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why do you have so many guitars

#161
Mantis Tobaggan said:
I also don’t really get people who have more than a few basses but whatever. To each their own.
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I came from the world of classical and choral music... including percussion you have around 20 different instruments working together to make the song. With this perspective it is silly to me that people collect bass guitars as if the tones are really that different. Yes they are different, but in the realm of *musical instruments* as a whole P basses and jazz basses and stingrays and Dingwalls etc are very similar and the role of the low end player (whether its bass guitar, tuba, sousaphone, string bass, bass vocalist) is very consistent.

bassGtar said:
I want to summarize what I’ve read so far. People have multiple basses:
-for musical reasons
-for interest in collecting
-for business/flipping/financial reasons
-for social reasons
-for emotional/psychological reasons
Click to expand...

My hunch is that Talkbass is mostly full of folks doing #2-5, big emphasis on #5. My other hunch is that Talkbass is not representative of bass players as a whole.
 
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#162
I'm currently at 13. Why? Because I want to and because I can. ;) :cool:

When I was younger and gigging in local bands, I was also broke and could barely afford to put strings on the one bass I owned. These days, I'm a little better off and have slowly collected several basses I always wanted. It's no different than someone who purchases an antique car that they always wanted, but I do it with basses.
My wife has a collection of shot glasses that is currently numbering in the 500+ range. Should she only have 1 shot glass? Because having 500 doesn't make the drink any different, right?
I enjoy all of my basses. Some of them do different things. One is an acoustic. One is a fretless. One is a multi-scale. One is a 5-string. One is a 6-string. Some of them have different pickup configurations. Some of them have different on-board pre-amps. So each of them does a different thing, to a point. And again, I enjoy each of them.
 
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#163
sergeykuimov said:
How can the number of bass guitars translate into the quality of playing it? What is the goal of having 10 or 20 guitars? Is it just collecting? Investing money? Maybe nostalgia for the time when you couldn't buy it? Honestly, I don't understand...
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Well, first of all; I can't speak for others - only myself. But, I imagine their reasons for owning more than one bass make perfect sense to them. I know mine make perfect sense to me... So, what are my reasons for owning 26 basses - and recently ordering 2 more?
1. Yeah, part of it is probably a sense of being deprived as a child. I always wanted to play bass guitar, but I'm so left handed that I can't play right handed for more than a few minutes. And, when I was a kid, back in the 1950s, there were practically no basses for my parents to buy - unless they were custom made. Which, being an Air Force enlisted man with 4 kids, my Dad couldn't afford. So, when I became an adult - and there were production basses I could buy? Yeah, I freely admit that I got more than a little carried away. But.. so what?
2. When I was able to buy a bass, just like everybody else, I decided to make a list of basses that I'd always wanted - and see if I could buy them. I made that list about 30 years ago, and trust me; some of those basses were very hard to find. In fact, I have a couple that are pretty much "the only one". That list will finally be complete - hopefully today - when Sweetwater delivers my lefty Guild Starfire I bass. The list "only" has 21 basses on it, so yeah; I have some extras - which I'm working on getting rid of. But, honestly? I don't regret buying a single one of them, and I play all of them...
3. I like to play the music I like, on the bass that it's associated with. Yeah, I could probably just play everything on my Fender P-Bass - but where's the fun in that? It's much more satisfying to play Beatle's stuff on a violin bass - or a Rick 4001...
4. Basses do not all sound the same - even if they wear the same strings. And, very few of my basses wear the same strings. I like my basses to sound different, and there are different sounds in my head for all the different kinds of music I like to play. Which I can't get from just one bass...
5. Just as different basses sound different, they also play differently. MY short scale, 5 lb. Danelectro Longhorn offers a very different playing experience from my 9 lb. Gibson Thunderbird. Personally, I like the differences. IMO, playing the same bass all the time is like eating a baloney sandwich for lunch every single day of my life. Sorry; no...
6. Why shouldn't I have more than one bass? I've never neglected my financial responsibilities; my house, car, and motorcycle are all paid for. I spend some of my disposable income on bass guitars; I spend the rest on other things that I need or want. And, to tell the truth? Now that my "herd" is complete, I have no idea what I'm gong to waste my money on. Long, pointless trips on my Harley, maybe? Or, maybe lottery tickets...:whistle:
 
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#164
I only have a few, but all of them have completely different uses, which is the only reason I can ever justify buying a new one - "does this do something my other basses don't?"

I've got a P with flats, a really grindy old MIJ PJ, a heavily modified Dingwall 5er for metal, and a custom 5er I use for everything that doesn't specifically call for one of the above. I've also got my first bass, which is an old MIM P, and an old project Yamaha I bought on here when I was in college in 2009 and then realized I was in way over my head and it's been in a closet ever since. :(
 
#165
To quote Lemmy, the chase is better than the catch (in many cases)...and because I'm sensitive to the bass-ecosystem, I often play catch and release. I see all the same reasons posted that I would have noted...but primarily...I play them, therefore I am, and "he who dies with the most basses wins". Or is that putting Descartes before the hearse? Sorry...I'm a dad, what can I do?

 
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#167
To each their own. I’ve found that for me having more than a few basses is stressful - you run out of room, feel like you should be playing them all, etc. I’ve narrowed down to 3, two of which are identical except for color. The third is the backup to the backup and hasn’t seen daylight in about a year. I want to sell it lol!
 
#170
"Why do you have so many guitars?" Take your pick.

A. None ya business (you mind yours and I'll mind mine)
B. Because I can (without hurting financially)
C. Different tools for different jobs (do you own both imperial and metric wrenches? open, box, socket, pipe, etc.? what about pliers?)
D. Variety is the spice of life (I like spicy)
E. Carrots (good for you eyes)
F. All of the above
G. None of the above
 
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#171
Goatrope said:
I just liked having the ability to reach out and grab/play all kinds of different basses.

Story time:
When I was a teen, I ripped last page out of each new Bass Player mag and pinned them on my wall. I had quite the virtual collection, and I gazed at those pictures intensely for years and years.

When I got "older", I actually owned and played most of those basses, and they hung proudly in my music room. It became a collection of a wide variety of basses.

As I got even older, and experienced being the executor of a few complicated estates, I felt I was going to be putting quite a burden on anyone who had to deal with my “collection”, especially since nobody in my immediate orbit is a musician .

I began to fear when I leave this earth, all those amazing instruments would go out with either a garage sale or estate sale, for pennies on the dollar.

So I began last year to find homes for most of them, and I'm just keeping the few I gig regularly. Each sale has been a fair exchange, and with very cool buyers.

I feel pretty good about where I’m at now, but I do miss my “collection” sometimes.
Click to expand...

It's the same with me. I think about my wife having to liquidate my collection after I'm gone, and it makes me hesitant to collect another bass, and wanting to sell off half of my collection. Even the sentimental value fades when I consider that I will NOT be around forever to reminisce over all the events and other memories I attach to these "things". I can justify keeping 3 of them, but would probably be better off selling all but one and adding an EUB. But then I ask myself "why" I want to hide 1500 or 2000 USD in another instrument when I'll be dead within 20 years, and maybe not even be playing in another 5? I think that one fretted and fretless 5 string is all I need to get me through my music future. If I was 20 years younger, I'd probably be adding amps as well as guitars. Switching out the equipment adds a bit of novelty to the experience. But at my present age... hmmm
 
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#172
I'm retired, never married, no children (that I know of), have disposable income, and enjoy having bass ukes/mini bass guitars modified to styles I like. To me it's not a syndrome to accumulate gear, it's great fun and keeps my aesthetic juices flowing. I started playing bass uke/mini bass guitar in mid 2014 and over the time went through 54 instruments, 21"-24" scale, settling on 31.

A few months ago I decided to cull it down to the most comfortable with nerve damage to my neck spinal cord from radiation treatments for cancer years ago. I kept 4 of my 21" scale and slowly adding more of the same, having them modified to my liking by Eric's Guitar in Sound City, painted by Pat Wilkins, both in Van Nuys, CA.

Bass Collection 10.jpg
 
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#173
I used to collect guns. My faves were old American sporting rifles and shotguns. Then I started playing bass, and my interests shifted. I collect, and I play. At first, it was nust entry level instruments that I could afford, but as time went by, I started trading up for better and better instruments. Maybe someday I will whittle it down to just "The Bass", but prolly not. And anyway with bass gear, I can annoy my neighbors and just get a warning, without going to prison!
 
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#176
I read daily. I have a lot of books. So is it bad to have so many ? I read them again and again, like seeing a movie more than once maybe ??
So my choice to have a few basses, well kinda the same. I enjoy the difference in sound somewhat and the look. 6 of my basses are Fender Jazz. Why, that’s what I play 99% of the time, at home or on stage. If I had the $$ I’d have many sport cars.
So that’s all. Just wanted to chime in. Also, I have given over 400 books to the VA hospital.
Whatever makes ya happy.
 
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#178
As I climbed towards Delphi, where the cypress trees lined the road like javelin heads, and when I passed its sanctuary of Apollo, a place ancient pagans once thought of as the navel of the world, the light was beginning to fade with the Sun. Upon the apex of this event a Pythia the Oracle for Apollo came to me in dreams and omens, with the golden message…She said “Who gives a S#1}, get what you want and don’t get caught up with complex BS on the internet…”
 
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#180
Я понимаю, что каждый бас уникален по своему звучанию. Тогда же я вижу знаменитых музыкантов, много лет играющих на одной гитаре?
 

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