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Are you happier owning only one bass?

#42
No.
Always the minimum of TWO.
If I only had a fretted,I'd want a fretless also.
If I only had a fretless,I'd want a fretted also.
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#43
I recently cut down to a single (Bongo 4H)
and an ABG......

Past weekend had a debut show for an originals band. (I live in a sub tropic area....often leave patio doors and windows open...) A huge storm went through overnight.....woke up to find all 3 of Bongo, ABG and Guitar blown off their stands morning of the gig...face down on floor....that made me miss the other electrics I had just sold out of fear that my Bongo was damaged....

Turns out, all three were fine..but did concern me
 
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#44
I too actually struggle with this question often ... I'd be fine with almost any one of my basses being my "only" bass .... All but 3 of the basses in my collection are 4 string fretted basses as that's my personal preference.

Whenever I'm trying to decide which bass to bring to a rehearsal, recording session or gig, it always take awhile to figure out which one to bring. I'm not complaining about this, I'm grateful to have such a varied collection. I just think it would so much easier to grab my 1 bass and that's that.

I'm in my early 50's now but from 15 years old to about 30 years old .... I owned and played 1 bass ... a '75 Fender Jazz, it was all I ever needed and during those years I never even thought about buying or owning a 2nd bass, much less a whole collection. Truth be told, at that point in my life, I really couldn't afford to own more than 1 decent quality instrument.

I gigged that '75 J bass hundreds and hundreds of times over that 15 year period and that single J bass never failed me.

Flash forward 20 years later, I've got a good career, my kids are grown, I live by myself and can practice as often as I'd like and life is good. For the last few years, I've gotten to be in a position where I can buy whatever "reasonably priced" gear that intrigues me .... Some of the basses that I buy, I keep and some I resell if I don't bond with them. I currently have a collection of about 23 basses and I do love each of them for various reasons .... from an super inexpensive mod'd Squier / Warmoth PJ (it's ridiculous how awesome that cheap bass is) all the way up to a couple of beautiful Foderas and many in between including Rics, Warwicks, Sandbergs, Fenders, etc.

Rarely does a month go by that I don't think about selling them all off and only keeping 2 or 3 of the collection as I could easily be quite content with just 1 or 2 (or maybe 3 :)) ...BUT were I to decide to go through with selling them off ... which ones to sell?! ... Choosing which ones to sell would be close to impossible. I've found that selling a bass that I own and enjoy tremendously is too difficult. Once I buy a bass and find that I really love it, the way it feels, plays, sounds, looks .... it's sooooo hard to get rid of it.

How many times have you read someone post right here on TB "I should have never gotten rid of that"? - or - "If I could, I would buy that "X" back in a heartbeat"

I often wonder if owning just 1 or 2 great basses and spending all of my playing time learning their subtleties, tonal varieties, sweet spots, etc would help advance my playing, even if just a tiny bit.

So to finally get around to answering your question .... I have no idea, sorry o_O

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#45
Its can be a double edged sword. I have owned over 60 basses, at most 10 at one time. I like options, but I also like minimalism. As a versatile freelancer, I like the idea of having all the possible tools I'd ever need available.

But I have learned over the past few years 2 things:

1. I am more creative when limited. Playing a whole cover gig on one bass I have to make the different vibes with my hands and settings. The challenge stretches my playing and makes me better.

2. It doesn't really matter. I have seen bands this year where the bassist was playing a 4 string P bass with rounds and no effects, playing covers whose recordings were synth bass, 5 string range, jazz bass tone, etc. And you know what? It was fine. I saw a Motown band whose bassist had a 6 string Fodera and it was fine too. It doesn't really matter live, if you are a bassist in a band.

I put the Labella flats on my main player, a 4 string PJ, and I plan to use that and only that one for my next few gigs (and some of those tunes are jazz bass slap lines). I bet it will be great.

When I had a ton of options I agonized all day about which one to bring. I have a few now, and I really only use 1.

But I will still keep buying to keep the GAS pains at bay...
 
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#46
black.rose1402 said:
Not to start a flame war here.
It's just about getting some opinions and thoughts.

I am blessed to have owned some of the best instruments, and I owned 15 basses at the same time at some point in my life.

Now I'm the lucky owner of a Sadowsky NYC Will Lee 4, a Sadowsky metro MV5, and a Fender Precision bass CS Pino Palladino, so 3 amazing instruments.

Except for a band where I'm really asked to bring the 5 string, most of the time I find myself Asking myself which bass to take, knowing that owning the gear I own , whatever bass I take will be ok ( unless they don't want the flatwounds vibe...)

But I remember when I only owned one bass ( those days are pre TB) and doing everything with that bass , finding ways to get the tone I want from one bass...

I often ask myself if I wouldn't be happier just owning one bass and just do everything I need with one, ok it's cool to have loads of instruments to choose from, but at the same time it's great not to have to think about anything and just grab what you got when you only have one bass, and just play the role of the bass player.

I say to myself that owning a great 5 string is all a bass player would need ( of course it's not a 4 and somebody could tell me what about the flatwound tone etc...)

I'm a pro bass player, I earn my income playing bass, and of course a pro needs some tools, but sometime, just a great sounding bass is enough, for example, I always have compliments about my tone when I bring one of my Sadowsky basses, or people love the "velvet" tone of my pbass, so whatever bass I bring, I always have a good tone.

It's just that sometime, I miss those days where it was simpler, just owning a bass and doing everything with it.

If you guys only had to own one bass, would you get a passive bass, active bass? 4 or 5 string? Jbass or Pbass oriented ( or maybe something else like a Musicman or whatever?)

for the ones that went back to owning one bass, are you happier?
Click to expand...

I have one bass and I am happy with it. However, I am just starting out and it's a Squier PJ (no mods... yet). I think I will be satisfied with owning one more bass (a bit of an upgrade)... I am absolutely clamoring to get the Fender Special Edition Deluxe PJ in Sea Foam Pearl. That may be down the road a ways.
 
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#47
If i had to narrow it down to the necessities, here is how it would go for me:
1. Upright. Check.
2. PJ active/passive with rounds. Check.
3. Passive P bass with flats. Working on that.
4. 5 string high end active/passive with 2 pickups and rounds. Making my decision on that (again...)
5. Fretless bass guitar. Prolly not gonna stress about that, since the once or twice a year I'm asked to have one I can borrow one.

I play 70% of my gigs on upright, so no problem there. And for the others, any one of # 1, 2, or 3 would be fine. All else is just GAS. I also have my Peavey cirrus 6 string that I just love having around because it is the most comfy bass I've ever played. But I rarely need or use that tone palette in a band.
 
#48
I currently have 1 AEB - A fretless 5, (1) Passive 5-String PJ, (1) Passive PJ 4-String, (1) Passive 5-String with 2x soapbars, so, essentially a Jazz bass +... I really don't play the 4 much at all, but at the same time can't pull the trigger on parting with it...
I have paired down my board to preamp, compressor, tuner.
Moving to a take all you want, but eat all you take meal plan is very liberating. I like gear and believe in having a backup, so this is actually a pretty good place for me. I don't know if I could get down to just 1 bass.
 
#49
b_carville said:
One always needs a backup( string break,someone throws a drink & shorts out the pickup,forgot the battery if you play active,falls or get knocked off the stand,etc)
Gotta have at least 2!
Click to expand...

Agreed, and in true TB fashion I move it up a notch to three, because you still want a backup when one is in the shop! Now that I do my own setups and don't play many gigs, I don't feel as strongly about this.

I wouldn't want only one though, because I usually prefer playing fours, but have occasionally needed a five. I want one of each. And that would probably be enough. In the past few years, I've realized I could easily cover everything with just my G&L M-2500 and one of my passive J basses.

Over the years, I think I've read many posts from TBers saying all they need is a good five and a good J or P four, and I completely understand why.
 
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#50
I totally get this. There are lots of different types of musicians:

1. The professional - Does it for a living. Travels a TON. Understands that the instrument is a tool to complete a job, and that it's going to see some damage over time. Takes a functional approach to instrument ownership, and has a main instrument, and a backup.
2. The "artiste" - doesn't give a s*** about the instrument, or even owning one. Usually cannot afford one. Will pick one up anywhere, simply to get whatever is in their head out and into ears or onto paper, or into a recording. Late for everything and no concept of responsibility whatsoever.
3. The "collector" - hobbyist that sometimes doesn't even play in a band. Many are content playing at home. Owns a dozen instruments (or more) and half a dozen amps. Can identify every nuance between instruments, amps, neck configurations, and sometimes finishes. Extremely annoying and spends way too much time on TB.
4. Everyone else - Can be any age, but usually between 11-29 years old. In the first 5 years of learning/playing an instrument and oblivious to the fact that they will likely end up in one of the above categories.

NOTE: These are not exclusive. Someone that falls into one category can exhibit traits of one or more of the other categories. Example: Anthony Wellington (my teacher) is an absolute professional, but he collects basses and owns about 60. 8 of them are Foderas (he's an endorsing artist). He doesn't nit-pick the details of each, and he avoids online forums altogether, but he's quite the pro and collector. :)
 
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#51
I had only a fretted P and a fretless P for many years, during much of which I was mainly gigging on guitar and only occasionally on bass. These days I'm mostly back on the bass. Since joining TB I've gone as high as 6, two years ago when I was trying out lots of things (4 vs 5 strings, fanned frets, J vs P vs PJ) and am down to 4 basses right now. A Dingwall 5-srting with 3 pickups and series parallel switching gives me the clearest, fattest imaginable classic P, Jazz, and Stingray tones, so I could happily survive solely on that for all my remaining days. A Rob Allen MB-2 fretless 5-string gives me a completely different tone--lush, thick, organic and upright-y--that is perfect for duo/semi-acoustic/standards duty. Those two cover 99% of imaginable situations for me. The other two are a Fender-Warmoth fretted P with flats, which I love playing but haven't gigged in a long while, and a Squier Jaguar PJ that plays and sounds amazing, which lives at the hunting shack in the fall and in my basement the rest of the year.

I could be more than content with the first two basses listed, but the other two wouldn't sell for much anyway, especially after shipping, so I keep them around and play them regularly, but don't gig them, even though I totally could.
 
#53
At one time I owned 10 basses, the problem was I only ever really played whichever one I liked the most at the time and I would start to feel guilty about spending money on all these basses that almost never got played and sat in their cases.
About 10 years ago I started selling some gear (basses, amps, pedals) and it became very addicting until I was left with one bass and one amp (pedals, well that's a whole other discussion....)

For the last 6 years I have been gigging regularly with only one bass (Dingwall SJ5) and I have never been happier!
 
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#54
Last month I downsized, sold a Squier Fretless J, a (really nice) US G&L SB-2, and a 12-string acoustic guitar. Thought I'd regret selling every one. Funny thing is- I actually feel a bit of relief not being weighed down by so much stuff.

If I were to go down to one bass it would be my Lakland Skyline DJ4. Love that one.
 
#55
I was happier with only two after many years of collecting everything I fancied. That lasted a very good five years. Then, recently I jumped back up to 7: Alembic Brown Bass, Guild Starfire, Guild JS2 w Dark Stars, G&L L2500, Lakland DJ4, a Warmoth/Status graphite neck project and an old Hartke aluminum neck bass. I rotate more often than ever in the past, but I'm still jonesing for a Ricky (even though I've never fallen in love with one after it came home w me).
 
#57
I have 2. One Squier MF P and one Tom Clement. Whenever I pick up the Squier I say to myself, man I love this P bass, maybe I'll sell the other one and just have this. Then I pick up the Tom Clement and go man I love this, I'm never selling it.

So yes, I would prob be happier with one cause then that inner monologue would disappear.

But holeee I would kick myself for selling either of them.
 
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#58
The only basses that I sold that I really regretted were my Pino palladino pbass , and the sean hurley pbass, I ended up getting another pino last year.

SO now I know that I won't get rid of any of my current basses because, with my stable, you can throw at me anything.
I'll be able to do it.

but when comes the time to go to the gig, I never know which one to take.
And at the same time nobody really asked me ( except for the 5 string) which bass to bring, but I have fender style instruments so it's never a problem.

I know I'm spoiled with my instruments, but except when I'm in studio ( were I bring the 3 with me),Live it's usually my sadowsky basses ( and I hesitate between the 4 and the 5).
 

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