NAMM Pics on other websites

[leftymike]

OK, I just spent several days finding everything NAMM 2007 (bass related) on the net and I have to say, no matter how many 28-string uber basses I saw or how many dinosaur bone/spalted-crab-shell tops there were, the offerings from EBMM were bar-none the BEST! It is truly unbelieveable the craftmanship that comes out of this company. But wait, then theres those most awesome straplocks. WTF! Stop, you won!!

Thanks Sterling and team for truly making a humble 4 banger feel like the bass (-es, near future ) I love and adore is made with not only love and affection but with the utmost in respect for the player that instrument may end up with.

Cheers, and here's to a fabulous 2007!

 

[bovinehost]

I think I must have seen those same photos.

Okay, I'll be big about it and say "Variety is the spice of life" and so on.

But I too am really glad I play what I play.

 

[hankSRay]

OK, I just spent several days finding everything NAMM 2007 (bass related) on the net...

I still cant get over how many Jazz shaped instruments there really are out there.

 

[PocketGroove82]

It seemed to me like there was a 50/50 split in what I saw in NAMM photos this year.

50% =Expensive Fender Knockoffs. (which I just don't understand)
If you can explain to me why I should pay 2,500 for a boutique bass that is only just a fender that is actually well made with a better preamp...then send me a PM! thankfully, you don't have to buy a BFR to get a well made ebmm.

other 50%=unholy 7-12string works of "art" that spring from the imagination of some craftsman who has never bothered to sit down and play one of his own instruments (I hesitate to even call them basses).
but what do i know, maybe an 37" scale fretless 11 string tuned F# to H actually plays well and doesn't cause carpal-tunnel syndrome...so if you played any of the monstrosities at NAMM, I'd love a PM of how they felt!

*ok, i am gonna edit myself here and say at least the latter 50% moves the industry past 1959...right?*


-end rant-

 

[adouglas]

Close, but not *entirely* true.

For one thing, your basic fender doesn't *have* a preamp.

There are lots of basses out there with distinctive voices, which is really the whole point of the exercise in my book. Combine that with superior feel/playability and quality and you've got a winning package no matter what shape the thing is.

What I'm saying, I guess, is that there are F "clones" and F-shaped objects that aren't really clones...they're much more interesting than that.

If the Bongo looked like a J bass I'd still love it. The fact that it looks like it does is just icing.

For the things that matter most to me, EBMM has the recipe right for my desires. But there are lots of others out there who do a good, albeit different, job. If I were a collector kind of person, I'd love to have an MTD 535...but I'm not, and though I've never played one I'm confident that there isn't anything it can do better than my Bongo.

I agree with you about the "unholy 7-12string works of "art" " thing though.

 

[adouglas]

It is truly unbelieveable the craftmanship that comes out of this company.

It's not just craftsmanship. It's superior aesthetics. So many builders seem hell-bent on putting the most exotic wood they can find on their instruments, and distorting the shapes in any way they can to make something different.

What we've seen with the BFRs and Anniversaries only confirms that BP and co. have the good taste and God-given sense to not go too far down that road.

 

[bassmonkeee]

It's a double edged sword. You're damned for sticking to traditional shapes, and you're damned if you verture outside the box and make a monkeybutt vomitwood bass with 8 strings tuned to 13ths.

If it works for ya, it works. I used to have basses with elm, and zebra wood tops. I still think some of them are pretty. But, once i found the Bongo, the others seemed to lose a lot of luster. Before, I'd see pretty basses and say, "Wow, pretty bass." Now, I see pretty basses and say, "Wow, pretty bass, but not as amazing as my Bongos."

And, I know that for the most part when I pick up a Bongo, or a Stingray, or a Sterling, that it's going to be a perfectly built instrument for an affordable pricepoint.

There might be companies out there doing it as well as EB/MM, but I'd be hard pressed to find one doing it better than them at any pricepoint. And, that's saying a lot, I think.

 

[midopa]

+1 on that Jason! When I first joined this forum I was still into things like spalted maple tops and fancy basses (not that there's anyhting wrong with that) and such, but these days I gas more for things like a tobacco burst SR/Sterling or a pacific blue burst AL.

 

[adouglas]

Now, I see pretty basses and say, "Wow, pretty bass, but not as amazing as my Bongos."

And, I know that for the most part when I pick up a Bongo, or a Stingray, or a Sterling, that it's going to be a perfectly built instrument for an affordable pricepoint.

There might be companies out there doing it as well as EB/MM, but I'd be hard pressed to find one doing it better than them at any pricepoint. And, that's saying a lot, I think.

 

[leftymike]

Absolutely! I'm not saying that any of these offerings aren't great looking or playable. I know there are artists out there that play the hell out of those outrageously multi stringed 7-inch wide fretboard basses, but when blindfolded and played back to back I feel that a Stingray or Sterling comes out in the top tier. Then when you take the blindfold off you find great detail and quality.

 

[adouglas]

Here's the thing IMHO:

There's a line out there somewhere. I don't know where it is, but it definitely exists.

The line is the border between something gorgeous and something that's, well, just a little bit too much. Just too far over the top. Wretched excess. Like an engraved, pearl-handled, gold-plated revolver.

We all agree (as if we wouldn't, heh) that the BFRs and Anniversaries are on the right side of that line. And we've all seen basses that are on the wrong side of it. Leftymike said it....

.... dinosaur bone/spalted-crab-shell tops ....

If such a beastie ever comes out of SLO, we'll know that BP has finally lost it.

I have no doubt that such a thing will never come to pass. It's more likely that he'll start making pointy guitars.

 

[PocketGroove82]

There's a line out there somewhere. I don't know where it is, but it definitely exists.

The line is the border between something gorgeous and something that's, well, just a little bit too much.

I guess we could call it the "bass line"