Why do you own the basses you own?

[GeneralElectric]

So, bedridden and bored, I've decided to post a thread on TB as possible new basses loom over the horizon.

Why do you own the basses you do? Any plans on getting rid of any anytime soon? What would you replace them with? If you own doubles, why more than one?

Pictures are always welcome, but I don't have pictures of all my stuff.

I'll start off:

1982 Fender 57RI P-bass: Strung with DR HiBeam Rounds. I use this bass for everything. The bass always had flats on it up until last year. Superlight weight and its broken in in all the right places.

This has pretty much always been my #1 bass although there are times when its fallen out of rotation for some new toy.
I've been playing this bass for like 10-11 years now and it was my first bass. I never plan on selling this although I am planning on refinishing it to see if people keep requesting this bass now that its not a beat up old Fender.

FrankenFender Precision Bass:
Its a 1982 JV P-bass neck (the maple one) and its married to a highway series P-bass body from 2006. Its strung with Guitar rch nickels. They're actually really cheap strings but they sound great if only a little too high a tension for me.
Its the backup for my 82 and they feel pretty similar neck wise. Has a lollar pickup and it sounds pretty close to the 82. I could see myself getting rid of it were it not for the body. Its a giant collage painted by a bunch of my friends and then clear coated.

Red FrankenFender P-bass:
This bass sounds killer with flats and super warm. Its my first choice for when I need a P-bass with flats to record. Its also very punchy. I got the body super cheap as the original neck was destroyed (didn't even have a headstock!) and I got the neck on craigslist awhile ago. Its a 1961 P-bass body and electronics and a 64 P-bass neck.

Gold FrankenFender: I guess this is a bit redundant but it plays nice. 67 P-bass body, newer guts, and a 62 Fender Jazz neck. Strung with flats. I usually play this live because of the super skinny jazz neck.

Fretless P/J: Super lightweight ash body thats 130 years old (the wood was long seasoned, not the body) and has Nordie P/J pickups. Its got a defretted Ebony and ovankol? neck that was epoxied and a mammoth claw Fender bridge.

This covers my (sparse) fretless needs but I like playing fretless. It sounds killer with plenty of sustain but I'm looking for something different. The neck is a Warmoth with those huge metal bars in it. Without the huge bridge, the bass dives to the floor. As it is now, it balances lightly but is heavier than it needs to be.

I like the control layout (Volume, Blend, Tone) but I'd get rid of this thing in a heart beat for a different fretless. I find that I only use one pickup or the other and rarely blend them. I'm not a fan of the jazz body in general and I don't like the neck. I like them wide and thin.

I'd replace this with a fretless P-bass that maybe had piezos in the bridge.


MIM 70s Jazz Classic: Strung with mystery flats. Its currently about to go in for warranty repair. Fulfills my needs when I need a jazz bass while avoiding the dreaded 'Jazz bass with rounds' tone that I abhor so much. So thin! So burpy! It does sound really nice with the flats and I hope the new neck doesn't change that.

Carlo Robelli- It was a free acoustic bass guitar a friend gave me. It plays pretty good but the strings turn my fingers green. Amplified it doesn't sound too bad although some notes are choked out, especially in the higher registers.

 

[mixalot]

Quit drinking.

Bought a Fender Squire to keep me from getting ****** up all the time.

Bought a custom Carvin LB20 to celebrate 1 year sober.

Bought a Carvin BK40 Fretless kit to celebrate 3 years sober.

Four years coming up in 12 days.......gassin' for a 5 string P .

 

[snyderz]

All my basses are tools I use in my blues band. Rotate to taste.
Nash J w/Lollars
'79 P
'62 RI J w/Antiquity IIs
G&L U.S. SB-2
G&L U.S L1K

All are fretless w/flats.

 

[MetroDetBass]

Spectorcore 5 fretless because it does a bang-up job impersonating DB for acoustic or jazz gigs.

In my cover band I play a squier deluxe active jazz 5 string which sounds freaking awesome to me! I slap it a little too much though because I can.

 

[hoshbrown41]

2007 Stingray 5: upgrade from my OLP MM2, wanted a low B, love the Stingray growl and tone

1991 Fender Fretless Jazz: got it used and cheap and wanted to learn fretless. Selling it because I'm learning that although I love Jazz basses' necks and looks, I much prefer P-bass tones

 

[iri5h_punk21]

I own 3 basses atm. I chronological order of purchasing, they are a Peavey T-40, a red wine Gibson Grabber, and a custom Grabber that I just got.

I got the Peavey mainly because it was fairly cheap and it sounded like it would have an aggressive tone which is what I was aiming for. Recently it's just gotten too heavy for me with my back problems and just didn't end up quite being the tone I'm looking for. This one may be finding a new home soon =/

My first Gibson Grabber in wine red. I've wanted this bass since before I was a bassist. I had never payed much attention to bass before I listened to The Artist in the Ambulance by Thrice. I just loved his tone and how deep and chesty it was, especially live. I always get compliments on it by people who always want to play it and constantly tell me how great the neck feels. I will never part with it.

This is my project Grabber. I loved my first one, but I have a baritone guitar that both my guitarist and I love and we want to at least experiment with going lower into the baritone tuning. So this baby's tuned to BEAD. It also has a Dimarzio Model One in it with push/pull pot to split the coil which adds some versatility. It's also nice to have the EAD back so I can also play with people in standard slightly easier than with my other Grabber which is tuned to DGCF (not that difficult but it helps). I doubt this one will leave my stable either

 

[A-Step-Towards]

I usually buy the basses I own because I like them and the deal is cheap enough to where if i end up needing to sell it I can get my cash back , I usually wont buy a bass unless its a good deal as I change tastes alot and dont like to lose money on resale, it would be different if my band made money gigging but since my bandmates take any shows and play for free i dont have that luxury ,yet.

 

[Lazerrus]

1991 Fender P
Squier P
Squier Jazz Standard
ESP Viper 104
Jim Surles Fretless Jazz
Squier MB5
BC Rich Warbeast Trace
BC Rich Paolo Gregoletto sig Warlock

All for different reasons and styles. Don't want to sell any of them. I love them all. First to go would be the MB5.

 

[the yeti]

fender cowpoke- got it really cheap and it's a pretty decent bass

skyline 5501- fell in love w/the neck (and got a good deal from ryanl)

skyline JO5- always liked j-basses and i think this does it better than fender plus i like the lakland 5string neck

sx 5string fretless- friend gave it to me, it's not bad at all

peavey dynabass- i have no explanation for that one

 

[blowinblue]

Simply put, because each one of my instruments compels me to play them. Each one is hard to put down. Each one draws me in.

M. M.

 

[JTE]

All the ones I own ultimately are here fir the same reason. I played it and the bass said "Hi, honey, I'm home!!!" As different as they are, they all share that they have a certain resonance (not merely physical/acoustical) with me.

John

 

[billiam5billion]

I own my Jazz because when I played it in the store, every other bass I'd ever played felt wrong. This is also why I've whittled my collection down to 2, and only because it's better safe than sorry to have a backup. If I could somehow magically be guaranteed that my FrankenJazz would never mess up, I'd only own one.

 

[s_mcsleazy]

BECAUSE THERE CHEEP AND I HAVE NOT GOT MUCH MONEY

 

[KimGT99]

Timeline:

1997: Hohner P-bass: Because I had to start with something

1998: Ibanez Ergodyne 5 string: after starting with a 4 string I wanted more strings, more bass Still own it but don't use it anymore cause it sounds quite special with it's luthite body. Won't sell it because 1. I customized it with green flames, 2. I won't get any bucks

2000: Esh Various 5 string custom: played it at a local guitar shop and fell immediately in love. Ash body, real huge sound, but will sell because I rather play it and I need the cash

2001: Ibanez BTB QM 5 string: went a little more in slap area, I like the neck. Sounded ok, but not too much of my soundidea. Sold.

2003: Fender American deluxe 5 string ash body, acb: still needed some slap space, but also quite pounding sounds with a great low B. Will never sell this one, although due playing hardcore I began playing with a pick. Play again with fingers nowadays and still love the tone

2005: Fender American deluxe 5 string, ash body, bb: well, needed a backup. Although the quality lacks a little bit.

2009: Fender Steve Harris signature P-bass. After giving up the band, I wanted that bass just for my own pleasure and because I'm a Steve Harris fan. As you can guess I love my Fender basses

2010: Ibanez Soundgear 506: was asked to play 6 string in a new band. Never played a 6 string bass before and needed something quickly and with ok random quality. Local guitar shop got me one in 2 days. It is quite ok, but will probably sell it in a few years.
Currently with the band, the soundgear is my mainbass. At home I always hang out with my Fender which I just love.

I'm looking forward to buy a custom build Sandberg California 6 string just because I love the J bass, but Fender hasn't got what I need (no, I don't like the S. Bailey...).

 

[onosson]

My longest-owned instrument is an MIA Fender P that I bought around 94-95 used, it's probably late 80s make. I took it on the road for years and played the **** out of it, bashed cymbals with the headstock, threw it around, left it overnight in the van in -40 weather, etc. I eventually pulled the pickup out of it to put in a J, but recently put it back and it's now in the shop to have the wiring redone and a setup. It has a massively thick neck, which I'm not used to these days, so we'll see if I still like it when I get it back.

The next oldest is a MusicMan Sub Fretless 5 that I bought new about 8-9 years ago. I'd always wanted a MusicMan as well as a fretless, and it was too cheap to pass up. I didn't really want a 5, but I found that the pickup sounded way fatter than the 4-string they had, so I chose it. It has never been my main instrument, but it offers me a lot of different possibilities than my normal Fenders, so I don't think I'll ever get rid of it.

My current main bass is an MIJ Fender Aerodyne P/J that I bought new about 4 years ago. I bought it expressly for its weight - I was doing a lot of 3-set 3-night weekends, and wanted something that wouldn't kill my back. I ended up swapping the neck for a mid-90s MIJ Fender J neck that I had from a bass that is currently in pieces. It plays so nice now and the P pickup gives me the tone I am most used to, that it is my go-to bass for the most part, especially for recording. However the components seem to be a bit on the cheap side - I had to replace the input jack already, and the J pickup volume pot is quite noisy. I'll never buy a bass with a jack on the bottom of the instrument again, that's for sure.

The newest (to me) addition is an '82 MIJ Squier J that I picked up used very cheap 2 years ago. It is the nicest playing bass I have ever owned. If it was a little bit lighter and had a P pickup, it would easily be my main instrument. It's definitely the most fun to play on unplugged while seated, just running through things at home.

 

[lastpedestrian]

Here's my timeline:
1985-ish: Gibson Ripper from classified ad. Start learning how to play this "bass" thing. Throw my shoulder out from the weight.
1987-ish: Sell the Ripper, get a tiger-striped Peavey Fury. Start playing in bands.
1989-ish: Decide, after hearing "Owner of a Lonely Heart", that I want to play fretless. Trade the Fury in on a (lined) fretless Yamaha BB300 (candy apple red). Start really getting into bands.
1996: Completely lose interest in making music. Bass goes to Goodwill.
...
2010: Decide to get back in the game. My new "first 2.0" bass is a G&L SB-2. I've been relearning for six months now, and couldn't be happier to be playing again.

 

[Shawn Luckman]

1964 Hofner violin bass,I saw a picture of McCartney back in 1980 holding his bass & not knowing what it was I just liked the look of it. 8 years later I get one I don't use it now but it's always there if I want to.

1992 Rickenbacker 4003,my favorite bass back in 1987/88 I was given a book called teach yourself rock bass. Inside were two pictures that were to turn my bass world upside down,a picture of a Jetglo 4001 & a pic of Chris Squire using his RM1999. I love everything about Rickenbacker basses, would love to get a V63 one day.

1989 Squier Precision MIK, bought by my girlfriend twice for me once in 1998 & again in 2008. Had a love/hate thing with Fenders but now I would love to get either a MIM or HW1. Maybe now I'm older I like the simplicity of the Precision.

2003 Musicman SUB (Stingray) never have I been so wrong about a make of bass than I was about EBMM basses. Bought in April 2010 for £99.99 aprox $153, was not sure if Iwas going to keep it or sell it on for a profit until I sat down & played it. Amazing bass well made, the only drawback is that it is so close to the Stingray I can't see me buying one. The SUB will most likely be my only EBMM bass.

2009 Tanglewood Evolution ABG, always liked the look & sound of ABG's so I bought one. Again don't use it much but it's a nice bass all the same.

 

[ExaltBass]

I think I'm getting close to settling down...

'59 P-Bass - owned since '75 It took a long time to get this one back to close-to-original shape. It went through the Hippie strip and P-J phase... now it's close to where I want it to be. The BEST bass I've ever owned and one I'll never sell. Gigged regularly.

Fendowsky P-J - This has been an on-going project. I've swapped out virtually everything to get to this point... perfection. This is my NUMBER ONE. I bring it to virtually every gig. The only changes in it's future is a possible refin to Shoreline Gold.

JBD Marston Fretless - a joint project build between TB'ers Joinercape, Ben Lindsey and myself. Simply the BEST fretless I've ever played. This thing KILLS!

BTW a new fretted is in the works.

'97 Warrior - For when I need a 'modern' sound. This bass is awesome. It has updated Warrior spec'ed Bartolini electronics & pups. AWESOME!

Sigma AEB - I like to use this bass when I'm learning a new song. If I can play it smooth on this I can play it better on whichever bass I choose. Hardly gets any gig time.

I'm adding a BEAD P-J this week and will be doing some work on another fretless.... we'll see

 

[connected2aj]

My current arsenal:

1989 Spector NS-2 Fretless: Always wanted a Spector and a fretless, so when this came up, I grabbed it.

1987 Spector NS-2: After having the fretless, I borrowed my friend's fretted NS-2 to record with. The band fell in love with it so I had to get it.

Fender Geddy Lee Jazz Bass: Loved the look of Geddy's '72 Jazz, so when Fender put this out, I had to get one, not because it was a signature, but because it had a maple board and black blocks. Plus I hate new US Fenders.

Godlyke Deity 8 String: Always loved 8 string basses, and when I saw this one, I knew I had to have it.

1988 Spector NS-2 with Kahler Tremolo: At the time I was doing 2 projects in different tunings, and wanted to get another fretted Spector to keep in standard tuning. This one became available, so I bought it.

Modified '70's Crestline P-Bass copy: Wanted a P-Bass to modify as well as something that I wouldn't mind playing in bad weather or by a pool. Got this cheap and started to "fix" it. Only the body and the neck are original.

Spector NS-2JA-R: Always wanted a Spector with Jazz pick ups, so when I saw that there were still some left, I picked one up when I had the chance.

There's a lot of love in my collection.

 

[nickbass79]

My advice to you is to save the money and have a luthier make a custom bass, with the specs you want. This way your bass will have your own personal touch, and it will be one of a kind. Cliff Bordwell(Invalid Link Removed), Carl Thompson (www.ctbasses.com) and Mathieu Bilodeau(www.bilodeaubasses.com) make exceptional basses, and there are MANY others out there. Give it a thought!