Sentimentool?

[PennyroyalWe]

To you are basses mere tools to get a job done, letting them go when you no longer need that tool, or do you get more sentimental and attached to your basses? Maybe a bit of both, depending on which bass?

Personally I have a hard time letting basses go once I’ve bonded with them. It feels like getting rid of a pet that’s done nothing to deserve the snub of being sold off. So if I want to sell or return a bass it has to be done shortly after getting it, can’t let it get settled in then uproot it! I wish I could be more utilitarian about it.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

The value I place on something is usually about how difficult it would be to replace.

 

[PennyroyalWe]

The value I place on something is usually about how difficult it would be to replace.

That’s a good way to look at it. Trouble is that no two of the same bass are exactly alike. Then again, it’s possible the ones I don’t have are better than the one I do...

 

[GretschWretch]

I know basses should be viewed objectively as tools ("Just the bass, ma'am": Sgt. Joe Friday), but I keep letting myself be swayed by subjectives like personal gigging history; social, cultural, and product history; and Boomer nostalgia, which can really muddy one's judgment. The result is that I tend to let go of the better bass and keep the lesser one.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

TBH the way things are going with proprietary electronics in basses, they're making it more & more difficult for those instruments to be sustainable for a long period of time, like a plain 100% passive instrument.
When/If the active stuff in one of mine goes, it will be immediately converted to 100% passive!

 

[cdef]

I've spent just about my entire playing career working one particular bass. It's not valuable, and never has been. All its worth resides in the knowledge I have of the times and the tracks it's seen, and the trust I put in it. This is not transferable. After I croak it will fetch next to nothing. So maybe my answer should be "a little of both".

 

[Michael Simpson]

It depends on the bass so I've voted a little of both. One of my basses was passed down through my family after a death so obviously there is huge sentimentality there. My other current bass I originally bought as a tool for regular gigs before lockdown happened and as a present/pick me up after losing my job during lockdown (it's only the second bass out of a few that I've bought brand new) but I'm rather quickly becoming attached to it...

 

[JRA]

my attachment to an instrument is pretty much based on whether or not i consider it reliable...like a 'best friend'. the mere fact that i use that comparison/simile would suggest some sentimentality --- but i wouldn't feel sentimental about a tool that fails its task/purpose...even though i'd cut some slack to a real friend.

so: i voted "tool."

however, that doesn't stop me from using the language of love/kinship to have some fun describing my fondness for certain, reliable tools! also, FWIW: i've never owned a beautiful hammer (i have a few reliable ones!), but i have owned some beautiful instruments...and i'm glad about that!


they're tools. when they start playing themselves = i'll revisit the poll.

 

[PWRL]

Mainly tools. I'm not afraid to trade up. However, it's not a thing I necessarily do lightly. There have been a couple I was very foolish to get rid of, and there are a couple now which I know I'd feel the same about later on if I got rid of them.

 

[red_bassist]

I would say a bit of both. I went through a fair number of different models of basses before finding something that I really liked and felt comfortable with that could become my primary instrument.

 

[4dog]

just tools..some are better tools than others

 

[Baa]

I have two camps in my bass herd:
Some i keep in case i someday need a fretless, acoustic or six-string.

My Vantages on the other hand, are both great tools and have sentimental value.

 

[Gorn]

I’ve never had sentimental feelings about any thing really. Not that I don’t like stuff, but there’s other stuff out there. I have one bass. I like it. It would be okay if i had a different one one day.

 

[Actuary X]

They are tools, but I don't throw away a hammer because I'm not banging in a nail at the moment

 

[delta7fred]

Both.

My main gigging bass is a tool and changes every couple of years. Some have gone, others are still here, some get a second turn.

My 62P which was my only bass for about 35 years isn't going anywhere.

 

[jd56hawk]

Why can't they be both?

 

[db59]

Can't all our basses just get along!

 

[MattZilla]

Most of my tools hold some sentimental value. Basses, amps, wrenches...

I have a phillips & flathead screwdriver pair that came with a whole Craftsman SAE & Metric set that I got for Xmas in ~’94. Most of the sockets have gone MIA, the ratchet broke and has gotten traded several times since, but the two screwdrivers I now have at work and i don’t lend them out. The clear plastic has turned a beautiful light amber and I love em. The flathead gets used as a pry bar, chisel, or knife at least half as often as it gets used as a screwdriver.

My last three basses have been Oly White Fenders... sort of a tribute to the sentimentality of my first guitar bought 100% with my own cash: a not too beaten up ‘88 Charvel Model 2. That guitar made me a fair bit of money in my late teens and early 20s and probably had a hand in leading me to the simplicity and reliability of P Basses.

 

[A9X]

My XL2 was a partial gift from my late wife, so it has enormous sentimental value. Most of the others, much less so, they're tools and / or toys.

 

[5fingerfrenzy]

I have sentiment with EVERYONE of mine! I just purchased another bass this week and told myself I would get rid of my 4 string Marcus Miller that I have barely played in the last 10 years. I took a bunch of photos and got it ready to post and as much as I try I cant hit the post button. Every photo I took to post made me remember different shows we played together the bands I had played in during that time, people I met and friends I had made.