Does Having Too Many Basses Stunt Growth?

[dbamta]

Ant,

I have noticed that some guys who have a large collection of basses are sometime limited in their bass playing skills. I was just wondering if it can related to the fact that they never truly mastered playing comfortable one bass before the jump to another. I have noticed that playing many different basses requires some type of adjustment such as fret size and neck construction as examples. It would seem playing basses of the same brand and similar models would making switching between them easier. What do you think?

[Ant Wellington]

All of the great bass players that I know have a lot of basses. But they have 1 or 2 basses that they play mostly. I think if you are a 'developing' bass player you should considering focusing on getting better more than going through and owning a lot of basses.

As for me, I've been playing custom made basses since the 90s. And for some reason I was smart enough then to use 'common' physical specs that would give my custom basses similar 'feels'. All of my 'main' gigging basses have 5 strings, 35" scale, 19mm spacing at the bridge and a thin neck profile. I've found that when I pick up bass that doesn't have these specs it's not as comfortable in my hand. It doesn't mean that I won't play that bass well. A lot of 4 string basses has 19mm spacing. And I can adjust to 34" scale easy. For me the biggest obstacles is significantly tighter string spacing and thick neck profiles. Even my 7 string MBass has 19mm bridge spacing so even though the neck is wide, the bass is easy for me to play because the amount of space between the strings is what I'm used to and the profile of the neck is thin.

Having said all of that,...

If a person is in the beginning stages of bass playing its probably a good idea to get comfortable with one bass.

But,...

Everyone is different. Some of us adjust to things easier than others. And as I teacher I know that none of us do things the same. We all are different and are affected by things differently.

peace,
anthony

[Ric5]

Having too many basses really stunted this guy's growth as a bass player ...

[JimL]

I read the title of this thread and was thinking something completely different. LOL

[dbamta]

Thanks Ant. You understood the point that I was making. The question was not about the ability to play many basses but, the comfort level and dexterity that can be experienced playing basses with similar qualities.

[Ant Wellington]

Yup, I knew what you meant.

-aw

[jmac]

Originally Posted by Ric5

Having too many basses really stunted this guy's growth as a bass player ...

I doubt he had that many when he started playing.

[Lichtaffen]

Take it for what it's worth, but I think too many options confuses the mind and makes it difficult to focus. This is what I, personally, feel and that's why I own only one bass. If you don't have trouble focusing then ignore my post, but I would guess that's one of the reasons that the bass collectors the OP speaks of can't play well.

[JTFormula]

I have 3 Basses (1 is lefty which I play as well) and 10 guitars. I find myself playing one bass 85% of the time and I have three guitars that are the go to ones I play. Two electric, one acoustic. The two electrics have a similar style but different feel and tone (1 Fender the other Jackson). The others are more or less collectors pieces but I do play all of them at some point. I think with most collectors they have their favorite players and the others are mainly wall hangers or display pieces. I don't believe its a reflection in ability at all.

[Anonymatt]

You know those t-shirts, "So many guitars, so little Time." Haha.