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Do You Have Multiple Basses But Gig the Same Bass(es)

mikeluch

mikeluch

Nov 30, 2004
982
430
Ocala, FL
#1
I am curious here. I have multiple basses, and play them consistently at home and at at band practice, but when it is time to gig, I always go to either my Lakland 4-94 or Sadowsky P/J
It makes me wonder why I have other basses, and for what reason I do not have the confidence or desire to gig the others.
I wonder what other TBers think
 
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#4
I have several. But these days they all collect dust except my 5 string P bass. I'm just really digging that thing lately. I take my Roscoe Beck Signature 5 as a backup because it feels and sounds the most similar to the P5. But I haven't played a single amplified note on anything else in months.
 
#5
I guess I am a creature of habit. My best gigs were with the basses that I previously mentioned
Maybe because I go to them so much, rather than moving to something else, is why I have the comfort level
That being said, if I did gig something else it could be my new "go to"
 
#6
I gig the only 2 basses I have, a Precision V and my Dimension Deluxe V. They are both working out really nicely.

My first new bass, a 2002 Precision sat there in its case for a year unplayed. So, I sold it to finance the Dimension. My instruments make money for me so if I have extras lyin' about, they're more a liability than an asset.
 
#7
For live, I generally play as much as possible with just a Ripper. I've had mine since forever and I know where every sound and nuance is on the thing. So I can pull virtually everything I want out of it. What I can't get out of that I'll get from my Spector 5-string.

For studio, I bring whatever I think will work best for the music I'll be doing. But I will always pack a PBass (and sometimes a Jazz) along too. And about half the time, that PB is what I'll end up using.
 
#8
40Hz said:
For live, I generally play as much as possible with just a Ripper. I've had mine since forever and I know where every sound and nuance is on the thing. So I can pull virtually everything I want out of it. What I can't get out of that I'll get from my Spector 5-string.

For studio, I bring whatever I think will work best for the music I'll be doing. But I will always pack a PBass (and sometimes a Jazz) along too. And about half the time, that PB is what I'll end up using.
Click to expand...

I have a lot of 5 and 6 string basses and try to use what I think fits the gig best. But it goes in phases. For a long time I was in a active 6 string modern kind of thing. Then I got into a more traditional blues mode so I switched to my Carvin AC50 but still 6 stringish as I strung it EADGC. And then I was in a 5 string bar bass mode for a while. Those are mostly SX Fender clone 5ers. And currently my main axes seem to be my fretted and fretless pair of USA G&L L2500. Note I usually try to do a pair of basses to a gig typically a fretted-fretless pair, though it can change like AC50 semi-hollow body - Fender or Fender clone pair for more trad things. I like to think that I'm actually trying to serve the music rather than just being comfy with my favorite bass or rotating at random through the basses so they don't feel rejected or something. For example, I haven't gigged my 8 string Carlo Robelli for ages, but I'd gig it in a second if the music could use that kind of over the top sound.
 
#9
Maybe I created the wrong impression in my earlier response. I don't use the Ripper simply because it's most familiar. I use it because I know it so inside-out that I can get it to do virtually anything I want, as well as anything that's needed, in the styles and genres I most often play in. And because of that, I've found that particular bass allows me to better "serve the music" than the nine or so other basses I own.

But I never once thought it was more about the bass being played than it was the bass player. Because I sound like me on pretty much anything I play these days. Hardly surprising considering the amount of time I've put into it.

People I play with very much like that bass and the way I play it. As do I. But even so, I don't ever marry my instruments. This Ripper is about the only bass I've even seriously dated. So when somebody asks (as they sometimes do) what I'd do if I ever lost the thing, or had it stolen, I tell them I'd just play something else.

I guess some folks think we all have to "go down with the ship" or something if our favorite toy ever gets taken away from us...

People that think that don't understand what it means to be a musician. Musicians who think that way don't understand either.

Or so I think anyway. :cool:
 
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#11
I own a P, a J, an EB2, an Ibanez active 5, an Alvarez A/E, and P bass Lyte deluxe, all of which are used on recordings. For for live gigs it is the P bass Lyte 95% of the time as the 3 band active eq offer lots of control 'on the fly' to compensate for the room, the mix, etc. The Alvarez gets the call for all-acoustic gigs.
 
#12
I have 3 5 string basses. I use the Lakland and Fender Jazz at home or in rehearsals. They do sound good, but I only take out the Lull PJ5.

The Lull just has such a quality tone (with flats) that I can't use anything else on a gig.

The Lakland was my goto bass for 8 years and the Jazz has never made it to a gig in the year I've owned it. These guys are never going to beat the Lull into second place so I guess I ought to sell them.
 
#14
mikeluch said:
I am curious here. I have multiple basses, and play them consistently at home and at at band practice, but when it is time to gig, I always go to either my Lakland 4-94 or Sadowsky P/J
It makes me wonder why I have other basses, and for what reason I do not have the confidence or desire to gig the others.
I wonder what other TBers think
Click to expand...

Same boat. I defer to my Bongo. I hope to get back to my jumbo custom in my avatar and Stingrays for "gigging." I can play them all well-enough but the Bongo is easier on my left hand. I only play in church now due to career conflicting with being in a band.

Also, I played several times this year at a new church which was starting out in a bar....actually a bar which is a well-equipped music venue. I once brought my American Standard Jazz and it didn't go over well. It sounded fine on stage from my rig but they couldn't get it to cut thru. Soundman was a bassist, too ( he uses an Ibanez 1805 or 1605, whatever they call their high end model). I'm sure it was probably bad eq on my part but I also think that the simple jazz bass (not hot rodded jazz basses) lends itself best to sparser arrangements of the other instruments, rather than two guitars each playing big 6 note chords, keys, drums and three harmonizing vocalists where it's not gonna get buried. Again, prob my bad eq but my active basses cut right through with simple mid-boost.

I love all my other basses, nothing wrong with just keeping them for home fun. Home fun is where you really get to enjoy the inherent differences that are generally lost in the live band mix. By the way, I saw the UB40 bassist copping an awesome, legitimate reggae tone with a Steinberger on Palladia the other day. It shows that it's easy to make bright basses much duller.

Sorry to hijack a bit there.
 
#16
I've always had a pair of working basses, and nothing has grabbed me like my old Fender J. I've gone through a Dean Edge Select 5 (nicer than I thought it was going to be), a MIJ Precision, a US passive Fender Jazz, and now I've got a superb Lakland Skyline 5501 that saw a few gigs...but I just always go back to "my" jazz bass.

Having said that, anyone interested in a trade for the Lakland? :smug:
 
#17
I have 6 basses, 5 of which see the stage. My main bass and back up bass are 4 string fenders. I have a 6 string Yamaha for gospel and other gigs where I need the extended range. I have a 5 string fretless for jazz stuff and other fretless work work. Last bass to get gig work is my ubass, which is still the best reggae bass I own. The one that never sees the stage is my first bass which is still with me more for sentimentality than anything else.
 
#19
Yep. I have about 150 basses and there is a small handful that come to gigs. Those are usually the P, the J, one or two semi hollows, and the occaisonal warwick string with flats. The Wals, Rays, Kubickis, and other "high tech" stuff tends to stay at home and are played only for owner benefit. LOL.
 

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