Is your newest always your favorite?

[dirkdabass]

Every bass I've bought was "the last bass I'll ever need to buy". I now own five of them. First bass was in 1970, a "used" '65 P Bass. The last was a new Schecter 5 string. Different axes for different moods/uses. The P is my goto bass but I sure do love the 5.

 

[RickyT]

Right now, yes. Quite often, no. I like to try things. Sometimes the basses I try become my favorites, and sometimes not so much.

My most recent is my favorite ever. I asked @MarkoYYZ for some very specific features and it turned out fantastic. It combines features from many of my other favorites over the years.
Behold, the Hammersmith TF-5 (OK, that's not what Marko called but I can dream, Right? )

View attachment 2846042 View attachment 2846045

Blacked out like a Carvin LB76 I owned years ago.

35" scale and 19mm spacing from my old trusty Ibanez BTB.

P bass body shape, simple volume and tone and neck pickup from my USA Precision 5 string.

Dual coil bridge pickup with series/single/parallel switch, and neck/both/bridge selector from my Fender Roscoe Beck Signature V I used to own. So, I guess the short answer to your question is that my newest bass is ALL of my favorite basses.

Stunning! drool

 

[GlennRH]

Is your newest bass always your favorite?
How do you choose what bass to bring to a show/rehearsal?
Do you have one you always seem to go back to?
(If you are in multiple bands/projects) Does each event have a bass that works best?

The one I've kept longest is my favourite. Playin' it for over20 years.
I start with the one whose strings best provide the right tone for the performance.
I keep going back to The One I've held onto the longest: 1997 ash/maple G&L L-1500.
Wise enough to bring a back-up, the bass I start with depends on the first few tunes of the first set.

 

[jazzyvee]

Usually it's the bass with the newest strings.

 

[buldog5151bass]

Nope (not that I buy much). I have a Fender (jazz body, p neck) that I have had for about 32 years, a Lull P4 that I bought about 14 years ago, and a build of a '51 P that I did two years ago. I rotate the first 2, and mix in the third when I want flats.

 

[Nedmundo]

Nope, my newest isn't always my favorite, though I'll usually play it the most for awhile to learn about it. My 2003 MIA Jazz has been my most reliable, go-to bass since I bought it new. (Or, more precisely, since its original neck developed a twist, and was replaced under warranty when it was a few months old...but still.) I've mostly played my G&Ls for the last few years, and the M-2500 in particular is an all-conquering beast, but I'm still most attached to that Fender.

I definitely prioritize different basses for various bands and projects. For example, I subbed in a band with a track that required 21 frets, so I had to use the DiPinto Belvedere I had at the time. For musical theater projects I've used fives exclusively, and in a cover band last year my M-2500 rose to the top of the heap, though I did use my fours sometimes, usually the G&L JB. In my original band, I just grab whatever I feel like, but some of those gigs feature "mystery rigs," for which I'll always bring the SB-2.

 

[mikewalker]

...
Something that I noticed that's making me like this bass even more - while I don't complain much on TB, this past year I've been having some pretty not so fun lower back problems. I played 2 parties and a wedding this weekend, and my back is in the best shape it's been in, in a while. I wonder if the shorter scale has anything at all to do with that, as I can't believe it to be the weight alone. ...

I think the shorter scale probably has a lot to do with it - changing the hang angle, the height, the general placement of the bass in relation to the 'functional' centerline of your spine (which varies a bit for everyone). You know, standing /moving around with one arm basically stretched out to one side constantly does put a fair bit of torsion on those lumbar vertebrae (and associated course and fine musculature)!

 

[AztecViking]

My favorite is the one I've had for 30+ years. The new ones are mostly like pretty, young college girls who look great but don't yet know what they are doing.

 

[jamro217]

Right now, I'm going to say no...

... no.

There... I said it... no.

That's easy for you to say.

 

[jamro217]

This is like asking which one of your kids is your favorite.

 

[Bassist Jay]

My latest bass isn’t always my favorite bass but would always be one that I at least like a lot. Out of all of my basses, there are things I like about each one of them that the differs from the others. Probably my favorite Bass is my Ernie Ball/Music Man 30th Anniversary Stingray 5 bass that I just got in April. I ordered it the day after it was released at NAMM 2017 and fell in love with it. Then when I got mine and started playing it, the bass exceeded my expectations in almost every single way possible.

Another favorite is my new Killer B Guitars Custom Shop P bass. I have never been a fan of Fender Precision basses for some reason. And then a few years ago, something changed and I started liking things about them. I think the thing that I really like about my P bass over a regular Fender Precision is first, the pickups. I use Nordstrand pickups exclusively and the pickups that I put in my P Bass is the Nordstrand NP4a pickups. I absolutely love them too. They sound much better to me than Fender pickups and other brands of pickups do. Next is the neck. I have an unfinished, all natural neck and love the feel of it. I hate necks that are painted or have any kind of finish on them. I know on most Fender Precision basses the necks look like they have a natural finish but when you play them, the necks feel like they have been sprayed with something? I don’t know what it is but I hate the feel of them.

 

[two fingers]

Stunning! drool

Thanks!!!

The looks and the electronics both came out great. The NECK was the pleasant surprise. Its satin finish and shape felt like a worn in 30 year old neck right out of the box.

 

[mesaplayer83]

Right now the most awesome bass I ever played in my entire life is a Mustang P/J.

You tell me.

That's funny, because although I wouldn't call it my favorite by any means, I've gigged my MIJ Mustang reissue the last 2 weekends, and it slayed...

 

[pcake]

i've never been one for favorite anything, so i never have a single favorite bass. my favorite couch bass is my little green mikro, my favorite utility knife bass is my jag ss, my favorite bass for tone is my mustang. but i love my dimension - i guess it's my favorite long scale bass

 

[Frampton]

Usually, the newest is my favorite.

 

[mesaplayer83]

Generally, no.

Nowadays I buy instruments - not just basses - in order to "fill" certain holes in the palette of sound(s) that I'm looking for. It's a slow process since I'm not independently wealthy but I'm getting there.

I don't gig nowadays, but when I did so - decades ago - with three different bands in as many genres, there was a bass dedicated to each of them.

I'm in a similar situation, except the parts about becoming independently wealthy and not gigging - when I buy these days, it's generally to fill a perceived hole in my modest collection... I'm pretty picky about what I'll buy, and also refuse to pay more than I can get back out of something - so, some patience and vigilance is required...

 

[sheltjo6]

Nope. My first Warmoth Jazz bass I’ve assembled is still my go to bass.

The only other bass that gets as much play time is my G&L LB-100 because the song needs a P bass.

 

[Bassist Jay]

My deal with MM was a handshake deal, as are all their deals if I’m not mistaken. At least they were in 2004 when I hooked up with them. They were always fine with people playing other instruments, also. That’s one of the many things I love so much about those guys. I always got a sense that they REALLY cared about musicians, and making the best musical instruments they possible could. It seemed it was always about that, as opposed to just making as much money as they possibly could.

Was the deal you were offered with Musicman? If so, my only guess as to the response you got was that maybe they sensed you weren’t truly a lover of their instruments - and only looking for a discount? When I got my deal I had already been playing MMs for a while, and my love for their basses was clear - here on TB, and other places online.

I have used Ernie Ball/Music Man basses and guitars since 2010. I am currently endorsed by Killer B Guitars and was previously endorsed by Zane Guitars but with both companies, I only took the deals with the agreement that I could still use my Music Man basses. I would love to be endorsed by Music Man but don’t know if it will ever happen or not though? I will however, always be loyal to them. In 2010, I got my first Music Man bass, an EBMM Sterling 4H. I traded my Taylor acoustic guitar for it and joined their forum to learn more about them. A few weeks later, my wife would be diagnosed with breast cancer. Not knowing that EBMM only did Custom Shop builds for endorsed artists, I asked on the forum if I could get a custom made breast cancer awareness themed bass made to help raise awareness and use the bass to also raise funds to donate to places like The American Cancer Society etc. the fans on the forum then told me that the custom shop was only available to endorsed artists. Sterling Ball saw my post and agreed to build the bass. He then did something that I never expected. He donated 100% of the funds of the bass to our local Relay For Life team that year. Bass Central, where the bass was ordered from, also donated 100% of the money they would have made and then Sterling asked the fans on the forum to also donate to our team if they felt compelled. When this happened, I had never bought anything from Music Man so it wasn’t like I was some long time customer who had spent thousands of dollars to them. In total just from everyone on the forum, just under $8,000.00 was raised by our team that year. My family was very touched by everybody’s kindness and generosity. As a result, I vowed to always use Music Man and promote them as often as I could. Aside from that, I also really do like the basses and guitars that they build. I have owned and still own more EBMM’s than any other manufacturer of instruments.

 

[Spidey2112]

This is like asking which one of your kids is your favorite.

I tell each they're my favorite... then, I tell each not to tell their brother...

... it'll work, for awhile.

 

[KohanMike]

No, my newest is not necessarily my favorite. Of the 17 I have (one more is in the works), my 5th one, a mini P-bass from Smallguitars.com is my favorite. It sounds and plays best.

Since my ukulele group meets twice a week, it’s easy for me to to rotate through my collection, but when we have a gig coming up, I pick one (sometimes my newest, sometimes not) and only rehearse with that until the gig is done.

My favorite:

My newest: