Owning 5+ basses is like owning a dog

[kmon]

I have 5. Love them all. I play one for a while, then it starts sounding a little stale, so I grab another one off the wall and it'll sound soooo good. It's a change of scenery, it keeps things fresh and interesting.

The cycle repeats itself over and over...

I do seem to have a 6th spot that I flip one in and out of now and then. I've had several Peaveys and Stringrays in here...I can't seem to bond with one well enough to make that 6th spot permanent.

 

[Honkey tonk]

What ever makes you happy .

 

[Mikey F]

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And 4 more in cases.
All very different. All joys to own
Oddly, now that I'm building my own, I'm slowly divesting many pictured here.

*I'm a cat owner.

The equivalent of a cat lady I suppose (just I'm male)

Love that Dolphin!

 

[A9X]

Any thoughts ?

Yawn. Another one of these angsty threads. You do whatever you want with your 7, I'll do whatever I want with my 21.
Apart from the couple I play regularly, the others go in rotation at different times as I play differently on them.

 

[Mikey F]

Currently sitting on 7. I should probably start selling some stuff soon as well.

 

[Charlzm]

I own 7 basses. I love all of them but I also dont play all of them. I play EB flatwound strings. 30x7 is 210. Thats how much id have to spend to replace strings on all of them. Even if i put rounds on 2 of them or 3 it'd still be close to $200. I hate having a bass with dead strings, i feel like im not taking care of a bass if I do that and so i would say that owning 5+ basses is like owning a dog. You gotta be willing to invest the time and money, in my opinion. Im thinking of getting rid of 3 of them and sticking with 4. Id probly play 4 different basses but clearly not 7. I hate the idea of selling a bass but if it just sits around, what's the point ? Any thoughts ?

I'm with you; I have seven basses and I really want to move one of them out (two if the price is right). The remaining five all have their uses, though, so I guess I'm a 5 bass guy. Maybe more if I win the lottery and can start funding exploratory custom builds and/or find a Steinberger XL2 and play it and decide I love it...

 

[JRA]

Any thoughts ?

i recently found out that 6 axes are about my limit. a seventh one fouls my rotation routine. i play some more than others, but i can't seem to get to them all if a have 7 of them. i disassembled a few recently and i now have 5 that are playable/gig-able/rotatable. that will have to do until i get a bright idea for a sixth. i'll reassemble the others at some point and gift them...it's all i can do because i can only handle 6.

 

[logdrum]

So is having 20 basses like owning a horse, 1 bass is like having a guest moth or grasshopper?

 

[bassbrad]

Mine would be a herd at 15+. All my basses are different, sound, feel, strings, tunings, pickups and electronics. I have my main squeeze Taz but my #2 will change from time to time or gig to gig or what projects I'm working on at the time.

 

[logdrum]

First, claiming to “love a bass” (or more than one) is backwards. As one Dalai Lama stated:

“People were created to be loved. Things were created to be used. The reason why the world is in chaos is because things are being loved and people are being used.”

― Dalai Lama XIV

Moving right along...

We can certainly feel love for dogs; but, here is one further difference between dogs and basses: eventually the dog dies. Which is a particularly tough moment if you happen to be the one that has to hold the beloved family pet while the shot is administered. I’ll just leave that there.

I have put down 5 dogs and 4 horses in 21 years we have been in NM. The longest running dog reached 21 years. We rescued these horses as well but we used them for pony parties and lessons. But we may be closing shop soon, No wonder I can't fix my house.

I only have a few basses now 2 4-strings (one fretless) - 1 6-string and an 2 uprights )one is really a backup and won't sell for sentimental reasons). I play the upright more. Good thing about the uprights is I do not change strings until 5 years gave passed.

 

[Clark Westfield]

I have just 3 bass, all good ones.

No need for the 4th.

Been buying and selling Basses until I finally found the ‘ones’.

 

[RichardW]

Hey, I've got three kids too, and I love them all differently.

Three basses here and sometimes I toy with the idea of a fourth, but if I wait the urge usually passes. The nice thing about multiple basses is that after 6 - 8 months of playing one of them, it feels like I'm discovering an old friend when I pick up one of the others. I've been playing my P almost exclusively for a long time and last week picked up my Epiphone JCB and it was like: "wow! this bass is amazing!"

 

[MoeTown1986]

I like matching my Basses with my outfit or the type of venue we are playing. I have 23 currently. Never too many.

 

[GretschWretch]

If basses pooped like dogs, you'd have only one bass.

 

[Drkwdsman]

5 Basses with DR Low Bottoms and DR High Beams + Enough Basses to play till Christmas = Strings as stocking stuffers.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

I own 7 basses. I love all of them but I also dont play all of them. I play EB flatwound strings. 30x7 is 210. Thats how much id have to spend to replace strings on all of them. Even if i put rounds on 2 of them or 3 it'd still be close to $200. I hate having a bass with dead strings, i feel like im not taking care of a bass if I do that and so i would say that owning 5+ basses is like owning a dog. You gotta be willing to invest the time and money, in my opinion. Im thinking of getting rid of 3 of them and sticking with 4. Id probly play 4 different basses but clearly not 7. I hate the idea of selling a bass but if it just sits around, what's the point ? Any thoughts ?

So, you play flatwounds, but hate having dead strings? Flatwounds don't die. They even out.

 

[JPaulGeddy]

I'm generally a minimalist, 2-3 tops. I'm a little over that at the moment, so trying to Marie Kondo the place. Only 2 really spark joy, so seriously looking at moving the rest.

 

[/\/\3phist0]

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yeah, well, when your kitty is the pick of the litter.?

 

[/\/\3phist0]

My god, how do you people afford this?!

Me? Gig money + a fair amount of shrewd horse trading. (refurbishing neglected instruments and equipment to trade or sell, that I find for a fantastic price)

 

[dbsfgyd1]

I own 7 basses. I love all of them but I also dont play all of them. I play EB flatwound strings. 30x7 is 210. Thats how much id have to spend to replace strings on all of them. Even if i put rounds on 2 of them or 3 it'd still be close to $200. I hate having a bass with dead strings, i feel like im not taking care of a bass if I do that and so i would say that owning 5+ basses is like owning a dog. You gotta be willing to invest the time and money, in my opinion. Im thinking of getting rid of 3 of them and sticking with 4. Id probly play 4 different basses but clearly not 7. I hate the idea of selling a bass but if it just sits around, what's the point ? Any thoughts ?

I hate dead strings too. I hate to hear other bassist’s dead strings even more.

You need tools to do a job. My question, can you do your job as a bassist with fewer basses? Can you create your art to a fulfilling level with less?

If were me, a 4 and a 5 string, and a fretless. I have a 4 and a 5er, no fretless due to being almost 68, still trying to figure out all the possibilities of the two that I have, and I’m running out of time...Lol!