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Why 2 Basses??

Sundown1206

Sundown1206

Jan 26, 2010
620
32
34
Chicago
#1
Having more than one bass.

So I've been playing with my modified Jaguar for over a year. Nothing but my Jaguar, I love that thing. And so I ran into some money and through CL I bought a MIM Fender Jazz Deluxe. Nice and red. $150. So I modified it just how I want it.

What I don't get is, how do people deal with having one bass active and one bass passive? Your sound changes, your volume changes, your pedals settings sometimes change, and of course the feel of your bass changes. How do you play in a band and make good use of both without going crazy? You could make them sound similar but then why have two similar sounding basses? The more you make them similar to keep your playing nice and steady the less you can justify having both. Someone enlighten me?

(Jaguar)
Custom Shop 60's Pickups
Status Carbon Fiber Graphite Neck
Jazz Control Plate
Badass II Bridge
Copper Grounding Strip
Pickup Cases Have No Holes
Active Preamp Gone. Controls Do Nothing.

- Three Switches
Kill Switch
Output Selector
Series Parallel Switch

- Control Plate
Two Concentric Knob Sets
Master Volume / Neck Volume
Master Tone / Bridge Volume
Output 1 (Straight To Jack)
Output 2 (Normal)

(Jazz)
Samarian Cobalt Noiseless Pickups
No Holes Covers On The Way
Copper Grounding Strip
Looking For A Badass II Bridge

- Control Plate
Two Concentric Knob Sets
Master Volume / Mids
Bass / Treble
Series Parallel Switch
Kill Switch

Both basses use the same kind of strings. GHS Flea Boomers.
 
#5
I really don't know if having both a passive and an active bass is justifiable. If they do sound different, maybe they should be used for different purposes, and that relies on the bassist's creativity mostly.

Other ways to justify having two or more basses?
- different pickups, because they will sound different
- different numbers of strings
- different tunings (e.g. having one in standard EADG and another in, say, BEAD or ADGC)
- fretted and fretless
- different scales
- heck, even the looks if you think it might help with giving some onstage "image"

All in all, I think most people (other than musicians and bassists) wouldn't notice any difference based on what you play: to them, is just a bass, and it sounds low. I guess it depends on what is justifiable for you and if you really have a need for more than one bass.

I surely can think of many reasons why I justify having two basses myself (see my list, many of those apply).

My two cents.
 
#8
Oh it's justified in my opinion. Just don't get how people (like someone in this thread lol) Can have over ten basses and use more than one in band settings when one is passive and one is active or when in general they sound very different.
 
#9
Goober1206 said:
What I don't get is, how do people deal with having one bass active and one bass passive? Your sound changes, your volume changes, your pedals settings sometimes change, and of course the feel of your bass changes. How do you play in a band and make good use of both without going crazy? You could make them sound similar but then why have two similar sounding basses? The more you make them similar to keep your playing nice and steady the less you can justify having both. Someone enlighten me?
Click to expand...
Just an FYI, all of these things can happen with two passive basses as well. Mine are all passive, and some have much hotter pickups than others. An A/B box like a Radial Bassbone works nicely in this situation.
 
#10
Goober1206 said:
Oh it's justified in my opinion. Just don't get how people (like someone in this thread lol) Can have over ten basses and use more than one in band settings when one is passive and one is active or when in general they sound very different.
Click to expand...

Some people play fretted and fretless basses in the same band. Sometimes totally different sounds on different arrangements are what players are after. ;)
 
#11
That's kind of like asking why playing two different songs. The sound, volume, and feel of each song may be far different than one another- how do you deal with that? You just play the songs however they need to be played to work. Do the same with your basses (and their volume knobs).
 
#15
I can't speak for others...but, it would make sense (to me) IF one has 2 basses, it's to have something that is wider apart in sound. I have a P-Bass and a J-Bass - both modded, and both done so differently. I can get close to a common sound, but my intent has always been to have contrasting instruments that cover a broader range of tones and thus music. These 2 do it for me. To have 2 Jazz style basses that closely mirror each other would not be of interest to me. I understand why some might, but typically they have a collection (more than 2 or 3) that cover all contingencies.
 
#18
I use a fretted and fretless bass live. Some tunes I always play the fretless on because it just sounds better. Some I always play on the fretted because it just sounds better. The rest sound good with either and the one I use depends on my
mood that day.
 
#20
I use my Radial Bassbone to level match, then use the foot switch to be able to make a quick change. I have a mix of passive (P-Bass, Fretless & BEAD P-J) & actives (P-J and a Warrior). I only bring 2 basses to a gig and I usually do the level match at home on my practice rig and fine tune it before the gig. That way the character of the basses are retained and I don't have to mess around onstage and waste time.
 

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