Why do I bother?

[chris_b]

1 hour ago, neepheid said:

. . . .  Basses I don't play get sold.

 

My thoughts exactly. I have several basses and an amp sitting around, bought on the off-chance, that haven't "made it".

 

They don't match up to my "players" so will be sold at some point.

 

It seems it's just not a good time to be selling at the moment.

[ahpook]

One bass, lots of basses, it really doesn't matter if you ask me. Be a purist or a polyglot....it's up to you. 👍

 

I have quite a few basses because I wanted them and could afford them. They'll all get sold eventually and they're all going to get some love until then.

 

Rock what you got

Edited March 6 by ahpook

[Geek99]

13 hours ago, Buddster said:

Yes, I agree, my wife is completely understanding of me having different ones, even if she doesn't know why. 

Mine would question it if I exceeded two, which I think is reasonable given that I only go to jam nights and don’t gig 

 

 

[NancyJohnson]

16 hours ago, Buddster said:

Yes, I agree, my wife is completely understanding of me having different ones, even if she doesn't know why. 

 

I think this mirrors many general situation.

 

When our mortgage got paid - and after an awful long time playing a (frankly awful) late 70s Precision - floodgates opened and I just bought any Gibson Thunderbird I fancied.  Wife understood, but if asked couldn't specifically quantify why her husband kept buying basses or what he actually owned at any single moment.  I mean she knows the manufacturers, Hamer, Lull, Spector...those names roll off the tongue.

 

Her oft-used quote is, 'Always trade up,' which is something I've consistently tried to do.

 

 

Edited March 6 by NancyJohnson

[xgsjx]

I’ve currently got just one bass, an Ibanez SR1000 that I bought new in 1990. Other basses have came & went, but this one has always been my “go to”. It’s undergone a number of changes to the hardware & electronics & even been completely stripped down & rebuilt. 
So just the one bass for me. 

[asingardenof]

I have two and don't have any need for more than one more (although I would like to but space and finances are a constraint) and that will be a 5er to open up more song possibilities for the band. I try to rotate mine but my P-bass is killing my Elf at the moment it seems so which I use on a gig will depend on the size: if I want to use the Elf I'll have to use the Sire bass, but if I want to use the P then I'll have to drag the ABM out. Unless I can nail down the problem with the Elf before the warranty runs out, in which case hopefully a replacement will solve that particular issue!

[Obrienp]

Doesn’t it somewhat depend on the project/band you are working on? I play a Maruszczyk Elwood (Jazz) with the blues band I’m in and primarily a custom made P/J with the covers band but for the latter we mostly play tuned down half a tone and the guitarists then capo for other tunings, so I also have to have a bass in standard tuning for quick changes during gigs. Plus, I always take a spare bass to gigs, having had one fail on me (jack socket).
 

I’ve already justified owning four basses, just for those two bands 😀👍. I can’t really defend the other two though and I think at least one will have to go.

[Linus27]

I've got 4 basses and an electric upright bass and I wouldn't mind a couple of other basses to add to the collection.

 

Fender Japan 61 Reissue Fretless Jazz: This is the best bass I have owned. I bought it new around 87 and its seen thousands of gigs. Its fretless with an ebony board, Bartolini pickups, incredibly beaten up and sounds amazing. Strung with Rotosound 66 Swing Nickel rounds and really sings.

 

Fender Japan 62 Fretless Precision: When I don't play the Jazz then I play this bass as its lovely and is a nice player when I fancy something different. It has a rosewood fretless neck, 62 vintage pickups, is strung with Rotosound 66 Swing Nickel rounds and has a really nice expressive, punchy tone.

 

Fender Mexico FSR 70's Reissue Fretless Precision: It has a maple fretless neck, is natural with an Ash body, 62 Vintage pickups and sounds fab. Strung with flats and is brilliant for recording and is different to the other Precision and Jazz basses.

 

Music Man Fretless Stingray SR4: It has a Pau Ferro fretless neck which is lovely but very different sounding to the three other basses I own. I'm still experimenting with strings and would like to try and use some Nickel strings on it at some point. I do occasionally gig with it as well but nothing really beats the tone from my Jazz bass.

 

Ibanez UB804 Upswing EUB: Very different to anything I own but a wonderful fun instrument.

 

After that, then I am always on the look out for interesting fretless basses so who knows what might pop up in the future.

[Baloney Balderdash]

Such is the curse of GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome).

 

And yes, most people on this forum, myself included, suffer from this terrible mental condition.

 

And the worst part is that while usually the most effective way to get rid of an addiction is replacing it with another one, be it coke or Jesus, in this particular case that method only seems to make the GAS even worse.

  

Edited March 6 by Baloney Balderdash

[Bassybert]

It’s weird as playing bass/music is my favourite hobby and I only have 1 bass which I obviously use for everything. I do like other kit, and do look at other basses with an eye to getting another one maybe a stingray or jazz but I know in reality I don’t need it and I’m happy with my precision. 
 

I also play club cricket and have literally gone through more bats than I care to think about, sometimes several a season.
 

What that all means I have no idea 😂

[asingardenof]

17 minutes ago, Bassybert said:

It’s weird as playing bass/music is my favourite hobby and I only have 1 bass which I obviously use for everything. I do like other kit, and do look at other basses with an eye to getting another one maybe a stingray or jazz but I know in reality I don’t need it and I’m happy with my precision. 
 

I also play club cricket and have literally gone through more bats than I care to think about, sometimes several a season.
 

What that all means I have no idea 😂

When I played club cricket I was very unhappy at having to get a new bat, having used the old SS Jumbo I'd inherited off my dad (it still had the Viv Richards endorsement on it!) for about 20 years until it shattered from my nicking an inside edge. So I bought a new SS (the Indian brand not the English one) and all went really well for three games until a quick ball jumped at me and in fending it off the ball hit the handle and snapped it. Fortunately there was a shop near me that did repairs and did it quickly and well, and I was able to hit a quickfire 45 with it next game. Alas it's been gathering dust in my wardrobe for almost five years now but I may get it out again in future if I can be bothered seeking out a new club.

[SimonK]

20 minutes ago, asingardenof said:

When I played club cricket I was very unhappy at having to get a new bat, having used the old SS Jumbo I'd inherited off my dad (it still had the Viv Richards endorsement on it!) for about 20 years until it shattered from my nicking an inside edge. So I bought a new SS (the Indian brand not the English one) and all went really well for three games until a quick ball jumped at me and in fending it off the ball hit the handle and snapped it. Fortunately there was a shop near me that did repairs and did it quickly and well, and I was able to hit a quickfire 45 with it next game. Alas it's been gathering dust in my wardrobe for almost five years now but I may get it out again in future if I can be bothered seeking out a new club.

 

My music fund took a hit this month after both sons broke last season's bats during pre-season nets within a week of each other - and that was with me carefully oiling them at the end of last season and putting new handles on! Apparently the spare/patched up bats are not the same as the "number 1" bat - something I might need to remember next time getting a new guitar/bass comes up in conversation... problem is new bats are somewhat cheaper than basses...

[BassTractor]

21 hours ago, Burns-bass said:

Does anyone else suffer from this strange affliction?

Not me. Gigging is a strange affliction I don't partake in. 😉
I just buy all the basses.

(Truth be told, I bought all my basses so as to learn about basses, with the plan to sell most of them once I knew what I wanted to know. As it happened, unwanted changes in my life meant I had to sell all of them before getting to the point of acquiring that knowledge. Never gigged with any of them, but gigged with someone else's bass.)

Edited March 6 by BassTractor

[mr4stringz]

I get this. My number 1 bass (a Japanese Fotoflame Precision) was my go to since I bought it in 1994. It’s everything bass should sound like to me. All other basses I bought across 25 years - from Ricks to Jazz basses and even other P basses - came and went as they don’t sound like that bass.

 

I’ve now been in a two piece bass and drums band now for 4 years or so, and it’s only since doing it, and massively different stuff with my bass tones, that I’m happy (and really, really enjoying) chopping and changing between a bunch of basses. I’m fairly certain though that if I found myself back only  in a ‘normal’ band setup I’d revert to just the Fotoflame P, and be a good few quid better off.

Edited March 6 by mr4stringz

[Burns-bass]

My point wasn’t to criticise people with loads of basses. Perhaps you need to have loads of basses to realise what you want in one (you can see I’ve owned and sold *lots*).

 

Perhaps as I get older I’m more interested in understanding why I felt the need to own lots of stuff. It didn’t make me happier, or play better, or play more, for example.

It’s interesting to know what everyone thinks in a non-judgemental environment. 

 

[tauzero]

For nearly 20 years it was a Warwick JD Thumb, then when I went to 5-strings it was an Antoniotsai for five years, then a fretless Sei Original from 2012, and now it's either a fretted Sei Flamboyant or an Ibanez EHB1265MS. I still have the others, plus a few lot more that I've picked up along the way. But I have sold some...

[fretmeister]

I've got 2 shortie P bass types. One with flats, 1 with rounds.
1 Jazz type long scale.
2 medium scale PJ 4 and a medium scale PJ5

1 Strat
1 LTD Les Paul type

1 Ibby 7 string.

 

The guitars are for recording. Nice variety of tones.

 

The basses - 99.9% of the time I take a shortie. Flats or rounds depending on the gig.

I love the J type so it's going nowhere, but I could lose the medium scales ones and not be bothered.

 

I might think about that a bit. I could get a new amp I'd never use....  

[Boodang]

I did have lots of basses but that was because I hadn’t found ‘the one’. Then, not long ago, I accidentally had a custom made (long story!) and that was it. Now I’ve lost interest in buying new basses. 
However, gas obviously hadn’t left the building as I started playing drums but I haven’t found ‘that kit’. So I’m back where I started except drum kits are larger and along with the infinite cymbals I obvious need, it seems more expensive. 

[Beedster]

Needing versus wanting aka the curse of being human in a materialistic/consumerist world 🤔

[Downunderwonder]

19 hours ago, Bluewine said:

 

Just to name a few, I have a cool, Gibson Gold Top Bass, a 1991 Gibson Thunderbird,and  two 2005 MIJ Fender P 1951 reissues. 

 

The only bass I gig is my 1993 made in America G&L ASAT bass (active pre amp). It's really the ultra narrow neck (maple with tons of Birdseye). The active pre amp is really nice. Maybe the big coil pick ups. The slab Tele body style.

 

Daryl

Your blonde tele must be feeling very left out.

[chris_b]

12 hours ago, NancyJohnson said:

. . . . Her oft-used quote is, 'Always trade up,' which is something I've consistently tried to do.

 

Same here. . . . always upgrade to something better.

 

I'm having a tough time improving on my Mike Lull P bass and Sadowsky Jazz.

[miles'tone]

12 hours ago, asingardenof said:

When I played club cricket I was very unhappy at having to get a new bat, having used the old SS Jumbo I'd inherited off my dad (it still had the Viv Richards endorsement on it!) for about 20 years until it shattered from my nicking an inside edge. So I bought a new SS (the Indian brand not the English one) and all went really well for three games until a quick ball jumped at me and in fending it off the ball hit the handle and snapped it. Fortunately there was a shop near me that did repairs and did it quickly and well, and I was able to hit a quickfire 45 with it next game. Alas it's been gathering dust in my wardrobe for almost five years now but I may get it out again in future if I can be bothered seeking out a new club.

Just had a good laugh at myself and gained some perspective after reading this...

If I was into cricket then I'd probably be sheepishly admitting that I don't even play for a club anymore, whilst staring at a wall full of bats that I keep hoovering up from the for sale section of BatChat. 

[OliverBlackman]

6 hours ago, chris_b said:

 

Same here. . . . always upgrade to something better.

 

I'm having a tough time improving on my Mike Lull P bass and Sadowsky Jazz.

That’s because when you get to that level, the differences are mostly down to spec and taste. None are better than the other, just different, even if only slightly.

[Skybone]

As much as I would love to have multiple instruments at my disposal, the reality is that I can't really afford or justify it (or have the space TBH). 

 

I do have a couple of basses and a couple of guitars, but that's it. And yes, I do mainly play my preferred bass (the black 'plate 4003 in the avatar) over the other one, but hey, it's a fantastic bass.  

 

Still have GAS, and if I had the spare money, I would have a big collection.

[BigRedX]

4 minutes ago, Burns-bass said:

Perhaps you need to have loads of basses to realise what you want in one

 

Absolutely this. Being able to own almost 50 guitars and basses at the same time allowed me directly compare them all and decide which ones I would keep and use and which I was just owning because I could.

 

The six that I have kept are:

 

Gus G3 5-String (red). This is my main bass for one band

Gus G3 5-String (black). This is the back-up bass.

Eastwood Hooky 6-String Bass. This is my main bass for the other band

Burns Barracuda. This is the back-up bass for the Eastwood. When I have the cash it will be replaced by another Eastwood.

Gus G1 Guitar. For writing and recording

Fretking Esprit V Custom. For writing and recording.

 

And that's all I need.