One Bass to Rule Them all or multi basses?

[jd56hawk]

So I'm trying to decide whether or not to take my money and buy (1) expensive boutique bass or (2) above average Basses(Xotic, Elrick, Euro Spector, Wilkins Low End) see what I mean. I have my 73 Fender Jazz and that's it right now. I sold my other basses looking for something new....advice anyone...experience?

Reverend Thundergun
Plug this one in and try it out...passive, pure and potent, one of the best-kept secrets in the bass world. Nothing better in its price range.
Hard to leave the store without it...although I bought mine online.

 

[InhumanResource]

So I'm trying to decide whether or not to take my money and buy (1) expensive boutique bass or (2) above average Basses(Xotic, Elrick, Euro Spector, Wilkins Low End) see what I mean. I have my 73 Fender Jazz and that's it right now. I sold my other basses looking for something new....advice anyone...experience?

In my case it really came down to situations where I want a 5 string (L2500) or where I want a 4 string (passive fender precision). I absolutely could do all my gigs with the 5, but there's one group I play with where I really like using the fender.

You can do almost any type of music with any bass, so nowadays I tend to just buy what I like.

 

[G On Bass]

I have my 2 Wilkins basses, both PJ5s with different J pickups, electronics and positions. One always has flats, the other always rounds. They've covered everything genre I've ever needed to play for years and I can't imagine a single bass at any price that could come close to replacing what I have now. I always take 2 bassesto gigs anyway, so they both go.

I have a custom boutique bass with dual HBs that were once switchable (I goofed with it too much in the old days and kinda ruined a perfectly good wiring layout) but it never had the versatility of the PJ5s.

 

[DrBnz]

I need 20 to fill all the voids. Short scale, medium scale, multi-scale, 4 string, 5 string, 6 string, jazz, precision, "other", Ric (a special category), round wound, flat rounds and all the possible combinations. Yep. about 20 should cover it.

 

[msb]

I've wound up with over twenty looking for the one.

 

[amper]

So I'm trying to decide whether or not to take my money and buy (1) expensive boutique bass or (2) above average Basses(Xotic, Elrick, Euro Spector, Wilkins Low End) see what I mean. I have my 73 Fender Jazz and that's it right now. I sold my other basses looking for something new....advice anyone...experience?

I could never have just one bass, because I think different instruments suit different genres of music better. I suppose if you aren't interested in playing more than one genre or style, one bass could suit you very well, but for me, at the very least, I want my main instruments to be one fretted bass and one fretless bass, and I'd prefer them to be otherwise identical.

I think I'm moving back to the Jazz Bass platform for this, instead of my current StingRay, but I might go with 4 basses, and have two Jazz Basses and two StingRays. But, other than that, I also want to make room for one or two specialized instruments, like my 2003 Warwick Custom Shop short scale fretless Corvette Proline. And I'd love an archtop acoustic/electric like the Takamine TB10. Plus, I really love the NS Design Radius basses. Also, I'm a huge fan of what Sago is doing in Japan.

 

[Jefenator]

Can't be one to rule them all if there is no "all" - just sayin'.

 

[Bassman822]

Were it not for the close to11 lb weight on my 73 year old back, my 82 L2000E is the closest to a "one size fits all" bass!

 

[groovepump]

I need 20 to fill all the voids. Short scale, medium scale, multi-scale, 4 string, 5 string, 6 string, jazz, precision, "other", Ric (a special category), round wound, flat rounds and all the possible combinations. Yep. about 20 should cover it.

But then there's the colour options to account-for, and pick-guard type.

 

[neil|lien]

So I'm trying to decide whether or not to take my money and buy (1) expensive boutique bass or (2) above average Basses(Xotic, Elrick, Euro Spector, Wilkins Low End) see what I mean. I have my 73 Fender Jazz and that's it right now. I sold my other basses looking for something new....advice anyone...experience?

What i would do if i had 3000€ laying around is, instead of buying one boutique bass, buy two 1200€ basses & use the rest for hardcases, strings, maintenance stuff. But that's just me :0)

 

[Killing Floor]

Can't live without a P, J, MM, Fretless, Hollow. Oh, and at least a couple 5 strings too. You do you.

 

[SteveHeissner]

Reverend Thundergun
Plug this one in and try it out...passive, pure and potent, one of the best-kept secrets in the bass world. Nothing better in its price range.
Hard to leave the store without it...although I bought mine online.

 

[Gizmot]

What I've learned is that Fenders don't work for me and that I prefer having a bass with active EQ to have the tonal adjustment range I like.

 

[SomewhatHarmles]

I have space limitations, and mainly play guitar....so, I'm naively in the one bass camp (although, I'm jonesing to build another bass afterwards).

That being said, what's a truly good boutique bass?
I thought your "above average" basses were boutique.

 

[nonohmic]

Quality over quantity imo.

 

[bigjames]

So I'm trying to decide whether or not to take my money and buy (1) expensive boutique bass or (2) above average Basses(Xotic, Elrick, Euro Spector, Wilkins Low End) see what I mean. I have my 73 Fender Jazz and that's it right now. I sold my other basses looking for something new....advice anyone...experience?

Not to say that this is the be all end all, but I found Sadowsky Metros to be really comfortable and playable...so in 2012 I bit the bullet and bought a Sadowsky NYC 5 and never looked back.

 

[icehead]

Not to say that this is the be all end all, but I found Sadowsky Metros to be really comfortable and playable...so in 2012 I bit the bullet and bought a Sadowsky NYC 5 and never looked back.

Yeah, see that's what's on my mind sometimes.

 

[Bonafide]

Quality over quantity imo.

You can have both.

 

[Lee Moses]

Outside of TB, most bassists I've encountered have one bass they lean heavily on, if not exclusively. Anything else is just backup.

 

[DrBnz]

I need 20 to fill all the voids. Short scale, medium scale, multi-scale, 4 string, 5 string, 6 string, jazz, precision, "other", Ric (a special category), round wound, flat rounds and all the possible combinations. Yep. about 20 should cover it.

Oh jez.... I forgot fretless. I'm gonna need 21