Anybody else that can't choose a favorite?...

[Ballin'bass]

My Westone and Ric are such different animals when it comes to tone and output level that if I am using one I tend to stick to it for a while.

The Westone has hot humbuckers with a thick sound, while the Ric has single coils with a thinner sound. The Ric sounds great with overdrive and distortion and other effects, while the Westone sounds best clean. The Westone's output is so high that I have to treat it like an active bass and engage the -15dB switch on my amp to keep it from clipping.

As a result, one is not really a suitable backup for the other. My Squier Jaguar is a better backup for the Ric as its output level is lower and it also sounds good with overdrive.

This is kinda what I'm thinking I'll have to do with my basses. They have very different ranges (though the outputs only differ on a couple of them) and so I think it would be most practical to get used to achieving a good sound on one of them and stick to it until I get tired of it and want to switch it out for another.

But then this brings up the question of a suitable back up bass. From what I have experienced, having all of my basses be different from one another makes it difficult to use any of them as a back up for the main one I'm using.

... Maybe I'll have to just suck it up and get more than one of a given style of bass just to fix this dilemma. Grrrr...

 

[jaybones]

I have the same thing going on with my Stratocasters. Out of 5, each one is slightly different. Electronics, bridges (one is all original 1976 clear coat hard tail), different FB woods. Different tools for different jobs.

Its like asking a mechanic to chose his favorite screw driver or wrench, or an artist his favorite paint brush.

 

[Spectrum]

But then this brings up the question of a suitable back up bass. From what I have experienced, having all of my basses be different from one another makes it difficult to use any of them as a back up for the main one I'm using.

For what it's worth I usually only bring one bass to a gig, so the idea of a backup isn't too important to me except as a hypothetical. I have a pretty good feel for how to adjust my amp and effects for each of my basses. But if I must have a backup my Squier is the go to, as it's got a good Fender tone that's easy to use and it didn't break the bank when I brought it home on a whim one day 3 years ago. If your main bass is a P or a J, P/J Jaguars are great companions that are different enough not to be redundant.

When it comes to needing a backup I worry more about my amp than my instruments, as it's a complicated piece of electronics with high voltages and currents running around inside it, while my bass is a piece of wood with wires on it...

 

[Ballin'bass]

I totally hear ya. And I agree about amps, I'm actually looking into a backup amp currently. But with basses I think at a show its always good to plan for the unexpected accident like a string breaking (although it's rare for me) or a battery dying (equally rare). (I use active basses). I just think it'd be hell if I had to whip out a tool kit and put a show on hold because of something like that, not that it's happened yet.

But in truth I'm also talking about using different basses for different sounds/different songs. It would be hard to do so with out futzing with the amp to level out the tone in the mix. Anyone do this kind of thing in a set? Has anybody got any ideas to make that kind of transition easier in a live setting? I just still haven't found evidence that there really is "one tone to rule them all" in existence... for me anyway.

 

[zontar]

No reason you have to have a favorite.