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What Bass Made You Stop Looking for Others?

#41
My 1964 Gibson Thunderbird. Of course, it helps that I already have several others that I dearly love.

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#43
J Wilson said:
Alembics are brutally clean, which is why you often hear new Alembic owners talk about having to improve their technique as now you hear EVERY last foible and shortcoming in your technique, and why we often talk of them making us play better. The good part though is if you can play an Alembic cleanly, everything else is a laugh. Plus, both of these, I'd adjust the fingerboard to dead-straight, then let back in .010" relief, which is another reason I had to get clean.

And yes, big time tone.
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Your descriptions of Alembics mirrors what I am experiencing with my Fodera.
 
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#45
My search was over when I found a good as new used Fender American Original '60s Jazz Bass in 2023. But I am still on a quest to find the perfect (for me) flatwounds.

Here is a photo the seller posted on Reverb:

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And here it is sitting next to the basses that I keep just in case the GAS starts again for a different Fender model:

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#47
I think some people love collecting, some people love trying out new (to them) things. Some people are always looking for something 'better', some people are competitive and more/better scratches that itch, and some people like different basses for different situations and are happy to invest in the nuances.

For me, the idea of bass shopping makes me feel bored and stressed in equal measure! I have a fretless 4 string (modded Bass Collection (Bartolini pickups and electronics), a fretted Fender Jazz (with really low output pickups which sound 'just right' to me) and an electric upright (an elderly BSX Allegro). I enjoy each of them a lot.

I'm not missing out on any gigs due to my gear and no one is going to pay more for a different bass. I am very happy that I am the limiting factor, I am very happy making music with these instruments and they are great for gigging without being worryingly expensive. I guess I see them as tools and I'm happy once I have the right tools for the job. Am I boring? I think I might be boring!!

If a lightweight 1962-64 Fender P dropped into my lap I wouldn't complain though…

Oh, and I'd love to try a super high end Fedora just to see/hear if they are in any way life changing as many people say they are, but they are rare as hen's teeth in U.K. so that's unlikely to happen by coincidence.
 
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#52
Back in the early 80's I stumbled on an alternative country band [decades before that was a thing] whose bass player was sporting something that looked both familiar & strange at the same time. I could tell it was a Fender but not like any I've seen before. This one looked more primitive than your traditional P or J bass. My 1st time experiencing a Telecaster bass. I was hooked from there. It was few years later when I discovered Keith Ferguson of The Fabulous Thunderbirds, which turned my attention to early 50's slab P basses. The rest, as they say, is history.
1951 Fender Bass Blueprints.jpg
 
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#57
2saddleslab said:
Back in the early 80's I stumbled on an alternative country band [decades before that was a thing] whose bass player was sporting something that looked both familiar & strange at the same time. I could tell it was a Fender but not like any I've seen before. This one looked more primitive than your traditional P or J bass. My 1st time experiencing a Telecaster bass. I was hooked from there. It was few years later when I discovered Keith Ferguson of The Fabulous Thunderbirds, which turned my attention to early 50's slab P basses. The rest, as they say, is history.
View attachment 7442524
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This would make for a great tshirt . I've probably seen one .
 
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#59
Pedulla Thunderbolt and Thunderbass. Both incredible basses, but it was like magic crack and I was addicted. I sold everything else to feed my new addiction, searching high and low to keep adding to the collection (I'll spare you the pics; 11 at the moment, and more to come I'm sure), and during such an obsessive period (that continues to this day), my wife's face is now stuck in a permanent eye-roll.
 
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