Fewer Basses but you know them better?

[Dr. Cheese]

I absolutely agree with this concept, Dr.

I worked with ONE bass, with all it's quirks, for the most successful time in my music career. One bass, and it was fretless.

So yea, I knew it inside and out, in the way it played, how to get every last tone, etc.

I still know my axes well, but not as intimately as I knew that instrument.

I bought my first really nice bass, a Rickenbacker 4000, the summer before college, and I did not buy another bass for seven years. I foolishly traded that bass away. I have never had that sort of connection with another bass since although I think I would have gotten there with my Pedulla or DJ5 if I had kept either one or both. I think I am getting there with my Sterling and Geddy Lee.

 

[dkelley]

I bought my first really nice bass, a Rickenbacker 4000, the summer before college, and I did not buy another bass for seven years. I foolishly traded that bass away. I have never had that sort of connection with another bass since although I think I would have gotten there with my Pedulla or DJ5 if I had kept either one or both. I think I am getting there with my Sterling and Geddy Lee.

Yea, I foolishly traded away or otherwise got rid of my special basses at a loss in every way... and I've spent my life trying to replace them with something similar, yet trying to improve upon some ergonomic bits and pieces too.

I think you're getting there with your Sterling and Geddy also!

 

[darwin-bass]

To a full time pro a bass is a tool and she wants more work.
To a hobbyist a bass is a toy and he wants more toys.

 

[Killing Floor]

What if you sold a bass you knew you would not utilize and spend all that money on pedals that you don't need but they're fun to play with?

 

[SgtHulka]

To a full time pro a bass is a tool and she wants more work.
To a hobbyist a bass is a toy and he wants more toys.

So wise.

 

[Plain Old Barry]

I know there is no one answer, but I am thinking that owning fewer basses means that I can learn more out of each one instead of owning a bunch of basses I rarely touch. Frankly, most folks who have multiples, have one or two favorites that get most of the playing time.

As I said there is no one answer. Some people love to collect. Some may have a few basses for very specialized uses. As for me, I only have one gig, and I suspect anything that stays in tune will work for me.

Interesting thought... I'll add a few thoughts.

I currently own 7 basses and 4 guitars. I'm a bass player who started on a string bass and moved to electric, and have dabbled in guitar here and there, not a guitarist turned bassist. All of my instruments have a specific purpose. The basses:
- A straight up '79 P with flats
- A MIM PJ (my main bar gig bass, it's a lightweight alder example)
- An ash bodied active PJ (main backup and to fake MM 'Ray sounds, too heavy as a main)
- A Squire fretless Jazz, box stock, that's a surprisingly good instrument. ($200 CL find!)
- An Ibanez fiver
- An acoustic bass guitar
- A P with heavier strings (rounds) and properly set up for D-G-C-F

All except the ABG are setup to play pretty similar, so there's not much to get to know or get used to. All of my Fender variants have Jazz necks. Most have distinctive sounds, so I keep them around. I do play #2 and 3 most, and the others where they fit. A few bars into a song, I'm plenty comfy on any of them.

The guitar arsenal is similar, an HSS Strat with coil splitting on the Dimarzio Super Distortion H and a blocked trem, an HH Tele with set neck and splitting (Fakes Teles and Les Pauls! ;^)), a 335 style, and an acoustic. They're all very different machines.

I COULD survive with two basses or one guitar, but the benefits of having a selection make me happy and switching is a breeze. What I've got is far from a collection, as most anything other than the '79 P is probably depreciating and they all get played as needed. I don't see added time spent on maintenance, as I'm comfy doing setups myself and I can do them quickly. The two PJ's probably draw the most maintainence time, as they get played the most and require bright strings.

 

[GretschWretch]

If there's one thing I'd like to summarize after I took some thought and time reading this thread is that musical instruments own us, we don't own them.

Ya know, I have noticed a lot of bass pictures on TB that have cats in them.

 

[FishDub]

I know there is no one answer, but I am thinking that owning fewer basses means that I can learn more out of each one instead of owning a bunch of basses I rarely touch. Frankly, most folks who have multiples, have one or two favorites that get most of the playing time.

As I said there is no one answer. Some people love to collect. Some may have a few basses for very specialized uses. As for me, I only have one gig, and I suspect anything that stays in tune will work for me.

Strange I was just thinking the same today...I thought, I dont gig anymore and probably wont so why even have 5 basses? Or 4, or 3 or even 2?? I play the same one or two every night in the bedroom and the others sit under a bed..

 

[sonojono]

I play the same one or two every night in the bedroom and the others sit under a bed..

If they're under the bed, I'm sure the Gremlins already got to it!

 

[Dr Zee]

I am about to move across the country and it never even came up in my mind that I don't need all 7 of my Basses.
One of my own personal rules is you don't sell musical instruments or cameras. I have only ever sold off 3 Basses in the 40+ years that it took to get to the 7 I now own. Each one a slow and considered event.
I did once try to sell my Fretless 4 string, listed it for six months and no one wanted it so I took it as a sign that I should just keep it and keep playing it.
There was a time, way back when, I did have only one Bass.

 

[JimmyM]

I got that way when I reached 14 basses and got sick of keeping up with strings. One of these days I have to put a list together of the basses I've owned and sold. Some I've forgotten. I've got 10 electrics and an upright now, and that's still too many, but I focus on them all just because I can That's enough.

 

[Dr. Cheese]

I am about to move across the country and it never even came up in my mind that I don't need all 7 of my Basses.
One of my own personal rules is you don't sell musical instruments or cameras. I have only ever sold off 3 Basses in the 40+ years that it took to get to the 7 I now own. Each one a slow and considered event.
I did once try to sell my Fretless 4 string, listed it for six months and no one wanted it so I took it as a sign that I should just keep it and keep playing it.
There was a time, way back when, I did have only one Bass.

Different strokes, I know I am keeping more than I actually need.

 

[Fialka]

I have played my first bass for nearly four years now. I got my second bass about a year in, but failed to bond with it and got rid of it quickly. Got another bass about two and half years in, but it again didn't work and although I still have it I seldom pick it up. Then at the end of the last year I got another one that is really similar(yet different) and this one feels fine and on some days I pick it up first. That said, I spent so much time with this thing, endless practices, dragging it to rehearsals, doing gigs. I know that it aint perfect, but I know it inside out. Honestly I feel strong bond and wouldn't get rid of it if I was starving. On the other hand it easily gets you in kind of a rut and different instrument feels like a really nice refresh.

 

[MegaSwing]

I know there is no one answer, but I am thinking that owning fewer basses means that I can learn more out of each one instead of owning a bunch of basses I rarely touch. Frankly, most folks who have multiples, have one or two favorites that get most of the playing time.

As I said there is no one answer. Some people love to collect. Some may have a few basses for very specialized uses. As for me, I only have one gig, and I suspect anything that stays in tune will work for me.

First of all, I never thought I would ever own seven basses. It's a lot for me to digest. But how ever many there are, each one has to be outstanding in tone and stability, and to a lesser degree but not obsessively so, appearance. To whatever extent it isn't exceptional, and I can't somehow make it more to my liking, I can leave it. It has become a process. I want to have a Hall of Fame, not merely a Hall of the Very Good. Some basses just run out of tweaks you can apply.

On the other hand, there are niches every bass fits into. With my seven, parting with any one would leave a noticeable hole in some vibe I want. For example, I must always have a blue bass; I always want a gaudy bass; I always want some kind of sunburst. I like Jazz-style necks. Maple neck/fb is cool but not essential. One has to wear flats. One has a very peculiar provenance, etc.

The funny thing about electric basses is that there are all kinds of reasons to want them other than how they sound, but the quality of the sound is the main reason to keep them. One just has to find the right balance of the things that matter to you, knowing that it is rare for one bass to be enough.

 

[Reiska]

I know there is no one answer, but I am thinking that owning fewer basses means that I can learn more out of each one instead of owning a bunch of basses I rarely touch. Frankly, most folks who have multiples, have one or two favorites that get most of the playing time.

As I said there is no one answer. Some people love to collect. Some may have a few basses for very specialized uses. As for me, I only have one gig, and I suspect anything that stays in tune will work for me.

Some people like to collect and that's all cool, but all the gassing consumerism stuff around here gets overwhelming. After certain point buying more stuff will not get anybody anywhere. Practising, playing with people, taking lessons and seeing gigs will. Personally I like to keep it simple. Upright is the main deal that requires commitment and daily practise, fretless needs to played more than fretted. So, there's my DB and fretless at the rehearsing spot, the fretted lives at my home and moves when needed.

 

[Sam Dingle]

No point in owning 30 basses if you don't know why or have a reason other than you like/collect them.

i currently have 8 and I realized a few weeks ago I only really don't know how to use properly 3 of them so I gotta figure them out or they go

 

[Logic_11]

I have four five strings, two four strings, three fretlesses. Not all of them are at home. Several are in a pawn shop, but I have the option of getting them back. I will keep at least three fives because one is a present from my wife, and two of them are really nice. I will keep both fours. I will keep at least one fretless. That is six basses, and that is too many, but I like them. If I had to, I could drop down to three, but I don't have to. The only real change that would make sense would be to get another higher end fretless, but it's not not something that absolutely must be done. The Warwick GAS I had this week made think, that Corvette is a nice bass, but someone else can use it more than me. I feel that way about most basses lately.

What if you come back full circle and want them back

 

[Dr. Cheese]

To a full time pro a bass is a tool and she wants more work.
To a hobbyist a bass is a toy and he wants more toys.

Hush! You're telling on us!

 

[Dr. Cheese]

What if you come back full circle and want them back

One thing I have learned is that when it's gone, it's gone. It's like a great romance, when it's over, you better be happy with the memories.

 

[zontar]

I have only two basses, and they're the only ones I've had.
SO I know them well.
The first I got when I started playing bass--and had it for many years.
Then i got a fretless bass just about 7 years ago.
And in less than a year I probably played it more then the other bass.
SO yeah, I know it well too.

However I have more than that number of guitars--and I know them all well too.
But that si still fewer guitars than some here have basses.