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Why do you own so many basses?

#122
ajkula66 said:
I've been out of the bass-playing game for a very long time and had some catching up to do... :laugh:

That phase is over, some basses were sold and a couple of other are on their way out. The purge should be done with in a couple of months and I'll be where I need to be.

That doesn't mean that I won't ever buy another bass...while I'm not actively looking for anything, there are a few pieces that I wouldn't mind owning. Curiosity, cat and all that jazz...or maybe precision...:roflmao:
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I was happy like you and didn't get a new one for like a decade... I even purged a bunch of my stuff before that and only kept a few of my main stuff. The only gear i got was like... tuner pedals when the old one died.. then my Guitar player was showing up with a new guitar ever month.. so i started browsing.. big mistake..
 
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#126
I'm constantly testing, evaluating and trading up. Its not like we're trying to find "the one". I have a few of those already. I'm trying to find the perfect arsenal, not just one. Luckily over time you'll have a few that don't put that big ole grin on your face when you pick them up. They have to go. That's just evolution
 
#127
on 7string.org, s.b. why you need dozens of guitars. So i said start with 5 basic pickup types, HB, strat, tele, p90, jazzmaster, piezo multiply by 3 body styles, multiply by Gibson scale, fender scale, multiscale, multiply by 4+ tunings: standard, open, drop, 5ths (Fripp), easy to get to dozens of guitars needed.
 
#128
For what it's worth, here is my subjective reasoning for my main basses:
  • Fender P with flats: Classic thump-y sound, upright-ish vintage feel.
  • Fender J: Balanced scoop-y sound, deep yet upfront feel.
  • Sadowsky M5: Modern burp-y sound, articulated melodic feel.
Sound-wise, I could survive any live gig with my active J and meticulous EQ application. But playing with my ideal bass makes me feel & play better and I simply enjoy the music more! Each bass brings out a different bass player in me. "Playing the right feel" is a higher goal than "sounding appropriate" - and that's a real effect of each different bass.

And my stunts:
  • Sire M7: Can "kinda" sound like any of my main basses and costs a fraction of their price. That's my road bass - I won't wail if anything happens to it, can be replaced easily and affordably.
  • Headless UGR J: A second-hand cheapo which can fit into a guitar case. Not my ideal choice; but very light and easy to carry around. I take it to local gigs as a backup, or travels if I have to work in the hotel room or something.
That's my upper limit - I don't need more than that. At this time.
 
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#131
I don’t. I have owned many basses, but never more than two simultaneously, and have bought, sold, and traded my way to my current bass, a Sandberg Superlight VM4, which is the perfect bass for me. I might pick up something cheap as a backup, but for the time being I have just one bass.
 
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#132
I don't know if this was touched on, but I think Phillip McKnight had a video on his YouTube channel where he talks about how the guitar business is a business and businesses exist to make money. Ergo, companies don't want you to just have one guitar, they want you to have multiple.

And among musicians, even working pros... you have those pros who are "collector hobbyists" who have dozens of guitars in their collections. Then you also have those working pros who might have 5 guitars but 10 motorcycles in their garage because that is their collector hobby.

The same could be said about many products. The company doesn't want you to have just one of their widgets. They want you to have several widgets.

And another channel (I think it was Rib13) made an interesting point about how people with money to collect and purchase vintage gear they coveted as youths but couldn't afford is why some legacy brands don't stray from their classic designs because that's what their customer base shells out the money for. That they're now more for collectors than working musicians (who ain't making the big bucks). Yet other companies (I think Ibanez was an example) use, say, their Soundgear platform as a way to push bass design forward. Soundgears are just as ubiquitous as Fenders in the wild, yet aren't as coveted as that mythical "Legacy Brand" axe.

So, yeah, the reason some folks might have so many instruments is simply because they're collectors and/or they simply enjoy "the pleasure of possession."
 
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#133
Poor impulse control?

Obviously that's part of it but for me it was first about exploring what was out there. I knew there were some things I didn't like right away (the baseball bat P necks, for instance) but I bought a bunch of different basses to try to get a sense of what was out there. I had a list of things I wanted to try out for longer than any store would let me (and stores are always iffy on stock anyway) and I was just working my way through the list. I even had one of the stable de-fretted at one point. Never spent more than $1000 on a bass.

Then I finished the list. I felt like I had a solid idea of what I really liked and wanted, and I only needed two more basses to get there. I had a custom one built for one of them and I just bought the other, and now there are no plans for new basses. I'm not saying I'll never buy another bass, but for the first time since I started playing I have no plans or interest right now.

Took 15 bases (one of which I've given away and one of which is really just a decoration—makes a very nice wall hanging) but there it is.
 
#137
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#139
Greenman72 said:
So....if you can only play one at a time, why do you own more than one?
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NL_Bsss65 said:
Because I can 😆🤣
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Short answer? ^THIS^
Longer answer? Well....
Feelings of being deprived as a child - the only lefty basses around when I was a kid were custom made; my father - an enlisted GI with 3 other kids - could not afford custom made basses. So... over-compensating, maybe?:rolleyes: And, @lomo's answer probably has something to do with it, too...
Actually, after I bought my first bass, I sat down and made a list of all the basses - and types of basses - that I'd like to have. All left handed (which made acquiring some of them... difficult/very time consuming), and all 4 stringed. The list I wound up with had 24 basses on it. Over the last 30-something years, I've owned 31 basses. I sold a couple, and gave away a couple; I currently have 27. Yes, 3 of them do not have an "official" spot in the "Herd". I filled the last spot in the "Herd" ("Short Scale Lined Fretless") this summer, with a Birdsong Fusion. Not planning on buying any more basses. Now, I just play - and maintain - the ones I have. Which is uncomfortably similar to a full time job...
So, why did I do it? It was something to do; I enjoyed the "hunting/gathering" part of it. Aside from motorcycles, and collecting bad sci-fy and horror movie DVDs? Don't have any other hobbies. I'm long divorced, and very comfortably well-off, so... why the Hell not?:whistle:
 
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