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A second Bass

#61
DanAdams said:
buy a used Ibanez ATK300. They routinely sell $200 - $300. I sold my real Stingray after playing an ATK for awhile.
Best bass value bar none. They are also super cool, gorgeous chunky solid Ash with fairly flexible electronics.
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As another ATK owner (ATK305) I second this suggestion. Awesome basses that do not need upgrades or mods to play or sound good. Your $300 would be very well spent. I picked mine up for $189 a few years ago when M123 was blowing them out. Probably the best bass value for the money I've ever spent. You will be hard pressed to find more bang for the buck. Only downside is that my ATK is the heaviest bass I own, but it's still a keeper.
 
#65
As an example of possible opportunities, there's currently a used Musicman Sub Ray (Made in the USA) for $450 listed on CL in Detroit . These are better than the Sterlings or the Sterling Sub Rays.
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#66
DigitalMan said:
Buying two $300 basses makes perfect sense. Everyone needs a backup. Buying three is where you would start to discuss the inflection point between quality and quantity.
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I always wonder if this idea of needing a backup is GAS in disguise. I have 4 basses and 3 amps which are all pretty nice, but I never take more than one of each to a gig. Do most people actually carry two basses and/or two amps?
 
#67
ILLINOX said:
The stingrays are fun but as others have said they arent very versatile.
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Not true IMO. Depends on which Stingray you have and how you set the EQ. My HH is as versatile as they come. I can cop a precision tone pretty close, crispy cutting bridge only, middle position for double humbucking goodness, or outside coils for jazz tone. Even the single positon Stingrays can do alternative sounds. To the OP - There is a resaon Stingrays are a popular gigging bass. Listen to your heart and the sound you like the most.
 
#69
Doner Designs said:
I always wonder if this idea of needing a backup is GAS in disguise. I have 4 basses and 3 amps which are all pretty nice, but I never take more than one of each to a gig. Do most people actually carry two basses and/or two amps?
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While I'm not gigging these days, back when I was I would always have at least two basses available. On the amp front I wouldn't have a backup, but these days there is a whole new category of low cost super light and great sounding amps that make it very practical to have a backup on hand. It's the third, fourth, fifth and beyond bass that I'd bring to gigs that really were signs of GAS. But the second bass? No, that was just being practical.
 
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#71
FingerDub said:
Not me - but there is a lot of equipment failure paranoia here.
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I will readily admit, this was a little too much paranoia. But I found them pretty cheap used and couldn't resist. ($129, $139) Now I don't have any of them as I traded them for other basses. If I remember correctly I traded two for a highly upgraded MIM Fender P bass which was later traded one for one for an Ibanez SR700. The mint green one was traded for a MIM Fender Jazz. One five string Sub was sold for cash for $20 more than what I paid for it.
Still plan on getting a Ray sometime in the future, but perhaps a MM or Sterling.
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#73
Doner Designs said:
I always wonder if this idea of needing a backup is GAS in disguise. I have 4 basses and 3 amps which are all pretty nice, but I never take more than one of each to a gig. Do most people actually carry two basses and/or two amps?
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I have two similar basses that I gig with routinely, both with their own wireless transmitters. Just the other night, playing with bass #1 and the sound cuts out (I use new batteries every gig) mid song and I couldn't figure out what was happening so I quickly exchanged basses with #2 (no roadie/bass tech waiting in the wings for me!) and the band didn't miss a beat. I was able to inspect at the next break and it turned out that I had dislodged my 1/4" cord from the transmitter pack on my strap while I was jumping around. I couldn't visually see that as it was inside the pouch, but that part was irrelevant as I had another ready to go so no need to bother with it mid set.

I only bring one amp but can DI off my pre-amp in a pinch. Always, ALWAYS leave yourself an out.
 
#75
Doner Designs said:
I always wonder if this idea of needing a backup is GAS in disguise. I have 4 basses and 3 amps which are all pretty nice, but I never take more than one of each to a gig. Do most people actually carry two basses and/or two amps?
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I never take more than one bass to local club gigs and the like, unless I truly need two VERY different sounds(which is almost never). Even on some shorter/smaller tours I'd only bring one. But I'm strictly using simple, passive basses, usually a P, so as long as I've got the bass sorted and dialed in, there's not much than can go wrong(aside from something gnarly like theft, or some freak accident/damage bad enough to make it unplayable---then I'd rent or borrow something to get me through). I will say though, once I loaned my bass to a player in an opening band whos (get this) pbass(!) bit it during his set--the input jack just crapped out (but it's because it was already shorting out apparently and he never bothered to fix it;)

Edit: Dunno why I'm getting two different font sizes here--weird.
 
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#76
DigitalMan said:
Yeah, once we got to the U-haul stage as an all original act we'd end up hauling around a ton of stuff. Mostly small auditorium type gigs, opening for smaller national acts and such. Never made a dime on it really, but it was a lot of fun for a while.
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Nice, I want to be able to do that! My band may tour through Europe in summer of 2017 - I'll have only 2 basses then - a stingray and my passive go to. It will be mostly small and medium venues though but at a rate of about 4 per week for 3 weeks!
 
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#77
FingerDub said:
Nice, I want to be able to do that! My band may tour through Europe in summer of 2017 - I'll have only 2 basses then - a stingray and my passive go to. It will be mostly small and medium venues though but at a rate of about 4 per week for 3 weeks!
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That sounds like a whole lot of fun. Have a great time!
 
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#79
Those Squiers are decent, and they are even better with a set of really good pickups in them. Consider just replacing the pickups and learning how to really play on the Squier, and then step up to a real Music Man or whatever else you like later on, after you've saved some money. Whatever you do, DON'T get caught up thinking that a different instrument with a different sound will make you sound like a better player. That's too easy to do, even for someone like me who's been playing close to 30 years. Focus on the fundamentals and learning to play with solid time and great feel and all of that before worrying about whether you have enough different bass tones available.

That's my 2 cents.
 
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#80
FingerDub said:
Me too. I can't wait. I'm no pro, but this is one of the things that Ill remember forever. As a kid, this would have been a dream come true.
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I'm working hard toward the same goal.... Exciting, exhilarating, terrifying. But I'm ahead of myself... We're still working towards our first gig!

Let me know if you get to Netherlands and I'll bring the lads along and see what you're doing.
 

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