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Do you have the one that could be, your ONLY one?
- Thread starter pbass2
- Start date
Hard to say…currently own (and rotate) 4 electric basses - Peavey Foundation, 81 MIJ Precision, Yamaha 435, and Guild Starfire II. They all sound great, and with a bit of tweaking at the amps can sound remarkably alike.
Yes my 1975 Gibson Ripper been with me since 75 my absolute favorite bass out of my many.
When I play it I lose track of time, there aren't many basses I play that puts me in the zone
When I play it I lose track of time, there aren't many basses I play that puts me in the zone
This '82 Musician. Nothing growls quite like the '85 RB850 behind it, but this bass does everything really well and feels great while doing it.
Yeah, my '91 Warwick Streamer Stage 2 could be my one and only.
Variety is great, of course, but if I had to limit myself to only one it would be my current Fender MIM Geddy Signature Jazz.
Ah, well, I was with you right up until that last qualifier.
There are a few too many things I need a bass to do that preclude the One Size Fits All solution. E.g. fretted vs fretless, single vs double courses, etc. Doesn't mean I couldn't be happy with just one bass, just that I would be limiting myself.
Yup. ...and it is. Fender USA Geddy Lee Jazz Bass. I bought it in March of 2017. It has been my only bass in all that time. While there are plenty of awesome basses out there, this one does everything I ever need it to do.
I was a big fan of the Kramers in the day - this is my late 70's DMZ 5000. Had a ton of knobs and switches (sorry, my arm's covering most of them) and despite that, it was still a passive bass. Beautiful, high grade black walnut body, this thing roared through my older Acoustic 370/SVT 8-10" rig. It just has a presence and punch that's hard to explain. I also owned a DMZ 4000, which had a single DiMarzio ,and active. Now that was a real beast, by far the most powerful preamp I've ever experienced - you flipped the active toggle switch and it sound like bass pedals being turned on! Regretfully sold that. But yeah, despite being a heavy bass, this is my nostalgic favorite.
i am quite content with my PBj. That said after almost 16 years of use, it's in it's last quarter of useful service life. At age 68 I'm hoping it out lives me.
Surely a P but none of the Ps I own. None of them has THAT particular sound that makes me say "I can't live without it". It's still out there in the wild.
I could easily decide on one The One if it came to it. But for the variety of gigs I get (theater, jazz, singer/songwriter support) and the ones I'm working to get, I need a set of tools that cover the needs. So, no. My 4-string PJ with flats does most of my heavy lifting these days, so if it was about work on the books I'd have to pick it. But I have a 5-er with tapewounds on the way that may retire that one AND one other.
I don't think I have that "only one" yet, but I'm hoping to slowly try out a range of different basses to zero in on one.
Also this thread could use a little bass-heavy music...
Also this thread could use a little bass-heavy music...
I need fretted basses for most of my gigs. But for one gig I do, fretless is it. I have that fretless. I also have several fretted basses that could be "the one" as far as fretted basses go. They could all be
bent by technique, string type, etc to where they would work OK, but....having several around means if I get tired of one bass, I can put it aside for a few weeks, and be inspired by another bass. The fact that I don't get uninspired means I practice more.
So, I have basses that could, if necessary, fulfill the role of doing every fretted (or fretless) gig - I HAVE to have 2. What I don't have is the ability to keep inspired if I only have 1 bass.
The reason I have a small group of basses has nothing to do with how good they are. My basses are just fine - I have several because I'm not good enough on the inspiration front.
We continue to have threads on this topic, which kinda stumps me. We're talking tools to do a job - do you think on Talkmechanic they have threads about which wrench is the one you could live with forever?
bent by technique, string type, etc to where they would work OK, but....having several around means if I get tired of one bass, I can put it aside for a few weeks, and be inspired by another bass. The fact that I don't get uninspired means I practice more.
So, I have basses that could, if necessary, fulfill the role of doing every fretted (or fretless) gig - I HAVE to have 2. What I don't have is the ability to keep inspired if I only have 1 bass.
The reason I have a small group of basses has nothing to do with how good they are. My basses are just fine - I have several because I'm not good enough on the inspiration front.
We continue to have threads on this topic, which kinda stumps me. We're talking tools to do a job - do you think on Talkmechanic they have threads about which wrench is the one you could live with forever?
Had this Ultra PJ a year and a half now and it's still rocking my world. Can't get over how good it sounds. Thinking of buying another as a spare!
Impressive. How many hours of play do you have on it? Gigs? Rehearsals? Personal practice time? Using other Basses?
American Performer body, American Professional P neck, badass bridge and Nordstrand NP4A / NJ4SE pickups.
Though I haven't had this very long I feel as it could be the one that sticks around for life. I was never really a Fender guy and have owned a fair amount of much more expensive basses but this thing just does something for me nothing else has done yet. Unless I needed a 5 or 6 for a project I would take this over anything I have owned or currently own.
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