Owning 5+ basses is like owning a dog

[Sgtpepper89]

Up until a few months ago I had 29. I’m down to 18. I miss 29.

Im gonna assume your profile picture also happen to be a few months old

 

[Ostie]

I had 7 basses for a while. Sold a couple off. I don’t change strings that often, and I certainly wouldn’t change all of them at once. Spread it out.

 

[GretschWretch]

My kitty is the pick of the litter!
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And you even have a tort cat.

 

[GretschWretch]

I have 12 wonderful basses and I play each one on rotation weekly. I try not to pick a favorite as they all are special to me in some way. Each time I pick one up it is just as exciting and enjoyable to play as the first time.

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Six headless. One each for Henry VIII's wives.

 

[philthygeezer]

I wonder what the minimum would be...

Precision, Jazz, Stingray, Mustang (or other short scale), Bongo (or Rickenbacker/Ritter/Fbass/Dingwall or other active etc.)

One each with rounds, one each with flatwounds. Covers the need for a backup in each flavor. Could have both maple and rosewood fretboards too.

Oh, and a five string fretless for something completely different.

That's eleven, minimum. nine if you drop the Bongo. Good for a variety of finishes too!

 

[Cliff Colton]

Just one. It leaves more time for the hang.

 

[shadven]

Yeah I'm going through a phase of detaching myself emotionally from ANYTHING I don't use.

My half dozen basses all get used. But I'm going to get down to one cab and a couple of heads.

To me, It's more like owning more than one car. Even if you don't drive them both, you have to maintain them both. It becomes more of a hassle and a chore rather than something that brings you joy.

These days I'm focusing more on people than I am things. Just my recent approach.

I’ve been watching you, Bucko. No way, one head and one cab? Sounds impossible to me. I think you need the big gig rig and the small gig rig. Maybe one MESA head could cover both, but cabs you need two.

 

[MattB88]

Im gonna assume your profile picture also happen to be a few months old

HAHA!! 5 years now actually. Since it’s how I make my living she’s actually extremely supportive and doesn’t mind. I found an amazing woman!!!!

 

[lowfreqgeek]

I had 7 basses about a decade ago. Now I have 14 + upright. A few have rounds that don't get changed often, and a few have flats that don't get changed at all. The rest end up getting strings as needed, but not as often as when I had just a few basses and was changing strings every couple of weeks (or more). Of course, I don't play as much now as I used to, so that helps in that regard. Also, I don't go for the super-shiny sounds now that I did 15 years ago, so I like the deader/warmer strings as a general rule, and generally have a zingy set on at least one P and/or J for when I need that sound. I'm doing more studio work lately than live, for obvious reasons, so it's nice to grab what the song calls for and go.

 

[GodPlayedBass]

Easy Question: just play flatwounds like every REAL bassplayer
A one time investion, they sound better, the older they are and you have time and money for three dogs and more basses (with flatwounds on them).

If you read the post, you'd see that i already play flats. Jaco didnt tho

 

[two fingers]

I’ve been watching you, Bucko. No way, one head and one cab? Sounds impossible to me. I think you need the big gig rig and the small gig rig. Maybe one MESA head could cover both, but cabs you need two.

Ha! The SVT is sold (being delivered Sunday). The Walkabout rig is next. I'm scaling down.

I'm not buying another cab until I try that 115 out in rehearsal and at a gig. If it's enough, it'll fly solo!

The 19mm spaced 5 string G&L rumor has my attention. That means some basses will have to go soon too.

 

[electracoyote]

Sometimes owning a dog is like owning three dogs. In that case, I own about two Great Danes' worth of basses.

(My boy Jet with my wife)

 

[BAG]

I'm currently sitting at 6 and would like to reduce that number but just can't do it.......

• Short Scale travel bass. Cost around $130 Aud ($95 Usd). Goes with me on most business or leisure travel. No point selling it.
• Short Scale Squier Jag. Cost $365 Aud ($260 Usd) in a hard case delivered to my door in rural Australia. A fantastic neck and good P pickup. I'd probably get more for it now than I paid but I'd never find one as good for the money so it stays even though it hardly ever gets played.
• Franken P bass. Because it's a P bass and has one of the best fretted custom necks I've ever played. Until recently my #1 and will probably soon again be #1
• Franken Fretless. Because.... fretless. Gotta have one and this too has a fantastic feeling custom neck.
• LTD FB208 8-string. Big sound..... huge sound..... so good in a three piece and for other different sounds.
• Ibanez SR1200. Recently purchased because I wanted something active and modern. It is soooooo nice and comfortable to play and has become the current #1. Changing back from the SR to my Franken P now feels a bit like going from a small sports car with fitted seat to a pickup truck..... but a really familiar and great sounding pickup truck.

 

[gtlover]

I’ve currently got 8 basses and 5 guitars.
I also have 3 dogs (a Corgi/Chihuahua, a Great Dane/Black Lab, and an Olde English Bulldogge).
I don’t have a monthly food delivery subscription for my basses, nor do my basses pee on my bed. My basses do not rack up thousands of dollars in vet bills from injuring themselves.

 

[Nakoatron]

You know which one to sell me haha

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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)

 

[Wasnex]

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 think your logic may be a bit flawed. In my experiences strings don't go dead just sitting on an instrument. They go dead when you play them, especially if you don't wipe the bass down when you are done.

So if you rotate through more basses, you spend less time on each instruments, and the strings should last longer, providing you demonstrate good instrument hygiene.

If you're like me, you will probably spend most of your time playing one bass. If you like that nice zingy round wound sound, you will have to change strings more often on your #1.

I have 7 basses and most of them stay in their case. I take each bass out a couple of times a years, play it for an hour or maybe few days. Then I wipe it down and put it back in the case. I have never been one to change strings very often, but several of my bases still have fairly fresh strings, even though they have been on the basses for a few years now.

Each bass is unique, so I hate to sell any of them, but I could sell most of them and it would be no big deal. I still have my the first bass I ever bought, but sadly it has been Frankensteined. It plays well but it's worth a fraction of what it would have been worth if I left it stock.

As far as how many instruments you should keep. That's really up to you. If you still enjoy each of your basses, then I say there is no harm in keeping it, unless you need to money to fund some other purchase. If a bass is just taking up space and it's a hassle to have to play it, then time to sell.

But I don't think you should feel guilty because simply because a bass is not getting enough playing time. The bass does not care and there are plenty of basses out there for anyone who wants one. The only thing that matters IMHO is whether owning the bass gives you enough joy to justify keeping it.

 

[lomo]

I have 6 basses (and am eyeing a 7th).....but none of them sleeps in my bed at night or wakes me up with a cold nose at 6:30 am for a belly rub, piss and stroll.

 

[bcamp]

I still have my first bass, a Japanese P Bass copy from a pawn shop. Also have my first real bass, a '68 Blond Telecaster Bass that I bought with high school graduation money and a '72 Telecaster Bass that came from college graduation money. I've collected a pile of bass guitars, double basses, other instruments and amps since then and dead strings or not I'll never part with any of them as long as there's a place to keep them handy. I sold a guitar once about 25 years ago and I still wish I had it back. Never sell any gear, you'll be sorry some day!

 

[buldog5151bass]

Any instrument I'm not playing, I'm selling.

But at least a bass won't eat your Real Book. Ask me how I know...

 

[Joecooch]

I own 5 at the moment with an Eastwood SB-1000 due out of production and shipped to me in January. I have EB Cobalt Flats on my Warmoth 51 Precision, and on my LTD D-4. On the rest of them including my Warwick Corvette, I have roundwound nickle strings whatever is on sale. I play them all but the Warwick by far the most played and the D-4 next. Both go with me to gigs because the sound between the two is very different. I've had as many as 9, and as few as 2. There's no right number. If I like it and can afford it I'll buy it and maybe sell one of the others.