Are you a one bass guy, or not?

[wmhill]

I have two gig scenarios and I use a different bass for each. I have a specific sound/need for each and the bass, strings even my amps are different.

 

[Funk Thumper]

5 basses. Four Yamaha and one Pedulla. I've had quite a string of Fender Jazz basses over the years. US made Fenders are fine instruments, but I can never dial-in the sound the way I can on a Yamaha. (I stick to the higher end of the Yamaha line and can only speak to my experience). The Pedulla hasn't been in the studio (yet) but on stage it's a dream. Whether stage or studio, after 35 years of playing Yamaha, Yamaha remains my "go to" bass.

 

[dave64o]

I am NOT a one bass guy. My #1 is my Stingray 5HH and if I grab a bass without thinking about that is always the one. However, I do give the others playing time because they all have their strengths and I do enjoy the variety.

I could accept having only bass - my Stingray - if I had to and would be quite happy with it. I just don't want to.

 

[kevindahl]

1 bass for sure. I never had the cash or the room for multiple instruments. I am actually looking to purchase a new bass next spring. The options are VERY overwhelming since the mid eighties when I purchased my Ibanez SR1000.

 

[eddododo]

I find the novelty of switching basses inspired me and freshens up some stale parts of my playing.

But I definitely have my desert island bass in the bunch.

 

[Charlzm]

For clarification, do you have a bass that you use for basically every gig, or not? Personally, I do, I only have 1 bass, but I play Punk, so...go figure, right? If you don't (or do), why?

Nope. I am a two bass guy in general. A 5 string and also 4 string (with a drop tuner on the E for one song) for backup.

 

[TheLowDown33]

Man I'm so jealous of you all who can play one bass and be happy. I have 4 and they all serve drastically different functions.

1. Warmoth Gecko 5 - my go-to, do most, workhorse bass string with nickel rounds.

2. Warmoth short scale P - strung with flats for the thump

3. Fretless Jazz - not often do you need a fretless, but when you need one...you need one.

4. Squier VM jazz - I use this one for all sorts of utility functions, like different tunings, audition pickups, etc.

I still feel a bit of GAS for extended range instruments, specifically a fretless 5 or 6.

 

[mellowgerman]

I play my old Guild Starfire 90% of the time and could easily play an entire gig with it. That said, I've got a few other basses in the stable, spanning different scale lengths, construction methods, pickup configurations, etc. That said, they're all 4-stringers and all wear flatwound strings. I also don't see myself ever having more than 5 or so in the stable, as things that take up space in my house but literally never get used really bother me.

 

[groove pump]

At heart I'm a one bass guy...I just haven't found it yet.

My heart has been here for a while, too. I figured that the couple of half decent instruments at home would be more than enough until maybe one day I'd have enough dough to get something great (for me) like a Kinal or who knows what.

Then I snapped and decided that I couldn't stand my hefty old passive parts Jazz anymore - too heavy for me to want to wear it on a strap all night. Despite our long and storied history together, enough was enough.

Boom!!... Rather quickly found a "Jazz on steroids" (active/passive) with wonderful construction, much lighter, yaddah-yaddah. I've only had it for about a month and a half, but the honeymoon is going just as strong as day #1. I also have a rather nice custom P/J at home, but the interest there has fallen off to zero.

No mystery that I'm more of a J than a P guy and I know that the excitement might fade. I've been through that whole deal in the past with a new bass just like so many of our pals here. But the mojo with this one hasn't faded one little bit. I can't declare for sure that I've "found it", but I've sure as found something. More on this story as it develops.

Good luck in your quest... May the groove be with you

 

[Davethebassguy]

I'm about to be up to 25, once my builds in progress are finished. I rotate through them all quite a bit, even if just playing at home, minus a couple that I'm considering offloading since I don't care much for them anymore. Each has a different characteristic that I love and purchased the bass for. From 4-12 strings, different wood combinations, pick-ups, etc... Different jobs require different tools.

 

[logdrum]

Geezer with some classic basses , recently bought a Flying V .
Can't think of anything more pathetic than some old geezer in jeans and chucks playing a V , but I'm ok with that .

This made me smile. This is definitely quotable! I'd like to put on my signature.

 

[logdrum]

IMO, as a player, it only really is a problem (excludoing finance) if you are buying multiple basses of the same model and brand because you have to have different colors and hardware finish.

Having one bass actually will help you develop tone and technique. It just has to be a playable and tonally "good". Between fingers and EQ, it should work well for punk as well as pop and country,

 

[Billoney]

I have eight, but most of them never leave the house. I do the vast majority of my gigs all on the same one.

Sounds like me.

 

[BooDoggie]

In over 40 years of playing live I never owned or played more than 1 bass at any time. I never brought a spare anything. I always had reliable equipment that I maintained well, and it never let me down. I did break a string once during a live performance, but the sound guy had a spare string and his bass backstage. He brought me his bass, replaced my broken string and returned my bass after just one song.

 

[Herald Becker]

I started out as a one bass guy. Just like I started out as a one electric guitar guy. Then GAS came along, hand in hand with the need for tonal options and see: it turned out into many basses and guitars that I own. But yeah, I definitely have a main.

 

[catcauphonic]

Besides my cheap CL starter, I've only made one upgrade in the 6-7 years I've been playing. Mainly because I'm poor, hence thrifty, and not the kind of person that has to have a lot of toys (but let's not bring my pedals into this, lol.)

The one upgrade I did make was a big one (US Spector in my avatar) and although I don't gas for much, a T-Bird as a backup or a Ric would be nice to have someday.

I never want to have a high gear/low talent ratio, so I'm not sure I've even (l)earned the 2nd one yet.

 

[DJS]

I bought a 2012 maple/burst American Standard Precision new, joined a ska band and never looked back. Amps... well, I've had a bunch and still need more.

 

[Kipp Harrington]

Have 3 and really haven't decided which one I prefer. I really only do Classic Rock, Rock and some blues, so any one of the 3 I have will do the job.

 

[jmhaslip]

No, I couldn't be a 1 bass guy. I own 3 bassaes, a 4-string Fender Precision, a 5-string Samick fretless (no lines) and a fretted 5-string Samick. The Samicks have EMG PJ5 active pups. All get played regularly because of the wide variety of Classic Rock and Pop music we play.

 

[fermata]

Having one bass actually will help you develop tone and technique. It just has to be a playable and tonally "good". Between fingers and EQ, it should work well for punk as well as pop and country,

When I went from two basses to one, I quickly noticed an improvement in my playing. I had considered myself pretty fluent on both basses before that, but there was a noticeable jump in fluency after a couple of months on the one bass. And I'm not lacking for tones, either. With my one, one-pickup bass and the right set of strings (that's important), I can get a wide array of sounds by varying technique. Add to that the volume and tone control, and there are some more sounds. Vary the amp's EQ, and a really wide range of sounds are possible. On top of that, if I switch on my effect pedal--a tuner--I can even get no sound!