Eetsh a kipper...!

[Kiwi]

Talk about your keeper basses or kit and the reasons why.

Mine:

Spector NS5CR - heavily modified with custom soapbars, 3 band parametric eq and coil switching. Sounds like the bass in my head on stage.

Alembic Series 1 - graphite neck, not many around. Always lusted after an Alembic since I started playing. The one I have represents the ultimate in many ways.

Panborn Warlord - graphite neck, not many around. Very comfortable to play (for me because I'm used to Alembics and Jaydees)

[Geek99]

My bass doc sunburst precision 75 clone with maple and red tort. Brilliantly setup, instantly recognisable to the lay people and it sounds awesome loud - soon to be reliced and the only one I would never sell
Accept no substitute

[colgraff]

My Dingwall Prima 5 - it sounds beautiful and the action is so low and the neck so smooth that it almost plays itself.

[ribbetingfrog]

TC electronic bg250 208.

12.5kg is the main reason this is my keeper.
After a 40 kg Ampeg this is heaven.

Plenty loud, great tone, line out for PA, tone print for built in compressor, extension cab output.

Everything I need in an amp and lightweight.

[chaypup]

My Daion fretless Power X.

Firstly, I'm not sure there are any others out there, I've been looking for 5 years and not found one.

The sound is utterly amazing and it just fits my hands like no other bass I've played

[Muzz]

My walnut Shuker: it was a birthday present all my friends contributed to; it was made for me and it's unique; I got the spec exactly right, Jon built it perfectly, and it plays and sounds exactly like I wanted it to.

[Cameronj279]

My ACG. The sound is like no other bass I've ever used. Mega punchy and articulate but incredibly versatile thanks to the myriad of controls on the filter preamp.

As well as sounding excellent it plays incredibly well and looks (to me) very pretty. The only thing I would change would be the finish on the neck that I find gets a bit sticky if you're sweating whilst playing, but that could be eased a lot by simply sanding the neck a little.

[Paul S]

My 'grab it if the house caught fire' bass would be the 32" scale mid 80s MIJ Squier Precision in vintage white that has changed hands on this forum a few times over the years but now home to roost. Weighs under 8lbs, as a slim neck that is a joy to play and, after mods carried out by a previous owner of a Fender Original pickup and a quality wiring loom, has the exact sound of a Precision bass that I carry in my head - better than any other I have played or owned.

Close second is a JV Squier Precision I bought fairly recently. A '57 re-issue in black, now sporting a bwb pickguard and a maple neck with a slight but attractive figuring in the grain that has aged to that gorgeous caramel colour. Weighs in at just over 8lbs. Slightly different voice to the white one and the tone pot allows for a slightly more aggressive edge when fully open. Shallow person that I am, the colour way is my absolute favourite so it scores extra points for that too.

Third in line is my new kid on the block - a 1973 Yamaha SB-15, an apparently rare double cutaway bass that looks like a bass version of the guitars Santana used to use. Still smiling about that, got it for a song and it is amazing. Needed some fettling - a new nut and bridge - but now, just Wow. Different voice to a Fender yet a tone full of individuality and character that I really love.

So 2 Squiers and a £250 eBay job. Am I easily pleased?

[project_c]

My black/maple 83 Fender P, which I bought in a bar in New York many years ago. It's covered in dings and holes in weird places, it weighs a ton, the string spacing is stupidly wide, the pickups sound obnoxious and huge in almost any setting, but for some reason it's the bass I am most attached to, and the one I sound best on.

[chriswareham]

Greco Rickenfaker for me, the neck through one which I think was a Matsumoku built one rather than the bolt on model that was also sold under the Greco brand. Probably on the heavy side for many people, but fine for me. Perfectly balanced and superb action, with the Rick clank and growl.

[Left Foot]

My Hondo II. Im sure many will laugh but im sure this is the nicest C neck ive ever used and the original pickup gives me all the punch and boom I need. The action is just right for me.
Ive had plywood westfeilds before, and this body is no plywood, its a beast.
Id up it over my ibenez and spector.
I love it.

Edited March 19, 2016 by Left Foot

[interpol52]

I've been through a ton of basses in the last 20 odd years. The keeper (for now!) is a simple Fender Precision MIM 2013. It's a solid workhorse of a bass and I can't find fault in it really. I can just plug it in and play, the bass is a simple instrument. I'm more bothered now about how it sits with the band mix, I used to overthink things, now I concentrate more on getting better as a musician and my contribution to the band.

Edited March 19, 2016 by interpol52

[John Schoen]

My Peterbuilt Dynamite P. I can get all the sounds that I need from it, it feels great and it is the coolest bass on this planet. It is unique and I love it to death.

[dannybuoy]

Yamaha BB1025X - the only reason I'd sell it would be if a nice black 2025X popped up used!

[RhysP]

The only instrument I've got that I'd seriously call a "Keeper" is my Atkin Rosewood OM Standard acoustic guitar.
Over the last few years it's been all over the place & has been involved in some very memorable & personal stuff with me so I'd only get rid of it as an absolute last resort.
Everything else I've got I'd happily sell right now if somebody offered me the right money for it, not attached to any of it.

[mrtcat]

Japanese 75 Jazz with east J-retro. Bought late last year from here. Best neck for my hands, super versatile, creamy white with black plate, bound maple neck with pearl blocks. Looks, sounds and feels like perfection to me.

[MacDaddy]

Custom Shuker. I designed it and it's couture, for my body size, arm length and how I position my arm when I play.

[Roger2611]

Probably my White Gretsch Electromatic, it was my 40th birthday present to me, ok it isn't a White Falcon but as I am not playing guitar in a band at the moment a White Falcon would be an expensive luxury.....The Electromatic looks the part sounds the part and just makes me happy when i play it, the other one would be my modified Fender Custom Shop Princeton Reverb amp....it is every guitar amp I ever wanted

[Rich]

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v169/jazza42uk/Shuker/jazzaVfront.jpg[/IMG]

[steve-bbb]

squier affinity J (been modded a tiny bit and sounds fab - east j retro and wizard hammers)

Edited March 20, 2016 by steve-bbb