No you don't. You just get a bass that won't fail. I know TONS of working pros who play top gigs all around the country who only bring one guitar or bass on their gigs.
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How many bass guitars do you need?
- Thread starter Peter S
- Start date
I have more than I need and not as many as I want.
As the old saying goes, "when your outgo exceeds your income your upkeep will be your downfall". I have a long way to go before my outgo exceeds my income so for now I'm still buying basses, needed or not.
I just looked at your profile. Apparently, you have quite a bit of disposable income. Nice gear collection, man. I'm officially envious.
BTW I have 3 for now - '82 Fender Precision Special, '85 Yamaha BB300 fretless, and a '94 Carvin LB75. I used to own an Alembic Distillate and a '72 Fender Jazz (stolen in '93). I don't NEED that Alembic, but boy I sure wish I still had it. It was sweet!
Sounds like my lineup sans the 8 string and add a string through, a short scale, and a few P/J's, I have twelve basses total and only one or two of them share the same setup type and I could probably add a few more setups just in case I missed out on anything
Naw, there's something else going on here...
I'm not referring to the guys who love their one and only so much that they could never bear to put it down long enough to try something else. As I already explained in my prior post, I'm referring to those who seem to feel that owning multiple bass guitars is somehow morally objectionable... but they either can't or won't come right out and state exactly what's wrong with it. They just keep repeating "you only need one" or "you don't need more than one" - over and over. As if we should all be persuaded by sheer force of repetition...
MM
Screw anyone preaching about the "morality" of more than one bass. Your burden of material crap isn't their business. Why even spend the energy to get annoyed?
The difference here (and fundamental to the original question) is between "need" and "want". If most players were dead honest with themselves they'd admit that two or three well chosen instruments would cover every situation. For me right now the number is two. I have no problem with big collections and I've owned a lot of instruments myself but that's "want" not "need".
When I hear most players I just don't hear them getting vastly different sounds that they'd really need a lot of different basses to achieve. Tony Levin is one that comes to mind who does but even he's doing it on four or five instruments and really I'm struggling to come up with another name as similar example. Face it, most of us buy a bunch of basses for the same reason we'd buy an Aston Martin DB9: because we want them.
That might be true if all you play is geezer rock, but not so much for those of us that cover several different genres, including current rock... I'm kinda surprised that you'd even say such a thing - surely, you know better...
- georgestrings
No matter how many basses you own, if you don't have a P Bass, you need one more. If you can't swing a U.S. made bass, then skip over the Mexican basses and get a Squier CV '60s P Bass. That bass is better than most MIM basses, and really captures the essence of the P Bass. With that being said, there is nothing like a good MIA P Bass. Save if you have to, but get one, they are the standard by which all else is measured (and most fail to achieve).
I got your geezer. Not like you're that much younger than me, BTW
Dude, I spent most of the 80's playing hard rock with one bass. Seriously now, how many basses do you think you'd need?
YOU NEED AS MANY BASSES AS YOU THINK YOU DO! WHICH IS ALL OF THEM! BUUYYY MOOOOOOORRRREEEE!!!! BUUUYYYYY MMOOORRE!! (Also, get the P)
I've always had just one at a time and have been happy with that arrangement. Same with my upright bass. It all depends. I've seen double bassists have an orchestral bass, solo bass, and jazz / outdoor gig bass.
And electric players often have a fretless, extended range, and their 'go-to' instrument.
I like having one of each although I have several amp rigs.
And electric players often have a fretless, extended range, and their 'go-to' instrument.
I like having one of each although I have several amp rigs.
I'm cool with one bass. There were plenty of times I had 5 or 6 laying around, but I always found myself playing just one of the lot. I used to convince myself of reasons to have more than one. But in my reality I just liked looking at cool basses hanging on the wall. Now that I'm aware of this I'm content with just one...though its a nice one. I have no guilt in having an unused bass anymore.
Now I spend my money circulating effect boxes around talkbass.
Jimmy's right though. You only need one. Can't play without one. Just like you only NEED to drink water, but most LIKE to drink other beverages too.
[[[flameproof suit on]]]
Now I spend my money circulating effect boxes around talkbass.
Jimmy's right though. You only need one. Can't play without one. Just like you only NEED to drink water, but most LIKE to drink other beverages too.
[[[flameproof suit on]]]
Reading some of the other responses got me thinking.
The material that you play determines instrument needs more than desire.
Hypothetical situation: your rockabilly cover band, your Rush/Yes/early Genesis prog rock cover band, your Motown/Stax hits cover band, your bebop/swing big band, your Gabriel/McLachlan cover band, and your Mahavishnu Orchestra cover band might require more than one bass
The material that you play determines instrument needs more than desire.
Hypothetical situation: your rockabilly cover band, your Rush/Yes/early Genesis prog rock cover band, your Motown/Stax hits cover band, your bebop/swing big band, your Gabriel/McLachlan cover band, and your Mahavishnu Orchestra cover band might require more than one bass
to me ... one fretted and one fretless ( probably the same model with the same number of string but in a different shade/finish ) and of course a DB.
When I was only playing in rock/top 40 cover bands I got away with using a modified Precision bass (J-P-J configuration) for a number of years. When several accidents almost occurred due to intoxicated individuals (thank God I was close by to prevent damage) I realized I needed two. I don't get to play the venues where the crowd is separated by a big stage, I do mostly clubs/bars/parties.
That's me too - check my profile.* In that case, though, I almost think of them as three completely different kinds of instruments - and I only NEED one of each.
*(Okay, there's one other fretted on there, but I rarely play it anymore, so I wouldn't say I "need" it - I only keep it for sentimental reasons.)
Absolutely - also the kinds of gigs. I can't imagine a serious studio musician who could find work without at least a handful of basses - I'm thinking J bass, P bass with rounds, P bass with flats, fretless, and maybe a five string.
Fretless is different from fretted. 4 is different than 5 (and 6). If you want to explore these differences, then you need more than one. If you play different genres, while one bass could cover it, odds are that different instruments will serve the music better.
"Need" depends on the individual situation.
"Need" depends on the individual situation.
