Owners of multiple basses: anyone else do this?

[Max Blasto]

All of mine get played, but as the gigs come and go, which one is the "main" bass changes over time.

I hadn't played my ABG in a long while but recently had a gig that required it. I put new strings on it and the zingy happy tones jumping out of it made it so I couldn't put it down for a month! I pretty much leaned into a new band just so I could use it.

Just today I was experimenting with a new dirt pedal and for some reason brought out my hollowbody, which had also been sitting recently. Holy Shnoggwhistles, Batman! I sounded like Jack Casady on Bless It's Pointed Little Head. I'd been using that bass for a blues band that is on vacation and it never occured to me to use it with the dirt pedal.

Each of my basses has a very different personality, but they all share one trait: they are very competitive and want to jump to the head of the line.

What to do, what do do...

 

[Marko 1]

Since going to fivers I went without a P for years and enjoyed rotating as I felt like it.

Then they came out with the Squier VM-P5 and between the light-weight of mine and the sound preference of my buddies, that kinda took over .

I actually like the feel of the Yamaha BB the most, but... :idk:

 

[Rumble Thunder]

I admit that I should probably lighten up. But at the moment I have my choice of 22 instruments. Fenders, Peaveys, Rickenbackers, and Spectors....multiples of each. At home I rotate them all and enjoy each and every one of them. But on a gig, since I'm not a 5 string player and need low D and E flat, I always, always play a Kubicki. I do bring a backup though......another Kubicki. Until my need for a slightly extended range changes that's the way it will be. .......what was the question again?

Man, try a G&L ASAT bass...playability is touchmatic, sounds like a beast and looks like a Tele. I love mine and it plays different than the Ric and Fenders for extra added fun. Any basses you want to sell?

 

[Kirk Bryant]

How many ingredients are in the cocktail? That's the number I bring to the table.
How many tools will the job require? That's the number I bring to the gig.

Rehearsals? One
Gigs? always two, sometimes three

 

[chris_b]

I rotate my basses every time I buy a new one.

In the last 50 years I've owned 10 basses.

Buying a bass is a slow process with me!

 

[alack]

I chose "random" simple because my musical situation rarely if ever changes. But my choice isn't really random. I've found different basses work better than others in certain venues. A month later I may come back to the same venue and have a completely different experience. Sometimes my back isn't up for holding my P bass for three sets. There are nights when the J just feels better. I always bring two so I have a 2nd option.

 

[rtsobon]

Hey TB, hope you're all having a good evening. So I'm in my basement music room, learning songs for my latest project. Really diggin' my USA Fender PJ, black/rosewood with Dimarzio Area pickups. Jamming to some Ian Moore, fits perfect. Rocking to Black Crowes, awesome. I get 10 songs in and put it down to swap it with my other Fender PJ, silverburst/maple, Delano pickups. Next song bass is just meh. Another song, blah. A third song gets halfway through before I switch back to the first bass. Ahhh, much better.
So, here's my deal. I own 6 basses. At any given time 1 of those basses just feels like home. I'll use it to learn songs, at rehearsal, or at a gig for a few weeks to a few months. Then one day I'll pick up another and whoa, it knocks my socks off! So now that'll be "the one" for a while. Right now the black PJ is it. Before that the MIA Jazz with EMGs was it for 3 months. Before that the USA Geddy was it for a while....
Any of you multi-bass owners do this too? Do you have a favorite, go-to bass or does it constantly change like it does for me? I ask because in all the (many,many,many) bands I've played with I've never met a guitarist that rotates instruments like I do.

(Also, this is not GAS related or due to any of them being new aquisitions.)

I have five basses. I like them all equally, but depending on the type of music or what I'm in the mood to play I will grab a 4 string or 5 string, fretted or fretless. Recently I have been playing my Yamaha TRBX305.

 

[mpdd]

live i always use my 83 L2000 for its insane output and freakishly dark tone even with rounds
for recording i either use my sb-2 with flats or my LB100 with rounds
my bacchus jazz was purchased to use with pedals, but i'm mostly using it for goofing around at the house

 

[rumblejunkie]

Ive owned a few basses in the past few years and currently have 4 , but Ive never bonded with an instrument the way I have with my cheapass Harley Benton BZ4000 . It just ticks all the boxes for me just now and is a pleasure to play .

 

[jd56hawk]

Hey TB, hope you're all having a good evening. So I'm in my basement music room, learning songs for my latest project. Really diggin' my USA Fender PJ, black/rosewood with Dimarzio Area pickups. Jamming to some Ian Moore, fits perfect. Rocking to Black Crowes, awesome. I get 10 songs in and put it down to swap it with my other Fender PJ, silverburst/maple, Delano pickups. Next song bass is just meh. Another song, blah. A third song gets halfway through before I switch back to the first bass. Ahhh, much better.
So, here's my deal. I own 6 basses. At any given time 1 of those basses just feels like home. I'll use it to learn songs, at rehearsal, or at a gig for a few weeks to a few months. Then one day I'll pick up another and whoa, it knocks my socks off! So now that'll be "the one" for a while. Right now the black PJ is it. Before that the MIA Jazz with EMGs was it for 3 months. Before that the USA Geddy was it for a while....
Any of you multi-bass owners do this too? Do you have a favorite, go-to bass or does it constantly change like it does for me? I ask because in all the (many,many,many) bands I've played with I've never met a guitarist that rotates instruments like I do.

(Also, this is not GAS related or due to any of them being new aquisitions.)

Excellent post. I feel the same way. For a while it was my Squier CV Jazz in Inca Silver, every time I picked it up and plugged it in I was amazed by how good it sounded. Then, I bought a Fender PJ, the Seafoam Pearl model...excellent bass, maybe the best MIM made.
Three weeks ago I bought a G&L Tribute L-2000 and I just couldn't wait to bring it to rehearsal.
Last Friday I brought home my USA-made G&L SB-2 and I knew I'd found the perfect bass. This will definitely be my bass for playing live!
And the funny thing is, every time I grab this one and hook it up to my Markbass CMD-121P, I forget about all the other basses!

 

[gjohnson441496]

I don't like having a lot of choices. I have two basses, a Precision bass and a Jazz bass, both passive. One of those will have to work.

 

[Novarocker]

I always think I have found "the" bass, right up until I find the next bass.

@Dr. Cheese and I seem to share that affliction.

But my next bass is already here, it's in my basement hanging up. This is not the "ooooo shiny new toy" syndrome that we all get. I've owned these for years. When I move on I don't sell it as I'll eventually get back to it being "the one".

I'd say I'm in the same boat...granted I've only had 5 basses (no more than 3 at once) and of the two I have now, one has a broken nut. It was a MIM Jazz that I always used, and it broke shortly after I got my current workhorse (MIM PJ Special) so I haven't been able to rotate. Knock on wood, cuz I haven't repaired it in 2 years of regular gigging because the PJ hasn't gone down. Although, I still remember how much I love that Jazz and I know as soon as I fix it I'll be rotating it regularly.

None of the options really describes me. My absolute favorite bass is my DJ5, but I enjoy playing every bass I own. I go through periods of focusing on one bass more than the others because they all have attributes that I feel are good for what I do, or at least try to do.

I'd have to say this is how I see myself being. I was the same with most of my guns in paintball and gear in lacrosse. I'll have a workhorse, but everything with get good rotation and love. Just one will be there for when it really matters.

 

[deeptubes]

In the mancave, I rotate em between the walls and floor stands. I leave one at the practice room. It gets rotated, too. One is a role player, drop D. I try to spread the love evenly.

 

[zontar]

Since I only have 2 basses I have an easier choice--and since I prefer fretless that one gets most of the playign time.
However as I also play guitar & mandolin (sort of)--I do mix that up & spread around the playing time.
But my mood and the context also affects my choice.

 

[gillento]

I have 4 basses: 2 Nordy VP5 with different wood/PU combinations. Those are my main basses with my 2 respective bands.
The ash/maple for the band I am mainly using a pick and the alder/RW for the other band where I play mainly with the fingers.
The Reverend R5L is the "better" JJ, to my ears.
The Epi Jack Casady is mainly for semi acoustic type gigs.

So, to me I chose my basses according to the musical context I am in.

 

[bassclef112]

I have a good number of basses, all gleaned over the years and I enjoy them all.
I take a different bass on each gig. I used to bring 2 just for variety, but my back
started complaining.

They all provide what I need so I find it very enjoyable
to be able to select whatever strikes me for the gig at hand.

Variety is the spice of life!

 

[BrewsterRooster]

I am a J guy, and for quite awhile I used two. One was tuned E standard, the other D standard. I took both on gigs and used the latter on tunes that called for it, assuming I could make the swap under the given gig conditions. If I ever broke a string on the first bass (which I mercifully never did), the D standard bass could be re-tuned quickly.

I have an affliction, though. Strong pitch recognition linked with strong proprioceptive memory. I found myself using the D-standard bass very little, and then only for pretty straightforward tunes without many changes. When I'd fret (for instance) fifth fret "A" string, my ear demanded a D note. Since the alternative tuning made a C instead, my hands/ears became a confused mess. In order to play it I had to force myself to forget all about tonality and go strictly with fingerboard geometry. Easy with simple progressions, trickier with more in-depth stuff; regardless, it limited the usefulness of the second bass.

The obvious answer was a 5-string, although knowing that I'd be re-climbing that extra string learning curve, I avoided it for awhile. When I finally got my senses about me I went after a Yamaha TRBX505, which I really like. Pickup configuration is basically J-style, I can favor one pickup with the balance control and get familiar tones out of it, it's comfortable and easy to play, it sounds great in either active or passive mode, and I feel like the overall value was fantastic. I had it set up around the same strings I use on my Js, and lately it's been my main player with the 4-string E standard J as a backup. The other J is scheduled to become fretless when I have some spare time for a project.

On the occasions I work with a specific musical friend playing acoustic-based Americana, though, I always use the J. It has a more organic sound that's soul-matched to his acoustic guitar like Oreos and milk. So in all fairness, I do use both basses depending on the context.

 

[ak56]

I choose between whether I want a four with rounds, a four with flats, or a 5+ stringer, depending on what would work best for the week's songs (church gig). But for each of those categories, I have multiples that I rotate through pretty regularly. "Oh, I played this one last time, so now I'll use that one" sort of thing.

Very similar situation, church gig as well. Choice is between short-scale passive four with flats, or 35" scale active with rounds. Whichever one seems to fit that weeks songs best, or if no strong contender, the one I didn't play the last time.

 

[fghtffyrdmns]

My main is my American Deluxe Jazz, but I swap out with my hollowbody depending on the song with my band. I feel like I'm one of the only bassists in my local scene that actually switches basses mid-set, but for some songs, my hollowbody with flats just sounds perfect, and has a fullness I can't really get from my Jazz. I'll also use my Jazz any time I have to switch tunings on the fly, since my Aria doesn't have the greatest tuners on it, and it can take a while to actually get it dialed in.

 

[7615]

Well- I have a several- 2004 Fretless G&L 5 string (see my profile pic), 2004 Fretted G&L 5 String, 99 Warwick Corvette Pro 5 String, 78 Fender Jazz (Antigua- love the 70's avocado green), 64 Gretsch 6071, and my 2014 Upton upright. I play the upright mainly in a bluegrass band and sometimes in the Americana band when it fits. I mostly cycle between the fretted G&L and the Warwick. Each time I go away from the Warwick, when I pick it up, my hands just know it. The bass feels like home. But inevitably, I pick up another bass and play it for a while, always returning back to that Warwick. Can't explain why either- it's the feel more than the sound, which is why I tend to cycle through other basses.

I haven't bonded with my Gretsch yet. I like playing it, the sound is great, but the feel is off.

I have a 64 6071 as well. Just got it and love it. For a 29" scale it plays like a big bass. I put Thomastik flats on it and it is much better than the rounds it came with. I play all kinds of old era Gretsch basses,it was the most recent to the stable.