When did you get to the point...

When I had money burning a hole in my pocket.

 

If you only have one, and play shows regularly it's pretty important to bring a backup.
So...I plan on getting something for that same purpose on wednesday.
Possibly a 5 string..

 

I wanted to learn fretless....but I would not use it to gig with right away. So I got a fretless jazz, and still always use a fretted jazz...Than I wanted to try an extended range bass...got an Ibanez sr506.. dont gig with it either....But I guess if I got accomplished enough on fretless, Id go ahead and get a fretless sixer and use it for everything.

 

it was when I decided I wanted different tones and sound for different songs that an EQ or FX pedal couldn't cover.

 

when i got my beautiful sunset orange transparent american jazz, and got a gig at a dive bar a little while later. decided at that point not to sell the beat up mim jazz i had, but instead to use the cheaper/older one for gigs.

 

It just recently actually. When I got my 2nd bass I didn't feel that I needed a second one I just wanted a 6 string to mess around on. But, recently I've felt that I really do need a 5 string because I don't need a 6 out on gigs but the low B is handy to have around.

 

I actually played my old Jazz for many years and was happy with it, and I never thought of the need for a backup - I never, ever break strings or have electronics issues with that old guy. I started feeling the need for a 5-string, though, and it had a hard time fulfilling that need

Then it went from there - I had a much harder time finding a 5-string I was happy with, and I never really found it before I got my Ritter. My fretless needs are now also covered by my other Ritter, and my Fodera takes care of my 4-string/slapping lustings... so... the rest is just GAS

 

when I went from needing an amp to going direct to the board fulltime
I had this big bass rig taking up space in my house
I still played bass I just didnt need a 2X12 cabinet and amp anymore
so I sold it for a Spector 5 string
and that got traded for a 2nd Fender Jazz because you can never have too many Jazz Basses and THAT got traded for my Washburn Status Series 1000

yeah I have GAS problems
not to mention that i just HAD to have a fretless so I figured what the hey SX is cheap so I dropped a little over 100bucks on a SX fretless. Incredibly fun to play

now for my next bass.........

 

Almost immediately, both because I wanted a different sound and because I had heard it was a good idea to have two in case something went wrong at a show.

Now I have three. BEAD tuning bass, and two in standard. As soon as my Rickenbacker's restored, my Ibanez copy will become the backup or sketchy venue bass.

 

i bought my bass, a 21-fretter, not knowing that i would ever need 24 frets.

so when I got to the point when the music requires notes up to beyond 21 frets, so I started to consider getting a 24-fret bass.

 

When I bought my first bass (Hamer Chaparral 5 US), I did not appreciate how good it was and I was determined to to find the BEST bass in tone, playability, ergonomics and design (I was only a nooby, playing the bass only for two weeks till my first gig, but still I saw things right)

Once I started playing different basses, I realized that there are different grounds to be covered so I started owning different super great basses, comparing them side by side and judging with my own hands and ears (informed knowledge in action, in my vocabulary)

Now I have gone full circle to realize that the bass that shocked my world in 1999 is the top in ergonomics, playability and tone is still top of my list: Dingwall

I am aware that NO SINGLE bass can cover everything (even though several of mine have a sonic signature, yet they are very versatile to cover most ground) that's why I own more than one bass

 

No single bass can cover everything, true, however, I have found that one type can provide all the sounds I need for what I do. Hence why I'm making my basses pretty much as uniform in sound as I can.

 

When I wanted to play some late '60s style psychedelic rock such as the dead and jefferson airplane. Then I bought a hollowbody

 

I only want one bass, I'm trying to decide which one to sell...

 

What if something goes wrong with that bass in the middle of a show?

Murphy's law. Even if I was just going to play stuff that required a single, standard tuned 4 string, fretted electric, solidbody bass sound, I would still have two basses. Always good to have a plan B.

 

When I wanted one that would fit in a lockable drawer at work so I could practice at lunch.

 

Your right, I'll hang on to both for now, one of my basses has been cutting out so it might be good to have a spare at gigs.

 

That sounds like a very good reason to have a backup.

 

When 6 strings became necessary