Sell surplus bass...... Or don't

[Billyears IV]

I have a Fender J bass MIM. Sits in the corner, I hardly ever touch it. When I do, I dont like the feel any more.

My main bass is a Sterling by Musicman which I love, purchased nearly 2 years ago. Great for all I do.

The J bass had flats on and I hung on to it, to use with synth pedals or have tuned down. The string tension was always too tight.

But I prefer sound/performance of Sterling with synth pedals.
Tried replacing roundwounds on J bass. Better action but still dont love it much.

Obvious answer - sell it. Money is tight, surplus item, could do with funds..... BUT..... what if Sterling gets damaged.....?? Do I need a spare back up??

Anyone similar? Anyone sold their 2nd bass and regretted it when main bass was out of action??

Help me decide please!! Thanks

 

[AHaze]

There's gonna be a bunch of "I gigged for 30 years with one bass" responses coming.
The fact that you don't like this particular bass makes selling it a no brainer to me. If you're that nervous about not having a backup, sell the MIM J, pick up a cheaper Squier/Yamaha/Schecter/Peavey etc. that you do like and pocket a bit of extra cash for whatever else.

 

[creaturegods]

Sell it.

 

[jimmydean]

If you don't like the bass , just sell it . What's the point of having it around if you aren't going to use it . You should not worry about a spare , basses are like pickup trucks.......their TUFF !

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

I would be uncomfortable not having a backup bass. As a wise philosopher once said,

Happens.

If you really don't like the bass, sell it or trade it and get one you like as a backup.

 

[groove pump]

It doesn't sound to me like you'll miss that Jazz at all, so it's probably time to unload it.

I always want to have two basses handy that I can use for gigs, but I've never liked having two basses that are too similar. I have a P/J and a Jazz (both are passive) to cover all the tonal neighborhoods I want and I'm also noodling with a G&L Tribute M-2000, which is active-only, but it does a few different sounds of its own that are rather good.

Before I found my P/J, I had been enjoying a Jazz bass for many years. One spare bass that I picked up at one point was a different Jazz made from decent parts that seemed to be a nice backup for low dough. But after a little while I started hating that backup because I wanted it to be as good of a Jazz as my regular player. I ditched it and didn't miss it one bit.

Maybe your Sterling is home-sweet-home for you, but if you think that you need a backup and you want something that won't be neglected, I'd say scout for something with at least a different pickup layout that gives you "something else".

 

[Jefenator]

It might be worth at least trying a set of lighter gauge strings on that J. 4-string roundwound sets are not generally that expensive.
I've made that mistake before: thinking a bass is no good for something, doing something drastic, then realizing all that time it was the strings.
In either event, if you're playing out, backup / redundancy is a perfectly valid reason to keep a second instrument handy.
I find a good J bass is nice to have handy. YMMV.

 

[Billyears IV]

It might be worth at least trying a set of lighter gauge strings on that J. 4-string roundwound sets are not generally that expensive.
I've made that mistake before: thinking a bass is no good for something, doing something drastic, then realizing all that time it was the strings.
In either event, if you're playing out, backup / redundancy is a perfectly valid reason to keep a second instrument handy.
I find a good J bass is nice to have handy. YMMV.

thanks, good point. The roundwound strings don't feel as good as the Sterling, so perhaps that would improve the feel/play. As I said, I had flats on it for years.
The J bass has a decent twang and since starting this thread an hour ago, I had another play on it and some (rudimentary) slap sounded fantastic.
One big gripe about the J bass is the glossy neck. Despite having a go at sanding it, it still feels tacky. Perhaps I should try again with higher grade sandpaper...

decisions....

 

[Bitterdale]

thanks, good point. The roundwound strings don't feel as good as the Sterling, so perhaps that would improve the feel/play. As I said, I had flats on it for years.
The J bass has a decent twang and since starting this thread an hour ago, I had another play on it and some (rudimentary) slap sounded fantastic.
One big gripe about the J bass is the glossy neck. Despite having a go at sanding it, it still feels tacky. Perhaps I should try again with higher grade sandpaper...

decisions....

Try a green Scotch-Brite pad on your gloss neck. For me, it eliminates the sticky feel.

Also, I can't agree enough with the suggestion of new strings (and a set-up).

 

[Stylee Mousse]

Sell it. I personally do not like owning instruments that I don’t like enough to play.

if you wonder whether you need a backup bass for shows I think it is worth asking “have I needed one so far?” Or if that is too frightening, ask your guitar tech

 

[eastcoasteddie]

Sell it and get another Sterling Music Man as a backup. Buy one used.

 

[Jeremy Crockett]

I'm just here to air my regret.

I sold a Vintera 70s Jazz that I definitely should have kept. I kick myself almost daily over this.

I sold an SBMM Ray25CA that I probably should have kept. This bothers me about once every 6 months.

If you do not need the money, keep the bass.

 

[jd56hawk]

I have a Fender J bass MIM. Sits in the corner, I hardly ever touch it. When I do, I dont like the feel any more.

My main bass is a Sterling by Musicman which I love, purchased nearly 2 years ago. Great for all I do.

The J bass had flats on and I hung on to it, to use with synth pedals or have tuned down. The string tension was always too tight.

But I prefer sound/performance of Sterling with synth pedals.
Tried replacing roundwounds on J bass. Better action but still dont love it much.

Obvious answer - sell it. Money is tight, surplus item, could do with funds..... BUT..... what if Sterling gets damaged.....?? Do I need a spare back up??

Anyone similar? Anyone sold their 2nd bass and regretted it when main bass was out of action??

Help me decide please!! Thanks

Easy answer...sell the Jazz, buy another Sterling.

 

[Manticore]

If you're a gigging bassist you need at least two basses. Pay no mind for the crowd of folks saying: "I've gigged since Christ was in knee pants and never needed a spare." They were lucky. You don't need a spare, until you do.

 

[bigdaddybass12]

I had a beautiful MIM Jazz, I started playing a 5 and never played the jazz. So I sold it. I wished I had kept it. Fast forward 20 years, been playing a Sterling Ray4 bass at every gig. I found an identical jazz used at GC. Perfect condition. Bought it, took it to the next gig along with the ray. Played it for 1 set and swapped back to the ray. Guitar player looks at me & says “I like that one (ray4) better. Then I remembered why I quit playing the 1st jazz. Took it back to GC. Said all of that to say this, if you sell it, look for another ray. I have been watching a bass on reverb, I already have 3 basses and I would have to sell 1 to keep my wife off my back. Only one I would sell would be the ray4. I kinda like the sound. Glad you like the Sterling sound. They are good basses.

 

[mikeswals]

To me "surplus" is not two basses. I absolutely would need a backup.

If you don't like the feel with flats...get rid of the flats!!! I just removed the flats from one of my Jazzes and it was like a liberation. I only put flats to conserve the frets since its an old vintage, but I could not stand it any longer.
Different brands of strings have different elasticity feel: DR sunbeams are a more elastic string, and drop to a 40-100 gauge if a typical 45-105 feels too stiff.

 

[bigdaddybass12]

I
but I've never liked having two basses that are too similar.

Same here.
Yeah, I can’t understand why someone. Has 5 identical basses.

 

[KenD]

If you have only two basses I wouldn't call the second one surplus, even if you don't use it much. I would consider it a backup and keep it.

 

[B-Mac]

I have a Fender J bass MIM. Sits in the corner, I hardly ever touch it. When I do, I dont like the feel any more.

My main bass is a Sterling by Musicman which I love, purchased nearly 2 years ago. Great for all I do.

The J bass had flats on and I hung on to it, to use with synth pedals or have tuned down. The string tension was always too tight.

But I prefer sound/performance of Sterling with synth pedals.
Tried replacing roundwounds on J bass. Better action but still dont love it much.

Obvious answer - sell it. Money is tight, surplus item, could do with funds..... BUT..... what if Sterling gets damaged.....?? Do I need a spare back up??

Anyone similar? Anyone sold their 2nd bass and regretted it when main bass was out of action??

Help me decide please!! Thanks

If you’re a gigging bassist that MIM Fender isn’t a surplus bass. It’s a backup bass. Plain and simple.

 

[buldog5151bass]

Are you gigging regularly? In other words, could you go a week without a bass if something happened to the Sterling?

I have two fretted basses - one for about 37 years, the other about 20. In all that time, neither has ever failed me.