Any one else unable to pick a clear #1 bass?

[Smith357]

I have 4 #1s, all have completely different tones from different pickup combos and scale lengths, and are used for different situations.

 

[Corigan]

I always gravitate back to my MIM jbass. I have basses that are worth 4 times as much, but it just feels like home . its by far my #1 and I'm always going back to it.

 

[ZedLepp]

I’ve gone through so many. Forced myself to downsize and only keep the insanely best. Down from 16. I really want that clear cut #1 forever bass. I keep rotating, as soon as I think ah yes, this one is #1 a month later I pick up another one and end up playing it for a month and the cycle continues..... I need a therapist!!!! Anyone else struggle to decide on their clear #1 bass

Bass Hoarding Personality Disorder (BHPD) - You are not alone.

Just know that we are here for ya.

 

[Relayer71]

I’ve gone through so many. Forced myself to downsize and only keep the insanely best. Down from 16. I really want that clear cut #1 forever bass. I keep rotating, as soon as I think ah yes, this one is #1 a month later I pick up another one and end up playing it for a month and the cycle continues..... I need a therapist!!!! Anyone else struggle to decide on their clear #1 bass?

Sandberg California VM4
Spector NS2
Fender Custom Shop with Aeros and Nordstrand
‘88 2 band Stingray

View attachment 4180764

I will make this easier for you. Send me that gorgeous NS2, and you have one less to worry about.

Trust me, this is cheaper than a therapist. You're welcome. PM me for address info.

P.S., your NS2's baby brother from a Czech father (pictured here with a cousin) anxiously awaits.

 

[Plain Old Barry]

There's probably no such thing as a forever instrument, unless maybe you're a jazzer embarking on a life long study of a single narrow genre, and there's nothing wrong with that.

Your tastes will change, styles will change, different things will inspire your playing, and different requirements will probably come in and out of your playing needs. While 16 is a lot of basses, ONE is probably a tough find, unless you're the subject of my first sentence.

To me, seven is currently right...
- An ash PJ, active with round 45's, box stock
- A passive alder PJ w/ EMG Geezers and round 45's
- A standard '79 P with flats, box stock, bought new in '79
- A PJ with 50's, set up for open D tuning
- An Ibanez fiver
- A Squire fretless Jazz
- An Ibanez acoustic bass guitar

That number is subject to change, and has over the past 46 years.

There were times when I needed a specific instrument to match an outfit or the guitarists, so I bought one. Don't laugh, it may happen to you some day.

 

[Bassaga]

I want so much to only have one bass. I don't want "my basses and my amps," I just want to have "my bass and my amp." One amp is easy enough for me, but how I'm ever going to reconcile my love for my Dean with my need for a P bass into one perfect instrument is a question I haven't been able to answer yet. And I have thought way too much about it.

Of course, there's also my $110 fretless, but that's just for messing around. And my U-Bass, but that's different. And the acoustic I hope to get soon, but........ *sigh*

 

[Pings Bass]

For the longest part of my playing career, I had two bass guitars, a P and a fretless PJ, and they got equal playing time. Gradually my perceived need for frets for certain songs declined and the fretless emerged as a true #1 with the P on standby.

These days I'm playing upright 99% of the time, and I've only got one of those, so no choice to make there. And despite having acquired a "one of each" collection of bass guitars, that old fretless PJ is probably still #1 in that category.

 

[DirkP]

During the first 15 years of playing or so I only owned one bass at a time, a Yamaha BB being the first serious one. Then I got into G&L, a L2000 and later a Lynx, but sold both. Now I own 16 basses, mostly Fender Js and Ps.
Since I bought a Daphne blue American Vintage Series '64 jazz Bass in 2014 it has become my clear 1. bass.
I switch to other Jazz basses or Precisions from time to time or a Fender Bass VI. But I've played the '64 on every gig since then and 83,5% of the time I'm rehearsing. It is the first bass I ever owned I reliced a bit simply through playing it.
I even bought a second '64 AVS Jazz (the LPB in the middle) 'cause I was nervous that, when something is happening to Daphne or she is stolen, I had to stay without her for days and couldn't handle that...
AVS between 2013 and 2017: Best Fender production basses ever! The P on the right is a AVS '63 Precision in faded sonic blue....



Daphne's on the left...

"Blue, blue, electric blue
That's the colour of my room
Where I will live
Blue, blue
Pale blinds drawn all day
Nothing to do, nothing to say
Blue, blue
I will sit right down
Waiting for the gift of sound and vision
And I will sing
Waiting for the gift of sound and vision"
David Bowie

 

[StereoPlayer]

This is my #1 since 1983 or so..played it for many, many jobs...


This one is growing on me...


This just might be my #1 soon...
Tasty walnut Jazz


I even have a ‘72 Ric 4001, I love it, but don’t play it much.

 

[Plain Old Barry]

Of course, there's also my $110 fretless, but that's just for messing around.

Don't knock it! I grabbed a Squier fretless Jazz off the local Craigslist for $150, and it's been really fun to have. As in way more fun than a $150 bass should be, but I don't play enough fretless to justify an expensive version.

 

[Plain Old Barry]

These days I'm playing upright 99% of the time, and I've only got one of those, so no choice to make there.

I'm not sure I've ever met an upright player who owned more than one. Instead of multiples, they often moved on to highly valuable, usually very old instruments and treated it like a member of the family.

 

[40Hz]

I could never see the point of pinning yourself down on something if you didn’t have to -or- it served no useful purpose.

I currently own several basses. I can get my task as a bass player accomplished using any one of them. And any one of them could also work as my only bass if that’s all I had.

So if I had to pick just one bass…I wouldn’t. Just hand me any bass and I’m good.

 

[Pings Bass]

I'm not sure I've ever met an upright player who owned more than one. Instead of multiples, they often moved on to highly valuable, usually very old instruments and treated it like a member of the family.

Yeah, they take a lot of space! My teacher always has a few, but he buys and sells.

 

[DirkP]

I'm not sure I've ever met an upright player who owned more than one. Instead of multiples, they often moved on to highly valuable, usually very old instruments and treated it like a member of the family.

I feel kind of ashamed owning 16 basses and plan to sell the majority of them in the future. I was lucky enough to earn more money than I needed during the last 2 decades (not so anymore) and music is my main obsession. I don't have any expensive "hobbies", I don't even own a car. And the gear I bought always inspired me to be creative opposed to so many things people buy.
It is/was more like: I rather own these instruments than having - for my circumstances - too much money on my bank account. Most of my basses keep their value, some are worth much more than I paid for them. I prefer to watch my bass collection instead of numbers on a bank account with zero interest.

 

[Plain Old Barry]

I feel kind of ashamed owning 16 basses

If you enjoy them, no need to apologize or feel ashamed!

People own all kinds of things, musical instruments are nothing to apologize for. It's not like they're Beanie Babies...

 

[chris_b]

I’ve gone through so many. Forced myself to downsize and only keep the insanely best. Down from 16. I really want that clear cut #1 forever bass. I keep rotating. . . . . .

There is no rule here, just preferences. As long as you are playing your remaining basses, then IMO that's good.

 

[Mastermold]

Here it is.

/Thread.

View attachment 4181179

These have always intrigued me. Cool concept. Never played one however.

 

[Dincrest]

I feel like it took several years (perhaps close to a decade) before my #1 truly became my #1. It was only last year that I promoted it from being my #2/backup to being my #1. Fate, serendipity, kismet, or whatever you call it must have decided that this bass will need time to grow on me, but once it does...

And even prior to that, I went through several instruments and other pieces of gear from when I first started out to the present, that I can't remember it all.

I acquired dream basses that turned out to not be everything I dreamed they would be. I've had basses pass through my hands that could easily be judged as "better" than my #1. But they went and my main bass stayed.

It must have taken me a lifetime to find my #1 and it turned out to be one that was initially never meant to be my #1.

It's an endless quest to find that #1, be it a #1 bass or the tone, and mine ended up going somewhere unexpected. My #1 bass is not what I ever expected it would be and my tone is not the tone I always had in my head. (I like my real tone better than my imaginary one).

 

[B-Mac]

Here it is.

/Thread.

View attachment 4181179

Clearly your No. 1

 

[MYLOWFREQ]

I have multiple basses that are the same so yeah..