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How do you bond with a bass?

CBNJ

CBNJ

Sorry brother.
Feb 13, 2009
883
67
36
New Jersey
#1
I don't know what it feels like to actually LOVE a bass.. When I buy a bass, I usually really like it for a couple of weeks, then the magic starts fading and I'm able to sell/trade it without a second thought. What's the secret? Do I need to spend more money? I'd like to have an instrument I would never sell.
 
#4
For me it's uniqueness in looks and mostly sound. Funny how basses are like girlfriends as you described in that when you 1st go out it's total infatuation and then when the novelty wears off it's time to look for another. Keepers are like being married to someone who you appreciate for their unique qualities and still like the feel of in your hands. My last bass I was ready to sell off everything, but now after 3 or so weeks - meh......still feels like a keeper, though.
 
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#5
To me, you buy a bass that will have more than you need and then learn music, everything. You won't need something else unless your quest of knowledge led you to some ideas that just can't be done with what you have ( like maybe a 24 frets ... maybe fretless who knows ).
 
#6
The real test of whether a bass is the right one is how it sounds when you play it with your band, or group of musicians making the music you want to make. One could have very fine basses and play them through all sorts of top notch gear but it may not be a complete realization until you hear how the instrument compliments what others are playing.
 
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#7
Of course it will always be special the first weeks or months. But when that wears off, you can get an other relationship to my bass. It is the concerts you've played, and what other experienceses you might have with the bass, that makes a long lasting relationship with your bass. The bass it selve only sets the base, for witch you can build that special relationship.
 
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#8
Asger Klinkby said:
Of course it will always be special the first weeks or months. But when that wears off, you can get an other relationship to my bass. It is the concerts you've played, and what other experienceses you might have with the bass, that makes a long lasting relationship with your bass. The bass it selve only sets the base, for witch you can build that special relationship.
Click to expand...

Except the part about the witch, I agree whole heartedly. The bass is just a tool. This is an online forum filled with fetishists who buy and sell basses every six months so it's easy to get caught up in it.
 
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#12
I think most will agree that the bonding with a bass comes from a lot of shared experiences over time. I have a bass I haven't played for well over a year that I still have simply because it was my main touring axe back in the day. This bass and I traveled the world and rocked so many stages together...I'll always keep it. Unfortunately, the other bass with which I bonded the most was stolen about 4 years ago. Keeping a bass long enough to make incredible memories together is the key.
 
#13
In all seriousness, I didn't really bond with my 4003 Rickenbacker UNTIL I followed the advice I found right here on TB.

This was give it a proper setup for THAT specific bass (it's different than any other I've owned).

Second was to lose the bridge pickup cover.

Both things improved the tone I get out of it and more importantly greatly increased my comfort level while playing it.

I'm still in the bonding process but the work I did to it, the reading, learning and understanding of what it takes to help it perform it's best has greatly accelerated this.

Now it's just a matter of playing the snot out of it and as faulknersj said above, sharing experiences with it.
 
#14
I bond with a bass by playing the snot out of it. If I do a bunch of gigs with a bass and, in the end, I feel "meh" about it, on the block it goes. If every time I play a bass and it makes me happy, then it's a keeper. I have a few of those, but a few I think I'll be selling soon.
 
#15
Initially the bass has to feel good. While in the honeymoon stage you say to yourself 'if I could only have one bass, this one would do' then you know you're heading there. After that it comes down to solo practice, jams, and gigs. If the bass does everything you want and doesn't fight you (neck dive, fret buzz, feel too heavy, constantly go out of tune) then you start the bonding process. Bond killers (for me) can be: too many knobs to fiddle with, constantly adjusting the truss rod/bridge saddles, and an ugly paint job. Modifications that improve the bass can strengthen the bond.
 
#16
For me, it was having the bass as my only one for a number of years, using it during the formative years of developing as a player, playing with it on countless gigs, and generally beating the ever loving $#!+ out of it. There was a point earlier where it was very possible that I'd never see it again due to an airline losing track of it for 48 hours, and it was absolutely agonizing, like a family member had passed away. Getting the call that it had been recovered was one of the happiest moments in my life. That's true love.
 
#18
How do I bond with a bass? For bass guitar I prefer cyanoacrylate, for DB I like horse-hide glue.

Seriously though, it comes down to making an informed decision at the outset, before you purchase the bass. Or, if you're a packrat like me you just keep everything, even the freebie bass guitar from a friend's GF...
 
#20
For me, the magic happens when I can forget the instrument, when it only becomes an interface between my brain and what I hear.
If I get effortless great tone and don't spend my time looking at the neck trying to avoid mistakes, I know it's a good one.
The few basses to which I'm really attached are like that. I grab them, start playing and instantly love what comes out.
 
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