In a way, yes. I recently sold a bass that I played for close to 8 years. It was mostly because it's become my backup over the last year or 2 and someone else will get more use out of it, but partially because the person I bought it from has turned out to not get along with me so well anymore, and therefore I tend to attach my sentiments toward that person with the bass. It seems a little out there, but honestly it felt like I got rid of some bad "vibes."
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Does anyone else get emotionally attached to their basses?
- Thread starter oscarmeyer777
- Start date
not emotionally "attached," per se. but i feel like my Squier II Precision is "there" for me in ways my other instruments aren't. it's never given me any trouble, it sits just right on my body (despite having no contour), and the neck profile is perfect. in other respects, it might be not be the perfect bass. but under my ownership and in my hands, it's developed some character.
well sometimes the line is blurry i have a frankenstein fretless jazz that i epoxied with my father who was a woodworker and is now deceased so everytime I play that fretboard I remember him, his company and the time we spendt together doing this bass
So it is an object, yes, but it also is a door that leeds me to memorys of a love one.. its a material object, worthless to all but priceless to me.
I've only had one bass that I was attached to in that way ...
my ol' trusty Fender PJ bass '69 body/'72 B&B neck, EMG's and a Badass bridge. It was either my main bass or only bass, for years of hard gigging. To me ... it wasn't just a "tool box", but like a child's "teddy" ... it was always there for me when home didn't feel so welcoming.
I had to sell it to help raise funds for tuition. It was a sad day indeed.
Ever since my early teens ... I've always had a revolving door when it comes to basses ... however, that one is the only bass that I truly regret selling, even 20 years later. Anytime I come across any old pictures with that bass in it ... it makes me a bit sad all over again.
my ol' trusty Fender PJ bass '69 body/'72 B&B neck, EMG's and a Badass bridge. It was either my main bass or only bass, for years of hard gigging. To me ... it wasn't just a "tool box", but like a child's "teddy" ... it was always there for me when home didn't feel so welcoming.
I had to sell it to help raise funds for tuition. It was a sad day indeed.
Ever since my early teens ... I've always had a revolving door when it comes to basses ... however, that one is the only bass that I truly regret selling, even 20 years later. Anytime I come across any old pictures with that bass in it ... it makes me a bit sad all over again.
I guess one needs to define “Emotional” – and how does that differ from “Sentimental”. Second, is it actually the bass or some things associated with it? Like – the one post that mentioned it was built by his dad.
Having said that – the qualifier for me is my 1974 Gibson EB3. I bought it new when I was in high school – at that time it was a mainline bass along with the Rics and Fenders. Over the years it was my only bass and saw some modifications and a lot of gigs. In 1984 I got an Alembic Distillate for a more modern sound and it still traveled as my back up bass. I got my third bass (Warwick Corvette 5 string) in 1998 – and took all three to jobs. About the turn of the century (sounds old – huh?) I started buying a lot of basses but always took the Gibby with me to gigs. I usually take 4 and rotate through the collection that way. The Gibby started sitting in the stand all night more and more but I took it out of a sense of loyalty and tradition. After all – I could say it has been to every gig I have ever played in my life.
Now – it stays at home and other basses get to go out and play. I am not partial to a short neck anymore and it sometimes feeds back. On a rare occasion I take it to practice and it just wows the guitar players for some reason. Time passed by the other basses. The Warwick is for sale – displaced by all my other 5 strings. A vintage BCR Mockingbird (avatar) took the number one spot from the Alembic. But I will never sell the Gibby. It remains as I modded it – and the original pieces in a bag near by.
Having said that – the qualifier for me is my 1974 Gibson EB3. I bought it new when I was in high school – at that time it was a mainline bass along with the Rics and Fenders. Over the years it was my only bass and saw some modifications and a lot of gigs. In 1984 I got an Alembic Distillate for a more modern sound and it still traveled as my back up bass. I got my third bass (Warwick Corvette 5 string) in 1998 – and took all three to jobs. About the turn of the century (sounds old – huh?) I started buying a lot of basses but always took the Gibby with me to gigs. I usually take 4 and rotate through the collection that way. The Gibby started sitting in the stand all night more and more but I took it out of a sense of loyalty and tradition. After all – I could say it has been to every gig I have ever played in my life.
Now – it stays at home and other basses get to go out and play. I am not partial to a short neck anymore and it sometimes feeds back. On a rare occasion I take it to practice and it just wows the guitar players for some reason. Time passed by the other basses. The Warwick is for sale – displaced by all my other 5 strings. A vintage BCR Mockingbird (avatar) took the number one spot from the Alembic. But I will never sell the Gibby. It remains as I modded it – and the original pieces in a bag near by.
I have owned my Charvel 3B since 1990 and couldn't sell it unless I absoulutly had to. Not that it's rare or a museum piece but it has a sound/tonality that I consider perfect and the neck and overall playability are incredible IMO
Way back in 1970 when I was 15 years old, I had been playing a battered old short scale Hofner solid body and decided I wanted a 'real' bass. Back in those days you only really had a choice of a Precision, a Jazz or a Ric (there were a very few Gibsons and Guilds around as well).
I chose a Ric because I wanted to be just a little more individual and every other bass player I knew with a 'name' bass had a Fender.
Being a schoolkid at the time, and a college kid after that, it took me 6 years of delivering newspapers and working holidays to save for one. While I was saving I used to keep the dream alive by going to the few music shops that had a Ric in captivity for my 'fix' - even then, the Rics were usually in glass cabinets. When I'd finally got enough money to buy my '73 Rickenbacker secondhand, I was almost sick with excitement and anticipation when I went to pick it up.
It became my only bass for 20 years. It took me almost to the point of getting signed in my originals band (I'm one of the thousands of 'nearly made it' bassists). After that band folded it helped me earn enough money to put food on the table as a semi-pro in bands of many different genres. I'm not exagerating to say that when wife and I were flat broke and my kids were small the money I earned playing that bass kept us from starving. It did the same again when my wife's business folded in the 90's - this time earning extra money from gigging was the only thing that kept the bank from repossessing our home. The bass itself has survived being sold by the skin of it's teeth a couple of times when we were litterally fishing the sofa for loose change - one time, money was actually changing hands when my wife said "Don't do it, I know how much the bass means to you - we'll get by".
These days I'm financially stable. I've also found out that I'm a 5 string player at heart, so the Ric has become a bit of a case queen. Emotional attachment? Sentimental attachment? Call it what you like, it's been such a colourful part of my life's tapestry that I'm not selling it for any amount of money.
I chose a Ric because I wanted to be just a little more individual and every other bass player I knew with a 'name' bass had a Fender.
Being a schoolkid at the time, and a college kid after that, it took me 6 years of delivering newspapers and working holidays to save for one. While I was saving I used to keep the dream alive by going to the few music shops that had a Ric in captivity for my 'fix' - even then, the Rics were usually in glass cabinets. When I'd finally got enough money to buy my '73 Rickenbacker secondhand, I was almost sick with excitement and anticipation when I went to pick it up.
It became my only bass for 20 years. It took me almost to the point of getting signed in my originals band (I'm one of the thousands of 'nearly made it' bassists). After that band folded it helped me earn enough money to put food on the table as a semi-pro in bands of many different genres. I'm not exagerating to say that when wife and I were flat broke and my kids were small the money I earned playing that bass kept us from starving. It did the same again when my wife's business folded in the 90's - this time earning extra money from gigging was the only thing that kept the bank from repossessing our home. The bass itself has survived being sold by the skin of it's teeth a couple of times when we were litterally fishing the sofa for loose change - one time, money was actually changing hands when my wife said "Don't do it, I know how much the bass means to you - we'll get by".
These days I'm financially stable. I've also found out that I'm a 5 string player at heart, so the Ric has become a bit of a case queen. Emotional attachment? Sentimental attachment? Call it what you like, it's been such a colourful part of my life's tapestry that I'm not selling it for any amount of money.
Sentiment and investment, yes. Emotional, no.
I do find that a lot musicians (esp guitarist and bassists) think that their instrument is a 'special' one for some reason. Even if it's completely stock, there's always a reason why it's different to every one else's and special - and therefore better. Even if it's a beaten up SX with upgraded hardware. Sometime they get so attached to this mod project they declare it's better than any custom shop fender.
You have to smile.
I do find that a lot musicians (esp guitarist and bassists) think that their instrument is a 'special' one for some reason. Even if it's completely stock, there's always a reason why it's different to every one else's and special - and therefore better. Even if it's a beaten up SX with upgraded hardware. Sometime they get so attached to this mod project they declare it's better than any custom shop fender.
You have to smile.
