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Why Not Just One Bass?

Dr. Cheese

Dr. Cheese

Supporting Member
Mar 3, 2004
57,327
120,641
Metro St. Louis
#1
I currently have just one bass, a Peavey TL-5, and it works just fine for what I do. Prior to getting the Peavey, I had a Yamaha TRB5II, and it worked just fine for me too. The bottom line is that I love basses, but I am not a working musician, I just volunteer at a church. Seriously, I don't even practice that much lately. Work and family keeps me pretty busy, and I barely have time to play at all.

Realistically, the collector in me will always want multiple basses, but I am becoming much more comfortable with just owning one bass. I think I am also just getting cheaper. Yesterday, I was checking out the Skyline 55AJ, which is a really nice bass for $1,300, but the more I think about it, I keep thinking why not find another Yamaha or Peavey for $700 or less, and put the extra money to something else?

I know I'm just rambling, but the longer I read TB, the more I feel a need to put my love of bass in its true place: a hobby. When I read here about actual working musicians, I realize that I just am not doing what they are doing, and there is no need for me to have the amount or type of gear that many of them are rocking (I know a bunch of guys who work would be pretty happy with my Peavey and Eden.)

I'm not saying I'm over GAS, or done buying basses. I just feel much less of a need to own expensive gear compared to how I felt years ago. I think TB and age have really made me see things differently.
 
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#2
I have only played one bass for the last 12 years buts is a good one. Its not the best that money can buy but it sounds amazing and stays in tune all the time, even after falling 3 feet off a stage. I can't justify getting a new one. I say find one bass that feels like it was made for you and buy it and don't think about anything else unless it serves a totally different function. I don't know if its the classical musician in me, but I really connect with instruments and enjoy getting to know every little thing about it until I forget its even there. New instruments usually throw me off and so does switching often. If I was rich I would probably have a quiver, but I would probably only use one 4,5,and 4 fretless on gigs. It sounds stupid but I usually don't sit in anywhere unless I have my bass.

My beef with less expensive instruments is all the little things that you will notice as you get to know the instrument i.e. that shotty 5th fret, the not so stable neck, weak pickups, etc.. I guess if you can't tell the difference then you don't need it. That's what I say to my students when they are buying an instrument and can't decide if its worth taking the plunge for the pro instrument. I do know that an amazing instrument/rig will make you play more often which will make you better. I have found better tone also makes me play simpler since I am content to listen to the beautiful tone. late nite rambling done.
 
#3
I agree. I have had one bass since the early 90's. I wanted a fiver so I added another one. So I have an 81 G&L L-1000 and an 2ksomthing G&L L-1505. I think I'm good with these two. I can forsee buying a cheap P-bass to put my flats on so I don't have to switch strings back and forth on my 4 banger. Both my G&L's are US made, bought used for $600 or less. But I'm a week-end warrior with a fam, job & house payment. If music is your job I have no problems with guys owning lots of or very expensive stuff. More power to you.
 
#4
For what you do, one bass that is inexpensive is probably fine. i did the same thing as you for years but I did have 2 basses that i alternated back and forth between. I also had two in the event 1 was down, the other served as a backup but in my almost 20 years of owning those basses, they have never once broken down or even busted a string so I could have gotten buy with just one but have 2 gave me a comfort for if a "what if" scenario were to happen.
 
#5
I'm in 4 bands, and 3 of them play regularly. (Every Sunday, every Wednesday and every other Thursday.) I have two basses and one on the way.
One is a Squier VM Jazz the other is a Warwick (RB) 5 string and the one on the way is a Fender I got to replace the Squier.
I will be selling my Squier because I won't have a need for it anymore.

Anyways, I will have two basses. One of the biggest reasons I own more than one bass is because, as I'm sure you can imagine,
an active Warwick with 5 strings and 24 frets is a different beast then a good old 4 string passive Fender.
Different sounds, tones, string gauges maybe. Variety is the spice of life, but too much of anything is bad...maybe. :bassist:

I guess I really couldn't see myself ever having more than two unless I became a collector or really serious in musical pursuits.
Then I would probably be buying and selling basses all the time.
There's no way I would use a whole bunch. If I had a lot of basses, I would probably gravitate to one of two of them on a regular basis and just have the others around to look pretty.
 
#6
At one point in time I owned over 15 basses. I eventually realized how silly I was for owning that many, and I ended up selling off most of them. I now own four basses and am much happier with that amount. In fact, I'm actually selling off one of them because four basses even seems like too much for me. It's funny but I actually find more passion and desire to play when I only own a few pieces of gear as opposed to a lot.
 
#7
Well i own under 10 always but usually 5 or more, the way i look at it is if you get it cheap enough that you break even or make a few bucks then why not have it? i have a stingray I didnt need but i got it for a good price , i use it sometimes and if i ever really want to sell it i can make money off it
 
#9
I wouldn't mind having just one if I had to, but I play several different styles and with varying instrumentation and sometimes it calls for a specific timbre. It's hard to get a growly sustaining roundwound rock tone and a deep thumpy flatwound tone from the same bass/setup so I have multiple instruments.
 
#11
Dr. Cheese said:
I'm certainly not telling anyone else what they should own, but having only one or no more than two basses just makes sense for me and what I do. A collection would be a blast too, but I have no desire to tie up too much money in basses.
Click to expand...

Exactly, because that leaves more money to put into amps - which is where the fun really starts :D
 
#12
I idealize the notion of one axe that can do pretty much everything for me. But if you consider the differences between old-school flatwound, steel-round poppin', a rockin' growly roundwound and fretless, you're looking at four axes right there...and that's not allowing for 4-string/5-string differences. If you're a working bassist with a fair diet of studio work demanding different sounds, you need to be able to cover multiple vibes.

In fact, as a hobbyist gigging maybe 20 times a year, I probably could get away with one or two, and may be headed that way...but I've gone through a lot of basses over the last 5 years, and it's been a very educational experience as I hone in on what I like and what works for me.
 
#13
I only have 2 electrics basses. Both cheap instruments that serve their purpose well. One is a Schecter stiletto extreme 4, active, 24 frets. The other is a parts P, passive, GFS pup. The Schecter is a completely different animal than the P. I've had the Schecter much longer and it was my first "real" bass, so I know it very well and feel comfortable playing anything with it. The parts P is much younger and since I built it I know it intimately haha, but I only use it for rock gigs and school pep band once in a while because of its particular sound.

If I had to choose between the two, I would probably take the Schecter.
 
#14
The only reason that I have 2 basses is because I am constantly jumping back and forth between "bass playing" (jazz w/flats) and that tapping ,noodling type of stuff (tuned tenor w/tapewounds). It's just so much simpler for me to keep two.

I think I remember Jeff Berlin saying that he only has 1.
 
#15
Joebone said:
I idealize the notion of one axe that can do pretty much everything for me. But if you consider the differences between old-school flatwound, steel-round poppin', a rockin' growly roundwound and fretless, you're looking at four axes right there...and that's not allowing for 4-string/5-string differences. If you're a working bassist with a fair diet of studio work demanding different sounds, you need to be able to cover multiple vibes.

In fact, as a hobbyist gigging maybe 20 times a year, I probably could get away with one or two, and may be headed that way...but I've gone through a lot of basses over the last 5 years, and it's been a very educational experience as I hone in on what I like and what works for me.
Click to expand...

The only time I play out is at church where I play Urban Gospel. Around the house, I practice or play along with records. I don't need a bunch a different basses for that. A fretless would be nice, but I have to be honest with myself and ask if I am really going to put in the work needed to consistently play one in tune?
 
#16
I have 2 electrics right now, but they are for different purposes.
A Dean B2 Custom as a main bass and a Squier Jag bass as a Piccolo. Since the Dean has piezos it can also be used with nylon strings for a cool acoustic sound and the Jag turned into a regular bass.
 
#20
how many pairs of shoes do you own? one pair would cover your feet just fine, but you dont have to be a professional runner to own more than one pair.

its just variety, different sounds, at the very least different colors even. some people are happy wearing the same color everyday or eating the same thing every day. others like to have something different from day to day. thats the way i look at instruments. heck, thats the way i look at most things. life is boring without variety, to me. its all personal preference.
 

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