Poll: Do you have a "beater" bass?

[brianrost]

Peavey Palaedium with a bowed neck. One very humid summer it bowed beyond the truss rod's ability to correct. A great bass with no resale value. Corrective neck surgery is more expensive than buying another one. But it's super light and sounds incredible.

The amount of bow comes and goes as the seasons change. It's still playable with high action but intonation is always off as a result...close enough for many gigs but not for recording.

 

[DirtDog]

mine is currently non-assembled, pending me learning how to:
A) fix a headstock break
2) paint

View attachment 3995896

Wow! That IS beat! The only thing that bass has right now is potential!

I'm no expert here, but the way that scarf joint in the neck appears, it suggests to me that if it worked once, it could work twice! Just make the bond stronger than the original.

 

[PWRL]

Yes and no. I have some which are less expensive and some which are more "road-worn" than others, but I try to keep them all in shape. Even cheaper instruments I try to re-home if they're not worth selling. This latest Musician's Friend G&L will probably be one which I can take out and not worry about (whatever year that happens, ha ha), but I will still look after it.
The thing is, I find it hard not to play my instruments, and I like showing off the ones I'm proud of.

 

[Nev375]

Sort of.? My main bass is a parts bass because I'm so picky that a specific bass with those specs is unavailable to be built commercially. But the other reason I like parts basses is that if anything gets damaged on them I can just replace that part for cheap. Or... if the whole bass is stolen I have the satisfaction that no pawn shop anywhere will pay them much for it.

But as of now, the graphite fan-fretted neck is 100% irreplaceable unobtanium, so it's lost "beater" status.

So... carrots. Where's the option?

 

[NickyBass]

I haven't been gigging lately, but I always brought my best bass to every gig. If it wasn't within eye sight, I would carry it with me. If we were traveling, it would never stay in the van unattended.

 

[BurningSkies]

No.
There's no reason to have a bass that I wouldn't treat with the same care as the others.

For some clarity, I wouldn't treat mine any different from other basses either. It's just that sometimes travel & random towns and clubs and whatever there's more chance for theft, damage and mishap. Also just general wear and tear. This is what 2 years of 'on the road' at a rate of 100g a year looks like on my 'road bass'. This is not dirt or grime, it's just simple wear through the finish.

 

[JRA]

i have one that i designate as my "beater bass" but it's such a joy to play that i'd miss it if it was lost/stolen/crushed/burned/etc. all of my axes are within a few hundred dollars of each other (cost of assembly/parts) so none of them are expensive by TB standards, but a few of them are priceless to me, so: i'd rather lose my beater than some of the others.

i've had axes stolen before --- it was sad --- but i don't choose instruments for gigs based on that fear. i always take the ax that i think will be the 'fairest' to me at the playdown...or the one that will save my a$$, best!

 

[TNCreature]

I wouldn't be happy if any were stolen or damaged. A beater should also be something you love play and don't feel like you are sacrificing anything. Otherwise, why bother?
I guess if I had to choose, my beater's would be my Squier Classic Vibe 50s Precision and my Squier Vintage Modified 70s Jazz. They are great!

 

[fhm555]

Yep, i’ve got a beater. I always took it when i went up to Knoxville to play outdoors if the weather was iffy or when we played a serious gut bucket joint. Not long after that played out I loaned it and my little Ampeg to a guitar playing friend whose sister was wanting to learn bass and he’s still got it.

 

[Jakeman]

Sure. My acoustic Dean fretless. The thing has been dragged down the beach, left out in the rain, and generally used and abused. I'll wear it out and buy another eventually.

 

[stratovani]

All three of my basses - a Squier Affinity P, an SX Ursa 2 Jazz, and a Hofner Icon - are beater basses. I'm retired and on a fixed income, so being dirt poor I can't afford anything more expensive, so I also gig with the P and J.

 

[nickpc]

I have a Silvertone SB11 that I wouldn't cry over if it got stolen. But for going somewhere seedy I might take my Peavey T40 - very useful as a weapon if necessary, would probably stop a bullet, and anyone trying to do a snatch-and-run is going to dislocate their shoulder in the process!

 

[iiipopes]

Yes. 2011 Ibby SRA305 with upgraded electronics as a backup to my #1 gig bass, Ibby BTB805V modified from "solo" E-C to "standard" B-G & upgraded Bart USA pickups and EMG electronics.

 

[Bob_Ross]

do you have a beater bass? One that you would be okay with if it got stolen, lost, or damaged?

I voted "No" before I read ^^^this qualification. I'm not really cool with the idea of a bass getting damaged, so I'm still inclined to say "No" ...e.g., even the bass that I leave out all the time and never wipe the strings down on, the one that's just there lying around the house for me to pick up whenever, I try not to drop it or ding it and I'd be pissed if it fell over and something broke or got dented.

OTOH, I specifically bought one of my basses -- a Lakland Skyline 55-02D -- because I wanted an instrument that, if it ever got lost or stolen or damaged, I could just walk into the nearest Guitar Center and buy an identical replacement right off the wall. I would never consider that a "beater bass" though.

 

[equill]

By default, I guess. Two are cheap and replaceable, one of which I bought specifically as a travel bass (Steinberger), and a third is neither of those things but I swear it's going to die on me.
I have a newer, nicer one, so if I'd take one of the others if there were a risk of damage or theft.

I include air travel in that category, and for good reason. The Steinberger came off the conveyor belt with a "fragile" sticker, plus damage that suggested it had either been thrown at the ground, or tossed from the hold to the tarmac.

 

[FrenchBassQC]

No.
There's no reason to have a bass that I wouldn't treat with the same care as the others.

Same here.

 

[MCS4]

I do have a parts bass that ticks off some boxes I don't cover with my two main basses (P bass pickup, flats, standard tuning), but I don't use it for the standard "beater" purpose of having a gigging/rehearsal bass that I care less about. I gig whatever bass is best for the gig -- or whatever one I happen to feel like playing -- regardless of whether it is expensive or not.

 

[TheReceder]

Mine is a beat up foundation. I think the key is that no matter what bass you play it has to be sonically sound, and comfortable to play.

For me... when I have the outdoor gig where this fat old man is going to sweat like a pig... or if it's below 40 degrees (I once played at 17 degrees with what they called space heaters... (they only heated the space they took up) I like to bring out the bass that I don't care if it takes some abuse.

 

[BurningSkies]

mine is currently non-assembled, pending me learning how to:
A) fix a headstock break
2) paint

View attachment 3995896

That's an interesting fret situation.

 

[lfmn16]

Never understood this whole thing. If it's an iffy situation, keep your bass in your case when you're not playing it and have someone in the band watch the equipment on breaks. It aint rocket science.