Owning 5+ basses is like owning a dog

[Cliff Colton]

Playing dog technique is similar to playing bass. Neck dive is a common issue.

 

[A9X]

Playing dog technique is similar to playing bass. Neck dive is a common issue.

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Where'd you get my boy?

 

[Kukulkan61]

I have 4 dogs and 4 basses, I'm trying to cut down to one bass..

 

[newwavefrank]

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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)

Let me know when the silver glitter g & L goes on sale...

 

[bobyoung53]

7 basses too many?
That's crazy talk!

He must be new here.

 

[chadface]

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

You collect people? Whoa

 

[Nephilymbass]

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 like having fresh strings but I really just try to have two basses with fresh strings at a time and mainly the main player. I have some basses that have had the same strings for a year. I'll change them when I decide to record or gig with them. But I only bring two basses to a gig so I don't feel like I have to keep fresh strings on all of them all the time. I used to flip basses pretty often. But these days with higher shipping cost and seller fees and all the hassle because people are so picky about trivial things. I'd rather just buy them Even if I don't use them much and keep them until I want to play them again.

 

[/\/\3phist0]

Let me know when the silver glitter g & L goes on sale...

I'll add you to the long list

 

[WillyW]

You change your strings?

did they all break?

 

[chris_b]

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 assuming the basses you don't play just sit in their cases? If that's the case, does it matter what strings you have on those ones?

If you are worried about spending $200 on restringing your basses, why aren't you worried about the amount of money you have tied up in the basses you don't play?

What do you hate more, spending $100's on strings or $1000's on basses? Sell the bass you haven't played the longest. See how it feels, then sell another. Keep going until you get to the point when the next bass is the one you play all the time. Stop there.

 

[SgtHulka]

Many wives have 50 pairs of 1K Jimmy Choo shoes. 7? LOL Childs Play! You act as if there is something wrong!!

 

[philthygeezer]

I thought the consensus around here was that you need minimum three: a P, a J, and a Ray.

 

[Hypercaffium]

I certainly understand the idea of collecting things, but for me the 3 basses I have are enough.
To each his own.

I'm with you. I currently have 3 basses (P, J, Ray) and even if I use all of them I could be happy with 2 or even one to be honest.
Having a lot of basses and not using some of them can be a problem. Strings get old and must be replaced, necks must be progressively tighten or loosen, batteries can leak etc. Lots of things to do for instruments you don't use. As much as I respect other people's opinion, I will never understand this.
If you are just a collector hang your basses on the wall and leave them alone. I would not do that but it makes sense.

I thought the consensus around here was that you need minimum three: a P, a J, and a Ray.

That's what I do since a while, and it works pretty well. As much as I love my SRS I could live with just a P and a J, or even with just a J bass.

 

[SgtHulka]

I thought the consensus around here was that you need minimum three: a P, a J, and a Ray.

And a 5 string, a fretless, a double humbucker, PJ, a passive and an active, and a shorty...

 

[Hypercaffium]

No double neck?

 

[two fingers]

You collect people? Whoa

Yeah you thought stringing up basses was expensive. You should try FEEDING your collection. It eats every stinking day, too!

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

I like dead rounds and dead flats.
I hate new strings.

My 2 cents.

 

[Spectre Gunner]

I owned one dog for 14 years. She was a rescue and free but she cost me over $10k during her lifetime. She had better medical care and insurance than I have. However, I have no regrets and she deserved every penny of it and was an incredible dog and will always be missed. I could have bought a lot of strings and pro setups or a couple of awesome boutique basses with those dollars but looking back on it, the dog was still a much better use of the money. Anyway, enough about our beloved family member.

You have at least a few options.

1. Sell your least desirable or profitable basses and narrow your collection down to 2-3 basses you've always lusted after.
2. Go ahead and treat all your basses to the pricey Thomastik Enfeld (TI Flats) strings and be done with it for many years to come.
3. Buy your batteries in bulk on Amazon. the brand does not matter. It's just a label. The only difference is price due to high advertising cost. Do you really want to "Go-Fund" that stupid Energizer Bunny?
4. Learn to accept that some of your lesser played basses will have strings with no zing.
5. Sell all your basses and get 1-5 dogs. However, you'll find that basses are cheaper in the long run but you'll miss them even more when they're gone.

 

[Crystalman85]

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 ?

If you ask me, keep the basses you like the best and sell the ones you don't play anymore. that way, you don't have to worry about hauling a lot of basses and buying too many bass strings. I own 4 myself and I enjoy each one. I do find it kinda odd that you compare to owning 5+ basses to that of owning a dog. but I do kinda understand where you're going at with this one. anywho, keep the ones you like the best and sell the ones you don't play anymore. with the money you make on selling those basses, you can get whatever new gear you want like a new amp or perhaps a new pedal.

 

[Acoop]

What? ... You own 7-basses, you say, sit around because you don't have time to play them all and you're worried about changing the strings? ... Strings don't come with an expiry date. ... Try feeding them Alpo.