IM Going to Fire it up...One Trick Pony

[Mr.Mow]

Well.. If a p bass (or ray) is a one trick pony, that's one pretty huge trick! Jazz, r&b, blues, funk, metal, punk..

I think anyone who brands any bass as a one trick pony may be placing the label on the wrong component..

Something about a tradesman and his tools comes to mind?

 

[bovinehost]

when calling it a one trick pony, they are saying that the bass is only capable of one thing - not the players ability or technique

I have been known to say, even while playing Music Man basses exclusively, "If you can't do it on a P bass, you probably shouldn't be doing it."

Of course, I think the same thing is true of almost any decent bass.

When I hear people say any bass, P or Stingray or whatever, is a one-trick pony, I don't think about the instrument. I think about the player. If in your head, the P bass is only going to sound like Duck Dunn or Jamerson or Phil Lynott, then that's what the bass sounds like to you.

The bass will do what you tell it to do. If you reverse that sentence, you've already lost the war. I think it's also weak and mentally lazy to say, "It's a one-trick pony but it's a good trick." Think about the different ways that different players sound on Stingrays. Paul Denman doesn't sound like Flea who doesn't sound like Bernard Edwards who doesn't sound like ME who doesn't sound like Craig Young who doesn't sound like Sterling Ball who doesn't sound like Tony Levin who doesn't even seem human, so there.

So - to me, anyway - anyone who slips into that one-trick pony territory is already wandering the desert, lost, no map and only a few drops of water left. Because it isn't true. There are maybe one-trick players and I might even be one of those, but it ain't the bass that limits me.

 

[tkarter]

When anyone thinks my bass is one trick pony I hit them in the head with it and say it had another trick up its sleeve.

There are more one trick players in the world than one trick basses.

tk

 

[Smallmouth_Bass]

I would tend to agree on the thought that it is often the player that is the one trick pony and not the instrument.

I know of several players, including myself, that sound pretty much the same, regardless of the instrument they are playing.

 

[Bobbo 77]

If the Sting Ray is the one trick pony....what does that make the Pbass?

nuff' said...

 

[tkarter]

nuff' said...

There is no such thing as nuff said. LOL.

tk

 

[midopa]

it's a silly thing to believe, but common sense isn't common. is that kind of thinking prevalent enough that it affects/drives an unnegligible amount of buying decisions?

you guys have probably already thought of this, but it can't help to hurt:

perhaps ship all basses with stickers similar to those placed on the big al? something that'll inform buyers of the role of each knob and common positions. not just "0", "+10", etc., as i would think those are hard to quantify by common folk/nonknuckleheads. terms like norm/flat/clean, max/boost, & min/cut would be clearer. the assumption is that a serious buyer and maybe even the browsers would take the time to read some simple, intuitive explanatory text.

 

[oddjob]

I like Bongos.

Single H to be exact.

Are Bongo Single Hs that good???

 

[bovinehost]

Are Bongo Single Hs that good???

I heard they're kind of one-trick donkeys. Wait - ponies. Or weasels or something, I don't know, but that's what they say on the internetz so you know it's true.

 

[Bobbo 77]

There is no such thing as nuff said. LOL.

tk

I admit I'm NOT a word-smith, BUT, this "One trick Pony", or "It does only one sound, but what a sound" really get's my goat! Funny thing, last nite I was thinking about this term which seem's to be how a lot a player's describe the StingRay Bass. I've used my 77' in many musical situation's, from Funk to George Jones, and IF you know your Bass, you can get just about anything you need... just move dem hand's!
Órale tkarter!

 

[Psycho Ward]

I only go for the "Chuck Ward" sound, I can get that with ANY EBMM bass. I also have more than one trick up my left hand sleeve.

 

[jbiscuti]

My Stingray - with flatwounds - seriously covers everything I throw at it, and that's a lot. I really don't understand the "one trick pony thing", at all. In fact, it does so much as-is, I don't even get why one would need another pickup.

 

[Stephen]

I wonder, do painters have the same discussion about their brushes?

 

[7broccos]

Was playing my SR5 H the other day and got out my old 72 P and played it for less than 5 minutes and put it away,love my Stinger.In fact at my wake some day the wife can just put it next to the casket

 

[oli@bass]

My Stingray - with flatwounds - seriously covers everything I throw at it, and that's a lot. I really don't understand the "one trick pony thing", at all. In fact, it does so much as-is, I don't even get why one would need another pickup.

Try one. Then you'll understand.

It's not that you can't get many different sounds out of a StingRay H or a P bass. But you cannot get certain other sounds, which are only available with a single coil pickup or a pickup in a different position. It's the voicing of the instrument, similar to the characteristics of the human voice: While a lot of good singers will be able to sing each other's songs, and doing that greatly, with lots of variety, they'll always keep sounding like themselves to a certain degree. Adding another pickup is like swapping out your throat for another one. Different voice.


And about the One Trick Pony: Remember, there is no spoon.

 

[syciprider]

This is true. You can't get the in your face SR punch out of a P and a H Ray won't thump like a P. The dual pup Rays cover that part of the tonal spectrum. Very powerful instruments.

 

[TheAntMan]

I wonder, do painters have the same discussion about their brushes?

Oh, yeah, brushes, mediums, charcoal vs oil vs pencil, sculpting vs painting, on and on....

Same with computers, Apple vs PC, Windows vs OS/X vs Linux, OpenOffice vs MsOffice, on and on....

hmmmm, must be human nature

It's nice to have choices. That is what I like about all the new EBMM choices. There is so much now and to come (Gamechanger) from EBMM and they are a wide range of options. Nice!!!

--Ant

 

[MK Bass Weed]

One Trick Pony should be changed to One Trick Player...

I guess using the phrase "One Trick Pony" would make someone Feel like an expert while saying it...but sayin' and playin' are two different things. I guess.

 

[DBtoys]

+1

Remins me of the fact that many bassplayers cannot seem to get past the concept of playing above the pickup. Move your hand up a bit on the Stingray and you already have a big difference in sound..and then there's not yet a mention of the EQ.

It's all in the players mind...(or hands)

i Agree just moving closer to the neck gets you that real creamy sound like milk chocolate and thats only one of the many tricks i have found>> I also have found that many times some one that nay says cant afford to actually find out how many pony's one may have!

 

[Elad_E]

I can get about 4 different useable tones out of a P-Bass using the tone control and varying plucking hand technique.

I can get nearly twice with a 2 band Stingray.