The Golden Sound

Musical instruments are fickle business. The baggage that can come attached to the bits of magnet, copper wire and sub-par wood are astronomical. Musical types gotta have a voice, and that voice must be distinctive from every other voice out there. We need to sound different, sonic independence is thick in our DNA. And if we wake up one morning and find that our cultivated tone, spawned from thousands of dollars worth if equipment and hours spent bending our spines tweaking dials, sounds too much or not nearly enough (depending on what side of the fence you sit on,) like the tone of our musical heroes, well things turn to suck quicker than Britney trying to restart her career. Otherwise rational musicians become paranoid, obsessive beings, who are quick to spend even more time and money to get back the "Golden Sound."
The mark of tone excellence that we believe instantly qualifies us to do this stuff. At least half of a musician's career is spent trying to attain the Golden Sound. And one's instrument plays a pivotal role in the journey. Talk to any musical type, and you are bound to hear them stress the importance of the minute details. The advantages of one wood over another, why one company's electronics are vastly superior, why certain metals from certain places help define "their sound." We've all done it, and many will continue to do it until the end of time.

This mentality gets particularly interesting when you're absolutely committed to sounding original. If you are like me, and are genetically required to having a musical style and tone that sounds like nothing that came before, then be prepared to lose some sleep. Because every element in your arsenal has to be entirely unique from the musical status quo. Fenders, Marshalls, and Ampegs are just not gonna cut it for us visionaries. Nope, we're gonna need stranger stuff.

And I was no exception. I was thoroughly convinced that if I did not have a bass equipped with a swamp ash body, slim rosewood neck, big 'buckler in the bridge position, and passive electronics, that I could not be the great and legendary artist I was destined to be. It was just not possible without this instrument, this Excalibur of wood and string. And the longer I went without this instrument in my possession, the longer the world would be denied my visionary greatness.

Needless to say, finding such an instrument is difficult. Wait........scratch that. Finding such an instrument.......within the budget of a pauper, is difficult. There were a handful of girls that fit the bill, but well out of range for someone pulling piss-ass, part time pay while going to college. And finally, after a couple years of trying and failing, I ended up with my current main squeeze. A pretty, but predictable jazz bass clone, that managed to deliver the sonic feel goods I was looking for.

Flash forward to today......a day that I will remember as being one of the most infuriating days of my life. A day where, years after giving up the quest of finding that perfect instrument, I found no less than three of them on the racks at my local Guitar Center.

Today, Guitar Center employee and shopper alike were present to hear a loud and robust "FUCK!!" from the hallowed halls of the bass room. I couldn't believe it. I had been longing for instruments just like these, and couldn't get my hands on a single one. These were the instruments I needed for success. And now, years later when I have no interest in adding to my collection of oversized instruments, they magically turn up.

And what's worse, is that these things are useless to me now. Oh I tried them, believe me I did. I plugged them into a variety of amps and had my way with the things. And while they were all fine sounding beasts, none of them had the spark. Apparently, in all my time with the main squeeze, my ideal tone had changed. And none of the instruments that I had spent so much time lusting after could do the job anymore. The sauce had gone weak my friends. And now, an instrument that I had purchased because it was ultra cheap, on sale, and easily customizable, had managed to make the Golden Sound, than the very instrument I had researched, studied, and assembled from my soul.

The moral of the story? I guess keep dreaming. But remember not to dream so big, that you forget to adapt. And if you can't make the shit you own sound good, well that dream instrument won't do jack for you. Remember to play people, make some noise and make some mistakes. And hopefully, that dream rig will do more for you than it will ever do for me.