Are you happier owning only one bass?

[Mantis Tobaggan]

I only had one for twenty years and I had a great time. Now I have six and love the variety but in some ways I think it would be better to have one. Easier storage, less to think about.

I would probably keep my 63 AVRI Precision if I could only have one but I am glad to have a variety.

 

[Mr.Ace]

Down to two basses at this point. One is my “beater” bass. I have a 2017 Fodera emperor standard classic 5, and my back up is a 2015 Lakland 55-14. I use my Fodera for everything. It’s insanely versatile. I like the simplicity of having one main bass for every occasion. Also it looks good on any stage.

 

[phillipkregg]

Quite honestly, no. And here's why...

I've currently got a Valenti 5, a Sadowsky Modern 5, a Fender American Pro Pbass 5, a Sire V7 5 string, and a couple of other basses.

They are all fantastic basses and they all bring something different to the table and make me play in different ways. It's not uncommon for me to have a practice session where I cycle through every one of those during an hour or so period and each instrument reminds me why I like it and reinforces what makes it special compared to the others.

And most importantly, if I just had one bass, it would be tempting to think "if I only had so-and-so bass..."

The variety of instruments I have reminds me that it really just comes down to musicianship.

 

[CapnSev]

I’ve kind of always been a “1-bass guy” because I like it simple. The hard part is figuring out what that “one bass” is...

 

[jd56hawk]

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?

Other than someone just starting out playing bass with no idea whether or not they'll continue, why would anyone be happy with just one?

 

[Swerve]

Other than someone just starting out playing bass with no idea whether or not they'll continue, why would anyone be happy with just one?

You'd be surprised how many pros only have one bass. I read at one point Jaco, Jeff Berlin, and Billy Sheehan all had just one bass. Carlos Dengler (Interpol) and David Sims (The Jesus Lizard) were/are also one bass guys. There are countless others.

 

[ClusterFlux]

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?

As a non-pro, I'm good with keeping the tonal palette more on the limited side; I don't need a room full of basses. I'm more interested in getting 2 or 3 really good sounding instruments, which do something slightly different. Choosing between fretted and fretless doesn't require much mental effort, just a little knowledge or experimentation.

However, even in my situation I don't like the idea of going without a backup. So "just one bass" does not cut it.

I'd assume that anyone who hires a pro expects versatility as well as specific tones that necessitate multiple instruments. Maybe you could get away with 2 or 3 P-basses, since that is such a common sound, but that is a bit beyond my realm of expertise.

 

[Holdsg]

I could not live if I could only play one bass for the rest of life.
same with keyboards, same with cars, and many other things that I love.
only monogamous relationship I have is with my wife, and that's a personal/spiritual commitment and a line I do not cross.

 

[The Thinker]

I spent a number of years as a jobber and it would have been tough to have only 1 bass. When you’re a hired gun you don’t want to be the one derailing the gig due to equipment failure! (Yes, I have actually needed the backup)

That said, I’ve sold off some of my basses, and of the 5 I own I only play 3 (of the others, 1 is sentimental so staying, but the other will go). I think I like dealing with a smaller number of basses—less storage, fewer setups, etc.

 

[alaskaleftybass]

You'd be surprised how many pros only have one bass. I read at one point Jaco, Jeff Berlin, and Billy Sheehan all had just one bass. Carlos Dengler (Interpol) and David Sims (The Jesus Lizard) were/are also one bass guys. There are countless others.

I think one of my all time heroes, Nathan East, has a signature Yamaha bass. I've seen him on many shows and he plays just that bass, as far as I can tell. Now it's become the Nathan East signature bass.

As far as musicianship goes, a good bass player should be able to make any decent bass sound good. As they say, "it's all in the fingers..."

 

[Swerve]

Maybe I'm just lucky but I've never needed a backup bass at a gig. Never had one fail or even break a string.

Now amps, cables, pedals, etc are a different story. Those do fail. I'd rather have a backup amp.

 

[Pilgrim]

For many years, I owned a 1963 P. I still have it, but I have close to a dozen basses. Only three or four ever go out of the house on gigs.

There's an old saying which goes "Beware the man with one gun, because he knows how to use it."

There's something to be said for playing only one or two instruments so that you know them very well.

 

[Ellery]

Well I was less happy when I owned only one bass. I held that status only once and have not looked back since.

 

[Kukulkan61]

I was until I came across this forum on the internet..

 

[micgtr71]

I’m down to two, because I love my fretless jazz. I have owned over thirty in as many years and ten at one given time. My gigging bass is my fretted but most of my playing time at home is on the fretless. Could not do just one for that reason

 

[Hand slap]

I recently read a short article about the grocery store chain Aldis, and the article cited one reason for their success was actually their lack of options. They carry one brand of ketchup. The article said people given fewer choices were generally more satisfied with their product choice. I'd call it "What if effect." There's definitely something to it.

I owned only a EBMM Stingray for a long time and never longed for anything else until I joined this site. Up to 9 now.

This site encourages GAS!

 

[Nephilymbass]

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’ve gone back to one bass a bunch of times over the years when I’d sell a bass or two to buy a new one. It is nice in some ways. Not having as many options frees me up to focus more on writing music, promoting, and other band related stuff. Have a hard time seeing myself owning 4-5 basses at the same time again. If I did I’d probably store some away and really only pull them out for more options in the studio. But im more the weekend warrior type so really I can buy basses specifically for recording and flip them after also. I really have no interest in keeping fresh rounds on a bunch of basses or maintaining the setups on a bunch of basses again. It gets expensive buying strings and it gets really time consuming maintaining a lot of basses. I do think there’s something liberating about learning to get the sounds you want with your hands instead of depending so heavily on gear.

When I’ve gone down to one bass it’s always been with an active 5+ string bass. (Warwick thumbs, Musicman SR5, Dingwall NG2) most of them also had the option to run in passive mode. i dig 4 strings also but I’d be changing the tuning and setups all time switching the bass back and forth from eadg to bead so if a 4 was my only bass it would be a headache.

On the flip side of this I do honestly prefer to at least have one backup for bigger shows. Doesn’t have to be anything expensive just something to finish a show if a jack goes bad or something. Lot of the time for small short set local shows I’ll only bring one bass. But typically for bigger shows, especially when opening for nationals where we have to sell tickets and stuff or our longer headlining shows I just don’t want to be THAT GUY who lets the band and the fans down. Over the last couple years for the backup this has been a Mexican p, Mexican j, Sterling by musicman Ray 34, and I also had an esp viper 4 for a little while. I typically spend $300-$500 for them. Because my originals band guitar player plays baritones and 7 string every 4 string I buy gets a bead tuning setup. When I got my Dingwall recently I went back down to one bass. I’ll probably be picking up another used Mexican p bass soon to fill that backup slot again. The p basses are great for that role imo. They are as simple as it gets as far as hardware and electronics and the p necks seem more stable with the weather in my area. But eventually I’d like to have a second dingwall and just call it a day when it came to shopping for basses.

 

[countrybass5]

A perfectly happy one-bass owner for 39 years. It is an excellent bass.

What bass do you own?

 

[Matt Dean]

You'd be surprised how many pros only have one bass. I read at one point Jaco, Jeff Berlin, and Billy Sheehan all had just one bass. Carlos Dengler (Interpol) and David Sims (The Jesus Lizard) were/are also one bass guys. There are countless others.

I totally get why... cause it’s all about playing the music, not having a bunch of basses in a rack.

 

[WardEarth]

I basically end up playing the one bass I like, even if I have a few others. Happier, na. But I think one good bass is all you really need.