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Moving - how many basses do you really need?

#23
3, 2 fretted 4 strings and a fretless. I need a backuo/alternate for my fretted, but I don't play fretless enough to need more than 1 fretless at the moment.

Maybe eventually if I get into 5/6 strings I might need more, or maybe I might want a short scale. But right now I have my basses (pun intended) well covered.

(Worth mentioning though I also play guitar, so that cuts down on how many basses I can store and manage)
 
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#25
Are you serious? I went out of the house (separation) on sep 2023. I was a guest at my cousin home for nine months. When on last june 2024 I finally bought my small flat, I brought with me ALL of my basses, guitars, CDs, amps, cabs! Could not even think of downsizing my stable. But this is me, and I am bass sick. Completely. I mean: I don't "need" all of my basses, but they actually ARE part of me. I threw my main stereo system, lots of books, clothes and all the other not important stuff: if I need, I can always buy new ones. But my basses, guitars? No way... But (again) this is me...
 
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#26
I’ve got a small herd of instruments these days:

Basses:
EBMM StingRay 4H, EBMM StingRay Special 5H, Modulus FU 4, Rickenbacker 4003s, Fender Ultra II Jazz, Fender AmProII Precision, Fender MIJ Precision.

Guitars:
Gibson Les Paul, PRS CE24, Fender AmStd Stratocaster, Squier CV Telecaster, Yamaha Acoustic.

I could get by with just my Stingray 4H, Les Paul, and acoustic, but I don’t need to. I’ve got the space, each instrument brings something unique to the table, and music has been my hobby for so long now it could legally drink. I don’t think it’s necessarily a problem with where I am in life right now, and I admittedly have no desire to add anything else.

If you like what you have then enjoy it. Don’t stress if you don’t play something all the time. I haven’t touched my Tele in a year, but I know the second I sold it I’d get into a country kick and be wishing I had it back. Again, I got the space and the means so why not just relax and be thankful for what you do have? No need to look for problems where there seemingly are none.
 
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#27
6 is my number, because at 6 they all see some play time. 1 is for travel. 1 is a J with rounds. 1 active 'ray with flats. 1 passive BFR 'ray with rounds. 1 sadowsky MM/J with rounds. 1 G&L L2K with rounds. All BEAD 4 strings. I could easily get to 3 but don't feel a current need to do so.
 
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#28
shirojiro said:
I think the real answer to the question in the Subject line is one.

But I think many of us have way more than that.

I'm in the middle of moving, and I had one bass with me for a month - a recently acquired Sterling Ray 34 with an ash body in a natural finish with Cobalt flats and roast maple neck and fretboard. It's a great bass. It sounds and plays great, but I have to admit that I missed having a few other sounds.

I went and grabbed a few other basses. Interestingly, they're all 4 strings.
I grabbed:
Fender Geddy Jazz MIJ
Ibanez RKB900 with Cobalt flats MIJ PJ bass
Harmony ash and maple P bass with Hi-A pickups.

Even this feels like a embarrassment of riches with 4 basses.

The variety of tones is great, but I miss the simpler days when I had only one and I played the same bass for years on end.

That said, I still can't just get rid of the rest of the herd /platoon.

I guess the silver lining is that a really do like all of my basses and each one sounds great to me.
Click to expand...
While the concept of thinning the herd is appealing, somehow I always end up turning into greedy Bilbo when it comes time to actually do it 🤣
 
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#29
I'm a fretless player, so I absolutely need a spare. Trying to learn to deal with frets, so I need one with. Gotta have the doghouse too. End of the world scenario: Take the old sunburst tort P.
20250101_205322.jpg
 
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#33
shirojiro said:
I think the real answer to the question in the Subject line is one.

But I think many of us have way more than that.

I'm in the middle of moving, and I had one bass with me for a month - a recently acquired Sterling Ray 34 with an ash body in a natural finish with Cobalt flats and roast maple neck and fretboard. It's a great bass. It sounds and plays great, but I have to admit that I missed having a few other sounds.

I went and grabbed a few other basses. Interestingly, they're all 4 strings.
I grabbed:
Fender Geddy Jazz MIJ
Ibanez RKB900 with Cobalt flats MIJ PJ bass
Harmony ash and maple P bass with Hi-A pickups.

Even this feels like a embarrassment of riches with 4 basses.

The variety of tones is great, but I miss the simpler days when I had only one and I played the same bass for years on end.

That said, I still can't just get rid of the rest of the herd /platoon.

I guess the silver lining is that a really do like all of my basses and each one sounds great to me.
Click to expand...
Three is my magic number. One main player/work horse. One back-up for the inevitable mid-set failure. One with a different configuration for variety/recording.

P-P-J covers everything I need.
 
#34
I've got 6 right now, and that number will probably grow slightly as I'm still figuring out what it is I'd want as my perfect number 1. To be fair, some of them were gifts, so there is some emotional attachment to those. But each of them also has something that isn't quiet everything. Close though.
 
#36
I recently retired from public service and been giving more thought to doing a good down-sizing on my collection of instruments. I'm not moving or anything, I'd just rather have rather have the assets be liquid than hard in the next few years. The extra space would be nice too. I don't necessarily need to sell, don't have any basses (or guitars) I particularly dislike, I'd just like to move a few if/when a good time happens.

The really hard part is deciding which ones to let go or keep. I've gotten really attached to a few of them. I don't quite know how to address that. I know some on here say if you haven't played bass X for Y number of weeks, then sell it. That just doesn't work for me... I could change my mind or appetite in a flash. Just because I haven't circled back to one in a while doesn't mean I won't.

*the answer to the question though... for me, it's my upright. I have to have that.
 
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#37
It can depend on where you're moving. When I moved from the U.S. to France, I went on a short scale bass buying spree. If the basses/guitars you import into France are more than 6 months old, you don't need to pay the 30% import duty. So, I bought several new and figured that the 6+ months they'd spend in storage and shipping via Rotterdam would allow me to honestly say that they were used.

I am in complete agreement with the posts above that said "all of them"! :bassist: :cool: 👍
 
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#38
You’re good with what you have, IMO. As previously stated, you’re well within the limits of collection sanity. :)

I’ve gotten down 3 and I’d be hard pressed to divest any further. It’s my cabinetry I’m thinking about. My wife and I have discussed a move into smaller digs.
 

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