Is having too much gear bad?

[logdrum]

Anything to do with the arts are valued less and looked at as being frivolous to some people, that's why engineers make more than (most) musicians. This carries over to the instruments they use. An engineer is a smart hard worker and a musician is someone just having fun, so he should be paid less. The instruments the musician uses are again for having fun, leisure time, not serious work. If the musician has a lot of instruments he is just wasting money. One fiddle, trumpet or bass guitar is enough for this non-worker. The engineer can have all the slide rules he wants.
This applies, except for the very few that reach the pinnacle of their art, the equal of Michelangelo or some other superstar.

I currently work for a high tech company and is in the Fortune 100 list and a major player in computing. It's a myth that engineering teams have a blanche carte for engineering tools and instruments. There is always a bean counter somewhere trying to cut cost for the guys that do the real work even if they are R&D, Marketing guys are the one with unrestricted budgets. Nice try though. My music background was actually a plus when they hired me to be a software engineer.

 

[Knavery]

Oh come on - there are countless threads on whether having a better bass will make you a better player.

Yeah I'm sure there are, but it's a minority that believe that silliness. I've not known one person on my 48 years on Earth that believes that crap. Unless you practice more, you're not going to be a better player, period. End of story.

 

[King Louie]

Wrong forum. This question needs to be asked on talkbassistwife.com.

 

[Groove Doctor]

Many people have a 'broke' attitude. They see no problem wasting spending $5,000+ every year on cigarettes, alcohol, etc.... but will tell you a $2,000 bass is a 'waste of money'.

Go jump.

 

[Watchootognbout]

If you hardly ever use it.
It is.

 

[Lagado]

"You said that life is what you make of it
Yet most of us just fake
I'm just looking, I'm not buying
I'm just looking, it keeps me smiling..."

 

[Lagado]

Many people have a 'broke' attitude. They see no problem wasting spending $5,000+ every year on cigarettes, alcohol, etc.... but will tell you a $2,000 bass is a 'waste of money'.

Go jump.

When in doubt, project it onto someone else.

 

[vvvmmm]

I wanna suggest, contrary to some of the contrarians here, that a better bass can make you a better player.

Ease and ergonomics, improvement in sound, suitability for the music, sheer inspiration ...

The simple acquisition of a new bass results in more time playing for me, and often of new material. Now, a fretless might make more sense versus another fretted, etc., but to say as I read above that believing getting a new bass can result in improvement is to believe "silliness" and is "crap" is itself silly crap.

Silly Crap might become the name of my new Primus cover band, BTW.

 

[ac100X]

..great observation....it reminds me of an article I recently read (I forget where) called "The Surfer". The gist of it is that most surfers spend very little time riding waves.....by the time they get to the water, get in the water, swim out a bit, wait for the right wave, etc., the overall prep time dwarfs the surf time.....but most of 'em love obsessing over boards, surf wear/fashion....it's a "lifestyle" (sounds better than obsessive hobby). There are times when I cannot play....as a matter of fact, that's most of the time.....the rest of life kind of gets in the way of bass playing/making music......but even when at work, between consults, I can gander at TB....maybe waste some time and/or money....and enjoy my passion indirectly....the same situation occurs after a 10 hour day when I am too burnt to play.....I don't believe this is harmful to me. That said, it is harmful to the environment. Homo Sapiens is wired to hunt/collect/accumulate, because we spent almost about 190K years foraging/hunting/gathering. We only started farming about 10K years ago, and indoor plumbing/electricity only became a thing over the last 150 years or so...which is basically a moment ago in our evolution....so we're still behaving with the same impulses that were helpful 100K years ago......which is why we're running out of space for ourselves, our stuff and our waste, and crowding out all the other critters we depend on.....juss like locusts. Happy Thursday

"Honey it's not me it's evolution" - Thanks I can use that one.

 

[buldog5151bass]

I wanna suggest, contrary to some of the contrarians here, that a better bass can make you a better player.

Ease and ergonomics, improvement in sound, suitability for the music, sheer inspiration ...

The simple acquisition of a new bass results in more time playing for me, and often of new material. Now, a fretless might make more sense versus another fretted, etc., but to say as I read above that believing getting a new bass can result in improvement is to believe "silliness" and is "crap" is itself silly crap.

Silly Crap might become the name of my new Primus cover band, BTW.

Can a better bass make you a better player? Possibly. Buy practice will do a lot more.

I've said it before. For over two decades, I had one bass - rock (covers and originals), jazz (big band and small combo, pit band, school concert band, church, even a little bluegrass. No one complained about it.

 

[vvvmmm]

That's nice for you.

But we weren't discussing having just 1 bass, we were discussing criticism of having many basses.

And FWIW, the only time I practice is when learning the occasional cover for a jam. Otherwise, I just play. A lot.

Which is nice for me.

Not so much for my daughter and the dog*.


*My daughter and the Dog could be my next band name.

 

[David Jayne]

I used to think that having really expensive instruments would result in me playing better. It 'kinda' worked because to justify the purchases I did practice and play more. I eventually ended up playing nothing but P basses or variants of them because it turns out I like that sound the best. On the other hand, I still have most of the fancy ones, in a closet.. : D

 

[zontar]

It can be bad if you spend money on gear that you need for food & stuff like that-but one person's priority is another's frivolity.
If you can afford it & it fits & and all that--hey, it's your money.

 

[thunderstation]

I was listening to a Rick Beato video on how much gear you actually need, the cost and use of it, etc. It got me thinking on how people (at least in the US) spend their money.

I don't understand why having $20,000 worth of musical gear has a stigma that you have to justify but having a sports car, an unnecessarily large house, motorcycles or any other hobby seems to not turn any heads.

I drive a 2004 Honda that is reliable because I just want my car to work well and take me from A to B. I put all my "fun" money into gear because I love playing, owning and sharing the experience of music even if I wasn't gigging regularly.

Why is there a stigma around music gear, even among pros, when it seems people spend money in many other things that fall in the same category?

I don't understand the question - how can have "too much" gear?

 

[Hypercaffium]

If you hardly ever use it.
It is.

+1
Imho, gear should be both useful and inspiring. Use what works, what you know, what you like. Sell the rest.

I wanna suggest, contrary to some of the contrarians here, that a better bass can make you a better player.

I agree with you. "Better" isn't always necessary. Sometimes you just try different stuff and discover it's inspiring.
If certain gear makes you play more often, with more passion and dedication, it means that it's helping you becoming a better player. Of course you must study and practice, but any incentive helps.

 

[Doug P]

So ok...... too much gear ?? Do you know this group ? Never.

 

[amper]

I was listening to a Rick Beato video on how much gear you actually need, the cost and use of it, etc. It got me thinking on how people (at least in the US) spend their money.

I don't understand why having $20,000 worth of musical gear has a stigma that you have to justify but having a sports car, an unnecessarily large house, motorcycles or any other hobby seems to not turn any heads.

I drive a 2004 Honda that is reliable because I just want my car to work well and take me from A to B. I put all my "fun" money into gear because I love playing, owning and sharing the experience of music even if I wasn't gigging regularly.

Why is there a stigma around music gear, even among pros, when it seems people spend money in many other things that fall in the same category?

$20K is not an inordinate amount of gear. I am a multi-instrumentalist. The funny thing is that, just considering bass and guitar, if I were to completely replace with brand new every bit of gear I need with just two basses, two guitars, two pedalboards, two bass amps, two guitar amps, and spent just $2K for each on average (regular pro quality gear, nothing exotic, I play Music Man, Warwick, Rickenbacker, and Mesa), that would be $20K.

Music isn't merely a hobby for me. I've been a musician for about 9/10 of my life—say age 5 to 50—and I gigged and recorded with my band for 20 years. I have several albums out and available for purchase.

I started out on piano. How much does a good piano cost? A proper concert grand costs more than my house!

Now, is it possible for someone who only plays bass to spend $20K and have *too much gear*? Yes, of course it is. As I said two basses, two amps and a pedal board, and that's only $10K, let's be generous at make that three basses and two pedalboards, and that's only $14K. Or maybe you only need one amp rig, and want four basses, same difference.

It's hard for me to see how anyone can easily justify needing or even wanting more than that. With four basses, I could have two fretted and two fretless, and keep each pair in two different tunings.

And I didn't even talk about recording equipment and PA equipment, much less lighting equipment, all of which are necessary items for many musicians.

Now, that being said, there's the "like" factor to consider. Although I'd be perfectly able to meet my needs with two basses (same bass, one fretted, one fretless) and two guitars (same guitar, two tunings), I'd really want at least two different types of basses and two different types of guitars, so my $20K budget could balloon to $28K, and I still wouldn't considered that "too much" for me. Beyond four basses and four guitars, I might be able to justify one more of each with a straight face, but more than that would make me feel uncomfortable, I think.

In my 25+ years of bass and 30+ years of guitar, I've never come close to owning that much gear, and most of what I have owned was bought used, anyway. My two basses cost an actual total of about $2700, my pedalboard less than $1000, and my amp cost me $700—$4400 total, let's say. Doubling that would bring me to just $8800.

 

[GreyEagle]

The term "Too Much" already frames the question negatively! That said, too much equipment is not nearly as bad as "not enough space"!

 

[Doug P]

I have 13 guitars and 7 basses and I sometimes feel guilty over having this much - mostly the guitars as the basses are lower cost items.

Thing is, I am also into cycling and have 5 bikes and don't feel guilty one bit over that. Most of the other people I know that are into cycling also have more than are needed.

I don't know. Maybe it's better than having spent the money on hookers and blow. Maybe not.

My only negative observation is spending $20K on music equipment is not typically a very good investment. But if you can pay the bills and set a bit aside some funds for a rainy day, I don't have a problem with it. It's your money, spend it however you like.

I have more gear than average, maybe. I use it all. Basses I pick based on my feeling that day, hell, there all Fender's and one Ric. Amps, GK rig is different to me than the SVT rig. Both sound good and if I only had one, I'm happy for sure.
The thing is , I've collected this gear over time. Do I or have ever had the expendable income to go buy all I have at one time. No, but I do keep getting ads to increase my credit limit ! If I ever had to or say I'm "not around" anymore, I know it's worth $$ and the gear is not trendy, and as of now I still see "it" on stages everywhere. So what is too much gear ?

 

[Doug P]

I have too many basses and not enough (working) amps. I am a bad person. I realize I actually like building basses more than playing them. I am a really bad person.

Yes !!!!! You are Bad ! Hey, I'm just agreeing with you. All fun !
Have a great day "being bad"