Do you name your basses?

[handofdumb]

When I read the title, I really didn't think I did. Naming basses? That's silly!

But here I am with Guildina, Bone-o-tar, Shinecaster, and Ol' Craphorse.

 

[NickRiffed]

I name all my basses.
My three kids, Boy, Girl and Thingy think it's a bit odd.

 

[lowendfriend]

I only named one of them....it was a Dean EAB long-scale fretless that looked like a giant acoustic 6 string. I named it "El Kabong" if you are old enough to remember that reference.

 

[OxForever]

I only named one of them....it was a Dean EAB long-scale fretless that looked like a giant acoustic 6 string. I named it "El Kabong" if you are old enough to remember that reference.

I definitely am!!! Queeksdraw!!!

 

[OxForever]

Don’t hassle his Höf!

Hey, man, it could happen!!!

 

[dramatwist]

Mmm... I'm guessing, no offense, that the "hobbyist" bass players are into naming their instruments. My basses are tools. If one goes south, I can get a new one. Not a big deal.

 

[ad9000]

No, but as much as I love it, my upright (as seen in avatar) could easily be called "Money Pit."

Possible names for some of my other basses:
Tweaky Neck
Hummer
Closet Queen
Shoulder Injurer
Lead Singer Offender
Too Many Strings for Narrow Minded Purists.

 

[OxForever]

My bass cost me a grand total of $75. I am not a professional bass guitarist but I play the bass on all my song demos, one guy told me *I* should be the bass player in the band but I'm not a pro and I'm the guitarist. Besides, they're not all that keen on Entwistle tone.

 

[NevadaNed]

I’ve only had two named inanimate objects in my life.
My first Triumph was a 650 twin i put open TT pipes on right after i got it. One day i came home and when i walked in my mom said i thought that was thunder when i heard you coming up the road. That night she told the story at dinner and my baby sister said i had a thunder machine, and it stuck.
The other is a beat up wine red MIM J bass. When i bought it the guy who sold it to me said he bought it off the owners brother, who died while playing it. The first time i showed it to my brother i told him what the guy said and he said, “cool, you have the red bass ‘o death”, and he called it that every time he saw it after that and pretty soon all my fellow band members started calling it the same thing.
I almost forgot, wifey calls the fixed blade knife i carry in the door pouch of my truck Homer. I never asked why and she’s never said. She also calls the 4” 1911 I carry under the seat hound dog. Same as Homer though, i never asked and she’s never said.

My Evil AR is "Ol' Bessie"

 

[OxForever]

My Ruger 10/22 (1974 model) is also named Bessie. But my Remington 870 (12ga) is named "Ox."

 

[bassdude51]

Yeah, I have nicknames for my basses. There's 53. 53T. 62. MIJ 51. Sting. AVRI 63. AVRI 58. LB50. LB90. Warmoth J. Surf Green. Stingray. 51 P & J. Surf Green P JJ. Blackie.

A bunch of nicknames!

 

[Basszillatron]

Seems like, especially if you have more than one say, Fender P-bass, you'd consider naming them to keep them straight.

Or is that just weird?

And if you do name them, I'd love to hear what names you've given them.

Nah. That's weird.

 

[dspellman]

Or is that just weird?

Don't name mine.

 

[bassdude51]

My Ruger 10/22 (1974 model) is also named Bessie.

10/22s rule! (Love my single shot Winchesters, Remington and Cooey as well as the Marlin 39 levers.)

 

[OxForever]

Mmm... I'm guessing, no offense, that the "hobbyist" bass players are into naming their instruments. My basses are tools. If one goes south, I can get a new one. Not a big deal.

What band are you in? Do you tour? Record in a real studio? What records have you played on?

 

[isaac42]

Pretty much not. I have no philosophical objection to the idea, nor do I put down anyone who does, but, to me, they're tools. I don't name my hammers or screwdrivers, and I don't name my basses. I might, if one insisted, but that hasn't happened.

 

[NevadaNed]

To answer the folks that are saying they feel no connection to their instruments, I feel that to play with passion one needs to feel a connection to one's instrument, whether or not you give the instrument a name. But that's just me!

 

[ghostinthemach]

I named a ‘66 P I once owned Hector. Why because it just felt like a trusty friend and that’s the name that came to me.
Many decades have passed before naming another.

Then came Nickless named because I returned the first purchase for another of the same because the first had a noticeable nick. It became my workhorse for several years.

Not another was named until I happened upon a beautiful blue bass. A Fender Player series Rascal bass that I stumbled upon a few months ago as my wife was passing from a long illness.

I bought the bass because I knew she’d have loved the color. I named it Glenda, for her.

p.s. to add perspective I own 16 basses. Few get named.

 

[northmill]

I call mine Large Mouth, Small Mouth, Striped, and Chilean Sea. Just to mess with the rest of the band.

 

[OxForever]

I call mine Large Mouth, Small Mouth, Striped, and Chilean Sea. Just to mess with the rest of the band.

Damn, I could have named mine Rainbow, Brown, Brook or Cutthroat. I only have one, and Cutthroat SOUNDS best. Yes, I've caught cutthroat, mostly in Nevada.

 

[Bassmike62]

Mmm... I'm guessing, no offense, that the "hobbyist" bass players are into naming their instruments. My basses are tools. If one goes south, I can get a new one. Not a big deal.

No offense taken, I'm just not sure it's a pro/hobbyist thing as much as a personnal thing, IMO. Pros (not all of them I'm sure) also baptize instruments:

Berry Oakley's The Tractor
Billy Sheehan's The Wife
James Jamerson's Funk Machine (although I'm not 100% sure that he's the one who gave it that name).

I've seen other names, but these are the ones that come to mind for now. Also of note, Keef's Micawber Tele.