Do you ever actually NEED more than one bass?

[klejst]

Currently as I am typing this I only own and use one bass.

Technically all you need is one, however having another of some sorts to serve as a backup just in case is never a bad idea though.

However obviously some players have many different basses for different reasons such as tone, playability, string number, look etc. And if you're a collector you have a good amount usually too.

 

[scowboy]

I currently "need" five. Stingray 5H, Stingray 4H, P-bass, Conkin Rocco Prestia and a goofy semi-hollow body bass. My tonal needs are covered. Sometimes I need more sometimes I have needed less. Storage is sometimes an issue so my needs can be complicated by not having enough space to put them.

My Stingray 5 is my main mamma-jamma with the Rocco bass coming in a close second.

 

[onamission]

A PBass, Jazz and Fretless minimum.

 

[Walking]

Realistically, two. My favorite, and a backup. I have four now, but one is on craigslist to be sold. I recall recently reading that Joe Osborn used the same bass on almost all of his studio sides, and it got me thinking about how nice it it is to stick with my favorite. Just my personal preference.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

EDIT: I can understand if you're creating very different sounds, like an electric bass with brass wounds and an acoustic with nylon flatwounds, but in the ordinary course of rock 'n' roll......

FD der PB 4 string, for any music written before 1985. Warwick active 5 string for anything newer.

 

[greggster59]

Need?
Not really.

Want?
Definitely!

 

[rashrader]

No. Technically, you don't need a bass. You don't *need* to be a bass player.

 

[JohnDeereJack]

Yes. Yes, you do.
Next question, please...

 

[Stranger Danger]

Tom Petty had hundreds of guitars but he always said “you only ever really need one”.

 

[Stranger Danger]

No. Technically, you don't need a bass. You don't *need* to be a bass player.

The obvious implication in the OP is that we’re all bass players.

 

[cchorney]

If he'd been any good he wouldn't have needed all that extra kit.

We seriously need a "laughing" reaction button. This guy is making a joke.

 

[bassdude51]

Umm, let me see................excluding 5 strings, I need 4 basses. Maybe I should say the four. They make up a complete arsenal.

(Gee, that's funny. Leo Fender had a hand in making the BIG FOUR!)

 

[GoesThump]

I like to match my bass with the clothes that I am wearing, just like my shoes, I need to have them in different colors.

Great idea! Now if I could only find some sunburst shoes...

All kidding aside, I need 2 - I'm a big believer in backups, especially in high stress/high dollar situations.

As for wants - between 2 and 6. Beyond six I tend to neglect some of them.

GT

 

[Herrick]

I only need one bass. I don't gig nor do I experiment with vastly different tones. However, I do have several basses because I'm too lazy to sell the ones I don't play.

 

[brianrost]

I voted one because the OP specified rock and roll. You only need more than one if you need something radically different...I don't mean P vs. J or Ric vs. StingRay...like fretted and fretless, bass guitar and double bass. Having a backup is nice but in 37 years of gigs I never had a bass fail on me so I stopped bringing a backup instrument and amp decades ago.

 

[Bubble]

3.
Two PJ basses, one EADG, one Drop D, one Jazz bass EADG.

 

[matthewbrown]

If you play a variety of different casual gigs, as I do, it's good to have a range of different basses. Go on the DB forum and find out that most pros have at least two. As a doubler, I have only one URB (they're expensive!) along with several EB's: an ABG for quieter jazz, Latin and reading gigs where space is tight, a fretted MTD Heir 4-string strung with heavy flats (for roots music & louder jazz gigs -- takes the place of Fender nicely, I think), and a 5-string Ibby for all kinds of things: Latin, fusion, rock.

 

[caledoneus83]

NEED, I would say as far as need goes, 2 would be sufficient... a main, and then something to have available as a backup if you something goes wonky with the main.

now if you are asking how many I WANT, that is a different story.

 

[Muttleybass]

Lessee... I've had an input jack fall apart, a battery box break, a nut split... Plus an easy switch when a string breaks, so I'm gonna say I NEED two. I have 4. I want 7. Or 8.

 

[cchorney]

For me, two basses meets my requirement for how many I NEED. A primary and a back up, in case the primary fails at a gig. Now as it happens, my primary is fretted and my back up is a fretless because I've never had a bass fail at a gig so I might as well have some fun with the back up bass which I do use on some songs (but the audience wouldn't care if I played those songs on a fretted). And I have more than I need, as I keep a bass in my office just to have something to noodle on should the urge strike me, and I have another bass in the marketplace at the moment, because I'm trying (a little) to thin the herd. If you're recording and you're trying to be REALLY true to a sound, I could see needing more - a P, a J, a HH, and maybe a fretless. But that's some frequent studio work to make that bunch of basses travel to the studio all the time.