Are you happier owning only one bass?

[jnsnj]

I wouldn't want to give up the fretless, so one bass wouldn't do.

 

[JRA]

except for the very beginning i've always had two: a fretless and a fretted. i've generally had multiple fretlesses and one fretted. so, for me, one ax = fretless. would i be happier with one bass? probably not. would it simplify my life/playing? not really --- just limit some options. could i do it? sure, absolutely. would i do it? no. why regress?

 

[Bentfield]

My 2018 Bass-challenge: Sell all my basses expect one, before summer-holiday.



Exactly!

Do you still have that P-bass with that neck pocket gap?

 

[Drucifer]

I've been considering going back to one bass. When you switch back and forth, you don't get to know the bass as intimately as you do when it's your only tool. Kind of like getting married. Not to characterize your partners as tools! But right now I have a need for passive and active, 4- and 5-string, acoustic and electric, and fretless and fretted basses. I have too many (around 20 including a travel bass, Kay upright, EUB, and Martin acoustic) and could pare it down to half that, probably without feeling it, maybe down to 4 or 5 without a big impact. I have enough that I can leave basses at multiple rehearsal spaces, so that's convenient. I can experiment with different sounds in different band situations. I can have variety, choosing from multiple options. I happen to have the space to keep them, the time to play them, and the money to afford them. It is some work keeping them all clean and set up properly, but it's not a burden.

I am considering going back to school for a music degree when I retire from my engineering job, probably in the next 15 years or so. I may stick to one bass for that period for the reason I mentioned. Or maybe I'll stick to one bass for Lent or for a New Year's resolution one year. But it will be a sacrifice.

 

[MD Stingray]

Do you still have that P-bass with that neck pocket gap?

It’s gone!

 

[BobKos]

I have been thinking about this topic recently. I buy basses because they have some feature or whatever that I want to check out. I live with them and see if they are better than my best bass. It too was a newcomer in this game. IT has stood the test of time and no others have offered me enough to relegate it to 2nd string. At this point I could sell everything but that one bass and be very happy. I may well do that. I don't make money playing bass - I'm a hobbyist. So today the answer is no but tomorrow it will hopefully be yes.

 

[mattj1stc]

I'm in the one bass only club. I used to own 22 different instruments at one point. Each had its own purpose or sentimental value. However, when it came to playing out, I always ended up taking an inexpensive 5 string P bass that plays amazingly - a Lakland Skyline 55-64. At some point, I realized that I really didn't need all the other ones. Therefore, I'm one and done.

 

[mikewalker]

I'm OK with keeping a few basses around as "studio" utility basses (a lefty 'guest' bass, the fretless that I rarely need to use, and one that is down-tuned).

And I can certainly accept that I also need to keep at least one with flats, and one with tapewounds.

My problem is "the player" (regular 4-string fretted bass with roundwounds)... I am currently torn between three (soon to be four) of those. What to do? I try to keep them in rotation, but I still feel like some are getting neglected. Things would be easier if I could get that segment down to one - or two...

 

[TheReceder]

One Bass?

I could also get by on just one sock... simply switch it from foot to foot once in a while, but why?

 

[FrenchBassQC]

I use to own only one bass, one day I created an account on Talkbass ...

 

[Curley Shadow]

I'm looking seriously at another bass -I have a couple of uprights and 2 electric jazzes, one fretless, one '66 vintage. Don't like the Mexican fretless too much and I worry about the 66 they are very valuable. Any way thinking about a mustang pj or a chowny as short scale sounds good, also thinking about muckelroy fretless. I would be happy just with the '66 but need a utility bass that I don't have to worry about when playing gigs in some places. I do want a fretless and fretted so 2 basses would be my limit. Anyway, just my contribution.

 

[CameronJohnson]

I have wondered in the past whether one bass could satisfy me...but then I remember back in the day when I only had one and I always yearned for something it couldn’t give me. So now my sweetspot is 3. Between them I have Rounds, Flats and Tapes. Active and passive options. 4 and 5 strings. P, MM and Jazz sounds at my disposal. The only thing I don’t have available to me is a fretless, but frankly I doubt I’m a good enough player to make a fretless sound good anyway!

 

[twinjet]

An '89 G&L L-2000 has been my main player for two years now. It is solid, plays and sounds great, has never given me problems and looks incredible given its age. Media page for pictures.

I do have a Jazz build nearing completion, but it will serve mostly as a backup. The L-2000 is my bass of choice and will remain that way for quite some time.

 

[David Sutkin]

I have wondered in the past whether one bass could satisfy me...but then I remember back in the day when I only had one and I always yearned for something it couldn’t give me. So now my sweetspot is 3. Between them I have Rounds, Flats and Tapes. Active and passive options. 4 and 5 strings. P, MM and Jazz sounds at my disposal. The only thing I don’t have available to me is a fretless, but frankly I doubt I’m a good enough player to make a fretless sound good anyway!

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Gorgeous basses my friend!

 

[BassJuju]

I'm sorry, I don't recall. I'm happy now.

 

[alaskaleftybass]

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?

I too only owned one bass before TB. At times I've been up to five. Right now I own four, one which needs major work-- it was a starter bass my brother owned I took over after he passed on. After cycling through a lot of basses over the last nine years, I ended up realizing I love my mahogany Ibanez SR500 4 string. Second backup is it's distant cousin, the SR400 Iron Pewter. I also own a wide neck Ibanez P-style bass but I'm trying to warm up to that one.

Funny how I had to make an 8 year voyage to arrive back to my 2010 Ibanez mahogany! It helps that it was a birthday gift from my wife. Short answer? One main bass, one main backup. For myself, 4 strings is enough. No harm in flipping basses now and then either.

On a totally different note, are you missing simpler younger days when being in a band was more exciting while climbing the work ladder? You sound a bit nostalgic about where you've been and might miss it a little bit.

 

[flam]

I always run into the issue that I've never owned two equal basses at once. The most I've had is 4 at a time, and I only played one seriously, and brought out the second because it was cool. The others never got touched.

 

[NOVAX]

My fatal flaw was learning to do my own setups. Then nothing was off limits. A golfer has more than one wedge. A carpenter has more than one hammer, and more than one saw. You see? Saw? Seesaw?

 

[Matt Dean]

I only have one bass and don't really miss having more. But, I get a lot of sounds out of it because I have a pedal board bigger than most guitar player's boards.

 

[ZachM]

Now that I truly understand my tonal preferences, I can say that I could happily own one bass. But it took a while to get there, and during that time I owned up to seven.

If I couldn't buy any other basses, I'd be fine with my T-40. Three is really the magic number for me though - Give me a T-40, a good P-bass, and maybe one other alternative bass like a Ripper or an RD, and I could live out my days with those.