Do you ever actually NEED more than one bass?

[buldog5151bass]

My wife was a concert violinist. She just laauuugggghhhhhsssss at all the talk of how many basses some people say they "need".

 

[mikewalker]

Is this a trick question?

 

[1bassleft]

Darn it, Dave. You lead a charmed life in your short existence here on TB. Starting a "whose cover is better than the Beatles original?" thread, throwing a bit of political shade in it. Now you do (I feared for your life) a "how many basses do you need?" thread and, apart from a pithy joke on p1, here we are on p6 before people say "not this again". Your avatar just shows a bass neck in southern Spain; is it some gorgeous hunk of humanity displayed for the rest of the world? You even do this to The Ox:

Yeah. But at the end of the day he was a collector more than a bass player so he doesn't count. I'm talking about your actual basserists rather than dilettantes and talented amateurs.

and only get this rebuke:

I smell troll.

Honestly, you're wearing great cologne. I've just wasted 15 mins on a post on the Brown Sugar thread but I wasn't IBTL so it's vanished into the ether. That's what happens to me, here. Biggest surprise of all is that you haven't had a single hemp-shirted, zero-plastic, unshaven-eared serious bassist post that "every moment spent looking in a guitar shop or catalogue is time wasted that could have been spent perfecting your craft; which is why you are the rotten bass player you are. Whereas my excuse is excessive vegetable flatulence" stuff that always kicks in around page 2. Chapeau. I salute you. Just watch out for the show-offs who like to talk about their gear.

And seeing as you're asking, I have my main 5 (mahogany, nickels), twangy 5 (maple, SS), fretless 5, fretless 4, 8-string, one-off 5 made from some old swamp log, and a Yamato 4 that, when I get around to it, will be the Japanese Tele-P perfected.

 

[AboutSweetSue]

Well at least I have United everyone! I think these threads are ridiculous. You need 1 bass as much as you need 15 basses. People like to second guess other people's decisions.

Kumbaya indeed!

 

[Rojd]

Need? None. Want and use? It's a different number for different people for a multitude of reasons.

For me, a 4, 5, 6 string fretted, 5 string fretless, and an electric upright. For myself, I don't want to have anymore basses than there are days in the week.

 

[Sam Dingle]

Some may need one. Some may need 2 if you justify a backup bass. Recording bassists need many different sounds at their disposal. I need 3 electrics and 2 uprights. I can justify one more upright If I did more classical work.

 

[madmaskbass]

I chose 3 to 5. Well I buy basses/play as my main hobby stress relief. I also enjoy very unique tone basses that have specific signature tones (warwick thumb, spector) I also absolutely love bargain basses..just knowing that you got a killer deal on a bass that is worth far more than you paid. I have two basses that could profit enough for me to buy three decent basses lol (not that I'll ever sell them). I am also a sentimental fool and own my first bass and always will. I did pay through the teeth for my main bass but it was very rare and GAS got the best of me lol. AANNYY who I have 4 playing basses and i'll struggle to justify another to my partner lol.

 

[lfmn16]

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......

I only know how many I need. I have no way of knowing how many someone else needs.

 

[Joebone]

Fretted and fretless fours - hardly play 'em, but have a brace of old Yamaha BB2000, and they are not going anywhere.

Fretless and fretted five - what I use.

Fretted 6 - work in progress, but it will have it's uses, particularly in periodic duets with a. jazz guitarist.

So I voted 5. Actually have more than that in the house, but a pruning is theoretically in effect. Maybe it ends up being 6, if I choose to keep fretted fives with rounds and flats...

 

[Jesuguru]

No one really needs a bass at all. You could just hum the bass part into a vocal mic.

Humming slap/pop lines or chords authentically would require vocal dexterity I'd pay to witness...

Oh, and I have two now (fretted 5 and 6), gassing for 1-2 more at most. Ok maybe 3.

 

[DrayMiles]

So a pro player might want a backup. How often do you need to take your guitar to the shop for tweaking. Once a year and leave it for a day or maybe two? Twice a year. Once every five years?

Don't get me wrong. I've just started playing the bass and I want to have a houseful. I know I can only play one at a time and that some of them will probably get a bit neglected but I still want them. I don't even really know why, but I do.

EDIT: Not "a bit neglected". More likely "unused".

I always had my bass setup before a session. Usually 5 or 6 times a year minimum. In fact, every time I changed strings...

 

[Dabndug]

Humming slap/pop lines or chords authentically would require vocal dexterity I'd pay to witness...

Oh, and I have two now (fretted 5 and 6), gassing for 1-2 more at most. Ok maybe 3.

Slapping and popping is easily rendered using conventional vocal techniques (think of beatboxing), but polyphonic vocalisation does indeed need years of training with Tibetan monks, hence my acquired aversion to Yak milk.

 

[Hevy T]

Need = 1

Want = 10000000000

Got = 8

I had 12 but just had to sell a few due to those pesky bills

 

[SactoBass]

I need three, I want three, I have three.

I have a P, a J, and a Ric.

Me so happy!

 

[chuck1073]

I had two for years. A fretted electric and a EUB. A few more have followed me home since them but, I could go back to "pairing to down again" with only one problem.....which fretted electric to keep? (The Bugbass is a constant)

 

[JimmyM]

I have 10 but I could sell all but one or two and be fine. But I don't have to so it ain't happening.

 

[jamro217]

This depends on the job at hand, but to handle what a typical night might require, two, possibly three. Fretted, fretless, backup. I prefer the backup to be fretless, because it's much easier to make a fretless sound fretted than the other way around. For home use and recording, the more the merrier.

 

[FilTurd]

I keep two with me because some times collisions happen. I broke my headstock at a skate festival then had a spot the next night. I didn't have time to or the cash to have it fixed. So I had to used a different bass. I just have two for emergency not sound differences.

 

[CoffeeLove]

Of course I need more than one bass, but just to feed my buying/selling/trading addiction

 

[BassikLee]

Need? I can see a legit NEED for two. That said, I own more than forty. Why? Because I can. I'm not rich, by any means. My collection is mostly budget stuff. Over half of it is made up of old US made Peavey basses. I enjoy playing them. They win out for me over basses costing much more.