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Do your basses have sentimental value to you?

For me, yes. The longer I've had them, the more music I've made with them, the more emotionally attached I get. They are almost like friends that I have shared some great moments with me. It's easier for me to flip basses I haven't had very long or bought without a ton of research.
 
Though I'm very sentimental with my basses, I can't stand them to stay unplayed. So I have given 2 to persons who are important to me and lent 1 to a friend. I'm still missing my Gibson Ripper, which was the bass I lked the least but which has been stolen by a supposed to be friend. The day I'll stop playing, I think I will give my basses to bass playing friends (I can't imagine that day).
 
Only two in my current...my Lakland 55-94 because it was a divorce gift from my brother (my previous Lakland was "stolen" during the separation)
And my Nordy vJ5...I was lucky enough to find a used one that had just about everything I wanted if I were to build one. And now it's even more sentimental sine Carey has stopped taking orders for builds

I do regret selling my '87 Spector NS-2 and my '80 Rickenbacker 4001
They were special too
 
I made the mistake of selling the instruments I have owned. I wish I could have kept every one of them, as they have sculpted my playing today.

I know they would get no use, as fretted instruments no longer hold value in my heart, but hanging them on a wall for looks- that would have served enough purpose for me.

Since this idea has originated, of holding onto history, I am prepared to keep my fretless'. I may only have one, but that's how everything must begin.

I have also never sold any of the instruments I have sculpted myself.
 
One bass that I will never part with. My 71 Jazz body with 68 neck I've owned for 35 years. Been through alot. Started off black,filed the frets down to make it fretless, gave it to a friend who owned a bodyshop to repaint it in pearlesecent white who had it for so long I demanded he buy it from me, didn't see it for 2 years then went to his place and saw it leaning up against the wall STILL not done. He GAVE it back to me. Sat in my basement for years unplayed while I promiscuously had my way with about 70 other basses. Then decided to have it refinished in classic sunburst,re-fretted,plek'd,put Lollar single coils in it,Badass bridge, new Hipshot classics, and tried TI flats for the first time on it. It now is the most amazing sounding bass I've ever owned (see profile). Spent years woodshedding on that instrument early on. Told my daughter that after I die she gets it and I'd like her to hang it on the wall in her house so she'll remember me every time she sees it. To me it represents my lifelong love of music and bass.

Sure I know it's just a "tool". But to me it's the only inanimate object I own that feels like part of me.

That's how much an instrument can mean to someone.
 
My 1975 Precision I will never part with. It is gold sparkle:) Amy 1968 Telecaster plays and sounds perfect. Beautiful pantina. I've recording so many songs and written a lot of music on that bass. It stays. I have 10 or so other basses I could part with.
 
A few. A little.


Three - because they were gifts from my GF. And one other (sorta) because it was the first electric bass I ever bought - and it's not that much younger than I am.

Everything else I've since acquired I make a point not to get attached to. I learned that lesson the hard way when I was once in the position of being forced to sell what many considered the crown jewel in my collection. After that I vowed "never again" and refused to get attached to any other bass I owned unless it were a gift from someone.

I mean seriousy, who wants more baggage to drag around through life?
 
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Some, yes.
Especially if I acquired them in some unusual, interesting way.



One bass I bought 33 years ago when my 2nd child was born.

A mid 90s MIJ Fender '51 P Bass was ordered and bought from Fender when there where only 2 left in the whole USA.

A 1966 P Bass was bought from the grandson of the original owner. A drive to Washington Court House, Ohio was involved. My 2nd son tracked this bass down for me. On the way there, a powerful gust of wind blew a huge cardboard box from out in the middle of a corn field and up against my Toyota pickup truck. Still have some scratches from that. The '66 is my #1 bass.

It's almost like every bass has a story to it and there is a sentimental feeling involved. It becomes difficult to sell any of them off.[/QUOTE]
 
If a person can't find sentiment in a bass, I wonder of there's any object they would feel sentimental about. That's "object", Not person or pet! I wonder if they are preparing to escape with just the clothes on their backs
Something only gains sentiment to me if I either created it, or someone gave it to me.

I think.
 
I regret selling a few basses, but not because of any sentimental value attached to them.
I currently own two basses that do have sentimental value and will never be sold: a 1962 Fender Jazz that was kindly signed by Steve Swallow with a personal message to my son Max, who will inherit it, and a 2016 Marleaux Contra which is simply the most beautiful object I've ever owned. It too will be passed along to my sons.
 
Not really, I do get seller's remorse sometimes but these are wood, metal and plastic. Sometimes the right combo sounds better but than others and those basses have mojo if you will. I am pretty happy with my current main player and I have been playing it for 5 years so I don;t think it is going anywhere.
 
Yes, I am attached to the '77-'78 Fender Jazz (USA) that I bought back in 1985 because it's the only bass I've found that has the same thin, fast neck that was on my 1965 Fender Jazz bass albeit with a totally maple neck ('65 of course had a rosewood fingerboard). Was emotionally attached to my '65 because, in 1966, it was the first good bass I bought. It was stolen in 1976 and that's when I found out just how attached I was to it and how hard it would be to replace.

Here's a really old pic of me in 1972 with my '65 Jazz Bass and that's my crazy loud Standel amp you see in the back behind the guitar player, Steve. I left the bridge cover on because I liked the look of the big Fender "F" at the time. Note all the double-knit clothing with long collars and the white vests with gold chains. We would always wear the white vests and pants and change to different colored shirts each night. You should have seen the red-lace one I had! I think I can fit my arm in it now. We typically played 5-night, 2-week stands at most of our gigsgigs.

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Here's a pick of my '77-'78 Fender Jazz with my current rig, which is an Eden WT500 hot-rodded to 800 watts by David Nordschow hisownself, and my DNS 410 from David's new company DNA, which he started after he sold Eden. It's a killer combination!

MySetUp_zpsd9o9fzgl.jpg
 
I've had some great memories associated with certain instruments I have played over the years. Most of them have been passed along to others. Parting with my 1940's (Wilfer-Juzek-ish) DB was the most difficult.

The one that I will not sell is the one I built in my basement in 2010- it kicked my ol' Modulus out of the stable:
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