So how do you guys with multiple basses do it?

[Vic]

I don't understand the "justify" thing. If you can afford multiple basses then buy them.

+1!!

 

[doctorpunch]

I have 5 basses.

2 of them I have tuned to C# for my band, I use one I'd say 90% of the time and the other is a backup for live shows.

5 string tuned standard

4 string tuned to drop D

acoustic which I whore tunings to

If I played in 1 or 2 tunings, I'd have maybe 2 or 3 basses but since I play in all sorts of different tunings I need a lot of basses.

 

[stingray56funk]

I will say that I usually keep 2 or 3 in my stable.

1) A nice P or PJ

2) A nice J

3) Another P or J with flats

I'd love to own a 'Ray, a Tobias or MTD, a Bongo, 6 string TRB, etc...I just don't have the coin. Now if I didn't have a wife...that would be another story. I would like to keep her around though...

 

[MikeBass]

I've in the past had quite a few basses at hand.
These days, I kinda do, but a few are for sale.
I have a Roscoe SKB-3006
A second SKB-3006 on the way.
Valenti 5 (the TB Valenti which is a family bass, so it kinda doesn't count)
Jazz
Hofner Club Bass (my fathers, so it doesn't count. It's a family thing)
Warwick Streamer (was FS could be still be FS)
Landscape Archtop Hollowbody (currently FS)

So, out of the 7, two are staying in the family and will be handed through the generations (I hope!) and maybe my old Jazz as well.
Two are FS because they don't get played much.
The Roscoes, my main gigging basses right now.

 

[Jonyak]

I have a stingray, a jazz and a pbass.

I find that can cover alot of ground tonaly.

 

[twangman]

man, I've been suffering from this.. i have a fairly new, rarely used MIM jazz bass... for some reason i keep going to my old beat up squire that i started out with 7 years ago.. i dont know why.. and this bass is beat, the tuning heads rattle when i play, its basically falling apart at the headstock, but for some reason i keep going back to it.

 

[low2groove]

I find I always go right to the same bass without hesitation no matter how many I have.

The list is short!

1 - 4 string

1 - 5 string

1 - 4 string fretless

I essentially need one great bass sound! The gig dictates which bass I'll reach for.

I need money for other things besides a plethora of minimally used instruments!

 

[muzikman7]

I have 11 is that too many?

 

[Stanley Pugh]

Having this debate now... I think Adrian is totally correct. After awhile, you have the "one". Now that being said, I think with all of us, especially on this site, we have an affair with an instrument, then we move on to another in search of the the perfect instrument.

One of the reasons, I'm more cautious about selling is that I have some instruments that I stopped using, but I eventually go back to them.

For me, these are the Stingray and the P bass. I have owned 4 stingrays and finally feel I have the best one for me. What's funny is that it is a SUB 4 instead of the standard 'ray. Same with the P bass. I have owned probably 10 and finally have one that I am happy with. Will either be my main bass?? Doubt it.

Adrian as you talk about getting another Nordy, will it be the same? Sometimes it's something about "that" particular instrument that really works. I've owned instruments that have been set up exactly the same, but have a different wood combo and/or fingerboard and that instrument as rewarding as the first

Oh no! we are nothing but gear sluts
Yea I have six myself

 

[troy mcclure]

I have 20, I bought them with my money...I am allowed to do what I want with em..
I need to sell a few, but that will just make room for more. Many never get played.
None of them are museum pieces and only one is worth more than $1k. I always buy with the intention of selling but ebay fees risen too much. I will sell a few on TB in the fall perhaps.

 

[basscheez]

wow, one of adrian's old threads. i really miss him.

rest in peace bud.

My thoughts also. In case he's still reading, here's my answer:

I have 4, each sounds unique and none can quite sound like any of the others. I can't think of a reason to add a 5th, but if I meet a bass that doesn't overlap the others, I might be tempted.

 

[bassbenj]

My thoughts also. In case he's still reading, here's my answer:

I have 4, each sounds unique and none can quite sound like any of the others. I can't think of a reason to add a 5th, but if I meet a bass that doesn't overlap the others, I might be tempted.

+1

If Adrian is still asking the question, I do think this is the answer. If you had a bass that could be dialed in to every tone and had just ALL the things in terms of feel, weight, size, whatever that perfectly suited YOU. (which I presume is the kind of bass they give you when you enter heaven...If you go the other way I think you get a bass banjo!) you'd need no other instrument.

But in this world these "perfect" basses don't exist. People sometime search their whole lives for one and often come close, but truthfully I don't think it is even POSSIBLE for such a bass to exist. But on the other hand we do know that certain basses are pretty much perfect for a certain band or a certain type of music (metal, for example )

So the bottom line is that if you only have an interest in one given type of music and you find a bass that is "perfect" for that type of music, then you'll be using that bass to the exclusion of all others like Adrian did. But ONLY so long as you stay with that kind of music. But for most of us our musical interests change as we grow and mature. That means the "perfect" bass is going to change because we've already noted that at present there is no bass that does any tone you want. And again like Adrian you'll move to a new bass that now does it and sell all the rest. And that pretty much explains it.

But some of us are different. (all people are different from each other) Some of us like Basscheez and myself maintain a wider view of music. We may be concentrating on a certain kind of music at given time, but we also maintain interest in different forms requiring different instruments. That sort of makes one bass your current "go to" bass but the others are there because they are covering a certain range of sounds (not just "tone" of course because fretless can really be a whole different sound.) And we don't just work up those sounds and forget about them, we keep them in our stable for when we think they fit best. We may be playing them at any given time or we may not be playing them but just keeping them ready just in case.

To me, music is art, and in art if you want to know if this or that is "better", you have to try them both. And to try them you have to have "this" and "that" available. And for us bass players it means that you have to at least have the gear somehow available. For many things that ends up meaning you own it.

At Least it does for me.

But there is no requirement for everybody else to be like me! I know this bass player who has an old Gibson and Ampeg combo that I swear was the first rig he ever owned. It perfectly suits the small combo standards music he plays. And he plays nothing else. One bass does it for him and I doubt he'll ever change...but you never know. I've been surprised before!

RIP Adrian.

 

[sometypeofplay]

I don't own an extreme amount of instruments, but I do own more than one. I have found that no ONE bass is perfect for every situation. I am mainly a Pbass guy. I own a 4 with flats and a 5 with rounds. Both passive, both played a lot. With the last band I was on the road with, the P just wasn't working. A jazz or my stingray worked better. Cut through, wasn't muddy, made the kick "snap" a little better. But, to my ears and the ears of many of my employers, and producers/engineers, the Pbass is perfect. I also own a Hofner hollowbody. I've had times when people just wanted BASS, and this is what fit the bill. Being able to listen and discern what works best in a situation will keep you working. If that means you can do it all with one bass, great. If not, expand your horizons, and your stable.

 

[chuck3]

not much of an excuse, but I play out of two locations, one (Hudson Valley) a country-rock-blues situation and the other (Brooklyn) pretty much just jazz.

So in the HV, my main bass is a Fender MIA 62 reissue Jazz, very versatile bass guitar. And I rely a lot on an Upton Standard (a/k/a plywood) upright, which is an outstanding bass for country, blues and rockabilly. That leaves a couple of basses that I don't play much and should probably sell. But I feel I need the EBMM Stingray HH 5 as an all around backup for every situation. So I should sell one.

In the city, my number one is an Upton Hybrid upright, with an EBMM Sterling fretless as my serious girlfriend. That leaves one nice bass I should probably sell.

So I have a bunch of basses and should probably sell two.

 

[MikeBass]

+1

If Adrian is still asking the question, I do think this is the answer. If you had a bass that could be dialed in to every tone and had just ALL the things in terms of feel, weight, size, whatever that perfectly suited YOU. (which I presume is the kind of bass they give you when you enter heaven

RIP Adrian.

And that's what Adrian has right now.........

Your post was pretty much spot on.


I pretty much could cover any gig with one bass. It's more your approach and feel more than the bass itself.
Plus, I have a Roland V-Bass system......so I have pretty much every bass you could want in a box on the floor!

 

[Eater_of_Birds]

for me at the moment im in two bands, one of which is in drop C, and the other is in drop B flat. id rather have two with the right strings (and i prefer 4's to 5's for now) not to mention the styles are fairly different. i see what the OP is saying though, i couldnt afford loads of basses, i cant see me going too far beyond just 2.

 

[ZiggyDude]

I find that getting something different helps me grow. We tend to a sound that we hear in our head. Getting a bass that is different sometimes forces us to reevaluate and add to the sounds we can use. It is like my EBMM Bongos. They are not my best sounding bass, my prettiest, my most expensive, nor my best feeling. But I love them and I have learned new tricks working with the "Boink" tone.

There is one bass I take to every job and it gets used first set. My "Signature Tone" so to speak. I then fool about with rotating stuff out of the herd to bring that night. It really opens my head.

There was a time that I had one bass and I thought I found the best way to do things. Looking back I was so wrong....

- Ziggy -

 

[Snipper!]

I've got 5 that I use quite a bit,
A Semi Acoustic 4 with Flats
A Semi 4 with Rounds
A 4 with Rounds and lighter gauge
As above with a heavier gauge
A 5 Fretless with Rounds

Each of them has an individual setup and sound so I'm not....restringing...looking for bit's of foam etc.

 

[Soverntear]

I just got my third bass and I feel I have too many as is. but selling anyone of them is out of the question

 

[Snipper!]

I just got my third bass and I feel I have too many as is. but selling anyone of them is out of the question

Like women, you will over time gravitate to those who's character you like most