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Why do folks have multiple basses from the same maker?

AudioDwebe

AudioDwebe

Guest
Dec 21, 2011
888
805
Pacific Northwest
#1
The question just popped into my head.

I've seen many photos of peoples' collection, and many have the same bass from the same maker in multiples of many. I could understand if they were a four, five, six string; fretted and fretless, but a lot seem to be the same.

Is it a collector's mentality, or do the basses come with various pickups, woods, etcetera that doesn't necessarily pop out in a photo? And, if this is the case, do various woods from the same maker sound really different?

Thanks.
 
#4
I personally love the look and feel of the Fender Jazz. I have an American FSR Hot Rod Jazz that's got a kickass white matching headstock, and passive circuitry that REALLY speaks to me tonally. Plus, it feels like that bass is the extension of me and not an added component to make music. My other bass is a '97 American Deluxe Fender Jazz that is made of an Ash / Alder combo as opposed to the Alder on my FSR. In addition to the different body woods, the fretboard on the American Deluxe is Maple vs the Rosewood on my FSR. ALSO, the american deluxe has active single-coil humbucker pickups which offer an infinite amount of tonal choices / options. I basically have two Jazz basses that cover the whole spectrum and I love the feel of them. Personally I don't know if I could own 3 of the same bass if it was almost indentical in specifications and aesthetics.

I believe that either having multiple of the same instrument is for active touring musicians for ease of different tunings (if they're used), for people that have too much money, or for the sake of collecting basses. I couldn't justify having 4 Jazz basses unless they had the feel / tone / look that I go for in an instrument.

Never know though, I may have 4 J-basses in the future haha.

Best regards,

Brooks
 
#6
T-34 said:
Different strings
Backups
Click to expand...


Also different tunings, and different purposes - for example, I have Fenders in E standard and Eb tunings, and have several that I gig with, and a couple I use for daily practice/beaters...

One thing I don't understand is, why do people even care what other people own???


- georgestrings
 
#7
Well, I think it comes down to what makes people happy. I hear a lot of talk on TB about why people own what they own, or why some "noob" is playing a $4000 bass at a low paying bar gig. I don't necessarily agree with or disagree with people's decisions that are voice on TB all the time. The way I look at it is, if that's what makes you happy, I say go for it. If you want two of the same bass and have the money for it, go get two of the same bass. Maybe he gigs one and plays one at home...I don't know why that is an issue for someone else. I also see a lot of bashing people for the crazy expensive gear that they own. There are tons of cats on TB that have amazing gear that I would love to have, but I don't hate on them for it. TB'ers need to lift each other up more, not break each other down. I'm not saying that the OP is breaking anyone down, I'm just saying to each his/her own.
 
#11
In my case, I love Fender Precision basses. I get a lot of joy from collecting parts on eBay and elsewhere and putting together "FrankenPs" I own a couple vintage examples, and a number of others. Most of the others are ones I've put together from vintage and modern parts. Some of these have alternate pickup arrangements, electronics, string setups(flat versus roundwound), or wood combos.

Since I meet many bassists and other musicians in my day job as a recording engineer/producer, I frequently open the "vault" and make my instruments (not just Fender P basses, lots of guitars and other basses too:bassist:) available for sessions. My instruments sound & play great and are ready to go. Once in a while one of my instruments "connects" with a player. Sometimes they offer to buy a bass. If it's a reasonable offer and not one of my few real "keepers" I let it go. If the player is a good friend, I let 'em have it on long term or "permaloan." Occasionally, a young player will show real promise, but may not have funds and is stuck with a sub-par axe. I have been known to give an instrument away at albums' end. ;)

So, nothing dangerous, maybe addictive, but my P-bass "building & accumulating" habit costs less than golf, helps make music, and when I need or want to take a long walk, I do it without dragging around golf clubs. :D:D:D

Oh yeah, when they let me out of the studio, I gig 'em!

YMMV
 
#12
if you find a bass that works for you, then you tend to get multiple.. because you can.

For me its the Spector NS basses... although my two basses have different pups/pre and one it NT and the other bolt on.

and yes different woods produce different tones.

Bottom Line... its an addiction
 
#14
all i can think of is, why not? ;)

5-burstfenders.jpg
 
#15
I have 5 fender J's (well, technically 4 fenders and 1 Squier Jazz)

All of 'em 4 string.

I play 1 of the Fender about 90% of the time. The other 3 are basically wall decorations.

The Squier is for experimentation/modding:hyper: I use this the other 10% of the time.

I really should get rid of the 3 other basses, but just cant seem to part with them.
 
#17
georgestrings said:
One thing I don't understand is, why do people even care what other people own???
Click to expand...

Because they think what others do is silly and feel the need to express that, because they don't understand what other people do and want to find out in case someone else has a really good reason for doing something that seems odd to them, because they just enjoy hearing other people discuss the reasons for what they do, .... I suppose there are as many reasons for asking the question as for owning many basses.

To the OP I would say that when a stable of basses passes a certain point it does become at least in part a collection. It seems like most collections here are working collections: people may buy more basses than they need because they can and because they love the basses that they buy but rather than putting them in a glass case like a true collector would, they do play them. There is nothing wrong with either approach but it seems to me that most here are musicians first, collectors second.

Ken
 
#19
I've owned 3 Saturn cars. After I bought the first one (which is the only one I still have after 12 years, a divorce, and a second marriage), I noticed the following things about it:

I liked how it was made.
I liked how it drove.
I liked dealing with the manufacturer.

So I bought a second Saturn. When we sold that one, I replaced it with another Saturn.

I think this answers your question, albeit indirectly.

To directly answer your question, though I only own one at the time, I will probably buy a lot more basses made by Stuart Spector. Why?

Because when I ordered my first Spector, also about 12 years ago, I was told by the local dealer here that it would be in in 3 days. 4 days passed. 5 days passed. I called the shop. No bass.

After about a week, my phone rings. "Max, this is Stuart Spector. I had to take your bass for a show in Germany. I'm having another one shipped to you."

He was the nicest guy, very focused on making sure I was happy, and the bass that he sold me is a gem in every respect. I just now had to do some minor maintenance on it, cleaning out the bass potentiometer after 12 years of use. There are some minor scratches and nicks on the bass, but it looks and sounds like I just bought it yesterday.

I've bought the Squier VMJs for a couple of years now because they are nice and cheap. But when I get in a better financial position here soon, I will probably pick me up a Spector Coda (Spector's J-Bass) and now I've got myself looking at their Spectorcore basses (I guess those are the f-hole models).

They're just damn-well made basses, and when I like dealing with someone I tend to go back.
 

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