Any cork-sniffing beliefs and practices?

hamerhead · May 19, 2012

Either it's happnin, or it's not happnin, $$$'s irrelevant, s

Mostly this.

I DO think that the string-thru-the-body thing has merit. The way a typical tailpiece sits loose on the studs has an effect, the way the studs fit loose in the anchors has an effect, etc etc etc. Which is why the Sustain Block is such a great bridge - fewer moving parts, and a solid anchor.

BUT - either a guitar works for you or it don't. And sometimes even replacing all the 'bad' parts won't help.

Brooks · May 19, 2012

I won't spend more than $600 on a guitar so that puts me into the "decent table wine" category, not cork-sniffin.'

i have spent more than $1k maybe a half dozen times on guitars, yet not one of them was a keeper. same w/ amps.

HSB0531 · May 20, 2012

When I was waiting to receive #0531 in 1980, I went to Sam Ash to buy a pacifier bass.

This was a Precision Bass Special in LPB with a rosewood board and ash body.

I rested my chin on the upper bout and played a little.

The sales guy says "I'll get you an amp to try it with.

I said "no it's fine, I'll take it".

He looked puzzled, and I said "If it doesn't sound good through the wood, it won't sound good through an amp".

I also think that the material a bridge is made of, how it is achored to the body, and how tightly the strings are secured to it makes a big difference in sustain.

Also, how tightly the strings are clamped down onto the nut.

JohnnyB · May 20, 2012

Quartersawn neck. I have two Guild Pilot basses that have 'em and they've spoiled me. I got the two basses for $300 total, which is less than the cost of a single Warmoth neck.

I also prefer good pickups but am not married to one brand. I have Phat Cats, G&L MFDs, G&L alnico SCs, EMGs, USA Bartolinis (sweet!), TV Jones Thunder'Trons, Duncan HBs, NOS Gibson Johnny Smith, and have had Rios and Fralins. In a couple cases I upgraded from stock pickups--not because they sounded bad--but because they lacked dynamics and responsiveness.

The Bartolinis are in a Squier VM fretless Jazz bass, and even with the multi-block agathis body and synthetic ebonol fingerboard, this bass has a more beautiful tone than it has any right to.

These days as I approach 60 and my collapsed disks get more aggravating, I'm most picky about ergonomics and balance of the instrument. For bass the Guild Pilot ergonomics beat everything else I've tried.

Ethan · May 20, 2012

I have had something of a gear epiphany the past few days. I have been kicking around the idea of a new bass amp lately. You read a lot online about what someone says is great, another guy says is junk, etc-very easy to get caught up in whether you mean to or not, especially if you live somewhere that there isn't a lot of places to try different gear out. Last night I saw a band using all off-the-shelf kind of stuff-the bass player was using two Peavey T40s, a few pedals you could get at generic big box music store, an old Peavey Mace head, and an Ampeg 810...thick, nasty tone that drove the whole band. All the members of both of these bands were using stuff like that-pretty plain gear and sounded incredible. Friday I saw a band and the bassist had a standard Jazz bass, 4 pedals (Boss and one Maxon), the solid state SVT head and the really basic Ampeg 4x10...his tone was killer also-articulate, warm, all the things people look for. I look at the stuff I have and think, I am not anywhere close to what these dudes are writing and playing, I am going to make the most with what I've got already and not worry about gear. Granted there is something to be said for knowing how you like your sound to be, and to have functioning stuff that won't break on you, but I am pretty far off from sniffing cork for the time being.

Mindseyes · May 21, 2012