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Why do you own so many basses?

#181
8 Basses here...
Sadowsky MetroExpress JJ5 - My main Bass. Love it
Music Man Stingray 4H - Special Colour - Purple. Love it. Sounds exactly how you would imagine a Stingray
Music Man Stingray 5 HH Special - Some days it´s awesome, some days the sound is just meh. The Neck is to die for.
Torillo Shevette Custom - Built especially for me. Love it, when I need that clean MTD Style Sound
Modulus Flea /Funk Unlimited 5 - The Bartolini EQ is the horror. Who needs 10k Treble? Always wanted one, so I have to keep it.
Fender Flea - Got it real cheap, don´t like it because of the monster Output and the feeling playing a 38" Bass. But my wife likes it.
Harley Benton Deluxe Jazz - Real good cheapo with an awesome sound and great quality. Rehearsal Room Whore
Ibanez SR Whatever - Well, the bass of my wife. Has probably the best "Sound". So Sterile that you can form it like you want.
 
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#182
My 2 current faves are so far in front of the others...and by most criteria, the others are very decent, I have every reason to sell a few.
A few more weeks and I'll be ready to market one. I have another one ear marked as next one out of the door.
 
#184
SpankBazz said:
Each bass has a different sound that I want because I play different types of music and different styles within those genres.
I have to admit that some were impulse purchases (Sterling Joe Dart, 40th Anniv. Gold Edition Squier Jazz, Yamaha BB414, Harley Benton PJ).

I'm a Jazz guy. That's my go to sound.
For that, I have my Fender Jazz. It sounds exactly like I want it to sound.
I wanted the Sire Jazz ever since it came out. I needed to see if the hype was real. So I have a Sire V5.

I scored a Squier CV Indonesia P bass for next to nothing at a pawn shop. It's a mod project now.
My go to P bass is a Squier CV from China (the Poor Man's Pino) that I bought from a TB'er. The hype is real.

I wanted to try the Mustang mostly because Hamish Stuart got a great, funky sound out of his Competition Blue Mustang during his Average White Band days. He still plays one with Ringo.
I got one from Guitar Center used for next to nothing and I liked it a lot.
But I couldn't help myself from wanting the Competition Orange finish. So yeah. 2 Mustangs.
I keep one Mustang stashed in my hometown so when I visit home, I can still play.

I got the Sire Z3 to have the Stingray Louis Johnson sound without the Ernie Ball Stingray price. Mission accomplished.

I'm a huge fan of Jonathan Maron, so I always wanted a Yamaha BB3000.
In researching the 3000, I found the BB2000 through Tetsuo Sakarai's Domino Line solo, which blew me away.
Since I play with my thumb a lot, the choice was clear.

Although I don't need it, I'll probably buy a Korean brand Jazz by a company called Bentivoglio. I stumbled on a Korean bass review video and saw it.
It has an aggressive Jazz tone without sounding artificial like some Jazz copies. I just have figure out how buy it.

In total, that's 13 basses. I think I'm set with what I have.
I'm a 4 string guy. Something will probably get tuned to BEAD. No desire to play fretless.
The only other bass that I need is my dream bass--the 1978 Fender Jazz Antigua.
Click to expand...
There is a 78 Antigua for sale in the classifieds. No affiliation .

https://www.talkbass.com/classifieds/fender-jazz-bass.1664804/
 
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#186
All of my instruments are in different tunings.

Modulus Q 5 sweet spot: Drop G (.168 equal tension)

G & L JB2: B standard / Drop A (.142 equal tension)

P-Bass: D standard / Drop C (.110)

J-Bass: E standard / Drop D (.105)

I’m actually going to change it up

The J is about to get a set of Ian Martin Allison super polished .103’s
 
#187
Greenman72 said:
So....if you can only play one at a time, why do you own more than one?
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You must be joking... I'd say: if you can only wear a pair of shoes, trousers, a shirt at a time... seriously: for me because (leaving alone the women) there's nothing more attractive than bass guitars and bass related stuff, on Earth.

“I can resist anything except temptation.” Oscar Wilde​

 
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#188
Because!

Options for stage and studio.

Passive 4 string options: Jazz, Precision, Reverend Decision(reverse P), Joe Dart

Passive 5 gigging rotation: Jazz V, Precision V, Roscoe Beck V

Active 4 go-to: Stingray (AlNiCo)

Active 5 options: Stingray 5 (ceramic), Lakland 55-02

Passive/Active workhorses: G&L L2500 in 2 colors options

Upright for all that Double Bass Goodness.

One might also want
-fretless electric 4 and/or 5 string
-U-Bass
-Short Scale
-6 string
-Acoustic
-etc...

Want to talk shoes and hats next? ;)

Seriously, love the question and thread.
 
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#190
Greenman72 said:
So....if you can only play one at a time, why do you own more than one?
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Two reasons:
Backup
Slightly different functions

E.g. I have:
One 4-string J-type with rounds (previously flats, didn't care for them)
One 5-string J-type with rounds
One 4-string P-type with flats
One 4-string PJ with rounds

I can easily get any of these to produce the tones I prefer. Plus, having more instruments means more upkeep. I expect eventually I'll sell off the PJ. I hesitate because it's light, sounds good, looks good, and won't sell for much.
 
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#191
I just joined and was reading about all the gear people have bought and their wives complaining. My wife fully supports me. I bought my first bass in 1970, a new short scale National jazz bass with 2 humbucker pickups. My second was a used Gibson hollowbody EB2 with one humbucker pickup. I have no idea when it was built. It is an ES style. I still have those. The next bass I bought was a new Fender Jazz bass in 2020 because of the pandemic. In 1985 I cut a finger off which ended my guitar career. I have most of the finger without the top. From the top knuckle on is gone and the way they fixed it, it was too fat and round, so it deadened the strings around it. I could play a little lead, but not rhythm or chords. I could play bass with three fingers, but I got depressed and gave it up. I became a school teacher and did not play for 30 years. During the pandemic I got out my old National and a Roland Bass Cube 60 watt amp. I found I could still play, sort of, so I practiced. I have enough dexterity now to use all four fingers on the bass and have plenty of room. I am a little sloppy on guitar, but then I love bass, so I am a bass player. I got good and bought the Fender and a Rumble 500. I then was lusting after a Thunderbird in tobacco finish. I played a Gibson Thunderbird and liked it, but it was not as good as my Fender. I found an Epiphone 60s and WOW! The tone is unbelievable. It is what I play in my band now. I also bought an Epiphone Viola bass for $499 just for fun. I had to completely change everything in the set up, but I have it sounding pretty sweet. I have three short scale and two long scale basses. The Thunderbird is definitely my number one. I have since bought two Les Pauls, a Casino, an ES 335, SG Custom, Stratocaster, a Martin D28, and a Taylor acoustic/electric 12 string. When I lost the end of the finger I sold my electric six strings gave away a Martin D15 and that friend gave me his Epiphone PR 150, so I had that during the pandemic. I also now have five amps and a cabinet. I caught the gear disease. I only play a few of them and use the Thunderbird exclusively in the band. Back to my wife, I was going to sell several of the guitars since I have retired, but my wife says they make me happy. I shouldn't sell any. I am very lucky. I guess the third time is a charm as this is my third marriage.
 
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#196
I have seven. Each one brings something different to the table (although, I think I have all the bases covered):
Ric 4003 - undefinable
Gibson Midtown - hollow body
G&L JB2 - jazz
Fender Mustang - short, P
SX Ursa 2 - fretless
MusicMan, Joe Dart - also undefinable (but different than a Ric)
Dean Pace - EUB

The wife is 110% on board. She's a writer. The music I make helps to encourage and inspire her work. (Her words - Not mine)
 
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#198
Aussie Player said:
In the black and white days, almost everyone only had and played a single guitar or bass.

Theft absolutely breaks your heart and turns you vicious against theives.
(Gibson EB3 1968 #909720 is forever mine)

Having several basses means the potential hurt with theft is reduced as your flock is tarnished but no longer decimated.
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This is very true.

When I had one bass, I was incredibly protective and attached to it.

Now, I have a few that are sentimental and I'm protective of those, but most don't have a ton of emotional attachment to most of the basses anymore.

I think part of this is me being less attached to material things in general - maybe just growing up and realizing that nothing is forever, and maybe another part is knowing that I have several basses that are perfectly fine, and even though i'd like to think that my 4 string P bass with flats gets a tone that is super individual, I could play the same gig with a Stingray 5 and it would be ok.

I'm not in the kind of bands that really require a particular look, and the person most invested in the bass tone is me. I know that for some, this is different.

I feel like the basses don't take up a lot of space, but the cases and gig bags are piling up.
 
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#200
biobass said:
Different situations call for different tools. Playing mostly musical theater, I get calls for different instruments. Currently I have 4 electrics an upright and a Kala U-Bass. From the early ‘70s to about 15 years ago my absolute main electric was my ‘65 Jazz. Starting about 20 years ago, shows began calling for notes below E. I put a Hipshot D tuner on the Jazz, but eventually realized I needed a 5 string.

It took me a couple of years until I was able to find a Roscoe Beck V, the closest thing I could get to my Jazz but with a low B.

Also, about 20 or more years ago, there were more calls for fretless. I got a Fender Acoustic/Electric Precision fretless that fit the bill, and was a somewhat reasonable approximation of upright when pit space was too tight. I worked on using an E-bow for faux arco sounds for over a year at home before using it on a gig, but with a lot of practice and technique, I was able to reasonably cover many arco passages with the A/E fretless. Then, there began calls for 5 string fretless. I got my Turner Renaissance fretless V ( the E-bow, of course, doesn’t work on the TI Acousticore strings).

The actual best emulator, by far, of an amplified pizz upright is the Kala U-bass with Pahoehoe strings. I tried one out in Honolulu maybe 20years ago and liked it, but felt that at $800 or more was too expensive for what might just be a toy. When they came out with the Exotic Mahogany model at about $400, I purchased one taking a chance that it wasn’t just a toy. I soon realized that it was a fine legitimate instrument in its own right. I don’t use it in the pit that much, but do on pop, and corporate/banquet gigs quite often, especially cocktail hour type stuff when I don’t bring my upright.

My upright, a ‘39 Kay, I got from the proverbial little old lady whose, now deceased, husband had played it in Army bands during World War II. It had been sitting up in her attic for years. She wanted to give it to me, but I felt I had to give her something. So, I paid her $25 for it back in the ‘70s, which actually was a lot of money for a destitute grad student back then. Over the years, I’ve invested in repairs and set ups, and it stills serves its purpose in theater pits and Jazz gigs very well, although I would never use it as an orchestral bass.

That is the reason that I have multiple basses.
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This seems super reasonable, and relates to function for work. I am a hobbyist, and it's harder for me to rationalize other than I like the variety.
 
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