Why do you own so many basses?

[neil|lien]

As far as i am concerned, i moved from Spain to France in July 2024 and had to sell off most of what i had. Only kept a Cort B5 Element OPTB that was already waiting for me in France.
Then i found deals on basses that i loved the looks of: ESP-LTD STREAM 205 in Snow White and an Ibanez TMB400TA-CBS.
Then during Black Friday, got myself a Squier Sonic Bronco in order to turn it into some sort of Musicmaster just because i like the looks of those basses but not the price tag. Those three new basses were bought new in December and January.
Total of 4 basses and i don't gig but play them constantly..

GAS list:
- Sire P7 5-string Swamp Ash Sunburst with maple fretboard
- Sire V7 5- string Alder Lake Placid Blue with rosewood fretboard

Should have added that my TMB400TA-CBS is my "P-Bass with Tapes", the Bronco is my "Short Scale with Flats. The other two have two soapbars: the Cort is wearing Tapes and the LTD will soon have flats. That's how i justify keeping all these basses.. but yeah i still dont have a proper jazz and precision, hence the gas for a V7 and P7 hehe.
It's all a matter of framing

 

[crobasster]

So....if you can only play one at a time, why do you own more than one?

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For me: I had a cheap beginner 4-string with PJ pickups. (1 bass)

I thought I wanted to start playing a 5-string, so I bought an (otherwise identical) 5-string. (2 basses)

Then I thought "hey--I like humbucker pickups better". So I bought 4-string HH. (3)

Then I thought "hey--I should get a 5-string HH." (4)

Then my bass teacher died (TB's own Michael Stanley. RIP.), and gave me one of his. (5 basses)

Then I learned that my favorite band, Type O Negative, tuned their instruments to B-standard. So I bought a 4-string tuned to BEAD. (6 basses)

Then I learned that not all songs are in standard tuning, so I bought another 4-string HH that I could use in alternative tunings, like C# standard. (7 basses)

Then I found a 1980 model Aria Pro II on Reverb. Since I'm a 1980 model, I just thought I'd go ahead and buy it. No real reason why. (8 basses)

An Esh Stinger I (the "Peter Steele" bass) popped up on Reverb, and since I'm a huge TON fan, I snagged it. (9 basses)

I liked the Esh so much that I bought another one. This one is EADG tuning. (The other one is in BEAD tuning.) (10 basses)

I bought a 5-sting fanned-fret bass, but don't like it. It's about to get traded in for a 5-string version of the Esh Stinger 1. (11 basses)

I bought a cheap "travel bass" from a friend. It's a piece of junk, so I don't really mind if it gets dinged a little bit. (12 basses)

I bought a jazz bass, because every "real bassist" needs a jazz bass. Now it's got flats on it. (13 basses)

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So that's it. 13 basses. I think I'm in "one in, one out" territory now.

Well, this is the answer !

 

[Snert]

here's a certain narcissism in some of us where we imagine ourselves in hypotheticals like "what if I'm in an R&B revue and I really need a ray for the 70s set" or "if I have a studio date, I'll need to bring a P and a J". I know realistically those things aren't likely to happen, and if they did, I could play them on a single decent instrument.

I was in a (musically) wide ranging cover / wedding band for a long time and I had one bass. Not once did anyone ever come up to me and tell me my tone was wrong for a given cover of a song.
However, these days I'm guilty of what you're saying here, and am thinking about how to straighten it out.

I basically use only 3...but can't bring myself to sell the others...

I would like to get rid of about 20 of mine, but the second hand market sucks and shipping from my remote is a huge PITA.

 

[Snert]

There are 7 colors on the rainbow. I have 6 basses. I figure I’m one short.

We agree.

 

[Swamp_Ronin]

Rampant consumerism and over consumption. Social media addiction. Greed. Envy. Boredom. Disposable income and disposable goods.

Earth is gradually becoming a landfill of cheap plastic and toxic waste.

But new colors go brrr!

 

[lowendblues]

Why do I have so many basses?

Because I've been a member of Talkbass for a very long time.

 

[tIANcI]

I have a sickness. It’s incurable.

 

[shirojiro]

I"VE GOT IT BAD!!!!

Including the one and the one I'm building I have coming in I have 20 basses. I also have three bodies and necks for future projects. 7 of these will be sold soon and my plan is to to be down to 10 or less by Jan 1 2026. That will be difficult.




* Tobias Growler 4 ------------------------------------------ Bought in used 2008. Wanted one for several years.
* Fender Stu Hamm Urge I - 32" ----------------------------Mexican version I rebuilt to the American setup
* Kramer Deciple D-1 --------------------------------------- Fell in love with the color. Light weight, fast neck, ebony fretboard, MM style PU.
* Spector NS Pulse II --------------------------------------- Always wanted a Spector. Nothing but love for this one.
** Ibanez EHB1505MS -------------------------------------- Wanted a lightweight 5 string. Small hands so this one will be sold.
** (2) Ibanez Roadstar RB850 ------------------------------ Bought one new in the 80s and the other one used two years ago. Light weight and great sound.
** MTD Kingston LK5 - 5 string ---------------------------- Bought this because of the 32" scale neck. Easy to play for a guy with small hands.
*** Hofner CT Contemporary ------------------------------ Bought this for Beatle tunes only 2 years ago.
* Vintage ICON V4 ----------------------------------------- Wanted a P-Bass. Compared it to American Fender. it played better, sounded the same.
* Vintage ICON VJ74 --------------------------------------- Needed a Jazz bass so this was it.
**** Vintage VJ74 ------------------------------------------ Wanted one for rehearsal
* Vintage Pro Shop Custom VJ74 ------------------------- This is the best Jazz bass I have, Sounds & looks great. Plays like butter. Very low set-up.
** Fret King Perception 4 ---------------------------------- PJ is the best of both worlds. High quality bass from Trevor Wilkinson.
* Harley Benton PB-50 ------------------------------------ Bought this because it was '51 P-Bass for under $200. Plays like a $1000+ bass.
** Warmoth "51 P-Bass ----------------------------------- Wanted build one so this was it. Plays and sounds great.
**** Glarry P-Bass ---------------------------------------- Bought it because of some of the reviews and the price at about $100, Light and plays great.
** Warmoth Mini P-Bass - 32" ---------------------------- This turned out awesome. Sounds great, plays fast and easy for small hands.
** Custom Built Mini P-Bass - 32" - reverse Headstock -- Like this one but needs lighter body and a different string tree. Will rebuild.
Custom Built PJ - Wenge neck ---------------------------- Bought a custom pickguard in neon swirls. going to finish the body to match one of the colors.

PS: Another Vintage VJ74 on order ------------------------ Ordered Candy Red with Black Pickguard / Rosewood fretboard but may change order. They
just introduced a 30th Anniversary model in British Racing Green with an Aged White Pearl
pickguard, maple neck and fretboard, with black block markers and black binding around the
fretboard.

* In the playing rotation
** Played occasionally
*** For certain gigs / tunes only
**** Rehearsal only

Those Ibanez RB850s are super cool.
The switching and controls are my favorite. Plus the giant humbuxkers sound great.

 

[/\/\3phist0]

Variety! 13

3 abg’s one fretless v, one fretless IV, one fretted IV

2x SS headless aluminum necked: one Kramer “the Duke” , one Hondo Alien

1 short scale Nordstrand Acinonyx

1 self made Billy Bo medium scale

1 Fender Meteora

1 Squier Debut P

1 active Jazz

1 Ric 4003 W

1 12 string Schecter stargazer

1 G&L Lb100

 

[mcrawfordmusic]

I use to have 12+ basses, which I justified through the need to have "one of each" for recording and the idea that you needed to have a big collection to be "a pro" bassist. I couldn't keep up with the maintenance, so most of them sat unused until I sold them all to buy a '65 Fender P.

I still have 5, but 3 are in storage and my '65 Fender P and '69 Fender PJ are the only 2 basses that I use now. The '69 is my workhorse, strung with rounds and works for everything I do. The '65 is strung with flats, and I guess is the backup to the '69

 

[SpankBazz]

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.

 

[DrBnz]

It all started because I made categories and had to have at least one from each category. Then I read too many posts about maple vs rosewood so some I have/had duplicates. Then thru evolution of GAS I've refined myself down to a nice size collection of very nice stuff. So the problem then becomes.... yeah, I don't really like PJs.. and I have 2 (rosewood / maple)... I should be able to sell one at least right? Nope... its so nice.... and I won't make any money by selling it..... heck, nobody is waiting on me to get done play on "this one" so it may as well stay in the closet and I can keep re-evaluating whether I still don't like PJs or not. THATS WHY

 

[roffe]

I also have more than one pair of shoes, and more than one kitchen knife, so why not more than one bass.

 

[ics1974]

because Talkbass made me do it.

 

[SpankBazz]

It all started because I made categories and had to have at least one from each category. Then I read too many posts about maple vs rosewood so some I have/had duplicates. Then thru evolution of GAS I've refined myself down to a nice size collection of very nice stuff. So the problem then becomes.... yeah, I don't really like PJs.. and I have 2 (rosewood / maple)... I should be able to sell one at least right? Nope... its so nice.... and I won't make any money by selling it..... heck, nobody is waiting on me to get done play on "this one" so it may as well stay in the closet and I can keep re-evaluating whether I still don't like PJs or not. THATS WHY

I'm not a fan of PJs, either. But like you, I have two.

IMO, PJs tend to sound more like Jazz basses and less like P basses, although some folks swear they do.
I have a Harley Benton PJ with Gotoh tuners. I bought it for the P bass sound while I was hunting down a Chinese Squier P bass.
The bridge pickup is meh and needs to be changed. But the build quality is outstanding, it looks great and was set up perfectly out of the box.
It's so fun to play.

I recently acquired a Yamaha BB2000. IMO, that and the BB3000 truly achieve the "half and half" sound PJs strive for.

 

[bass12]

We generally only eat one meal at a time. That doesn’t mean we’re happy always eating the same meal.

 

[Clark Westfield]

The answer is “why not?”

 

[Snert]

We generally only eat one meal at a time.

Have you seen the size of the average American these days?

 

[SpankBazz]

I'm not a fan of PJs, either. But like you, I have two.

IMO, PJs tend to sound more like Jazz basses and less like P basses, although some folks swear they do.
I have a Harley Benton PJ with Gotoh tuners. I bought it for the P bass sound while I was hunting down a Chinese Squier P bass.
The bridge pickup is meh and needs to be changed. But the build quality is outstanding, it looks great and was set up perfectly out of the box.
It's so fun to play.

I recently acquired a Yamaha BB2000. IMO, that and the BB3000 truly achieve the "half and half" sound PJs strive for.

I lied. I have three. I forgot the Yamaha BB414.

 

[atquinn]

I currently have 5 (just sold 2). A Precision with rounds. A Precision (actually, a PJ) with flats. A G&L MJ4 for Jass bass stuff. A fretless G&L JB2 for fretless Jazz bass stuff. And a G&L L2000 for lower tunings. That last one will be getting replaced by a 5 string bass (possibly an L2500). A ridiculous amount as I would be just fine with any one of them But music is a hobby so, I don't have to justify wasting money on it; that's the whole point of a hobby lol!