Dedicating yourself to only 1 Bass

[arbiterusa]

Played only one for 25 years. I recommend it highly.

You eventually learn how to play music, rather than manipulate equipment.

 

[buldog5151bass]

My wife was a concert violinist. She thinks all the talk about people "needing" multiple basses is funny.

 

[boombloom]

I have played for many years with a well known bluegrass mandolinist. He's played the same 1939 Gibson F5 since he bought it in the early 60's. When we first met I asked if he only had one mandolin. He responded by telling me he only had one wife. By way of personal disclosure I currently have about a dozen basses...... But I mostly play one of them. It's an early 80's G&L SB1. I have 4s, 5s, a 6 an a 7. Some are fretted, some are not. I only do one or two bass guitar gigs a year, but dozens of upright gigs.

 

[boombloom]

My wife was a concert violinist. She thinks all the talk about people "needing" multiple basses is funny.

I was married to a concert pianist. Those Steinways cost a fortune and take up acres of floorspace!

 

[Christcr]

Played only one for 25 years. I recommend it highly.

You eventually learn how to play music, rather than manipulate equipment.

This post actually brings up another point. I'm sure I'm not the only bassist who is as much a "techie" as he is a bassist. I enjoy working on them as much as playing them--changing pickups, bridges, necks, machine heads, doing fret jobs, filing/replacing nuts, adjusting things/setups, strings, etc. I've even built several from scratch/piles of lumber. I rarely have a practice session where somewhere along the course of the practice I'm not adjusting SOMETHING (most often saddle height/truss). And if there is nothing to adjust, I dream up something that would require adjustment.

If you are one of those kinda guys, boredom would quickly creep in when having only one bass to tinker with. So, at least for a few of us "engineer types," manipulating the equipment is half the fun.

 

[scowboy]

I currently have six basses. I've had just one at one time or another. One of the "ones" I wish I'd never sold that was a '98 Stingray 5. I now have another Stingray 5 now which I very much like but my aging back is not tolerating its 10 pound weight very well anymore.

Long story short I can and have done with just one it would probably always be a Stingray 5H but I find I get bored with just one too easily. The six I have now I would call basses I've wanted to collect. So, the six basses plus a couple guitars and a uke are all I have room for. I keep three of them out at a time.

Interesting side note, my nine year old son started playing last year. First he used my P-bass and now he has his own Lakland Skyline Hollowbody 30. He is very familiar with my six basses and yesterday I was saying I was going to sell one or two of them and he gave me the "dad, those are my two favorites". So like it or not some of them are becoming more sentimental to him than me.

Duh, one is doable but more than one provides variety and I need variety.

 

[Cutter8]

I recently saw an old interview with Jaco where he said he practiced with a bass with a thick neck because that made him faster when he performed on his bass with a thinner neck.

I had not heard that before. Kinda like swinging a leader bat in the on-deck circle. I’ll have to give that some thought.

 

[basslicks]

I just can’t go with one single bass. I must have at least two basses, my Fender P bass and my other Fender P bass.

 

[Jason Hollar]

I’ve seen the value of dedicating energy to one instrument but I can see the practicality of owning a backup or two.

I currently play upright and a Fender P and am trying to unify my musical concept on both instruments.

I also own & sometimes gig a Kala U-Bass but that doesn’t count - lol

 

[JRA]

So what do ya'll think? Have you noticed a difference when you are monogamous to 1 bass?

i could easily get by with one ax --- i did it for years!* --- *actually two: one fretless, one fretted.

only in my retirement have i owned more than one fretless and one fretted. now i own 5 fretlesses: besides the fun of modding and 'upgrading' some cheapies, i've found that the slight variation between the fretless instruments (even though i like them to be the same feel, or about the same) has forced me to refocus on a few concepts, including pitch awareness. when i played but one, for so long, i was so 'intimately aware' of the instrument that i could take some things for granted just because i was its 'master' (or slave! ). having several instruments to rotate keeps me on my toes in ways that being married to one ax couldn't. for me: this has nothing to do with the argument "i need different axes for different sounds/gigs" as i play a fretless for any/all gigs. but the ax i choose to play any given moment will definitely keep me 'engaged' because it's not the same one as 'last time'. i think i'm re-learning 'intimacy' with the fretless as opposed to intimacy with an instrument. in any case: it has been a pleasurable, refreshing experience if not eye/ear opening!

I wish I only had 1 bass.

if I switched instruments it would be a disaster

maybe not!

This thread would probably only be one page if it was really just the folks who use only 1 bass, instead of all the folks who feel the need to boast

KBD: i agree with you that lots of folks here are about 'numbers'. i'm not bragging about having 6 --- it's more like an admission. and TBH: i do have fun with 5 of them. i rotate them per my post.

I agree that there is a sense intimacy that comes from playing a single instrument.

For those that do have "the one", what was the defining moment that made it "the one"? Was it the feel, the tone, sentiment (it was grampa's), or other?

the price!

The most important thing is to play, whether you own 1 or 20. I think many people over-emphasize the need to have different basses.

 

[cnltb]

Dedicating yourself to only 1 Bass
I'd like that.
The only player I can think of who does that is Anthony Jackson.

 

[lermgalieu]

I could live with a single P. But I don’t. Whatever.

 

[wyleeboxer]

I have 4 different projects 2 funk cover bands and 2 original rock bands. The 2 cover bands I use the same instrument because that bass does that style very well since it’s similar music and I feel I get paid to sound my best. My 2 rock bands I use a different bass for each, I like to have fun with it and experiment. But overall my Fender elite I use in my cover bands could handle it all really..
I was noticing our guitarist last night from one of my cover bands, who is an incredible player, always plays the same Strat for the past 10+ years, and he has an endorsement deal from Fender. And he never brings a backup guitar either! He could probably play with 3 strings if necessary tho

 

[klejst]

Never hurts to have at least a second for a backup when gigging, however it's easy for me because I currently only have and use one bass.

 

[obimark]

Those of you who have dedicated yourself to one particular bass, what impact - if any - do you feel like it has had on your playing?

I remember watching a video with Joe Hubbard where he talks about how it's better to have 1 instrument and become intimately acquainted with it.

And if you think about it, a lot of well known bassists have one bass they are known for. Like Marcus Miller's Fender, Jaco's "bass of doom", Victor's Fodera, Stanley Clarke and his alembic, Flea and the Music Man (or Modulus), Chris Squire's Rickenbacker's, Geddy's jazz bass, Billy Sheehan and his Fender P Bass - later the Yamaha which was modeled after that Precision.... the list can go on and on.

Of course, at times these bassists also played other instruments, but for the most part seem to be known for one bass (or at least one similar style of bass).

Personally, I tend to be a GASoholic and swap basses out pretty regularly. Although, I know that it's not the bass that matters so much as the musicianship.

So what do ya'll think? Have you noticed a difference when you are monogamous to 1 bass?

Everytime I try to own more than 1 bass at a time I just end up playing one of them and ignoring the others. So I guess deep down I am just monogamous with my basses.

 

[JoeWPgh]

I set up my basses to where I like them, so they all have a similar enough feel that any of them will do, depending on my whim that day. Of course I have favorites that I tend to stick to, but that's still 3 or 4.

 

[smogg]

I kept a small stable full of basses until I realized I was always grabbing the same bass for everything. Been using the same bass for 18/19 years now and it's been my only bass for at least 15/16 of those years. So yeah, one bass works well for me.

(I do intend to eventually get another of the same as a back up however.)

 

[drumvsbass]

I played my beloved Japanese Fender Power Jazz (stock everything) for 15 years exclusively before I ever even looked at another bass. I would try out basses at the music store occasionally if it was something drastically different, but really had no bass G.A.S. (pedals on the other hand...). In 2004 I had a touring gig with a band that was going to require a second instrument and I literally just walked into the LNM and bought a Japanese Geddy Lee because it was the first bass I picked up probably. In 2010 I got my first boutique bass a Zon Legacy Elite and a year later sold the Geddy. Then I had a job at a music store for 5 years... 5 more fenders (but sold 3 of them), an Ernie Ball, and most recently a second Zon Fretless. But I still will default to my old Power Jazz for comfort food.

My takeaway is this, It's good to have a reference bass to compare things to, but if you spend a lot of time on one instrument, especially early on, you will absolutely build a bias of some sort. It's why I have no real Jazz Basses except my old Power Jazz which is a P style body.

 

[Charlzm]

Those of you who have dedicated yourself to one particular bass, what impact - if any - do you feel like it has had on your playing?

I remember watching a video with Joe Hubbard where he talks about how it's better to have 1 instrument and become intimately acquainted with it.

And if you think about it, a lot of well known bassists have one bass they are known for. Like Marcus Miller's Fender, Jaco's "bass of doom", Victor's Fodera, Stanley Clarke and his alembic, Flea and the Music Man (or Modulus), Chris Squire's Rickenbacker's, Geddy's jazz bass, Billy Sheehan and his Fender P Bass - later the Yamaha which was modeled after that Precision.... the list can go on and on.

Of course, at times these bassists also played other instruments, but for the most part seem to be known for one bass (or at least one similar style of bass).

Personally, I tend to be a GASoholic and swap basses out pretty regularly. Although, I know that it's not the bass that matters so much as the musicianship.

So what do ya'll think? Have you noticed a difference when you are monogamous to 1 bass?

I specifically practice with different basses daily. It helps keep me on my toes, especially when I am playing a song I wrote on a 5 string and having to transpose on the fly on a 4 string.

 

[thehindteet]

maybe not!

actually if it was the right axe I'd be willing to endure a short term disaster