One bass? Is it possible?

[Crawford13]

With all this lock down malarkey, it's got me thinking. Could I live with just one bass? I currently have 5 and recently I have been trying to convince myself I only need one. 

Has anyone managed to cull a collection down to just one bass? 

[PawelG]

8 minutes ago, Crawford13 said:Has anyone managed to cull a collection down to just one bass? 

Yes.

But I have two.

[Sibob]

Sure, but where's the fun in that?

Si

[Baxlin]

Well, I started with just one, and sold it on as I bought another, as I didn’t NEED more than one.

But I wanted a semi acoustic 335 style, then I saw a PJ going for a song.......

I suppose I could manage with just one, but during lockdown I’ve had one in my ‘den in the loft’, one behind the sofa to reach for anytime, the other is where I left it last time I picked it up.

So no, I want all 3!

(plus various guitars ‘to hand’)

Edited June 10, 2020 by Baxlin

[lownote]

If I was interested in playing music I'd likely easily define a good all rounder and stick to it.  As my primary hobby is sending and receiving carboard boxes, clearly the unitary approach won't suffice.

[Doctor J]

Of course it's possible, but try to understand why you feel the need to justify it to yourself one way or the other.

[Merton]

22 minutes ago, Crawford13 said:

With all this lock down malarkey, it's got me thinking. Could I live with just one bass? I currently have 5 and recently I have been trying to convince myself I only need one. 

Has anyone managed to cull a collection down to just one bass? 

No. Don't be daft

[LukeFRC]

of course it is possible. 

You would probably want to avoid Basschat though. It seems to encourage the "what else would you like" tendancies. I currently have four basses, which is probably two too many. Interestingly I've had unsolicited questions about if I want to see three of the four in the last few weeks... I haven't wanted too! 

[Crawford13]

So the concensus is basically "no". Funnily enough this is what my heart says, but my head tells me I shouldn't be having thousands of pounds worth of instruments that I don't strictly need. 

[Raggy]

I have nine, but only use one 😳

But I have made a decision to start mixing things up when we get back out there.

[Rich]

I couldn't. I could get down to two, but one of them would be fretless. I need that mwaah in my life. 

[bassbiscuits]

It's definitely a yes.

I only had one bass for years and years, and only got a second one cos the first one needed a refret.

Nice to have a choice, and a spare etc, but not essential by any means. I only take one to most gigs anyway.

 

[adamg67]

23 minutes ago, Doctor J said:

Of course it's possible, but try to understand why you feel the need to justify it to yourself one way or the other.

Whilst an in depth study of human psychology would help in answering a lot of questions that get asked round these parts, it's maybe asking too much that we all start looking at it these things in that way? My own personal answer would be either a) because I have a monkey brain and make decisions subconsciously, only adding the illusion of rational decision making afterwards to make my internal model of the world slightly more consistent, or b) there's no free will so the question "why" never even makes sense - depending on what mood I'm in. a) is only really a variation on b) anyway.

[barkin]

I only had one bass for years (20+). Then, for various reasons, I acquired several more.

Now, (apart from the acoustic - which is left lying around for grabbing quickly, and doesn't really count) although I've still got several I only ever use one. The BB1024. 

[Graham56]

Yes. A 'P'. It's all you need.   🙂

[cetera]

17 minutes ago, Crawford13 said:

So the concensus is basically "no". Funnily enough this is what my heart says, but my head tells me I shouldn't be having thousands of pounds worth of instruments that I don't strictly need. 

My head is overrated. I always listen to my heart.... lol!

[gjones]

I used to have one bass. 

It was a bitsa Jazz with a Precision neck.

I was fine with that.

That was less than 10 years ago.

Now I have 13?

Damn you basschat!

 

 

[Sandypjb]

22 minutes ago, bassbiscuits said:

 

I only had one bass for years and years, and only got a second one cos the first one needed a refret.

 

 

😀

[LukeFRC]

22 minutes ago, Crawford13 said:

So the concensus is basically "no". Funnily enough this is what my heart says, but my head tells me I shouldn't be having thousands of pounds worth of instruments that I don't strictly need. 

No I think you can. 

I think you need to know what you want to play. If you're a precision player and settled on that, or a Jazz or Stingray player or whatever- so that when you see the latest sexy bass that isn't what you have settled on you're happy with your direction.
And if you know deeply in your heart and head that a different Jazz bass than your Jazz bass, for example, is just that - different, not better.

But I think a better question is "what would you do with the money instead" - secondhand instruments are unlikely to devalue super quickly, the money will gain little interest at the moment (although debts are good to pay off). 

[ped]

Yes it's possible!

I have bought and sold more than I care to think about since starting BC. However when it comes down to it I really like the idea of having a bass that's 'me' - my sound, and what I use for everything. Kind of like some of may favourite players have had a bass which they are known for playing. It's a nice place to be, because otherwise I was always second guessing which bass I should be using for what and it became a distraction. So after years of this cycle (which, although I wouldn't want to go back to that now, was a great way to try out lots of instruments and learn about what I liked) I realised that one bass always ended up back at the top of the pile and the others got sold or swapped.

To this day I still have that 'one' bass that I know is just perfect for me, but it doesn't 100% stop me wanting to buy and experiment with others too, so that way I look at it is that I have MY bass, and sometimes one or two others that I play with for fun, but I never buy them for keeps, and can easily slim right back to that one bass at any point.

[Lozz196]

43 minutes ago, Crawford13 said:

So the concensus is basically "no". Funnily enough this is what my heart says, but my head tells me I shouldn't be having thousands of pounds worth of instruments that I don't strictly need. 

I often find myself with these thoughts Crawford, you’re not alone in this. I just rationalise it as playing bass is my hobby, and given that I neither drink nor smoke, well I may as well spend my spare cash on my hobby. When I drank I’d spend more in a year than what my whole instrument collection has cost me, so I don’t look at it as wasted money.

[LukeFRC]

10 minutes ago, ped said:

Yes it's possible!

I have bought and sold more than I care to think about since starting BC. However when it comes down to it I really like the idea of having a bass that's 'me' - my sound, and what I use for everything. Kind of like some of may favourite players have had a bass which they are known for playing. It's a nice place to be, because otherwise I was always second guessing which bass I should be using for what and it became a distraction. So after years of this cycle (which, although I wouldn't want to go back to that now, was a great way to try out lots of instruments and learn about what I liked) I realised that one bass always ended up back at the top of the pile and the others got sold or swapped.

To this day I still have that 'one' bass that I know is just perfect for me, but it doesn't 100% stop me wanting to buy and experiment with others too, so that way I look at it is that I have MY bass, and sometimes one or two others that I play with for fun, but I never buy them for keeps, and can easily slim right back to that one bass at any point.

Vigier?

[Crawford13]

6 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

I often find myself with these thoughts Crawford, you’re not alone in this. I just rationalise it as playing bass is my hobby, and given that I neither drink nor smoke, well I may as well spend my spare cash on my hobby. When I drank I’d spend more in a year than what my whole instrument collection has cost me, so I don’t look at it as wasted money.

That's true and it's generally the way I think about bass and my band, the both cost me a lot of money, but think of it like a golfer, if you want to play you have to pay. 

Yet something in me lives the idea of just having maybe 1 bass and 1 guitar and then it seems my life may be more simple. 

Realistically bass wise it would either be my Alpher or CS P Bass that stays... 

[ezbass]

Yes, of course it’s possible, but not if you’re also a BC member 😂. 

[casapete]

The Covid pandemic has really made me wonder about having so many instruments generally, as well as how many basses.

There's no doubt I could manage with one for everything - it has to be light as possible, well made / reliable and plays and sounds to my liking. Hence I could flog everything but my favourite Precision Lyte. However, I can never sell my 63 P-bass, so that makes it two without even considering the heartbreak of losing my Dano,  Washburn acoustic/electric and a few more. That, combined with the market causing prices to be low, means they're all staying where they are. 😊