[quote name='charic' timestamp='1460535790' post='3026482']
I'm very similar to yourself but I've not given up yet. I've found the reward when you find the right people more than worth the heartache of when you don't. The problem is it's a long and arduous project
[/quote]
I still don't know if I've "given up" as such, it's more like an indefinite sabbatical. I love fiddling about with basses & guitars still, and can see me buying a bass for tinkering or even investment (i.e. can sell it for more than it costs me) reasons again at some point.
One of the problems (for want of a better word) I've faced with bass playing over the years is that when I started, and for the first 15 years or so, I was into quite technically demanding music and so I always had lots of stuff to drive me onwards with my playing. As I got older my musical tastes began to change drastically, to the point where 90% of the music I listen to doesn't even have any bass on it, or if it does it's very basic stuff.
My taste in instruments also mirrored this direction, going from quite a few flashy, high end basses to ending up with only a secondhand CIJ Precision, which was a great bass but it just didn't excite me like my Zons did.