Do you own any basses you don't love?

[SilverFleet]

I have a love/hate relationship with my Warwick Streamer Standard. It's one of the German made entry level ones they made before the Rockbass line, with passive MEC pickups. It feels great, the neck rules, and it plays nice, but I can't get the tone I want out of it. It's so mellow and soft, even cranked, and I prefer a more high-output, growly tone. I'll probably keep it forever, though.

 

[Wfrance3]

I have times that i wish my beloved BEAD Jag had a G, other than that, no.

 

[JRA]

i have a fretted bass (p-lyte) = i'm not crazy about it, but when i pick up other fretted instruments i realize how easy mine is to play, so i hang on to it even though i don't 'love' it. i don't play it (except to compare it to other fretted basses!). i like all of my fretlesses, but i will admit that some get more love than others...i'm fickle in that way, i guess.

 

[Dark Horse]

When I do, I typically don't own them for very long!

 

[lbbc]

If I don't love it... it's gone, just that simple!

 

[wintremute]

To answer the headline: Yes, I do own a bass that I don't love. My 5-string Peavey Millennium BXP. I like it a lot, but the string spacing is too narrow for me. I'm keeping it, though.

To answer your keep/sell question. Sell it, but don't sell it until you find another backup bass. If you sell now, you won't have a backup.

 

[pedroims]

My stingray, sounds great but as all other stingrays I have owned, the neck move with the minimal weather change so I need to adjust the truss rod often. Hate it.

Now spend his days on the stand while my Lakland see all the action.

Hopefully I can trade my SR soon.

 

[foolforthecity]

My stingray, sounds great but as all other stingrays I have owned, the neck move with the minimal weather change so I need to adjust the truss rod often. Hate it.

Now spend his days on the stand while my Lakland see all the action.

Hopefully I can trade my SR soon.

Trade, eh?
... I wonder what you'd be looking for?

 

[Scott Lynch]

If there's one I'd have to say I love the least, it's my CIJ '62 reissue jazz. It hasn't really gotten any play time lately but it's in the arsenal mostly because I can't imagine, as a working bassist, not having a stock jazz bass. It's there when I need it, and is also the closest thing I own to a beater. That said, it's the one I'd feel comfortable taking to a jam session at a dive bar.

 

[GIBrat51]

Currently, I have 19 basses. I'd have to say that I actually don't Love any of them; they're just things that I bought over the years. I like them all - some more than others, which is to be expected - but "love" them? No, not really. Here are the 3 that, while I won't get rid of them, I probably like the least:
- Epiphone EA-260. In beautiful shape; sounds like a shortscale hollowbody should - but it's wrong handed for me. If high-$ problems ever stop happening around here, I'll have it professionally converted (and it won't be red any more, either..);
-Gretsch Broadkaster. It's a '94, and it has problems. The switches, dime-sized pots, and tiny gauge wiring are a joke. While Gretsch guitar players love the jingly-jangly ceramic Filtertrons from the early '90s; in a bass? They suck out loud. And, due to an accident with my left arm, I can't get it around that BIG body to play it for more than a few minutes - assuming the electronics feel like working that day...;
-Alembic Epic. It's beautifully made, and a joy to play - physically - but; I cannot get it to sound like I think it should. High-pitched (for a bass), thin, and sterile, is not a tone I can use - or want. Don't know if the previous owner screwed the electronics up or what, but as it is, the Alembic is probably the one I like the least.
-The 4001 Rick? That's the bass I like (and play) the most. If I loved any of them, this would be the one...

 

[socialleper]

There are things about all my basses that I've had to compromise on. Some are too heavy, some have uncomfortable necks, some don't sit in the mix exactly as I want, some are meh looking.
I'm looking for a beautiful bass that makes every sound at every tuning I want, while being comfortable to play, and cheap. That's all.
So it isn't the bass' fault, it is mine.

 

[scuzzy]

My stingray, sounds great but as all other stingrays I have owned, the neck move with the minimal weather change so I need to adjust the truss rod often. Hate it.

Now spend his days on the stand while my Lakland see all the action.

Hopefully I can trade my SR soon.

i have the same deal with my LTD vintage 204. amazing bass, but I have to do a 1/4 turn on the truss several times a year to make up for relief shifts. Missouri weather....changes by the minute.

 

[MobileHolmes]

I have basses that I go back and forth on, but because I'm fickle, I'm loathe to get rid of things. Case in point. I hadn't played my carvin 6 in ages, but lately, it has been my go to

 

[Ben B]

No, I have no basses that I don't like. Years ago, I had a couple Fenders that were just so-so. I sold them.

At some point in hopefully the near future, I will buy a cheap travel bass. Basically, a bass that I wouldn't be too hurt if it got broken or stolen. I may not love this bass, but I would be okay with that due to the purpose.

 

[Michael Schreiber]

Wondering if it's worth keeping a bass I'm not in love with or if I should give it up and continue the search for a backup bass I love.

As for me: No.

I only have two basses, which are totally different and I use them as such: for different techniques/sound/music.
However, I do love both - that's the very single reason I am keeping both. No need to being married with a bass I don't dig

 

[Charlzm]

I have an Ibanez Ergodyne EDA900 that I don't particularly like, but my g/f picked it up at a swap meet for me for about $100.

PROS:

• Unique looks
• light
• neck is narrow and super fast

CONS

• Unique looks
• humbucking pickup is lifeless and dull
• piezo pickups are brittle and harsh
• finish is beat up and hardware has some corrosion

I have already had to do some rewiring to fix some misguided electronics work that some previous owner did. Also, the action is way too high but I haven't gotten around to adjusting the truss rod yet.

I also have a MIJ Geddy Lee Jazz Bass that I don't love but I can never sell. There are some people who would never forgive me and there's no way to authenticate the Geddy Lee autograph on it.

And then there's the Kiesel Icon 5 I ordered in 2015. Even though I ordered it and chose every option, I just don't love it.

And let's not forget the FrankenFretless I put together from a Warmoth body, an AllParts neck, Bartolini passive PJ pickups and a BadAss III bridge. I've been contemplating getting a fretted neck for this build and then using the fretless neck with some MEC active pickups I already have...

 

[pfschim]

I have a beautiful early build (1993) Rick Turner Renaissance fretless 4 that I searched high and low for about 10 years ago. At the time I needed something to get an URB sound without the hassle of hauling the URB. The Turner definitely gets that done, but I have never bonded with it as an instrument. I am usually in the "If I don't love it, I lose it" camp, but I have had a hard time making any kind of decision on selling this bass off.

Funny, but I also have a $129 Rogue Acoustic fretless 4 that is much more fun to play .. and also pretty much covers my occasional "fake URB" needs just fine.
I have TI Acousticores on both basses and I'm pretty certain it's the strings that make up about 80% of the tone on each bass.
The idea of putting $70 strings on a $129 bass always makes me laugh (at myself).

 

[AshInAmsterdam]

My Ibanez Jet King is a dog. It has a 17" action but still buzzes, sounds weak, and doesn't hang comfortably.

However, I am loathe to dump it, as it was my first bass of two I now own. I suppose I'll replace it with a new backup and store it away for my boy's 16th birthday.

 

[fhm555]

I have a hard time thinking of an inanimate object as a love interest. My rule for basses is much simpler, if it don't get played it don't stay in my house.

I do however lust after inanimate objects because they can't tell on me when i touch them in inapropreate ways, but that's a whole nother ball of wax.

...I'm used to being pretty happy with the way my builds turn out, but this has been like the 'never-ending' project. Constantly swapping out pickups, trying different wiring/switching configurations, etc...

I recently did some playing with a guitarist friend who is a fellow hobby builder. He had with him a really nice white tele style guitar i'd never seen so i asked after it and he said it was his NoMo guitar. He went onto explain he'd been trying to be satisfied with it for some time, but no matter what he did, it always seemed to be lacking something. He said after most of a year of various pickups, control configurations, strings, etc, etc, he finally gave up and said no more time or money would go into the build.

 

[40Hz]

I don't marry my instruments or fall in love with them. Can't say I'm even seriously dating any. Closest they've ever come is being "friends with benefits." Or maybe just a well cared for and reliable tool.

I certainly like all of my instruments. Some more than others. Why keep something if you don't like it? But I don't own (and have never played) anything I thought was the be all end all of basses. Nor have I encountered any bass I ever thought could do it all. Or that I couldn't live without.

My definition of being in love with an instrument would be that instrument which - if ever lost or destroyed - would be such a blow to you that you gave up playing music entirely.

I've yet to meet such an instrument. And I seriously doubt I ever will.

However, if such an instrument does exist, I pray god I never meet it.