I love Andy Powell for this statement ...

[uwe]

"And, just for good luck, I purchased, at over £ 4,000, a Fender Custom Shop fifty-year reissue of the 54 Strat. I like it, but I can honestly say that it is no better an instrument than my $ 400 Mexican Jimmy Vaughan Strat that is an excellent value-for-money modern guitar and not too dissimilar to the original 1954 model I once owned. That's the way guitar collecting goes."



Always refreshing when someone observes the lack of clothes with the emperor. And I'm not posting this as a put-down of Fender (for once!), the brand is irrelevant, but as an antidote to the whole vintage and custom shop myth and voodoo (which this forum, it has to be said, is more innocent of than many other fora).

The bio is an interesting read, especially side by side with Martin Turner's previous No Easy Road. After extensive court battles about the Wishbone Ash name (Powell won), no love is lost between these two, but the differences in perspective and approach are fascinating. Turner's bio is basically all about how nice, talented (and he actually is, I'm not contesting that) and gullible he is and what a nasty person Powell has become, but you get the feeling that Turner is often making light of some of the deeper issues and being superficial. Powell's style on the other hand is often matter-of-fact brutal - towards former bandmates but also towards himself, he is not really trying to put himself in a positive light and unafraid to voice opinions that won't win him any friends. 

And he tells the story how Wishbone Ash's former manager, Miles Copeland (brother of the Police drummer) "forbade" him to switch to a Firebird (which Powell loved) in the early 70ies, because playing a Flying V had become a trademark look of WA. He doesn't regret following the advice. 

[lowend1]

Over the years, it seems to me that Miles has had some uncanny insight.

[Dave W]

"And, just for good luck, I purchased, at over £ 4,000, a Fender Custom Shop fifty-year reissue of the 54 Strat. I like it, but I can honestly say that it is no better an instrument than my $ 400 Mexican Jimmy Vaughan Strat that is an excellent value-for-money modern guitar and not too dissimilar to the original 1954 model I once owned. That's the way guitar collecting goes."

...

Always refreshing when someone observes the lack of clothes with the emperor. And I'm not posting this as a put-down of Fender (for once!), the brand is irrelevant, but as an antidote to the whole vintage and custom shop myth and voodoo (which this forum, it has to be said, is more innocent of than many other fora).

Jimmie Vaughan supposedly really plays his signature model, so you know it can't be bad. It was never a lower line model though and it's $850 now.

Leo would shake his head at some of the custom shop creations, and he'd probably get whiplash from shaking his head at the relic craze.

[Pilgrim]

I have stated a number of times that my gin-you-wine 1963 Fender precision is no better bass than the MIM Fender Jazz I owned.

But people will spend stupid money to re-capture their childhood.

I'm no better. I sold our lead guitarist my 1967 blackface Bassman a couple of months ago, and he's not using it and asked if I wanted to buy it back.  I've had it for almost 50 years, so hell yes I'll buy it back for the same $500 i sold it for.  it was kind of him to offer me first - that amp still has the original Fender vinyl cover from when I got it in '67.

[uwe]

It all depends on what approach you have. Do I notice the difference between a $400 and a $4,000 instrument in feel, look, sound, components, handling and workmanship? Certainly. Will playing the $400 axe in a stadium gig (not that I have a lot of those ...  ) have large parts of the audience wander off because my bass "doesn't sound good"? No.

[lowend1]

Will playing the $400 axe in a stadium gig (not that I have a lot of those ...  )
Which? The stadium gig or the $400 bass??

[uwe]

Will playing the $400 axe in a stadium gig (not that I have a lot of those ...  )
Which? The stadium gig or the $400 bass??

The stadium gigs have kind of run dry. You know, all rock star careers peak and then begin their long descent ...

Seriously, the largest gig I ever had was opening for Roger Chapman (Laurie Wisefield was his guitarist back then) in a hall that probably held 1.500 people. They did like us though and I don't have that many friends and relatives.

Now I feel depressive again - just because of you! Not because of the stadium gigs I missed, but because I'm currently between (musical) jobs and it seems impossible these days to find a band in the Frankfurt vicinity that is neither a tribute nor a cover band  or not consisting of a bunch of 20 year olds who thankfully write their own material, but are not exactly waiting for a 55 year old bassist who overplays.  It's driving me nuts. All these basses and nowhere to play them. 

[uwe]

Incidentally, I have a fair share of cheapo basses, budget Ibanezes, Yamahas, Epis,  MiM Fendazzz, undesirable vintage models such as the Peavey T-40, freak models such as the Italia, the list goes on. I'm always thrilled when I get something cheap to sound good and raise eyebrows with that. The awe for a 60ies TBird or some expensive boutique bass, I take more or less for granted. And those things better sound good because they sure cost enough (not that I don't have a couple of vintage models that sound real duff.)

In any case, most guitarists have no idea whether a bass you play is pricey or not unless it is some obvious vintage rarie. And they tend to like anything with, yes, a 9 volt battery in it. Creatures of simple pleasures indeed. And drummers? Drummers want you to play take a P! 

[Dave W]

Most guitarists I know don't care about a battery, they just want a classic design.

[uwe]

Yeah, like a Stingray or some beefed up active Fender!

Unless they are EMGlers, they never want a battery for themselves though.

[Dave W]

Yeah, like a Stingray or some beefed up active Fender!

Unless they are EMGlers, they never want a battery for themselves though.

Not most of the guys I know. They'd accept an EB-0 with a preamp over a passive Warwick, just because of the looks. Of course it would still have to sound good. A Stingray is okay since it's old enough to be a classic design and it sounds good.

It all depends on who you know and have played with. What you said must be true for your circle of friends and players.

[uwe]

Maybe because they are mostly Germans. Vorsprung durch Technik.

[Alanko]

Get your tech to route in a battery box and install a single red LED, that lights up when the bass is plugged in. Fit a small switch wired to nothing, and occasionally ask your bandmates 'do you think this sounds better... or this?' whilst flicking it backwards and forwards and maybe turning a pot that also isn't wired to anything.

[uwe]

That sounds like Lee Sklar's new Warwick - that Kraut brand with willing Dutch collaborators - which has a three way switch that does exactly what it is supposed to do: nothing at all. Lee says it helps ending fruitless discussions with engineers and producers, making everyone happy in the process. A wise man, the mind is a powerful force. 

[slinkp]

Sklar's bass would sound even better run through some sweet Funk Logic rack units: