey" and find what works for me, rather than go for what the pros use (which has invariably led me to Warwick, which I've been in love with since day 1)

Anyone else feel the same?
 
I feel inclined to play high end gear because generally it has more options bass wise and the head/cabinets have more head room and versatility. So yes I have expensive taste but I have learned not to play what the pros play. I got into Warwick because of my favorite bassist when I was younger played one. Now that I own a high end Fender and Music Man and have played several other high end basses I can truly say that Warwick is the company for me. On the other hand I bought my bass rig because I wanted something Ampeg and something the was high end. So I got Victor Wootens rig thinking it was going to be out of this world. I got the 4 pro head with the bxt (Vic's signature cabs) 4X10 and 1x15. I don't hate them, I just didn't get what I expected. I just cant get the right tone with this rig. I adjust my knobs every other day and the horns the both the cabs are screwed up. I'm now looking into buy something from Aguilar, Warwick, or Eden. I guess I just like the high end stuff. It actually bums me out be when I see some popular pro. get into something that I like because it makes everyone look at you and go "oh he is only playing that because of...". A good example of this is a question that was asked on this forum. Someone insinuated that people who play six strings only got into playing them because of Les Claypool. Not the case for me and many others. I guess in the end seeing a pro playing something makes me think that he/she has the connections and the expirence to be able to play anything they want and they chose that. So thats how I feel (right in the grey area).
 
I know what you mean. I have people tell me that I must like metal and mudvayne since I've got a thumb. couldn't be farther from the truth. I have a thumb because i love the tone and the fact that not many other people have one. I love my amp/cabs because it's light and portable, and sounds better than all the 4x10 cabs I've owned.

It took me a while to realize that the tone I want is a result of my hands more than the amp/cab.

For me, I idealize a tone, rather than emulate.
 
Well, for basses I came to Warwick before I started thinking about what do pros play...

Now that I started caring, I often realize that when I really dig a bass player's tone, that guy happens to be playing a Warwick (Meshuggah was my latest revelation...)... I like a wide range of music, and the market share of Fender-and-lookalikes in the bass world being so large, then a lot of player that I like are playing fenders... Well, good for them, but I'm not gonna start playing fenders anytime soon!

My other bass brand is Knuckle. I know no pro player who plays one. Heck there are like 30 Knuckles in the world at this stage, so I cetainly didn't get into that brand because of the pros playing it!

For amps, it's almost the same. I've always been drawn to Phil Jones Amplification, although again I'm not aware of the pros that use them... I do have a weakness for Trace Elliot (Doug Wimbish) and Ashdown (the Ox) amps, though...

So in short I tend to be brand-driven, but not because of the players, usually because of brand and design philosophy...
 
i guess i started emulating some fave bass players, namely getting a peavey grind 5 cause i thought it looked like claypool's rainbow - nothing can be farther from the truth... but hey, i was a beginner then *lol* and i also got a stingray because of Flea.

one day i saw a vampyre in a bass player ad, and i was attracted to it... i almost ddnt get it cause it had ryan martinie on the cover, and at that time, i ddnt know ryan martinie was a monster bass player, all i knew was that he is in this make up heavy nu metal band...

fast forward to today, and i dont think im emulating anyone at all... i have ideas of what sound i like instead of just getting things to sound like this or that guy...

i could be a hypocrite cause before, i never gassed about a thumb but after watching numerous Martinie clips... i was thinking i should at least have one warwick thumb, be it an ltd edition or an NT, just so i could have that shape *lol*
 
It sounds like people when they are ignorant and starting out have a natural feeling to play what their favorite players play because they don't know any better. Then it seems that when a person has been around long enough they start to understand their own sound and style and branch away from their original ideas of "bass playing" and form their own ideas. So I guess those people who say you are metal because you play a certain bass or you are copying Claypool because you play a six string are just as ignorant as we once were when we were starting out.
 
LOL! I'm sorry. I have played 4 or 5 spectors and I just dont like their sound. Thats just my opinion. I'm just a huge Warwick fan. I'm sorry for saying you like plastic tones. I take it back.
 
no i don't care but it's sometime interesting to find out what they play! especially today when i'm exploring different bass-sounds and setups which i didn't care those days.
some of my idols are playin'/played warwick which i didn't know that time and at the end they don't play the same model...
 
what annoys me though are bassists trying to copy justin chancellor ... getting the wal bass and the mothership pedalboard...

it annoys me because they sound exactly like the things Justin C. did, instead of looking for a different approach for those pedals and effects to mesh together.
 
Yeah but they will never get credit for what they do. They will always be a wanabee. They have no integrity so don't worry about them. I do love Wal basses though (and Justin).
 
When I got my Ibanez, I was heavily motivated by the fact that Fieldy (of Korn fame) played them. I forgive myself for that, because I was fairly new to the whole and had to start somewhere (and at any rate, she's a good bass!)

My draw to Warwick has had little to do with 'what the pros play'. I found them more or less by accident, by browsing on the web and thinking 'ooo, that's pretty', then played a couple and realising exactly where Warwick's stellar reputation has come from. That said, it is nice to know that I'm in good company!
 
Most of my equipment was got on the whole 'ooooo that looks nice i want it' kinda thing. Most of the time i get stuff because its different, ofc i have to like the sound as well. Mainly the reasons for getting a 5 sting as my second bass.

When i was playing my ibanez bass i wanted a mellower sound, found these thigns called flat wounds, looked over a few, D'adario chrome took my fancy from the descriptions. Then i got them.

I then heard about fretless basses....no-one in my school played one so i was like....mmm....i should get one. I got a rockbass streamer 5 string. This then lead me to look into warwick due to it being the bigger brother of the rockbass.

Now i tend to get stuff on performance, tone, and if it suits my style. I love phil jones amps, due to the design philosophy and the tone they get. Warwick because of how they sound, play and look (yeh looks are important to me :roll: )

the only time a pro has influeneced me into getting something was stuart zender, reason for my trying a streamer stage 1, which then lead to me falling in love with it and getting the one i own today.
 
If I like the bass sound/tone of a band, I'll find out what gear the bassplayer uses, and I'll be interested in trying it. But for Warwick, I just fell in love with it, didn't know about any pros playing Warwick.
 
I don't care what the pros play, although I do try to get certain pros tones out of my gear...
 
i will use the pros sound as a guage as to the tone i want to achieve and research to find what is the best for ME. because each bassist is an individual, with individual tastes and skills so i go for what i like
 
How do you guyys even manage to keep up with what the pro's are playing?

It's all in the fingers anyway...
 
I always have tried to identify who plays what, its just a habit I guess. If a certain player has a sound I like, I make a mental note, which then leads to a leaning towards that players gear. I`ve never bought anything just because its popular though, and where basses and gear are concerned, would only buy stuff i liked or found useful. My whole philosophy tends to steer away from anything mainstream, but if I like something, Ilike it regardless of anyones opinion.
I got my first Warwick (a week and two days ago) because of the way it felt and sounded compared to other instruments. Did I mention that I LOVE it? (N.H.S.) :lol:
 
snorkel said:
I always have tried to identify who plays what, its just a habit I guess. If a certain player has a sound I like, I make a mental note, which then leads to a leaning towards that players gear. I`ve never bought anything just because its popular though, and where basses and gear are concerned, would only buy stuff i liked or found useful. My whole philosophy tends to steer away from anything mainstream, but if I like something, Ilike it regardless of anyones opinion.
I got my first Warwick (a week and two days ago) because of the way it felt and sounded compared to other instruments. Did I mention that I LOVE it? (N.H.S.) :lol:
Click to expand...

Yeah...most of us feel that way with wicks. Some of us (me included) would even go so far is to admit to being madly in love with our wicks. (HS) :D
 
Tv IV Dogs said:
snorkel said:
I always have tried to identify who plays what, its just a habit I guess. If a certain player has a sound I like, I make a mental note, which then leads to a leaning towards that players gear. I`ve never bought anything just because its popular though, and where basses and gear are concerned, would only buy stuff i liked or found useful. My whole philosophy tends to steer away from anything mainstream, but if I like something, Ilike it regardless of anyones opinion.
I got my first Warwick (a week and two days ago) because of the way it felt and sounded compared to other instruments. Did I mention that I LOVE it? (N.H.S.) :lol:
Click to expand...

Yeah...most of us feel that way with wicks. Some of us (me included) would even go so far is to admit to being madly in love with our wicks. (HS) :D
Click to expand...

Dude, you see your bass as a he? (ASSBUMPER!)

I think of my bass as a second girlfriend :lol:
 
I dont know that my bass has a gender...

Well, if it is a she, I'll become a lesbian for it ;)
 
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