How do you get over GAS?

[Jeff Scott]

I want a HOFNER violin bass. I already have a no-name violin bass which looks nice, feels good and sounds great. But I want a HOFNER. If I buy a HOFNER it will be the inexpensive model, which will have slightly different coloration than the no-name bass that I currently play, but will feel and sound almost exactly the same, it won't have any bragging rights, because anyone that would know the difference between a HOFNER and what I currently own would also know that this isn't the German made model. Intellectually I know that there is no reason to buy this bass. But I WANT A HOFNER!

HELP!!!!!!

You won't be truly happy until you have a German Höfner so save yourself money in the long run and just buy a REAL one first time round.

 

[Mikey F]

I bought a Streamer Stage II and that cured me for 1 year......and then I bought a Stingray last week....cured again for a bit.

Now I just need a Sandberg......and a 70's P-bass.

 

[Baird6869]

Move to Canada. In the two years or so, everything in the TB classifieds has gone up 25-30% and retail pricing has gone up the same due to the strong USD. Cured my GAS.

 

[jaybones]

I usually relieve GAS by simply purchasing another bass.

Yeah, that's how I cure all my gas. Well, except the noxious malodorous kind...

 

[Dr. Cheese]

Time has really reduced my GAS, I don't know how many times, I have been blown away by a bass only to come to earth after a few days. It's not that the basses aren't good, it's just that when I calm down, I usually see that what I have is already very good, and there is no need to run out and spend more money. The other thing that has slowed GAS for me is that I am no longer the sort of guy who sees a great player with a cool bass, and then I want the same bass. I know in my heart that it is not the bass, but the player.

That said, I was really impressed with that Ibanez SRFF805, fanned fret bass, I played yesterday. I could see me with one in the not too distant future.

 

[PDX Rich]

Roll your own! Of course, that requires cash to be diverted to tools. (Now I want a thickness planer and a bigger bandsaw, and a router table, and and...yeah

 

[diverse379]

I let it run its course.
in one month last month to be exact
I purchased 7 basses and one guitar
I know it sounds excessive
there was no end in sight

then I returned one then another
but ended up exchanging for another music piece
i decided to keep the Dimension. the precision plus and the clasic vibe 60s jazz
and most likely will keep the squier special edition. put some Flats on it.

I returned the
70s vintage v
skull and cross bones mb5
60s classic vibe precision
Matt Freeman Precision
yamaha Cp5
G&L Asat Deluxe.

fortunately the GAS passed
when I got my other instruments out of the pawn shop
G&L american Comanche,
FSR ash STratoacaster
PRS Custom SE
Modulus Quantum v
Roland G8

I started selling instruments too
which also started to cure the GAS and streamlined my
studio to the essentials
I no longer just want any instrument
but quality instruments
and I am willing to trade up to them.
or wait to get a good one.
I got a chance to play some fine instruments during this month
ended up keeping some really nice ones
I also parted with some nice ones
but realized that in a limited studio space
I really only need a few quality pieces.


Honestly
I think G.A.S is no different from any other type of Compulsive order (not disorder) lol
and I am sure there are many ways to address it.

For me I just embrace it.
I buy buy buy until I am ready to move on to something else
I just save my receipts

 

[Tom Howland]

Correct. Death is the only escape.

It's a chronic ailment, you usually have it for life.

 

[dmac1961]

Roll your own! Of course, that requires cash to be diverted to tools. (Now I want a thickness planer and a bigger bandsaw, and a router table, and and...yeah

What he said. You'll spend so much time researching techniques, sanding through the grits, fixing your mistakes, that you won't have any time to look at the classifieds.

 

[michaelandrew]

Move to Canada. In the two years or so, everything in the TB classifieds has gone up 25-30% and retail pricing has gone up the same due to the strong USD. Cured my GAS.

+1

 

[spanndrew]

1. I'm a student so I can afford really one purchase a year. (Last year was a nice bass, this year will be an amp upgrade). It really makes me think about purchases.
2. Practice usually humbles my want for crazy things like 8 stringed basses and piccalo basses, 400 dollar pedals, synth devices etc.

I still read about things I want, but I'm finding the more into playing I get the more I'm happy with what I have.

 

[Acoustic356]

Figure out what you really want that is top of the line. Save up and buy it. You will appreciate it and more likely keep it.

Apply this technique every time. It is not a cure, but it slows things down and puts things into perspective.

 

[eee]

Just buy more crap you think you want.

 

[M.R. Ogle]

Figure out what you really want that is top of the line. Save up and buy it. You will appreciate it and more likely keep it.

Apply this technique every time. It is not a cure, but it slows things down and puts things into perspective.

This, mostly.

G.A.S, can be a motivational tool.
Use it as a "reward" for positive change in your life: If I (get a promotion/save enough money/close a few deals/etc.) I'll be able to buy myself that new bass.

 

[SirMjac28]

Volunteer at a homeless shelter always works for me.

 

[firechariot]

Cure:
Go to your job and do the ONE thing that will....for sure... get you fired, and will make you undesirable to any other potential employers. This may even give you GRS(Gear Reduction Syndrome), and turn your affliction around. You'll know you are in full remission when you are selling your gear to pay bills.

 

[Dr. Cheese]

Cure:
Go to your job and do the ONE thing that will....for sure... get you fired, and will make you undesirable to any other potential employers. This may even give you GRS(Gear Reduction Syndrome), and turn your affliction around. You'll know you are in full remission when you are selling your gear to pay bills.

Unemployment is step or two further than most of us want to go!

 

[StinkFoot]

HELP!!!!!!

You have a bass you like. Play it hard until it's worn out and you need a new bass. That will keep you out of trouble for a while.

GAS is the result of thinking too much about your gear and not enough about your playing.

 

[Maxdusty]

Let GAS be a side hobby (separate from playing of course)...I started off with one $50 gift certificate 3 years ago and have bought 70 basses during that time- no additional money spent, just kept rolling profits into a "bass fund". Of course some of the early basses were kind of crappy, cheap ones, but in a year's team, I had some pretty decent ones, and by the end of the year, have had some really nice ones. Opportunity and luck figures heavily in the picture. See that SR700 in my pic? Essentially picked that up with a trade for a bass I bought for $160 (from the bass fund, so really not from any money from my bank account). I could of course turn around and re-sell it now for more than what I put into it, but I really like it.
That's my cure for GAS but I'm getting a little tired with the buying/selling/trading scene for a while. I do want the new SR750 though. uh oh...

 

[Tractorr]

For me I had to stop craving things (basses, amps, pedals) and had to start craving tones. Now I go after particular tones and I spend weeks if not months using the equipment I own to try and achieve those tones. Only after I cannot achieve the tones I am thinking of do I buy new equipment. The added bonus is I often realize that tone is just a passing fancy and I don't really need it.

Of course this takes a massive change in the way of thinking.