Buddy of mine named all of his guitars after famous weaponry (Excalibur, Mjolnir, etc) and has to say their names every time he pulls one out to practice as if we're all going to tell him how cool it is.
That's only marginally relevant here but I wanted to complain about it.
I think it’s fun that there are famous named instruments like Lucille (BB King’s guitar) or Baby Snakes (Frank Zappa’s guitar), but like any nickname it has to catch on organically and if you try to force it the whole thing feels sad and weird. “Gretchen stop trying to make Mjolnir happen it’s not going to happen”.
A girl I knew named her therapeutic chair George. After George Clooney if I remember correctly, because she had a crush on him.
Maybe I could introduce her to your friend. Then again, we run the risk of them reproducing...
My Aunt called her guitar "Albert" after a dr. At the hospital she worked at. My Uncle named his 12 string guitar " George." My 5 guitars and one bass all have names, too.
It’s not that it’s necessarily pretentious, but more that most people who name their instruments are pretentious. Plus, dudes who only give their guitars female names and refer to them as “she” give me the heebie jebies.
This here is Roberta, made out of toanwood and plays like butter. There is not a single guitar like it because the other guitars out there came from a different slab of lumber.
Makes sense to me as a speaker of a gendered language. Guitars are female. Bass is male. Drums, depends on the piece. Hi-hat is a boy, kick is a girl, cymbals are boys, cowbell is a girl. All strings are boys, except for the viola.
From what I've seen before its not really about gendered nouns, and more of men sometimes talking about their guitars as if they were human women and it can be kind of creepy.
All good. Just a joke :)
I understand the struggle. Most people call me a callous robot.
Name your baby and just have fun with it. If you're happy, that's what matters!
I always said it was cringey but if something just kinda sticks, it sticks. I put a blue pearl scratchplate on my Jazz bass and a while back I caught myself referring to it as 'blue' more often than not.
Now, that was in a sentence like "I'll bring two basses for the gig, blue and the fretless, I'll leave the precision at home". Only blue gets a name, the only instrument I've ever owned with a name.
I think the same thing, so I don't name objects like my basses, car, motorcycle etc, and I also don't care about what others do, it's nothing of my concern and they do as they please.
I do think it's a little cringey, but it also serves a purpose. It really helps you feel motivated to play if you like your instrument a lot. Almost anything you can do to make your bass more exciting to you is worth doing from a learning perspective. Basses come with model names for a reason after all. It's a lot easier to be excited about something that has a name, language is powerful.
Some examples of famous musicians that named their instruments include Eric Clapton (blackie), Neil Young (old black), Willie Nelson (trigger), BB King (Lucille), Prince (Cloud), Jerry Garcia (Tiger), Randy Rhoads (Concord), Keith Richards (Micawber). These are all guitars, but I'm sure lots of bass players do the same. I know Victor Wooten named his first bass for example (although he named it #1 which isn't the most inventive). Can anyone think of any bass players that named their basses?
That said, probably keep any particularly flowery names to yourself if you don't wanna be seen as a little odd.
Naming your bass = okay.
Referring to it at all times, by name, like it is Excalibur… yeah, that gets tiresome.
I have names for mine just so my wife knows which one is which!
You do what you want. It doesn’t matter what other people think. I don’t name my instruments but if you have good names you want to use, go ahead. George Harrison painted his Strat in rainbow colors and named it Rocky.
I’d argue with “we usually” as I think most people usually don’t do that (cars, instruments, any inanimate object really). Sure, some people do, but *most* people don’t. I fully agree with the do what you want part of that statement though.
I'll add that it's pretentious to insist other people refer to your instrument by the name you gave it, versus just using the name for your own benefit.
No it's not. As stranger from the internet it is our holy mission to judge other people based on their personality with which we are so familiar.
Do I know this person ? Do I know his/her name ? No. All I know is that he's an absolutely dick that names his bass like it is a guitar. How could he. His instrument is missing 2 strings and his brain 2 halves
I never thought to name my basses until I decided to have 3 different presets on my preamp to even out the levels based on which bass I was playing. At that point I needed to label the switches with the "names" of the basses. So I have "Jazz", "Blue", and "Slinky". Slinky had LaBella tapewounds on it, Blue was just a blue P-bass, and Jazz is a, er....J-bass. Super imaginative, I know.
My current bass name is black hole. It's black with red highlights around the pic guard and it eats up my time that I never get to see again lol. Not complaining loving my bass
Rule N°1 : don't be a dick.
*(Exception if your name is Richard)*
Does it make you a dick to name an object ? Absolutely not. In fact, you could build a whole temple in your garden for worshipping your own bass, and nobody would bat an eye.
Being a dick is saying things like "hey dude, cool bass chops, but Priscilla *(random name, sorry to all Priscillas)* and I can work it to sound really better, check this out"
My main 3 basses are named after the Golden Girls (Blanche, Dorothy, Rose). It seemed silly at the time and I just stuck with it. People laugh when I tell them, so no harm/no foul in my book.
You can be pretentious in how you name it (or more specifically, how you refer to it) but naming it itself isn't pretentious by default, I don't think. I don't really name mine but I can appreciate that a lot of people, when they develop that attachment to an instrument, want to have something more personal to refer to it than "the blue j bass" or whatever.
If it feels right to you, do it. People will judge but fuck 'em for it.
I remember someone told me their music teacher insisted them on naming their instrument as one of the first assignments, apparently so they'd bond with them. I think it was weird as fuck and i'm happy i never went through such thing.
The guitarist I play with has named his guitars. I think he was inspired by Stevie Ray Vaughan. I've never really felt the need to, but I don't see anything wrong with it.
in what case you would really "need" to name your bass? probably when you own several bass of same brand, same model, which could be pretentious to do so
Nobody cares if or what you name your instrument but if you start telling people about it like it's cool then you're not being just pretentious you just sound like an idiot and still nobody will care unless you can srsly play, and even then most *still* won't care that you named it or what it's name is.
If you name it, and just keep it to yourself, no harm no foul. If you sticker/carve/paint/write a name on it, nobody will care about that either.
Just don't talk about it. If someone asks just smile and say 'Yeah I named it 'The Terminator' or whatever. Don't embellish or drag on about it or you're re-entering the douche-zone again and you'll just sound like an idiot.
The majority of artists do something that would be characterized as "pretentious" including this, but it is more how you use the name around others and what the name is that will determine how pretentious you come off.
My first bass has a name. I didn’t name it, though. It’s an old beat up 79 Fender Pbass with paint missing that when the first time my childhood friend saw it said, “That’s a ghetto bass!” And thus, for the last 20+ years of owning, I’ve called it The Ghetto Bass.
I let others call my instruments whatever they want, but only the Ghetto Bass has stuck.
I’ve named most of my instruments for fun (come on, tell me naming an old accordion Hemingway doesn’t make you like 5% more likely to practice than if it had no name) and I’m not embarrassed to admit that, but I personally would feel cringy if I expected anyone else to know those names. Like, I’ll tell my band mates “I’m bringing the five string” or “I’m bringing the p bass today”, if that’s relevant, but I would never say “I’m bringing [bass name]”. Hell, most of the time I don’t expect my band mates to care what kind of bass I’m bringing so there’s just no need to say anything about it.
But when I’m packing up the five string to go play, my girlfriend might say “you’re bringing Copernicus to this one?” because we both think it’s fun. So my answer is if it adds a little extra joy to your relationship with music, why not go for it? It’s not like you have to force anyone else to participate.
I've never been the type of person to want to do that. I guess it depends on the person and their reasons for it. I know some famous guitarist that have of course
Idk. It’s not pretentious, but it kinda comes off as weird, especially to me. I know a guy who named his trumpet “squirrel.” Weirdest shit I’ve seen. However, if you name it something stupid, like “fucker” or “the bussy magnet,” it is amazing.
I named my bass Esme after this old lady from an old australian soap opera (the lady was annoying from memory). I named my amp Watson, the old ladies last name because it’s funny/kinda punglish. I hate those names quite a lot. Is it cringe, I don’t really give a fuck hahahaha.
I find the general consensus inspiring. I name my guitars and basses. male and female names. I like to nickname things as it helps simplify things. Nearly all my guitars have a white/black color scheme so nicknames are a practical measure “can you grab me the black and white strat, no the other one, no QUAGGA” and the nickname clears things up! Perhaps it’s corny, but often say I am “made of corn” people will think it’s pretentious, but it’s better to be pretentious than forgettable, most especially as an artist!
I named my guitar after my guinea pig who was also black and white like the guitar, Gamja (Potato) Guitar. When I got my bass, I named it after my other guinea pig, Yuja (Yuzu) Bass because it was a yellowish color and she was noisy and grumpy.
I still don't understand why you need to ask it?
BTW two of my friends name their cars. I don't see people being pretentious naming things. It's just not my thing, and it does not bother me.
It might be a bit weird to only call it by it's name when around people, but just giving it a name is great in my opinion. It might strenghten the personal bond.
Having a name doesn’t make it pretentious and I name all my basses. I just don’t broadcast the names to every one, all the time cause that would be a little douchey.
I named my bass "Carol in HR" after laughing my ass off at the episode of IASIP where Charlie and Mack get jobs in the mailroom. I have it painted on my bass case and when I open the case, I shout "Carol! Carol! I need to talk to you about the mail!"
name your bass whatever you want. People have done stupider things.
No, it just means that you have a special relationship with your instruments.
My guitar is called "Din" and my bass is called "El Regalon"
So, share what it's called if you already gave it a name.
Nah, I name my instruments. I don't always use the name, but I think it's about the same as calling it fender strat or sterling stingray.
Even though I'm a drummer there's something about naming a kit thst doesn't work I guess it's because it's not one solid piece.
I used to call equipment I was sentimentally attached to Bob up until I gave up bass a decade ago.
So Bob was my first bass up to Bob 7 before he got sold. Bob 3 was my PS3........ When I think back to me as a person back then I'm amazed I found a wonderful woman to marry me.
Now though my Bass are just referred to by their use. My Squire PJ is my gig bass, my Generic bass is the allowed to use in house for practice bass and my Thunderbird is my project bass.
I name mine. I don't give a fuck. Even the guys I play with refer to them by name. "Who you playing tonight, Kate or Betty?" (It's usually Betty. Kate was my first.)
I think it's only pretentious if you make it that way. I don't call my basses to their names normally but if some one asks I say. I named this one "Felicity Slapwell" cause that's just funny to me.
I named all of my instruments, mostly to honor a specific person that either influenced me or was 'instrumental' (pun intended) in my acquiring them. I named a guitar that I once built "Ray of Hope" - Ray for short) because I built it at a time when I didn't know what my employment future would be. I named another guitar "Woody" (not for Woody Guthrie) because of its breathtaking wood grained appearance.
Nothing at all wrong in naming your gear...you're bonding with them and showing how they talk to you.
Rock on, Friend!
My ukulele bass is Lil Slaps.
My Jazz bass is Gina (is dark red, has a Porco Rosso sticker).
My short-scale is Mugsy (root beer color).
My car is FITney Spears (Honda fit, duh).
I am a stoner nerd who likes wordplay, but if people feel better calling me pretentious, let em.
I always come to these naming threads for the comments. It trips me out how polarized the responses to this one meaningless thing can be. 😂
To be clear, I personally do not care what anyone does with their guitar in the privacy of their own homes as long as it's consensual.
Not trolling, I'm curious: for those that strongly believe if a male names a guitar a female name its creepy, what about a female that names it a male name, or a gay man that names it a male name? Is that less weird?
I see this all the time when people talk about naming their guitars and I'm curious what prompts such strong reactions.
Is it more a feeling of male predatoriness or that males historically have a bad track record of objectifying women that causes those feelings?
My wife named her first guitar a male name, and her second guitar a female name. I always thought it was kinda cute. I just love that she likes to play and it's never seemed weird to me, but I'll admit, not much seems weird to me anymore.
Nah. I named my bass “Lotso” cause I had a small Lots-o-hugs bear that I kept in the case, a gift from my lil sis. Whole thing smelled like strawberries for a year.
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This made me lol
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I'm 99% certain he's talking about a Ludwig brand piano, if that changes how you feel about it.
Not at all no. No different to how Neil Young calls his Les Paul Old Black. Ludwig is a cool name.
Did you ask guests if they wanted "a bit of the ol' Ludwig Van"?
Awake at last, yeeeeess?
Buddy of mine named all of his guitars after famous weaponry (Excalibur, Mjolnir, etc) and has to say their names every time he pulls one out to practice as if we're all going to tell him how cool it is. That's only marginally relevant here but I wanted to complain about it.
Does he refer to himself as Arthur King of the Britons or Thor too?
You can't expect to wield supreme executive power just 'cause some watery tart threw a butterscotch tele at you!!
True nicknamery is derived from a mandate from the masses, not some farcical aquatic ceremony.
If I went 'round saying I was the emperor of my band's record label 'cause some moistened bint lobbed a vintage les paul at me, they'd put me away!
Now we see the cringe inherent in the system!
I think it’s fun that there are famous named instruments like Lucille (BB King’s guitar) or Baby Snakes (Frank Zappa’s guitar), but like any nickname it has to catch on organically and if you try to force it the whole thing feels sad and weird. “Gretchen stop trying to make Mjolnir happen it’s not going to happen”.
I've never thought of it like that but yes that is exactly right lol
A girl I knew named her therapeutic chair George. After George Clooney if I remember correctly, because she had a crush on him. Maybe I could introduce her to your friend. Then again, we run the risk of them reproducing...
My Aunt called her guitar "Albert" after a dr. At the hospital she worked at. My Uncle named his 12 string guitar " George." My 5 guitars and one bass all have names, too.
That is cringe
My bass guitars are named Blue, Black, and Green. Guess what colors they are.
Red, white, and Purple
How’d you know??
😂
It’s not that it’s necessarily pretentious, but more that most people who name their instruments are pretentious. Plus, dudes who only give their guitars female names and refer to them as “she” give me the heebie jebies.
Roberta
This here is Roberta, made out of toanwood and plays like butter. There is not a single guitar like it because the other guitars out there came from a different slab of lumber.
Glad you know exactly who I’m referring to hahaha.
Makes sense to me as a speaker of a gendered language. Guitars are female. Bass is male. Drums, depends on the piece. Hi-hat is a boy, kick is a girl, cymbals are boys, cowbell is a girl. All strings are boys, except for the viola.
Yeah everyone knows [bass is the dad guitar and regular guitar is the mum guitar](https://youtu.be/n6EH_OrGriM)
From what I've seen before its not really about gendered nouns, and more of men sometimes talking about their guitars as if they were human women and it can be kind of creepy.
That’s exactly how I mean it, as I said, it’s not always the case, but some people take it in super weird, almost sexual directions.
The way people describe the curves of any instrument in reference to a womans body makes me want to pull my hair out.
my bass has very nice feeling curves but it’s not a sexual thing it’s just very smooth
It makes me want to pull their hair out tbh.
i regularly tell my wife that i am going to go make love to my guitar.
Especially when they mention fingering A minor
I get what you’re getting at (I’m Spanish), but that’s not the kind of thing I’m referring to.
Could this be rule 35'd?
Here it's all the drums are male and the cymbals are all female. There's a joke to be made here somewhere.
Females never need their heads replaced?
that works too!
Dicks don’t make sound brah.
Not with that attitude they don’t
William Murderface would disagree
[wrong](https://youtu.be/z8O2ToQ_Dok)
Does this make me sound like a pretentious or annoying person
Was BBKing annoying or pretentious? You do you. Anyone says otherwise is probably a dick.
Thankyou I am a dick though
Then why ask the question? /s
I dont want to be a dick, I try to be polite but I struggle with stuff like that.
All good. Just a joke :) I understand the struggle. Most people call me a callous robot. Name your baby and just have fun with it. If you're happy, that's what matters!
Nothing pretentious about having fun with something you enjoy
Like a dick?
Just dont name it (your dick)
Ozzy Osbourne named his Little Ozzy, I recall. 🤭
- Naming: OK, kinda silly but OK - Anthropomorphizing: Cringy - Sexualizing: Hard Cringe
...only if you insist other people use the name.
I think it's a little cringey. But it's harmless and doesn't affect me so who cares what I think
I always said it was cringey but if something just kinda sticks, it sticks. I put a blue pearl scratchplate on my Jazz bass and a while back I caught myself referring to it as 'blue' more often than not. Now, that was in a sentence like "I'll bring two basses for the gig, blue and the fretless, I'll leave the precision at home". Only blue gets a name, the only instrument I've ever owned with a name.
I'd go so far as to say that calling an instrument by its colour basically barely counts as naming such instrument.
Come, Mango Wood, let's ride!!
That's unironically a great name
Mango Wood is a fantastic name, definitely.
There's some famous guitars named after their color though, blackie and old black for example. It doesn't have to be a human name right?
I think the same thing, so I don't name objects like my basses, car, motorcycle etc, and I also don't care about what others do, it's nothing of my concern and they do as they please.
Exactly.
I do think it's a little cringey, but it also serves a purpose. It really helps you feel motivated to play if you like your instrument a lot. Almost anything you can do to make your bass more exciting to you is worth doing from a learning perspective. Basses come with model names for a reason after all. It's a lot easier to be excited about something that has a name, language is powerful. Some examples of famous musicians that named their instruments include Eric Clapton (blackie), Neil Young (old black), Willie Nelson (trigger), BB King (Lucille), Prince (Cloud), Jerry Garcia (Tiger), Randy Rhoads (Concord), Keith Richards (Micawber). These are all guitars, but I'm sure lots of bass players do the same. I know Victor Wooten named his first bass for example (although he named it #1 which isn't the most inventive). Can anyone think of any bass players that named their basses? That said, probably keep any particularly flowery names to yourself if you don't wanna be seen as a little odd.
Stevie Day Vaughan had “Number One” as well, also referred to as “First Wife”. Also had another Strat named “Lenny”.
Naming your bass = okay. Referring to it at all times, by name, like it is Excalibur… yeah, that gets tiresome. I have names for mine just so my wife knows which one is which!
You do what you want. It doesn’t matter what other people think. I don’t name my instruments but if you have good names you want to use, go ahead. George Harrison painted his Strat in rainbow colors and named it Rocky.
Roberta
Yes, unless it’s Roberta.
Bassy McBassface? Joking aside, do what you want. As someone else said, we usually name cars and such, why not an instrument...
I’d argue with “we usually” as I think most people usually don’t do that (cars, instruments, any inanimate object really). Sure, some people do, but *most* people don’t. I fully agree with the do what you want part of that statement though.
It is pretentious to judge someone else for naming their bass or not.
I'll add that it's pretentious to insist other people refer to your instrument by the name you gave it, versus just using the name for your own benefit.
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Well put!
No it's not. As stranger from the internet it is our holy mission to judge other people based on their personality with which we are so familiar. Do I know this person ? Do I know his/her name ? No. All I know is that he's an absolutely dick that names his bass like it is a guitar. How could he. His instrument is missing 2 strings and his brain 2 halves
You don't know what pretentious means.
Nah, he used it perfectly to make a good point
I think its pretentious if anyone tells you what to do with your bass.
I never thought to name my basses until I decided to have 3 different presets on my preamp to even out the levels based on which bass I was playing. At that point I needed to label the switches with the "names" of the basses. So I have "Jazz", "Blue", and "Slinky". Slinky had LaBella tapewounds on it, Blue was just a blue P-bass, and Jazz is a, er....J-bass. Super imaginative, I know.
Better than me. My Jazz Bass is named “Jazz Bass” and my Ibanez BTB is named “Ibanez”
Never would have thought of those, haha.
Hey I have a blue too!! Mines a JB though
This is really the only kind of sensible reason for naming an inanimate object.
My current bass name is black hole. It's black with red highlights around the pic guard and it eats up my time that I never get to see again lol. Not complaining loving my bass
Rule N°1 : don't be a dick. *(Exception if your name is Richard)* Does it make you a dick to name an object ? Absolutely not. In fact, you could build a whole temple in your garden for worshipping your own bass, and nobody would bat an eye. Being a dick is saying things like "hey dude, cool bass chops, but Priscilla *(random name, sorry to all Priscillas)* and I can work it to sound really better, check this out"
Nicknames are fine. "#1", "Big Red", stuff like that.
My late wife used to name my basses because she knew it bugged me and made her giggle. Now I name them in honor of her. It comforts me.
It's harmless, do whatever the fuck you want and stop caring what other people think about it
This is the answer right fuckin here.
My main 3 basses are named after the Golden Girls (Blanche, Dorothy, Rose). It seemed silly at the time and I just stuck with it. People laugh when I tell them, so no harm/no foul in my book.
I find it corny, but certainly not pretentious. People can do whatever they want with their instruments. Not my place to judge.
My first bass was a neon green dean bass. Her name is Deana
You can be pretentious in how you name it (or more specifically, how you refer to it) but naming it itself isn't pretentious by default, I don't think. I don't really name mine but I can appreciate that a lot of people, when they develop that attachment to an instrument, want to have something more personal to refer to it than "the blue j bass" or whatever. If it feels right to you, do it. People will judge but fuck 'em for it.
Depends on the name
It's pretty cringe.
I named it the blue [waffle](https://i.imgur.com/yFNHmxr.jpeg). Disclaimer: SFW Link is to picture of the bass only.
I was still unsure if you were bullshitting me with that disclaimer. Can confirm, SFW blue waffle.
How is it to play a fanned fret / multiscale bass? I've always liked the looks of them
I think it feels great. Considering i switch back and forth from fretted to non fretted, I don’t really give it any thought any more.
More immature than pretentious, but whatever floats your boat
I remember someone told me their music teacher insisted them on naming their instrument as one of the first assignments, apparently so they'd bond with them. I think it was weird as fuck and i'm happy i never went through such thing.
Depends on the name, only Roberta is accepted as cool
At the risk of sounding rude, do what you want and learn not to care what other people think about something so minor.
I think as long as you don't correct people for not calling your bass its "proper" name you won't be a dick
i literally just call mine “the funny”
Arya: “Lots of people name their swords” The Hound: “Lots of cunts”
I name all my instruments. My bass is called Moonlight, my Electric Guitar is Gaarm, and my nylon acoustic is Khada Jhin
Please don't insult Ishtar The Magnificent One.
I was going to, but someone at the factory slapped a name on it, and I'm too lazy to change it.
The guitarist I play with has named his guitars. I think he was inspired by Stevie Ray Vaughan. I've never really felt the need to, but I don't see anything wrong with it.
Yes
I named my previous one Blondie. My now best workhorse is named Stripes
in what case you would really "need" to name your bass? probably when you own several bass of same brand, same model, which could be pretentious to do so
Nobody cares if or what you name your instrument but if you start telling people about it like it's cool then you're not being just pretentious you just sound like an idiot and still nobody will care unless you can srsly play, and even then most *still* won't care that you named it or what it's name is. If you name it, and just keep it to yourself, no harm no foul. If you sticker/carve/paint/write a name on it, nobody will care about that either. Just don't talk about it. If someone asks just smile and say 'Yeah I named it 'The Terminator' or whatever. Don't embellish or drag on about it or you're re-entering the douche-zone again and you'll just sound like an idiot.
Yes, but pretentiousness can be pretty rock and roll
Yes.
The majority of artists do something that would be characterized as "pretentious" including this, but it is more how you use the name around others and what the name is that will determine how pretentious you come off.
I don’t name my basses, just like I don’t name my knives, hammers or hand planes.
My first bass has a name. I didn’t name it, though. It’s an old beat up 79 Fender Pbass with paint missing that when the first time my childhood friend saw it said, “That’s a ghetto bass!” And thus, for the last 20+ years of owning, I’ve called it The Ghetto Bass. I let others call my instruments whatever they want, but only the Ghetto Bass has stuck.
I just call mine Jag and J. One's a Jaguar and the other's a Jazz.
Yes. Its pretty lame.
I’ve named most of my instruments for fun (come on, tell me naming an old accordion Hemingway doesn’t make you like 5% more likely to practice than if it had no name) and I’m not embarrassed to admit that, but I personally would feel cringy if I expected anyone else to know those names. Like, I’ll tell my band mates “I’m bringing the five string” or “I’m bringing the p bass today”, if that’s relevant, but I would never say “I’m bringing [bass name]”. Hell, most of the time I don’t expect my band mates to care what kind of bass I’m bringing so there’s just no need to say anything about it. But when I’m packing up the five string to go play, my girlfriend might say “you’re bringing Copernicus to this one?” because we both think it’s fun. So my answer is if it adds a little extra joy to your relationship with music, why not go for it? It’s not like you have to force anyone else to participate.
Do whatever makes you happy.
why not dude i named my guitar geeta but i sure didn’t take that decision seriously
I've never been the type of person to want to do that. I guess it depends on the person and their reasons for it. I know some famous guitarist that have of course
I don't care what any of you guys think of Dr. Boom Boom and he doesn't care either.
Yes
I have one covered in curse word stickers and other tasteless things. I call it the Obscenity Gauntlet.
If I had to give a name my bass it would be Chad. As in: Hi, this my friend Chad. We're never very far apart.
I call all my basses "bassy". My guitars get no name, because "guitary" just doesn't work as well.
No, they have names. You have to learn them.
No. Please share the names though so I can judge
Not pretentious but definitely cringe
yes
do what you want its your bass
Depends on the name. Not sure it’d make you sound like a dick unless you name it something like “stroker”…
It's cute. I had a banjo called billy-bob but strangely I've never named my bass. I've always named cars, bicycles etc too
Depends on the name.
Truly
Name your bass whatever you what homie, it’s your bass I named mine “Fade” for fun
I named mine Tina, short for Tinfoil. I think it’s neat, do whatever you want!
Name it Mr Perfect aka Curt Hennig
Idk. It’s not pretentious, but it kinda comes off as weird, especially to me. I know a guy who named his trumpet “squirrel.” Weirdest shit I’ve seen. However, if you name it something stupid, like “fucker” or “the bussy magnet,” it is amazing.
I named my bass Esme after this old lady from an old australian soap opera (the lady was annoying from memory). I named my amp Watson, the old ladies last name because it’s funny/kinda punglish. I hate those names quite a lot. Is it cringe, I don’t really give a fuck hahahaha.
A Country Practice? That’s hilarious
I name mine. My bass is Sundial
I wouldn’t say so. My bass is called Paulie and my banjo is called Jeffrey 😂 Haven’t named my other instruments though.
I find the general consensus inspiring. I name my guitars and basses. male and female names. I like to nickname things as it helps simplify things. Nearly all my guitars have a white/black color scheme so nicknames are a practical measure “can you grab me the black and white strat, no the other one, no QUAGGA” and the nickname clears things up! Perhaps it’s corny, but often say I am “made of corn” people will think it’s pretentious, but it’s better to be pretentious than forgettable, most especially as an artist!
no, it's fun and it's your instrument, do what you want with it
Yes
Mine all have names. Even the guitars.
I named my guitar after my guinea pig who was also black and white like the guitar, Gamja (Potato) Guitar. When I got my bass, I named it after my other guinea pig, Yuja (Yuzu) Bass because it was a yellowish color and she was noisy and grumpy.
It just shows you love your ax, man.
I still don't understand why you need to ask it? BTW two of my friends name their cars. I don't see people being pretentious naming things. It's just not my thing, and it does not bother me.
It might be a bit weird to only call it by it's name when around people, but just giving it a name is great in my opinion. It might strenghten the personal bond.
Naming your blue bass "Blue", or your p-bass "P-bird" is not cringe. Naming your Ibanez "Gloria, mistress of darkness" is very cringe.
Having a name doesn’t make it pretentious and I name all my basses. I just don’t broadcast the names to every one, all the time cause that would be a little douchey.
I call one bass "The P" or "The sunburst one" and I call the other "The PJ" or "The white one"
Names are fun, naming three identical PRS guitars after women you used to date is pretentious.
Yes
Nah it's fun
I named my bass "Carol in HR" after laughing my ass off at the episode of IASIP where Charlie and Mack get jobs in the mailroom. I have it painted on my bass case and when I open the case, I shout "Carol! Carol! I need to talk to you about the mail!" name your bass whatever you want. People have done stupider things.
just cringe
Don't listen to the people, it ain't cringe. Tho mine were named by (bassist)-friend of mine, but they all got names :D
Lots of people name their Bass, lots of cunts
No, it just means that you have a special relationship with your instruments. My guitar is called "Din" and my bass is called "El Regalon" So, share what it's called if you already gave it a name.
Nah, I name my instruments. I don't always use the name, but I think it's about the same as calling it fender strat or sterling stingray. Even though I'm a drummer there's something about naming a kit thst doesn't work I guess it's because it's not one solid piece.
I used to call equipment I was sentimentally attached to Bob up until I gave up bass a decade ago. So Bob was my first bass up to Bob 7 before he got sold. Bob 3 was my PS3........ When I think back to me as a person back then I'm amazed I found a wonderful woman to marry me. Now though my Bass are just referred to by their use. My Squire PJ is my gig bass, my Generic bass is the allowed to use in house for practice bass and my Thunderbird is my project bass.
My acoustic bass is named Bertha
I name mine. I don't give a fuck. Even the guys I play with refer to them by name. "Who you playing tonight, Kate or Betty?" (It's usually Betty. Kate was my first.)
i named my bass sausage after i slapped a mcdonald’s breakfast burrito sticker on it. live your vibe lol
Does fatty sound pretentious to you?
I think it's only pretentious if you make it that way. I don't call my basses to their names normally but if some one asks I say. I named this one "Felicity Slapwell" cause that's just funny to me.
I don't name my basses. But Willie named Trigger, so it can't be that uncool...
My MIM P-Bass named “Bert and Ernie” would beg to differ.
bertha
Nahh, you do you! If that's something you want to do, who cares what others think.
Be you. And no it’s not. Makes me wanna do it. 20 years of playing never considered it. I just called them my sweet babies.
I refer to mine as ”jackson clone” cause it kida looks like a jackson
I named all of my instruments, mostly to honor a specific person that either influenced me or was 'instrumental' (pun intended) in my acquiring them. I named a guitar that I once built "Ray of Hope" - Ray for short) because I built it at a time when I didn't know what my employment future would be. I named another guitar "Woody" (not for Woody Guthrie) because of its breathtaking wood grained appearance. Nothing at all wrong in naming your gear...you're bonding with them and showing how they talk to you. Rock on, Friend!
You do you, and no for me is not. My car is Black Widow
I’ve named mine :) One’s named bruce, the other silvia
Not if you name it 'Corky'
I named mines Woody… because it has a wood finish
It’s okay to bake your bass. If you’re younger than 10
My ukulele bass is Lil Slaps. My Jazz bass is Gina (is dark red, has a Porco Rosso sticker). My short-scale is Mugsy (root beer color). My car is FITney Spears (Honda fit, duh). I am a stoner nerd who likes wordplay, but if people feel better calling me pretentious, let em.
I always come to these naming threads for the comments. It trips me out how polarized the responses to this one meaningless thing can be. 😂 To be clear, I personally do not care what anyone does with their guitar in the privacy of their own homes as long as it's consensual.
Not trolling, I'm curious: for those that strongly believe if a male names a guitar a female name its creepy, what about a female that names it a male name, or a gay man that names it a male name? Is that less weird? I see this all the time when people talk about naming their guitars and I'm curious what prompts such strong reactions. Is it more a feeling of male predatoriness or that males historically have a bad track record of objectifying women that causes those feelings? My wife named her first guitar a male name, and her second guitar a female name. I always thought it was kinda cute. I just love that she likes to play and it's never seemed weird to me, but I'll admit, not much seems weird to me anymore.
Baby doesn’t think so. Neither does Count Bassie or Felony.
Based of those names I can infere you are bender from futurama
Nah. I named my bass “Lotso” cause I had a small Lots-o-hugs bear that I kept in the case, a gift from my lil sis. Whole thing smelled like strawberries for a year.