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Does anyone have "the one", yet you keep searching?

#81
I've embraced my instrumental polyamory. The Precision Deluxe I picked up on a trip with my late grandfather is never going. The ES Les Paul Bass I had to have extensive work done on to get up to snuff is staying with me forever. I'll still get others. Some of them will stay with me for sentimental or practical purposes, others will get churned and burned. The Squier I just passed on opened a chance to meet some great musicians I'd have never met otherwise.

I don't know if there's a perfect for me bass, but there's certainly a 'right for this particular song' bass and that's all the reason I need to keep actively hunting.
 
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#82
I don't think there's "the one" for me. It's always evolving, not currently in the market. Really love my BTB, recently I've been playing my Kelly Bird exclusively. My P is sweet, needs to go the the shop for a professional going over.
I do really want a Bongo. I have a feeling the Bongo will become a most favorite when it happens though.
So maybe there is "the one" just hasn't happened as of yet, plus I love so many.
 
#83
Great question!

After decades of "bass-promiscuity," I bought my Pedulla MVP in 1995. Love at first touch. It's been my Number One ever since.

In fact, I bought a second MVP a couple of years later, as I got scared thinking about what I'd do if #1 was out of commission.

Occasionally I'll take along one of the herd, especially a mid 1980's Yamaha BB3000. But the '96 MVP is The One.

upload_2019-4-16_23-0-5.jpeg
 
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#86
CaptainWally said:
Let me qualify "the one" by defining it as a bass that meets your needs and preferences so well, that finding another that fits you as well is very statistically improbable.

So who has this instrument.....loves it to pieces....yet still snoops around for something new?

If you're a "need a bag of golf clubs" person, i.e. different tools for different situations, clearly this won't apply to you. But if you're a hobbyist that is really happiest playing said "one", I'd be interested to know whether you still search.

EDIT: If you have a "one", then please tell us what it is! :)
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I think I finally have “the one,” the brand new Fender American Elite Jazz V I bought in January. Everything I want and more. Amazing nexk, plays like a dream. My luthier friend did an exacting setup—the factory job wasn’t terrible but now the action is impeccable. Awesome tone—it’s really responsive to various finger toiches and gets a whole spectrum of tones depending on how I play it. I’m still getting used to it.

But...I still check out other basses. I have this hankering for a P bass with flats which would give me a sound I will just not ever be able to get with the Jazz. When I find it I’ll know it, but won’t be spending anywhere near what I spent on the Jazz, can’t justify it. I love my other three basses and would have a hard time letting any of them go.
 
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#88
Pleading guilty :)

My bass and still to go-to bass is mij FrankenFender 5: MIM Jazz V body, Squier VM 5 string neck, 18V EMG pickups and electronics and black hardware.
 
#90
I've told my story many times, short version is I've been attached to a 1997 Stingray5 since 2001, was my main axe (and probably most valuable material thing in this world) until I got a second 2003 model and after that I've been alternating. The Stingray5 is THE 5er against which I judge all 5ers, just the perfect bass for me. Still, I've always loved the sound of a Ps and Jazzes, all my top heroes play either of those, I've even oned two MIJ Jazzes at different times in the '90s, I just found for the price you can do much better most times (better craft, better QC to start with) and Fender 5ers happen to be parcitularly poor (poor playability, poor low B, save maybe for the Roscoe Beck Jazz V, which I like, but am not in with the thicker neck profile and 19mm spacing).

So my quest has been to find a Fender sounding 5er that had the basic missing attributes I get from my Ray 5ers (superior playability -a neck to die for-, real low B) but also added some not Fender intrinsic aspects I can't live without (a meaner character overall: the punch, cutting ability, aggressiveness, etc.). Take into account both my SR5s are the 3-coil ceramic magnet pickup version, produced between 1993/4 and 2007/8 IIRC; these are the most aggressive breed, more mid-forward, lowend authority where it counts -ultra articulated, not sublow at all-, while the alnico version is more "extended range", hi-fi'ish if you ask me, a more tame character -really subtle for the "non-connoisseur"-). Been thru' so many basses to detail, from a wide 300-1500 price range. I even had an Am Dlx P5 for months at some point (borrowed from a drummer friend) and it was appallingly inferior when A/Bed with a Stingray5 in every single aspect (you name it, construction?, tone?, authority in a mix? playability?, low B?, character?, preamp?). To be fair, it was as light as my lightest SR5, so hey, I've got the other one that might be some 200/300g (1/2lb) heavier than that Deluxe P5.

I traded MANY basses these last 10 years (for my standards, I'm a steady kinda' person) but lately they're going out more than coming in, and really the only other thing I've come to rely on besides my Stingray 5ers is a Schecter CV-5 (Diamond series) I'm really liking and has all the attributes, makes for a good Fender "impersonator", but "moody" (as in "gets aggressive easily"), a lovely cutting lo-mid burp, amazing low B and shredding fast neck (SLIM!, like Soundgear slim).

Now that this exhausting trip looks like it's over (or suspended for longer than previous attempts) I'm onto my "only other thing missing" endeavour, which is get a Warwick Rockbass Star Bass 5, whish I ot them a couple years ago when thomann let some go for around 600€ (999€ now, nowhere to be seen in the 2nd hand market). So, yes, I guess I fit your thre'd title. I've got "the one", I've got "the alternative", still searching. Anyone 'round the EU want to trade a RB Star Bass 5 for a SBMM Ray35? :p

EDIT: BTW, this is my "one"...

myEBMMs_1.jpg
 
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#92
rockdoc11 said:
Great question!

After decades of "bass-promiscuity," I bought my Pedulla MVP in 1995. Love at first touch. It's been my Number One ever since.
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That really is magnificent. I have a Pentabuzz fretless that has pretty much killed my search for fretless basses. Since I was 18 years old, I had dreamed of owning a Pentabuzz after playing one at a hotel where I was working at the time. Now that I have one, I am content in the world of fretless.

In the world of fretted basses, I am utterly content with the four and five strings I own. That doesn't stop me idly looking at other basses though my ardour to buy is critically cooled by knowing that I will likely not find that 'fits like a glove' feeling I get from my two Jeff Berlin signature basses (my Cort Rithimic and my Peavey Palaedium). However, I don't currently have a six string so I like to keep my eyes open for that. Sadly, my bass fund has been obliterated by home renovation and building work this year. All the excess cash I've had that I would typically slush until late summer before buying a bass has been poured into rahter mundane things for my house instead. I rather think I might not be able to justify a big spend on a delightful six string bass this year and I had promised myself that my next six would be something really special like a Smith, a Sei or a Yamaha TRB JP.
 
#95
lowdownthump said:
View attachment 3388808

This one has me seriously considering selling everything else and getting a 2nd as backup. These new Stingray5 Specials check all of the boxes for me.
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Damn she’s sexy, right on brotha!!

Per OP’s original question, I’m guilty as hell. The one was a Classic Stingray and is now the Stingray Special 4HH, but sometimes I search.

I play a 5 with my band only and thinking of ditching my current (and brand new) 5er for what LowDownThump’s got goin’ on... just can’t decide between a classic 5, holding out for an anniversary 30th or the new babe he’s got... the new ones sound mind blowing.

Here’s mine
9651F7FB-76F1-4363-B67C-8C549CC6D5AF.jpeg
 
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#96
CaptainWally said:
Let me qualify "the one" by defining it as a bass that meets your needs and preferences so well, that finding another that fits you as well is very statistically improbable.

So who has this instrument.....loves it to pieces....yet still snoops around for something new?

If you're a "need a bag of golf clubs" person, i.e. different tools for different situations, clearly this won't apply to you. But if you're a hobbyist that is really happiest playing said "one", I'd be interested to know whether you still search.

EDIT: If you have a "one", then please tell us what it is! :)
Click to expand...
I seldom buy a new/used bass, years(decade) can go buy in between new additions. However, when I do get a bass, it’s a pragmatic decision, something I’ll use on gigs, sessions, for a specific purpose or sound, and will be a lifetime keeper. So I don’t collect or buy with the thought of selling or trading. The small handful I have now all “have it” and have great representative sounds.
1977 Fender Jazz - 70’s jazz tone
1986 MIJ Fender Jazz - classic 60’s jazz tone
1996 EB Stingray - with flats or rounds, does the Stingray thing.
2014 Am Special nitro P bass - P bass

I also just picked up a new Am Pro P directly from Fender, I’m deviating from my usual picky practice and taking a chance that it will be a good one. But I’ve been using the P bass more and more for both flats and rounds gigs, and I hate to keep swapping the strings and redoing the set up.
 
#97
Yes, but I went on a 3 year journey of buying any/everything that was of interesting to my, then bringing it home to gigs, rehearsals, studio, home... comparing it its predecessors and keeping the best.

Now, it's just hard to find something that interests me, or is better than what I currently have.
 
#99
I found the one in the early 90’s (Fender US Jazz Plus) and it was the only bass i owned for the busiest ten years of my bass playing journey. I had some outdoor shows in NW Florida in high summer so i bought a MIM J bass to keep from exposing my favorite bass to the triple digit temps and double digit humidity. It would get so wet at sundown moisture would drip off stuff. I sold the MIM after the last outdoor show and was again down to one bass. I went in search of an ABG i could play unplugged with my dad and brother so i went through several of those before i accepted the fact i would never find an ABG that could hang with a couple Martin flat tops so i quit looking. Another ten years go by and i find myself playing in an open shed at a campground every friday and saturday. To avoid exposing my favorite bass to the elements i again bought an MIM J bass. This time tinkeritius took over and i started buying selling and trading MIM J basses, and i’m still at it. I have never once considered dumping my number one, but i’ve been very interested in protecting it. If it was something i could just go get whenever i wanted, i’d prolly still only have one bass, but it was a very short lived model and i don’t want to risk damaging or destroying it for a little extra pocket money.
 

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