Is everyone on TB loaded?

[bassfran]

No, not by a long shot.

[Zooberwerx]

I couldn't afford the good stuff when I was in my early 20's but that was then, this is now. My musical interests are now more of a hobby which almost pays for itself...but not quite. I'm not loaded by any stretch of the imagination but have made wise financial & lifestyle choices which enable me to indulge without sending me to the poorhouse:

*Bought my house in '99. Now worth almost twice what I paid. Mortgage payment is not much more than "cheap" rent and even sweeter since a recent refin.

*No motorcycles, boats, etc. which would further drain the bank account.

*No expensive vacations or travel. Sure, we do a handful of shortened getaways but a cruise down the Danube? Not in the immediate future.

*Be practical, be frugal. My new 23K Ford Transit is of more value to me than a 50-60K Mercedes Benz. The entire house is furnished almost entirely with Ikea. I have 3 cats and a Bichon...I'll be danged if I'll furnish with Ethan Allen, Thomasville, and the like.

*Most importantly: marry the right woman (or man) who shares the same principles. I did.

Riis

[SlingBass4]

Originally Posted by SactoBass

Like life in general, everyone is at a different level. Some TB'ers have more disposable income than others.

I am dumbfounded at how much gear I have bought and sold over the 40 years of playing bass. It's almost embarrassing! In my case, BASS seems to stand for Buy And Sell Stuff.

If I was independently wealthy, I would have just kept all of the gear I ever bought, but since I am not independently wealthy, I use the money from prior sales of gear to pay for the next gear choice. So, I guess you could say that I "recycle" my money.

+1 - in my 40+ years of "BASS" I've seen some to die for equipment come and go in order to support my habits. OTOH...I've given up drinking and smoking

[catcauphonic]

I'm in my mid 40s and have always lived pretty much paycheck to paycheck. A year ago I decided to take up the bass as my first instrument ever. I bought a barely used Yamaha RBX170 w/Silvertone practice amp, tuner, strap, book + cords off of Craigslist for $160. After playing for hours everyday, I can see this is not something that is going to go away any time soon.

And after learning about various equipment via TB and stopping into music stores quite often - I can see how different basses and amps have very different personalities. I've already upgraded my amp via a screamin' deal, & I talked the Wife into letting me buy another bass real soon. Since I don't make a living playing, it was a hard sell. And since I may be only able to get ONE without too much of a fuss, I went BIG & put a deposit down on a Spector It's one of the many benefits of being childless As a sidenote: A lot of things I used to spend money on fell by the wayside when I started playing bass

[gjbassist]

Not loaded but comfortable. My wife and I both work and make good money. I would spend more on gear but other things like braces for my daughter always take priority. I don't buy expensive gear either. I either buy used or buy inexpensive basses like SX and mod them myself. Also we have no credit card debt so if I can't afford to pay cash then I don't buy it!

[bolophonic]

I am not rich by any means. I have six basses, all of them are parted together Frankenbasses. I have owned four rigs in 25 years, all of them sold to buy the next one. I have more than enough gear for the rest of my life and it is all inexpensive, high-quality, giggable gear.

[dukeisdog]

Originally Posted by ubnomnar

I buy most of my gear after I've had a few glasses of wine... so I guess I am loaded... and I spend way too much on gear

Hmm... I only received 1 bass this week... and I have one coming in next week... I better have another glass of wine while I peruse the classifieds

Yup^

I like to buy new gear so I have some awesome sounding stuff to play through. I just simply plan my spending accordingly and make it happen.

[Epidrake]

No money. Two kids in college and the economy stinks. But it's amazing what you can accumulate over 35 years since I started playing.

I have the greatest wife ever. She says, "it's better for me to spend money on gear than bimbos and corvettes."

[Ric5]

Is everyone on TB loaded?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have a good day job and I sold some vintage equipment for more than what it was worth. Also a few years ago when the economy was good I bought a lot of stuff. The lest 4 years I sold off a lot of nice Rickenbackers and other basses to raise money as needed when I was off of work.

These days I build a lot of frankensteined parts basses that cost me $300 to $600. I also build my own speaker cabinets.

I spent a good part of my adult life with one bass, one amp and one acoustic guitar.

[pbassnut]

Originally Posted by goldenglory18

I buy almost all of my gear used and deeply discounted. I'll let someone else pay full retail....

Same here. I have accumulated a lot of bass stuff since I started playing back in 1973 (although I have none of my early bass gear short of an old school coil type guitar cable that shorts out periodically but I keep around for old times sake). I really only need primary and backup basses and rigs to function as a weekend warrior blues bassist. I know it doesn't make me a better bassist, cool or anything, I just love Fender basses and amp rigs and have a lot of them. * Some people like to have a few select boutique pieces ... I prefer to have lots of inexpensive stuff. I'd estimate that an Alembic Series II bass along with an Aguilar DB680/DB728 + Bergantino 6x10 (all purchased new and when these Aguilar models were still available) would probably cost as much as all my bass gear combined. I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with going with high end boutique stuff ... whatever trips your trigger and does the job for you.

* I'm fairly confident that I have some degree of OCD happening, too.

[seang15]

Originally Posted by DWBass

In general, most good bass gear is affordable. I can buy a new amp or cab after a couple months of good gigs. A new bass after a solid 6 months of good gigs. The OP may be speaking on those that own Foderas, Brubakers, Roscoes, Ken Smiths, MTD and the like!

+1 on this. My first bass was a Memphis P-copy. ' burst. Miss her :'( anyway it was $139 plus tax at the department store. That was 1982. And it was by far the least expensive bass available, that was playable at least. With inflation, that was more like $300, no? For that (today), you can get a Squier VM or TWO SX's!! And a myriad of decent Ibbies, too. Times have def changed.

[4Banger4]

I get loaded then buy the gear I don't need then sell blood to pay for it.

Deadly cycle.

[lbbc]

I just bought a month old GenzBenz 212 neo cabinet for half price. Still playing through a Carvin BX 600 bought 6 years ago. Got an Alembic Persuader off of the Alembic website for $1500 about 9 years ago and have a custom bass on order (but have stressed about it daily...had to sell some of my other gear).

With a wife, 5 kids, 4 grandkids and a teaching job....I'm not loaded (and sometimes not comfortable)...but pick up great gear at reasonable prices when I have the money.

I would love to have all of my dream basses...but that's not realistic (or justifiable....since I am a part-time weekend warrior)

[worxforme]

If you don't have debt or pay off your debt as you get older, you have a lot more $$ to throw around.

I'm in my late 40's and started my business and bought my house 25 years ago. Over the years I bought some commercial property, a strip mall and made a few lucky investments.

Be patient, live below your means and it happens no matter how much you earn.

[knumbskull]

work like a dog, play like a pro, live like a tramp.

[D.A.R.K.]

Anyone who has access to internet in order to talk about bass guitar is doing pretty good as far as things go in the world at large.

[knumbskull]

/\/\/\ indeed.

[hernameisrio]

I'm actually really picky and cautious when it comes to buying gear. I only buy what I know I'll use a lot. I'm a monogamous bass owner...I had two at one point, but just felt like it wasn't necessary for me, so I sold the "beater bass." I don't have a cabinet because I haven't found one light/cheap/good enough. I have a bass head that I got a really good deal on (a Peavey SessionBass head for $100!) and a practice amp that does the job (G-K Backline 110) and my bass (Peavey Cirrus-4), which was also a good deal. I have a few pedals and a tube effects unit, and that's pretty much it. I'm working on slowly building out my home recording setup a little better as well as my synth gear, but I'm a big fan of planning carefully and spending gradually.

Of course this comes from about 3-4 years of being really, really scary-poor. I had a very brief window of opportunity to buy the bass I have now, and even then, I was hurting financially and it was a huge sacrifice. It was worth it, but it made life that much harder for about a month.

I'm making steady money now and it's still such a new concept to me that I now have to learn to manage it once again. I think my years of poverty have ultimately instilled a new and better attitude in me about money and what I really "need." I'm sure pretty soon I'll hit a point where I'll be making even more money and be really well off...but I just can't even fathom buying whatever the heck I want and being able to comfortably afford it.

I am thinking of getting a fretless bass soon, but other than that, I don't really get gear lust the way I used to since so much of it is still out of reach financially.

[sevdog]

"Gonna be a bass player, huh? A bass player and his money are soon parted." -Ray Hennig at Heart of Texas Music while selling my mom and I a squier bass, 10 watt amp, cord and tuner when I was 12 (22 years ago). Turns out, he was right.

[MrUsefulAlien]

Originally Posted by goldenglory18

I buy almost all of my gear used and deeply discounted. I'll let someone else pay full retail....

^
Thats what I do.

I am a volunteer, and a student.
I don't smoke, drink, drink coffee, eat fastfood or go to the movies.
I save my money, and once in a while i'll go shopping online for used bass stuff. CL, ebay, and TB.

I typically aim to get what i think is the best gear, for i know that if i compromise, I wont really be satisfied.

I am not materially rich, and neither is my family. But I am quite deliberate with my spending, which allows me to spend on what i perceive to be high quality gear.