Frequency of Gear Acquisition Syndrome occurrences

Not sure how well posed the question is. I get G.A.S. just about every day. I act on G.A.S. pretty rarely.

 

In the last 8 years of playing bass uke/mini bass guitar, I've gone through 53, the first choice is me.

 

A long term acquisition plan is not impulse buying aka GAS. Just saying.

 

i almost chose this one

, but often i'm not looking for the perfect sound but comfort and playability.

due to shoulder damage, i'm usually trying to find a more comfortable bass. i've gone through a lot of basses over the last 24 years, most of which were sold after i couldn't play them without pain. it's pretty funny, in a way. for over a decade, i played my main bass and my backup bass, and in that time, i didn't bother to buy other basses. but i've owned over 50 basses, and i admit some of them weren't just for physical reasons - GAS would strike.

if fedex comes through today, i have a SBMM short scale ray arriving, and unusually for me, i wanted it for the sound. i tried MM and 34" scale SBMM rays, and even bought one, but i had issues, so hopefully this 30" scale version will delivery much of the sound in a smaller, lighter weight body that works for me. but i must admit, ordering this particular bass was mostly a bad case of GAS...

 

Every time I experience a bout of the "gotta haves", I have a self-imposed 2 week waiting period and use the term to re-discover the gear I have on hand. Disclaimer: I did buy some expensive string sets.

Riis

 

i had GAS issues in ~2010 (a couple of axes) and again in 2019 (started a bunch of parts bass acquisitions). before that, it was the mid-'90s (a couple of custom builds).

so maybe once a decade or so? is that GAS as we know it?

 

Yes! Ergonomics before everything else. If it isn’t comfortable to play, you’ll never get the most out of it.

Separately: 10 years ago I did a lot of buying and selling. Since 2020, hardly any.

 

For me, the amount of GAS I have is inversely proportional to the amount of gigs I have. Right now I'm playing out every weekend, rehearsing a day or two a week, and learning songs when I'm not doing one of those other things. I'm too busy to spend much time poring over gear, which is absolutely a win. But if I get sick and have to spend a couple days on the couch, that can become an expensive bug pretty quickly.

I had a pretty major GAS attack around this time last year, and I'm still digging out of the pile of stuff that I bought and just don't use. I'm sure I'll go back to buying and flipping gear at some point, but right now all the stuff I've got is functional and I'm trying to avoid any other purchases. Of course, some things can't be helped...

 

I’ve gotten to a point where I have a distaste for new gear. I end up fiddling with knobs and not making music! I’ll never say never, but feeling pretty content at the moment.

I realized I could never try everything and shifted my focus to getting better and making music with the great gear I already own!

 

I had a major life (physical) change a little over a year ago. So, some of my buying has been a result of my new life/playing style.

If I'm being honest though, a part of me is not just a player, but a collector ... a "historian" in that I like collecting little bits of musical history.

Currently, I own four instruments which were bought strictly for novelty/collectability. In two of those cases, I was pleasantly surprised in that they play/sound great, but the other two ... not so much.

 

I know there is that meme about spouses opposing gear purchases, and this is not that post, but my wife has been my best sounding board for antiGAS.

She is a total enabler in the big picture sense. Like, prioritizing a home purchase with an ideal space for a home studio. Also in the sense of being fine me having any musical items I need.

BUT she is, as I have asked for her advice, a great sounding board for the churn of GAS. And redundancies or near redundancy. Being the patient and adoring person she is, she’s learned all the technical stuff and just critiques around the question of ‘what new or different thing would x bring to your toolkit?’ And therein gives me a objective check.

 

My lady isn't quite as learned, but you and I seem to be in similar situations.

When we first got together, her question was: "Why do you need a different instrument?". Now, her question is: "Is that different from the other SDGR bass you have?"

 

Wow,..... I always thought this was a Myth....

 

At the moment I'm not looking for any basses as I'm happy with what I have. I might get a fretless Godin Acoustibass if I find a good used one. If I ever get another bass, I'll sell one.

Regarding amps, I like the new lightweight offerings. But I play with two bands and here in NYC you don't need an amp as every place has nice backline (except some places in Staten Island). I got preferences, but I'm not picky when it comes to amps. There's an ampeg fridge at one of the practice spaces, and another ampeg combo at the other space. I have a small Acoustic practice amp home that I use with my SansAmp and it sounds great.

Regarding effects, I completed my small board. The big board is missing about 4-5 pedals. But then again one of the bands I'm in is a blues band that requires zero effects. The other one is a rock band that requires some OD/distortion which I already have. I will complete the big board however even though I won't use them with my current bands

 

When I was seeking band work I bought what I needed for the job. When I quit looking for band work and it started finding me, if it became apparent it was leading to playing out, i’d start looking for current amps and cabinets, which led to other wants turning to needs.
I did spend a number of years buying up second hand MIM J basses as I learned to do my own maintenance and repairs when my long time friend and instrument tech passed. Being afflicted with a terminal case of tinkeritus, this led to a respectable pile of purpose built tools and a largish mix of random stock and aftermarket jazz bass parts. Since too many birthday candles have rendered me mostly unable to play I’ve whittled that mass down to a few remaining odds and ends, along with basses i am emotionally attached to. As i continue the journey through grieving my losses of the last few years, that emotional attachment has diminished somewhat, but not yet enough to allow me to conduct a fire sale of my remaining hoard so I can finally close that chapter of my life.

 

I have counteracted gas by telling myself I can only buy gear with money made gigging. I gig 2-3 times a month so that’s two basses, a small pedal board full of fun stuff, and a NY121 cab in 2022. I can also sell gear to acquire more. I have 20+ gigs already lined up in 2023. I’ll be over in the classifieds if anybody needs me.

 

With me GAS can strike when I least expect it. In addition to being an active player, I am also a collector which leads to having more gear than I need, with a reluctance to selling anything. Because I've been in this game for 50 some years, the collection is pretty big.

I also play guitar and mandolin and have a small sound company, so that just adds to the gear collection. My most valuable gear are my basses; almost all of them purchased used for far less than they are worth today. Since I buy mostly used gear from pawn shops, my GAS has been impacted by the lack of interesting stock available since the Covid business started. This has encouraged me to shop in my own collection, and sometimes find things I forgot about.

When I buy something that's new to me I vow that it will be my last purchase without selling something I already own; of course those of us who are seriously affected by GAS know how that usually works out.

Thump on,

One_Dude

 

I only buy something if I have a need for it. It has to solve some kind of problem, often for a particular gig.

Over the years I've slowly amassed gear that does what I need it to, so I'm not tempted any more to buy stuff I don't really need.

 

The frequency of stuff I buy has been decreasing, but the amount I spend on them has been increasing. I'm basically settled on amps (I have 3 separate setups for different purposes in different places) and mostly settled on effects (my Boss GT1B is now my most-used bit of kit, I'll buy/sell the odd pedal here and there and that's it) but the basses... dear lord.