OK, sorry if this is a Super Noob question but...

[Lower-Than-Low]

What the heck does "GAS" mean?

I keep seeing it around the fourm and have no idea what its supposed to stand for.

Someone help me out here. I hate being confused.

[bassbengoa]

Gear Adquisition Syndrome

[Captain_joe6]

I swear tgod it took me months to figure this one out. There should be a sticky with all the local lingo + definitions.

Anyway: GAS = Gear Accuisition Syndrome. It is a truly terrible disease which afflicts hundreds of musicians every year, even every day. The key symptom of this horrific description is an overwhelming sensation of 'want.' An infected person will see, hear, or hear about something and then become inexplicably driven to accuire said item.

There seem to be 4 types of the ailment as well. Some seem to want instruments, some want amplifiers and the like, some want instruments AND amps, and some seem only to lust for effects.

Indeed, it is truly the herpes of our craft.

[wdinc01]

And I'm having a case of all four!
Instrument - I'm starting to develope GAS for a sixer
Amp - I REALLY want/need a new bass amp. Probably an Avatar
Instrument AND amp - Well, for guitar. I want a Telecaster and an amp for that.
Effects - A flanger. Maybe a phaser. And a space chorus. For the Telecaster.

Yeah. It's a really terrible discease. The only cure is to just not have money. Or buying the instrument, of course.

[Lower-Than-Low]

Haha. Boy I am in the worst possition possible to have this syndrome. Im broke, 13, have no constant job, and due to family genetics I automatically find THE most expensive and nicest bass (or anything else for that matter) as soon as I walk into the shop...

Life just aint fair for us bassists.

[Captain_joe6]

Oh boy, those were the days. When I was at that point I had just gotten my first bass (Kramer aluminum-neck) and what is still my favorite practice amp: the peavey minx 110. I remember that that was at about the point where the whole boutique thing was just about to explode and things started getting really cool really fast. It was also at about the time when Elixir was getting a reliable market hold with their coated strings. Fun times...

And as far as the cure is concerned: it doesn't exist. If you don't have the cash you'll just end up scrounging up a couple grand doing whatever you can for whatever you want, and once you do that, the problem doubles: you're sucked into the world of accessories, plus some other company just came out with something even better than what you just got.

Its a lot like computers, really.