Owning 5+ basses is like owning a dog

[iriegnome]

Whew... after reading this I was worried. I am down to 20, but am looking at a couple others. Crazy talk I say

 

[Funk With Me]

I have 10 at the moment. Two of them, a Ric 4004L and a Stingray 5, are good candidates for being sold. I have been procrastinating. If there was something I needed the cash for I might be a little bit more motivated, but I have too many amps too.

 

[Funk With Me]

I might add that some of you are really sick.

 

[Rumblefisher]

Put flats on all of them. No more buying strings. Convert them all to passive. No more battery expense. Use the saved money to buy more basses!

I kinda convert all of mine to flats so as not to eat the frets and not put dings in the fretboard

 

[TroyK]

I can't imagine what I would do with 7 basses, but I'm glad I don't have to contemplate life without Jilly.

 

[CallMeAl]

I'm good with 2, a P and a J. Generally I like broken in rounds, but I can put fresh rounds on 1 if I want that sound.

I like strings in the $15-20 range, so it's less about the money (but yeah, it does add up.) it's about the time. Time spent setting up and dialing in, is time I'd rather spend practicing.

 

[chadds]

Dog? Love. Care and Feeding? Yes.

Who says how many you should have? Stop making up fake disciplines. TB is to judge? Be yourself, buy and own what you want. I hope you are playing the S&@t out of them!

 

[BaltBass5]

I own 21. I change strings after about every 4 hours of playing because I prefer the feel and the "bite". It's just part of the deal. The way I look at it...the cost of a Corvette is only part of the car. The tires, the oil changes, etc... blah blah blah.

However, I am playing regularly (pre COVID) so strings are a business expense write-off!

 

[Hawaii Islander]

I own 11 basses and only play 10, but that is only because the 11th bass is still in Hawaii.

 

[coy garcia]

Flats will go over 20 yrs. The ones with rounds I just use string conditioner if they get weird. Only change them when I want something different.

 

[Pocket4]

My 7 fuss almost silently, but at least they don't poop brown notes around the room. They seem to like their strings just the way I intended, which is a plus.

 

[/\/\3phist0]

My kitty is the pick of the litter!
View attachment 4003511

So are these: I like Blondes.

 

[TonyP-]

I have a healthy working stable...I might not need as many as I have, but my position allows it.

I have 5+ in Lulls alone...

 

[Nedmundo]

I had seven for awhile, and I didn't use all of them either, so I started selling them and was down to four for about five years. I'm back up to five, which is my absolute maximum for space, unless I sell a guitar or two.

When thinking about selling a bass, it's not just about whether I'm using it regularly, but whether I think I'm likely to use it given what I generally play. That's why I've kept my G&L SB-2, even though I don't play it very often. It's a hard-rocking P-bass, which is darned near essential sometimes.

 

[ctmullins]

Any thoughts ?

Yep. I think you worry too much.

 

[MCF]

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 guess. I have a lot of basses. Rotate them pretty well. One is a '13 MIM Fender P I bought as new old stock for $300 when a music store was closing one of its locations in '16. Put Chromes on it, set it up and play it regularly. Other than an occasional polish and wipe, checking relief around every six months or so and maybe giving the TR a tweak, it's maintenance free. Chromes are just settling in. They'll likely outlast me.

 

[Admiral Akbar]

The collecting can get out of hand. I had a online doc appointment and they thought I was at a guitar store because of the background lol.

Ha ha ha!!!!

 

[zubrycky]

Well, I own 16 basses and I'm also a dog person. It's not the same thing.

YMMV.

 

[Admiral Akbar]

I own 8 Basses, 5 guitars, 2 uprights, keyboards, drum machines, drum set..

yet no dogs.

 

[Mastermold]

Flats don't need changing. Problem solved.