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Is it wrong to be happy?
- Thread starter Dr. Cheese
- Start date
I started going to weekly Gear Acquisition Syndrome Anonymous meetings a few years ago, but it didn't help. 
Yeah, and it's not even always the "perfect"...many times we're just after "better". And we often can't even distinguish between "better" and "different", because we've been taught that if two things are different, one of them has to be better than the other.
So, to return to @Dr. Cheese and happiness...looking at other basses and thinking "that's nice" is one thing...going for a bass that does something you need to do and cant do now is another. Thinking ”I need one of those BECAUSE I DONT HAVE ONE" is a whole nother bag of of cats, and that's where GAS really gets crazy.
However, everybody gets to do what makes them happy...no judgements from me. I have three basses. Two are great for the two different uses I have. The third is a compromise backup for both, in case either of my main basses gets hurt.
How my GAS seems to work…
1. Read too much TB, decide I “need” a new bass.
2. Hit up local stores, play a bunch of basses that don’t feel quite right to me.
3. Go home, play the same old p-bass that’s been my one and only for 15 years, and realize that I like it much more than any of the new stuff I just tried.
4. Repeat.
If I could just jump straight to step 3, I’d reach enlightenment.
1. Read too much TB, decide I “need” a new bass.
2. Hit up local stores, play a bunch of basses that don’t feel quite right to me.
3. Go home, play the same old p-bass that’s been my one and only for 15 years, and realize that I like it much more than any of the new stuff I just tried.
4. Repeat.
If I could just jump straight to step 3, I’d reach enlightenment.
A lot of my talk about happiness and contentment goes deeper than gear. If I had been born in the Victorian era, people would have said I was prone to melancholy. Sometimes I just get deep inside my own head and I get a sense of being overwhelmed. I suspect the root of that is my ADHD. Sometimes, I just need to take life less seriously and remember to enjoy life and not make everything profound .
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I think I have been a GAS bag so long, I guess it feels weird to satisfied with my gear. I knew my Tagima and Peavey were high end , just uncommon. I always knew they were premium, even if my Peavey is nearly 12lbs. I guess the surprise are my Sadowsky’s. My RSD fretless five and Sadowsky ME Modern are basses that Roger Sadowsky himself said have comprises with his NYC basses so they could be sold in the sub $1,500 market. It would be cool if my fretless had lines, but live, I can play in tune just fine. It has taken me a while to learn to eq my Modern, but it works just fine for me, especially after I had a VTC installed. I said I wanted a Metroline Modern or maybe Japanese Metro Modern, but I am more and more inclined to keep my money in my pocket.
The old "chase is better than the catch" lol...a lot of us retirees have to adjust to the drastic changes while others not so much? I'm still always curious about gear and music in general at age 66....face it there is a LOT of evolution in gear in modern times to the point of being overwhelming and a lot of us are still just plain curious
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I got this bass in November and now it is February, and I just like it more and more. If I am ever going to find the one, this is it.
Having read most of your posts on this subject, you seem to be happy with it, yet your comment makes it seem like you're not. I'm confused.
I guess I’m still pinching myself. It took a while to really start getting the most out of this bass although I always liked it. Usually,, I get a bass and sing its praises and then I find things don’t like. In this case, I got bass and I liked it, but I had to get used to some things: I had it modded with the VTC, and then I had learn how to get the most out of the preamp. Even today, I decided that with a two octave fingerboard, I needed to move my hand closer to the neck pickup when slapping to minimize fret wear, but all of these changes are good. A part of me wishes I had gotten this bass twenty years earlier, but I may not have been ready to settle down back then.
As you all can see, once I got the fretless Godin LR Baggs Acoustibass last year I’m good. Gas we don’t need no stinkin’ gas.
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I'm concerned that you have something you really like, even if it has some minor issues (after all, no bass is perfect) and you're going to talk yourself out of it. Been there, done that, regretted it.
My Modern isn’t going anywhere.
Has this new bass stolen your time away from your others? Do you use this one exclusively for your lessons?
