GAS - Does it ever end?

No

 

Yes. Play what you have, and realize whether you have one or a hundred basses, you will always like more shiny things. Think what other places the money could go, like a vacation, or into your retirement.

I'm 54, other than my first guitar, which I bought when I was 11, if I'm not gigging it, I'm selling it.

 

Never

 

No, but it can be managed. I find that rotating my instruments in terms of which one I'm playing helps to deflect whatever GAS pangs might be creeping into my psyche.

 

First, you need to step away from TB for a few months - this place is the worst if you're trying to beat GAS. You don't have to follow the lemmings off the cliff - stop looking and spend your time getting the most our of what you have. If you don't like what you have, get something you do, but seriously, unless you're straddling the jazz vs. P line, 90% of your sound is in your hands, not your gear.

 

Is there a cure...NO....does it ever end...NO.
Rock on.

 

I can definitely subside. Mine has for a while because life can get in the way.

 

Not bass video, but good advise on GAS nonetheless.

 

I've got The Bass & The Amp for a while now & I'm very satisfied with them, but...
I still like shopping!

These days I'm spending as little as possible, just turning a cheap bass into a sleeper.
It's sort of like a community service, because when I'm bored of my current project bass I'll sell it for cheap locally & make someone happy.

 

Yeah, 6ft under. Outside of that, I don't think so. For me it's dangerous to even walk into a music store to get strings. Or like last night, some new picks I wanted to try out, uh oh, try out? Yeah let's check one out on this bass right over here. Thankfully I escaped with just the picks and my pocket 5 bucks lighter. But it was a close call. I'm still thinking about that neck. I might have to go back and caress it some more today, it's lonely.

 

no GAS here.

OP: try a tin-foil hat: it increases self-consciousness to painful levels, but the foil really does reduce the 'buy-me-now' impulses. YMMV. good luck with your compulsions.

 

I've been fighting some GAS myself past few months. Spending way too much time looking online, and like you say spending lunch breaks at the guitar store.

I think @mrcbass is right; TB only makes it worse.

I'm in a paying cover band, with all the gear I need for this gig. Yet I want to "upgrade" my bass. (And we're talking squier -> MIM fender here, nothing too crazy) the GAS finally left when I realized:
1) what I was looking at was no better than what I had (a direct result of my hands on testing.) And;
2) it will not make me a better player. (This was a big one for me.)

Then of course comes the amp GAS. (Still wrestling with this one.) My band has a low stage volume, and I can use a Rumble 100c. My BL even specifically told me I dont need anything bigger. Yet I find myself GASing for a 500c. I tell myself it would prepare myself for future possibilities... so I'm still working on this one...

My interest in Buddhist thought tells me to beat GAS, we must be mindful. We can enjoy the sensory pleasure of playing a bass, but not get attached to the idea that any one bass will make us happy.
Desire and Craving

But, my love of P basses tells me you should get a P bass.

 

Sitting in the basement bangin’ on a variety of basses, even playing along to songs has its limitations.

I GAS more for playing situations that prompt thoughts about how gear can make the gig more enjoyable.

 

It does. It has for me, anyway. There is just no more room in my house for gear. I surrender.

 

I hope not. Mine did for a while and it wasn't as much fun. I truly enjoy trying out different bass gear.

Sure, I practice. But I also hunt down fun new stuff to play around on.

 

No cure. Remission is the best you can hope for.

I was in remission until a week ago when a Epi Jack Casady popped up on CL. But Im done with GAS for now.....unless a Mustang or a Ric pops up for a great price....

 

In my case, GAS is over. I have a great double bass for orchestra, a Vertical Bass for amplified gigs, 3 bass guitars that sonically cover any genre I might get called for, and enough amp/speaker combos to cover any gig I might get where there's no backline. I look at the classifieds every day, and honestly can't find anything to buy. So, instead of obsessing over tweaking this and that and looking for the next cool thing, I spend my money on lessons and my time practicing. I have a bass guitar on long term loan to a friend, a bow on long term loan to a colleague, and will be donating a speaker cabinet to an underfunded music school in the Bronx next week.

 

No. If you love bass, you love basses and you don't have to marry just one. I also would like to remind you that there are a whole lot of new cameras and lenses - mirrorless, more MPs, can't let GAS stop there either.