I'm settled: I only need 2 basses

[TheSeagoats]

I have an LTD AP-5 and a modded Squier Affinity with Quarter Pound pickups. They're not too different from one another, the AP-5 is more versatile while the Squier has the aggression when I need it.

 

[diglo]

My 2 right here:

 

[Atshen]

These are my only two right now, for monetary reasons...

I think I should add at least one more, a PJ with rounds.

 

[bassplace]

I’m pretty settled at 4 but I did get the last one just a year ago. Different tools for different jobs though and I’m only in one original band at the moment so..,.. in order of acquisition which begins late 70’s

Rick 4000
Wal ProIIe
ACG Harlot fretless 5-string (E-C)
Birdsong Cortobass

 

[Rib 13]

Several years ago, I made a decision to start thinning the herd and sell most of the 17 basses I owned at the time and go down to 2 - 4 instruments .......several years and transactions later, I now own 20 basses

 

[BioDriver]

A 6 string short scale, and the same thing but fretless.

 

[TrevorOfDoom]

My #1 is a 4string Pbass with rounds.
My #2 is a 4string Pbass with flats.
My #3 is a 4string Pbass with a TVJones pickup and rounds.
My #4 is a 5string PJ.
My #5 is a 4string fretless Pbass.

You could say i have a type.

 

[Ric Vice]

Simple, a Lakland 55-94 Lined Fretless and. Lakland 55-94 Fretted

 

[MCF]

I'll be 49 this year. Soon 50! Time to reconsider some things...

I think I'm settled on my bass arsenal. It'll wield the 2 following weapons:
-My faithful G&L L2500, 5-string active bass. There is no finer, nor more a versatile instrument. (It emulates a Fender Jazz bass and a MusicMan pretty well too!)
-A quality Leo Fender Precision bass. Classic 4-string, split-pickup design. And such a soulful tone!

I now believe that if I own both such basses, I'll be set for life.

What are your 2 fundamental basses?

 

[Raman]

Wow, so many replies! Didn't expect this.

Here's what prompted me to write this thread yesterday:

NBD!!!

I just took possession of the CV on the left today.

A while ago, I acquired a Squier Affinity in an exchange. I upgraded it with Fender Pure Vintage '63 pups and an ObsidianWire wireless pot harness.
I've been having tremendous fun with it! I was never a Fender guy, or thought I wasn't, but that bass made me fall in love with the Precision feel and sound. Plus, it's been a lot more fun than I expected to reconnect with a 4 string.

Except, that bass has a few big problems, especially with the neck. It's warped and needs a major fret and nut job. So, instead of investing any more $$$, I decided to buy a better P bass. Since the CV was getting all these good reviews, when I saw one for sale, I went for it.
Next, I'll pop in the '63 pups and OW pots, and will put a set of flatwounds on. (Maybe eventually a GOTOH bridge and tuners, but only if I feel it's needed.)

In order to finance this, I cancelled an order for a Ray5 HH that I placed before Christmas. I ordered before realizing all the work that was needed on the Squier Affinity. Anyway, I'd started having second thoughts about the Sterling: do I really want a sub-par MM, or would I rather have a better P? And that's when I realized I'd be happier with less but better.

 

[MrLenny1]

For now. lol

 

[Raman]

View attachment 4646334 they all say that!!!

If you need to know, I actually have 2 other basses. They're just not essential.
One, I keep for sentimental reasons: An Ibanez Axstar, which my father bought me when I was 16. My 1st ever bass! I also have a badly beaten fretless Cort that I inherited recently, and that I keep as a repair project.

 

[JParsons]

I've always been a "one and never done" guy - I'm always buying and selling, never having more than one at a time, except for the time I had US Jazz 5 and a beat-up old Japanese P-bass. I felt bad that I mostly played the P-bass, so I got rid of the Jazz.

I'm currently playing one of my own builds - basically a 5 string P-bass with an offset body, like a Jazz - but I'm realising I prefer 4 strings in my young/old age, so I'll be moving that one on soon.

I've been thinking I might try the "two and done" approach, picking up a Jazz bass for my main ride, and then building a short scale for my fun, sometimes ride.

 

[devnulljp]

Two basses. That's all I need. And this lamp.

 

[eastcoasteddie]

I have one L2500 fretted.
I am considering letting the fretted Jazz V, Fretless Jazz V, and S[qu]andberg Brooklyn M2.5 go in order acquire a Freltess L2500 and be done with it.

 

[SteveC]

I could get by with a jazz 5 and a precision 4, but why would I want to?

I think (active) J5 and passive P4 is pretty ideal. I have that and a soapbar 5 that I actually prefer to play but the jazz 5 maybe “fits” the cover band music better. It’s close between those two basses. I probably just have to keep 3. I’d only ever bring 2 to a gig though.

 

[Raman]

Dear OP:

You think you're mature, you're done, ready to go with what you have for "the duration".

Sorry, not even close - at least I hope so. At your age, I had 2 basses. I was set. I didn't need another bass ever. I hadn't bought or sold or given away an instrument in 25 years. What could possibly change that?

At 52, I started practicing in earnest again, and now I have...OK, not a lot of basses, but more than 2. I'm not hoarding or collecting - I use every bass I have on a regular basis; ones that I don't use have been donated. The basses I had when I was your young age (the ones I was set for life with)? I no longer have them - they have been donated. I've played many more gigs after 55 than I did before I was that age. And I'm a much better musician than I was at your age.

We're not done until the last nail is in the lid.

I don't feel very mature tbh... Maybe just mature enough to know that I can change and that whatever I say today is very probably not definitive. So yeah: I may say it's definitive, but really, it's more a snapshot of where I'm at right now mentally.

It's also a matter of the situation I'm in. I haven't gigged seriously in years and pretty much abandoned all hopes to ever draw any serious income from music again. I'm currently in a duo, we're having fun and playing small venues for pleasure. But, unless there's some miraculous turn of events in my life (and that seems less and less likely as I age), bass playing will remain essentially a hobby for me. Also, I'm not rich and don't expect that to miraculously happen either. So, investing in many instruments is harder to justify. That money is needed elsewhere: kids, food, housing, retirement, etc. If I do decide to acquire more gear, it'll most likely be cheap.

Now, say I won the lottery or somehow started earning more money, or say I embark in a musical project that justifies investing again, things might very well evolve...

But for now, I'm realizing that I won't be happier with more basses. The L2500 and a good P do cover a lot of ground tonally! Especially, always being on the lookout for the next instrument distracts me from appreciating the ones I have.

This said, yeah, I'm sure I'd love to get a nice MM too... In the (unlikely) event that I stumbled upon a super cool instrument at a very, very good price, I wouldn't go: "Nope, I committed to only 2!"
I just don't see it happening.

 

[Raman]

It took me years, but I do appreciate a nice P bass these days. They really do work for almost anything I need to do.

Same here. I shunned them for more "modern" basses all my life.
Someone once said: "The hardest to achieve in art is simplicity". The P bass gives that saying all its meaning.

 

[donhank]

I don't know about being "settled" or anything like that, but I have only two basses: an '88 Fury and an '86 Foundy and I really only play one - the Fury. Nice to have a backup though, just in case . . .

 

[NewKid1011]

Okay I’ll play:

1. G&L CLF L-1000
2. EBMM Classic Stingray 4

One pickup in the middle and one towards the bridge.