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One Bass Only: A short treatise

#81
HeadyVan Halen said:
..... if your playing out, you almost really need 2. Just in case.
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I always bring a backup,if for nothing else, just as a backup.
I only broke a string once in ten yrs of playing out.That one time, I did not have a backup.

Its a maaaajor inconvenience to stop the show to change a string....or not stop -and have the band continue on...bassless until you get it fixed.

I say 2 bass min, even if its just a crappy $5 beater sears & roebuck bass or whatever...the show must go on.

If you aren't playing out,..or just a basement party or whathaveyou...then..do as you will.
:bassist::bassist:

YMMV
 
#83
Bassdirty said:
I always bring a backup,if for nothing else, just as a backup.
I only broke a string once in ten yrs of playing out.That one time, I did not have a backup.

Its a maaaajor inconvenience to stop the show to change a string....or not stop -and have the band continue on...bassless until you get it fixed.

I say 2 bass min, even if its just a crappy $5 beater sears & roebuck bass or whatever...the show must go on.

If you aren't playing out,..or just a basement party or whathaveyou...then..do as you will.
:bassist::bassist:

YMMV
Click to expand...
Breaking a string isn't the only thing that can happen, either. People always act like it is in these threads.
 
#84
I felt like I only needed one but had three, until over the last five months twice I found great deals on an Epi tbird NIB and two weeks ago a Squier VM Jazz and siad look at how cheap this is Honey! And she said buy it! Who am I to argue? They all live in our tiny living room with us. ...so happy together.

EDIT: I'd like to add that I admire the OP for his reasoning in requiring only one. Family first!
 
#85
Unless I decided I needed rather then just kinda wanted a 2nd bass again. I'll prob be sticking to just my one bass. Moved to houston with 1 bass and 2 guitars and now I;m back to that. Main diff between the 2 guitars is the body shapes. Part of me wants a 2nd bass again just to have one. But in some ways Id rather spend that money on a Korg Kaoscillator pro. Lol.
 
#90
I have a 5 string J and a 4 string 'wick. Covers all the sounds in my head. I wouldn't mind a fretless P either.

I get the argument about this bass sounds better for this or that, and to non-bassits they may not tell the difference, so just use whatever. It makes a difference to me, personally I like using a 4 or a 5 depending on the style of music as well. My bandmates have had preference for my gear as well.

I wish I could just have a one gun mentality, but it never works out for me. Right now, two basses are satisfying me quite well.
 
#92
I am a firm believer that everyone should own whatever they want and can afford. Let's be straight--basses are cool as can be. I love seeing people's "family pics" of their big bass collections. I am happy for people when they score on a NBD and add a new one to their stable.

But I am happy to let others own multiple basses. I've played for over 30 years and during much of that time only owned one bass at any given time.

For me, one bass is plenty. However, I hope to take up gigging again at some point and I can definitely see the benefit to at least owning a backup.

But for just doing home playing and recording, and maybe just casual no-gigging jamming with friends, I not only think one bass is good enough for me, I actually like only having one. Of course, this is just me--I am not talking for or judging anyone else in any way. There's no "right or wrong" answer to how many basses a person "should" have.
 
#93
I have a MIM Jazz and a 5 string Carvin. I just started gigging again after a few years of not being able to. I started off with the carvin and couldn't remember where my jazz even was. My wife found it for me and it was like I just got a new bass. The funniest thing happened after that. When I would play the jazz it felt so good it was like I was playing a new bass. Then I would pick up a song that had a low D or C and I would take the carvin out with me and felt like I had a new bass! It is awesome to feel like you have a new bass and not ever need to spend any more money. I hardly ever pick up any other basses at the music store as I have been spending money on a gig worthy amp set up so it has distracted me from wanting another bass for now. I have thought about taking both with me to my gigs but never do. You guys have scared me into thinking that is probably a good idea though.:hmm:
 
#96
bigcardinal said:
I feel that I should only need to own one bass. A series of introspective thoughts have lead me to this conclusion.

Simple economics is the most obvious reason: I can't seem to justify having multiple instruments that (for all intents and purposes) do the same thing, especially since I am a family man and feel that the money could/should be used elsewhere first.

I like the idea of only having one. An escape from the "Tyranny of Choice" that we all experience on a daily basis in almost every physical level of our lives. There is only one to chose. Less time fumbling around with different instruments and tones, and more time playing.

Furthermore, the idea of only one seems to coincide with other aesthetic and philosophical concepts that I value and TRY to live by: simplicity, humility, lack of redundency/duplication and excess.

But, perhaps most simply put, it is a slightly forced attempt to make it more about the music and less about the gear.

I don't mean to sound preachy or condescending in any way. Whether you have 1 bass or 100, that is your choice and you should not need to feel bad or defensive in any way. This note is mostly just a self-affirmation and a starter for discussion.

Any one else feel roughly the same way?
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If one bass covers all of the genres of music you are playing then that is the only consideration. Being philosophical is fine but basses are also tools that have to be right if we are to make a viable living. Most pro bassists have to be versatile especially for recording situations. But it is certainly possible to have a bass that you know will cover most situations, especially live. If you are a philosopher, then the zen of 1 bass sounds articulate. If one must use the bass for essential monies then as many as you can use/afford.
 
#97
If one Bass will cover all your needs, that's great.

My Precision with rounds is "first call" for most gigs, and the one I take to sub gigs where I haven't played with a band before and don't know their stuff. Great for Roots through to aggressive rock.

Unfortunately while excellent for straight fingerstyle, as a slap Bass it is, frankly, a turd; if I know I'll be slapping a bit I take my Ibanez ATK.
 
#99
If you could design one bass to do all of the following:
1) Be fretted.

2) Also be fretless.

3) Be 4 string OR 5 string

4) Be fretless with the flats on it, OR with the rounds on it

5) Be upright

6) Have different pickup configs for different sounds

7) Have different wood combos for different sounds

8) Be an ABG

Until you can design this sucker for me, I will always have between 5 and 10 basses.
 
#100
tbassist4 said:
In the overall tonal spectrum, an electric bass is an electric bass. A P-bass can do what a J-bass can do and vice versa - and this carries over for every electric bass. We think that basses sound so different from one another because we're so used to listening to them and picking apart every element of their sound. To a guitarist or to an average listener, they probably wouldn't be able to tell which you were playing unless they saw it, or had experience with basses. Even bass players often can't tell them apart, as has been demonstrated here on TB with several blind tests including a J vs. P bass in a recording.

Consider it this way: In the world of classical double bass, you soon realize that every bass you pick up has a vastly different character, but to a cello/violin/viola player, they might only notice huge differences (like a 4k instrument vs. a 25k instrument). In addition - despite these apparent vast differences, there is no consistency forced in double bass sections - except perhaps that an instrument be of a certain quality level. There's so much tonal overlap between DBs that the nuances are actually quite small in comparison. Much more has to do with your playing and technique than the instrument itself. The same goes for electric bass.

Really the only reason to own more than one bass is for yourself. It's not as if you picked up a music man and it was all of a sudden incapable of doing pop, or you picked up a P-bass and all of a sudden it refused to be played in a jazz trio. In the objective musical world if you have one nice bass that plays well, is comfortable, and your technique is up to snuff, you'll be able to do everything out there and sound really good.
Click to expand...

The truth. Having a back-up is prudent. Otherwise - bang on.

(Most of the professional bassists I have met require only a DB and a single EB to meet their needs)
 

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