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Ever felt like this?

Dr. Cheese

Dr. Cheese

Supporting Member
Mar 3, 2004
57,359
120,793
Metro St. Louis
#1
Last week, I checked out a killer 44-02 and DJ5, and I felt that I absolutely had to get rid of my Millennium as soon as possible. After I got home and played my Millennium again, I calmed down and said, the 44-02 has better electronics, but I really like my Millennium.

This is really weird. In the past, if I played a bass that I thought was better, I would be GAS-ing up a storm! Although I do want the DJ5, I am in no hurry to get it. I don't know if I am just pretty content with my current gear, or if I am finally maturing after all these many years?:confused:
 
#3
Check THIS out for stupid.

I bought an MM H Stingray 5 from Guitar Center about a year ago - returned it because I didn't like how it played. So I ordered a Spector ReBop and now I'm thinking about selling it and buying the MM again! :hyper:
 
#6
eedre said:
Check THIS out for stupid.
Click to expand...

I win as I am more stupider!!!:smug:

I had 3 late 70's - mid 80's MIA Fender P basses that I sold 15 years ago because I decided I hated the Fender sound. I have since gone through over a dozen basses (EBMM, Gibson, Charvel, Ibanez, Lakland, etc.) and guess what the 4 most recent bass purchases I have made are?

That's right..... all 4 are Fenders!!!!:rollno: What I was searching for for 15 years was what I originally had. I am a moron.:hiding:
 
#8
I've gotten better over the years at laying off the impulse buy. I've also come to an acceptance that I get a lot of joy out of buying new basses, and I'm not going to beat myself up over it anymore. I just try to do it as responsibly as I can.

If I get gas for somehing these days the gas has got to last at least a year before I'll make the purchase. Gives me time to save for it, and also lets me know if I really want it.
 
#9
Dr. Cheese said:
Last week, I checked out a killer 44-02 and DJ5, and I felt that I absolutely had to get rid of my Millennium as soon as possible. After I got home and played my Millennium again, I calmed down and said, the 44-02 has better electronics, but I really like my Millennium.

This is really weird. In the past, if I played a bass that I thought was better, I would be GAS-ing up a storm! Although I do want the DJ5, I am in no hurry to get it. I don't know if I am just pretty content with my current gear, or if I am finally maturing after all these many years?:confused:
Click to expand...


It's all part of G.A.S. Understand this syndrome has different stages: the shocking stage, the realization stage, the life-changing stage, the denial, etc. etc.

You may now be entering (or be caught up) in the "yo-yo" stage, where you try new gear and think is awesome, but then go to your current gear I think is awesome too. One minute you feel the need to replace your whole collection with that new particular type or brand of bass because "that is IT!" but the honeymoon ends soon, and you forget all about it, and your GAS turns back to keep your current gear. Beware that sometimes you might go all the way to selling your old gear and getting that new one, just to realize soon thereafter that you messed up.

Hopefully soon you'll start experiencing a shorter yo-yo stage, where the GAS peaks at night but backs down by the afternoon of the following day. If this process takes less and less importace with time, then you could well be on your way out of GAS. Although sooner or later you are bound to relapses, all the way from the first stages.

Has nothing to do with maturity. It's all called G.A.S, paired with spending too much time here at TB, at eBay, and at music stores.
 
#10
lefty007 said:
It's all part of G.A.S. Understand this syndrome has different stages: the shocking stage, the realization stage, the life-changing stage, the denial, etc. etc...
Hopefully soon you'll start experiencing a shorter yo-yo stage, where the GAS peaks at night but backs down by the afternoon of the following day. If this process takes less and less importace with time, then you could well be on your way out of GAS. Although sooner or later you are bound to relapses, all the way from the first stages.
Click to expand...

My yo-yo is really short because the GAS had pretty much calmed down that evening after I played my own bass again. I also think the fact that there is a used Streamer in the area that I really like kept things in perspective too.;)
 
#12
Dr. Cheese, I know exactly what you mean.

I played an aweseom 44-02 yesturday with the new(ish) Lakland pickups and preamp. I am considering selling my 83 Ibanez Musician to pay for it. Last night I played the Ibanez and I realized I need to save up for the 44-02, rather than sell a bass I like to get another one.

And once again, my collection grows.

The only basses I will NEVER sell are my first bass(late 80's MIJ Jazz), and my Reverend.
 
#13
Baird6869 said:
I win as I am more stupider!!!:smug:

I had 3 late 70's - mid 80's MIA Fender P basses that I sold 15 years ago because I decided I hated the Fender sound. I have since gone through over a dozen basses (EBMM, Gibson, Charvel, Ibanez, Lakland, etc.) and guess what the 4 most recent bass purchases I have made are?

That's right..... all 4 are Fenders!!!!:rollno: What I was searching for for 15 years was what I originally had. I am a moron.:hiding:
Click to expand...

But propably like 8 years ago the fenders would not have been what you were looking for. Musical taste and sound taste changes and many times it happens that you kind of start missing what you had in the first place. Maybe it goes in to the same category as the people who move back to where they're from when they get older. You know, it's the good old times that eventually start haunting you:)
 
#14
I think it's natural to be interested in different gear but just because you find something really nice in a shop doesn't mean you have to take it home. I get infatuated with different basses all the time but it's going to take something pretty special (that I probably can't afford) to supplant my Tony Levin. I've got a thing for P's and Rays so I could get a P but I think I want an SR5 HS. Maybe a fretless P. I also think that tastes change, sometimes daily, and as I get better gear I feel less desperate for new stuff and more able to approximate the tone du jour in my head.
 
#15
Dr. Cheese said:
Last week, I checked out a killer 44-02 and DJ5, and I felt that I absolutely had to get rid of my Millennium as soon as possible. After I got home and played my Millennium again, I calmed down and said, the 44-02 has better electronics, but I really like my Millennium.

This is really weird. In the past, if I played a bass that I thought was better, I would be GAS-ing up a storm! Although I do want the DJ5, I am in no hurry to get it. I don't know if I am just pretty content with my current gear, or if I am finally maturing after all these many years?:confused:
Click to expand...

I'm having a similar issue -- the moment I feel like I'm deciding on which bass to sell (SR 5HH vs. Metro), I pick it up to play it "one last time to be sure," and think to myself -- "No way can I sell this one -- it's incredible."

I think my problem is that my favorite bass is often the one in my hands at the time. I'm discovering that I like the tone and feel of a variety of basses. The key may be not to play the one I decide to sell ever again. :p

I'd like to think that I'm maturing too, but available evidence points to the contrary.
 
#16
Ever since I started playing Dingwalls, I can't get enough of them. I just can't buy a bass with normal frets because that just doesn't do it for me anymore. I like it because it has killed a lot of the GAS I used to have. My problem now is deciding whether I want a Z1 or Prima Artist! :bawl:
 
#18
It happened again. I played a very lightly used limited edition SR5 at lunch, and it smoked my ATK305, which I had with me at the time, but once I left the store, I calmed down. I think part of the issue is that I really know what I would like long term, and second, I will always find a something that smokes my gear. Why freak out about it?
 
#19
If you got a good bass keep it.
I know, the grass always looks greener on the other side but in the long run the bass you currently have is more than adequate. It was a good bass when you decided to buy it, now it's obselete due to a magazine article or you saw a different one in a store or catalog. Don't read bass magazines, they are the worse thing to look at if you are apt to get and give in to GAS. Play what you have through your big rig and appreciate it's true sound. Small practice amps will deter you from a bass causing you to think it has no balls.
Polish it up and slap some new strings on it! It will rekindle your love for it. Believe me, I've been through it and many others here have too. If it's a good bass, keep it. What you think is better isn't always all that!
 
#20
SGT. Pepper said:
If you got a good bass keep it.
I know, the grass always looks greener on the other side but in the long run the bass you currently have is more than adequate. It was a good bass when you decided to buy it, now it's obselete due to a magazine article or you saw a different one in a store or catalog. Don't read bass magazines, they are the worse thing to look at if you are apt to get and give in to GAS. Play what you have through your big rig and appreciate it's true sound. Small practice amps will deter you from a bass causing you to think it has no balls.
Polish it up and slap some new strings on it! It will rekindle your love for it. Believe me, I've been through it and many others here have too. If it's a good bass, keep it. What you think is better isn't always all that!
Click to expand...

+100!!! What you said is so true!:bassist:
 

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