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How many only have one bass?

#21
In a sense I envy the whole having one bass thing. You know, to have that one style or voice or something. But I do play a LOT of styles of music which require that old-school sound along with that ultra-modern sound. But I admire those with a signature sound or those legends who also have that singular voice.

I think of someone like Stevie Ray Vaughn, Jamerson, Jaco, Geddy, Manring, etc. Now I know those guys owned more than one instrument, but they're known for their particular sound.

On the other hand, I liked Me'shell Ndegeocello's idea, too. She likes to have a lot of colors at her disposal and rather have a unique and singular "feel", no matter the color of the instrument. Of course, all those other cats have that unique feel, too.

Still, there really is something special to me about guys like the OP.

Let's keep looking at the big picture of music, whatever the goals are!
 
#22
I had one for about a month or so....LOL
I bought a Squier Standard Jazz and a small 15W amp to see if I would like this thing called bass-playing. I am a tinkerer though and it took very little time for me to buy a MIM body and a neck and an Audere and some Nordy's and a Gotoh 201 etc. for a project. So I wound up with two very quickly. Then my bride bought me a Squier VM Telebass and then.....
It was just silly how fast they accumulated.
The funny thing is that I talked to a bunch of people before I bought the first one and the general consensus was that I should buy a Jazz with a Rosewood board and to avoid Precisions and Maple. Guess what bass I always end up playing........my Sting-edition Precision with maple board and flats. I could easily see myself with just this bass if I needed to get down to one. It is just perfect for me. I play it every day.

..........although I would like to try a RI '57 sometime.......man, I am not well........
 
#23
I have my baby, Mary Jane, my custom hand made Hofner 500/1. I've been playing it for five years, no effects (except filter), and I have found my *dream bass*, a EBMM Bongo Six string fretless, which I am getting this summer. I can not wait...
 
#26
ausf said:
So, besides you pros out there (or anyone who needs backups, etc.) how many only have one bass and are happy?
Click to expand...

I only owned one bass for 20+ years, and was perfectly content. My wife egged me on into buying another one about 6 years ago, and I rarely play the older one much any more, even though it sounds and plays great. I added my EUB 5 years ago and could actually see losing both the BGs and just playing that. Really, I sound like me no matter what I play, and I'd much rather have multiple flavors of amps than basses if and when I want some big tonal shifts.
 
#30
I currently only have one, but I'm planning for one or two more. A backup for gigs would probably be a good idea, even if it's just a hobby. And I like fretless basses, so I might get myself one of those. Sometime. If my economy (student) allows it. My one bass, a Sandberg, has made me a bit picky I'm afraid.

edit: Of course, I have a veritable flock of other instruments too, including, but not limited to one acoustic and two electric guitars (one of which is a cheapo), a tenor saxophone, a didgeridoo, and a cajon.
 
#31
I have just one bass also,and it bass starter pack SX four strings fretted. It doesn't sound so bad for all begginer techniques and you can do all on it but, after that of course you need something new. You can say i'm still new, although i'm playing for almost one year, but first month or two, i haven't played that bass so active. So i'm of course searching for new one, i was thinking about some cool flying V dean, or Ibanez and for now i would definitely stayed on 4 strings. And after Ibanez, if i have money, i would also buy some acoustic, to go little acoustic with band;)
 
#33
Interesting replies guys, thanks.

What struck me was reading the article in Bass Player on Squire. He still has/uses the original Rick he bought when he worked in a music store.

Then I thought about when I had my Rick, I had no need/desire for another bass. Getting another never even occurred to me (of course there was no internet back then), until I completely switched genres and needed a fretless.

Even though a P was never on high on my list of dream basses, the one I have does fine no matter whether it's blues, funk, rock or covering RHCP, Rush or Maiden. It's nothing to look at, white/tort with a rosewood neck, just a plain old unremarkable bass. I was recently in a shop and decided to try out a bunch of high end stuff, especially ones I've been reading about here, and nothing jumped out at me. After I while I felt like I was wasting time. Again, I'm not a Fenderphile, included in the tryouts were some ridiculously expensive vintage and signature Fenders.
 
#34
The Fender P really is the Swiss Army Knife of Basses! Brilliant, simple concept and works extremely well for most styles of music.

I had just a Fender P for some years but wanted something with a bit more tonal variety. I now have 4 Basses and take a minimum of 2 to a gig with me. Difficult choice sometimes which ones to leave at home, with one Bass you don't have to make that choice but most bass players prefer to have a backup.
 
#36
I am also in the 43 year old club. I play about 60+ gigs a year over a 10 state area. I have 17 basses and I play everyone of them. I do still own the very first bass I bought with my own gig money. A 1981 Hondo Longhorn. Never will I part with it. But, have only one bass if you want. I love my basses and over the years have collected and played a big assortment of them and I keep them for many different reasons.
 
#37
For people that want fretless AND fretted, there's not much choice but to have at least 2 basses. They're both extremely different in terms of tone.

Actually, they do have a bass that has a lever to convert from fretted to fretless and back. (). With those you'd still have to choose which strings to put on, though...but it's cheaper than owning 2 basses...actually that might not even be true either, considering I haven't looked up the price for one of those...

In all actuality, owning one 4 string, one 5 or 6 string if you'd ever see that necessary, and one fretless are probably the main things many bass players want. In terms of only owning one bass, I'd probably be content with my 5 string, but different basses produce different results as well, I find...depends I guess.
 

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