How stable is your bass collection?

[logdrum]

Having been involved with horses and winding down., I can tell you that thoroughbreds are anything but stable. The stable one is the American Quarter Horse, a great working horse - a breed used by ranchers out west and patient with young and inexperienced riders.

If the analogy is to a car, Ferraris are considered thoroughbred and they also are not known to be stable

But I got your point. I'll take #1

 

[MrAB4003]

I’ve no plans to get rid of anyone of my six basses. Will I add any others? Possibly .

Likewise with my three basses.

 

[NeonVomit]

I got three basses that will never go anywhere - my Marleaux Consat 6, Warwick Thumb BO 6, and Dingwall ABZ 5. The Warwick has been semi-retired due to weight and ergonomics, but the sound is epic so it still gets some recording work done, plus there is considerable sentimental value attached to it. The Marleaux Consat 6 is basically my dream bass, so that's not going anywhere, and the Dingwall ABZ 5 is my workhorse, I play about 80% of my gigs and recording sessions with it.

Two could shift if the circumstances came up - my Fodera Monarch 4 and Marleaux Votan 5.

 

[Nuisance]

Stable at 4. Two I dont play at all really (they are ultra-lite.....and are around only if my back gets worse). It's unlikely I'll add any more.......but if I find another ultra light bass that I like....... who knows.

 

[BassAgent]

I currently have about 18 basses and they consist of an inner and outer ring, in my head. The inner ring is safe: they are basses that will never be sold. The outer ring is not so safe: they can be sold at any time. There are about 12 or 13 basses in the inner ring at the moment. Basses can move in or out.

 

[KohanMike]

After going through 54 bass ukes/mini bass guitars since mid 2014, over the last couple of years, I've settled on one 21" model with which I'm most comfortable, having nerve damage in my neck spinal cord from radiation treatments for lymph cancer years ago. I have them modified by Eric's Guitar in Sound City (yes, that Sound City), and finished by Pat Wilkins. This model is not available anymore, so the 'stable' is staying this way. There is one custom gypsy jazz.

 

[ravelax]

The last time I sold a bass was eleven years ago. Not actively playing for about eight of those years plays a part in that, of course. I didn't pay much attention to bass at all, definitely not buying and selling. The last few years since I got back to playing regularly the collection has only grown. I can see adding more basses, but not really selling any of the ones I have since they are all keepers in one way or another.

 

[hrodbert696]

I'd say "stable stable." I have seven, the last new purchase was during COVID, so about five years ago, and can't remember what the last one was I sold... longer ago than that.

 

[JakobT]

Actually, a lot less stable than I had imagined it would be. I’ve spent a long time and gone through quite a few basses deciding what I like and what I don’t. I’m at five now, and it doesn’t look like I’m quite done yet.

 

[themarqueeyears]

If a bass enters my home.

It never leaves.

 

[Bass Motifs]

I thought this thread was going to be about humidity...

 

[S-Bigbottom]

I do not like to buy stuff. Have good bass/gear, keep good bass/gear.

 

[Polfuste]

Stable Stable Stable; except few month ago when a shoulder problem prevents me to play acoustic bass dur to body thickness. Replaced it with a SIRE U5 short scale who became my hero. But the others are there for years:
My lady's Squier jazz is there since 1997, before we started to live together.
My custom PJ was built during a luthier course with my own two hands in 2004, my Ken smith burner arrived with my 40th birthday in 2012; and my Markbass Kimandu arrived for my 50th birthday in 2022.

But it could change. The SIRE U5 has made me LOVE shortscale basses. So not impossible in the future to add an Ibanez EHB short scale to have 24 frets like on my 34" basses, and that could become my main bass. We'll see..

 

[TheArchitect]

I am hopeful that I have settled on what I need... Still tweaking a couple of them.

 

[Lowbrow]

Stable but expanding as I like to buy basses yet I dread boxing them up and shipping them.

 

[socknroll1]

3 good basses, recognizing that any 1 of them could do the job on its own.

I would only buy another if a good-paying new band required it for some reason - tribute band with an identifiable instrument, special tunings, etc.

 

[Picton]

Mine's very stable, especially now that G&L is done...

For a long time I bought and sold a lot, looking to upgrade. Now I've got three super-solid basses I love to play, and about three more I could move if I wanted to (but I still like those, too). I don't see much moving in or out soon, certainly not "out." The last bass I feel like I want is a decent Ray, so if I find one and the price is right, that should be about it. But I don't "need" it.

70% of my playing is on my '83 L2k, another 20% on my '81 4003, and the rest on my other stuff. I don't see a need for much more.

 

[Ostie]

When I joined TB in 2016 I had one bass, a MIM Jazz. Since then I have acquired seven more basses, and that’s just the ones I kept. Of course I blame that on TB. For now, I see my collection as stable. In fact, one is FS/FT.

 

[2saddleslab]

It had been stable for a decade. That was until I recently added the AVII54. Just this past Friday my son [noodles on geetar] mentioned that he was thinking of buying a cheap bass just to see if that was a direction he wanted to go. I said the hell with that, so looks like my custom Cabronita might be moving to his place.

 

[J Wilson]

Not stable at all. They're around . . . until they're not.