My response, copied/pasted from
the last (?) time this question came up ...with one new addition:
Modulus Quantum-6 SPX - 6-string tuned BEADGC, EMG J-type pickups, ACG/East EQ-02 filter-based preamp, Kahler bridge, coco bola top on alder body, bolt-on graphite neck, built for me in late 1988 (preamp was retrofit in 2010)...this is my main bass, and the one that I -- and the musicians who hire
me rather than just "a bass player" -- feel best represents my individual voice.
Modulus Quantum-6 TBX - another 6-string tuned BEADGC, EMG soapbar pickups, EMG BQC 3-band preamp, graphite neck-thru construction. It's a 1996 that I picked up second hand a couple years ago when I realized if my main Modulus was lost or stolen or damaged I'd be SOL. Doesn't actually sound like the SPX; it actually sounds
better! Incredible sounding instrument.
Huge.
Schecter Venus B/4 - traditional fretted 4-string passive Jazz Bass clone, built back in the mid-1980s when David Schecter and Tom Anderson were building these instruments. As boutique a parts bass as you can imagine; I'll put this puppy up against any passive Sadowsky, Lull, Pensa-Suhr, Aleva-Coppola, or Fender Custom Shop axe on the planet. This is my go-to instrument for conventional commercial work.
Steinberger L-2 - the original monocoque headless composite fretted 4-string instrument. I got it new in 1982, it was my main (practically only) bass for 10 years and still is the backup I bring to every studio gig. It's been around the world with me on tour, planes, trains, buses, and trucks oh my! I will be buried with this bass.
Nothing sounds like an L-2!
Rob Allen MB-2 - fretless 5-string tuned BEADG with a maple neck/ebony fingerboard, Swamp Ash body with quilted maple top, Fishman piezo bridge and nylon tapewound strings. Sounds like an upright bass...or rather, sounds like what electric bassists
think an upright bass sounds like. The missus gave this bass to me for our fifth wedding anniversary. :::swoon:::
Lakland Skyline 55-02D - fretted 5-string tuned BEADG with a maple neck/maple fingerboard, Swamp Ash body with quilted maple top, Lakland LH3 electronics, I forget what year it is but it's from the last year when the Skylines were made in Korea before they moved production to Southeast Asia. I bought this because I wanted a bass that, if it was lost or stolen or damaged, I could just walk into the nearest Guitar Center and buy an identical replacement right off the shelf.
Warmoth frankenbass - fretless 5-string tuned EADGC with a maple neck/ebony fingerboard, alder P Bass body with quilted maple top, one Bartolini quad-coil soapbar in the MusicMan position wired up like two individual J-type pickups to a Bartolini 3-band EQ...it's kind of the anti-Rob Allen, way more Jaco/Mick Karn/Percy Jones sounding than the upright emulation thing.
Schecter Stiletto Studio 8 - octave-course 8-string tuned eEaAdDgG, totally stock, mahogany body with bubinga top, maple/walnut neck-thru with rosewood fingerboard, EMG HiZ soapbars with a crappy 3-band preamp/EQ. I play a
lot of 8-string bass and so always need one in my arsenal but this is the third different 8-banger I've owned in 30 years and tbh I'm not sure it matters
which one I own. It's more about the sound of octave courses than the individual instrument's characteristics. This one is definitely the best of the three I've had though; kinda surprisingly good quality construction considering its low price, and quite possibly the most comfortable bass I own.
Warmoth P Bass - traditional passive Precision Bass clone with a Swamp Ash body, quartersawn Brazilian Ebony neck/fingerboard, Gotoh bridge, Kluson machines, Lindy Fralin pickup, strung up with GHS flatwounds. I put this together a year or so ago because I have
hated the sound of a P Bass with flatwounds for most of the 45+ years I've been playing bass and finally figured maybe there was something I was missing and I should try it again. (Last time I owned a Precision Bass with flatwounds was 1977.) Y'know what? I still hate it. Anybody wanna buy a P Bass?
Breedlove Pursuit Exotic S Concerto - fretted 4-string acoustic bass guitar tuned EADG, myrtlewood top, back, and sides, mahogany neck, ovangkol fingerboard, Fishman piezo pickup, strung up with bronze roundwound D'Addario somethings. This is the "new addition" I mentioned above; just picked this up last December because I was looking for an ABG that I could leave out around the house in easy reach to pick up whenever the whim struck me and just start playing without having to deal with an amp or cable. Ironically, this bass sounds
freakin' awesome when it's plugged into an amp!
I don't have any family portraits of the whole collection all together, but here are a few select pics:
