Why Do You Stick To The Same Type Of Basses?

[Jared Lash]

My first bass was a beat up Guild B-301 that was almost as old as me. Since then I've owned Fenders, Carvins, Laklands, Warwicks, EBMMs, ACGs, a Valenti, a couple Ibanez, an MTD, a Roscoe and others I'm sure I'm forgetting at this point.

But since my first Stambaugh I've been hooked on the freedom to dream up whatever I want and have it built with all the things I wanted in a bass, from woods, to pickups down to things like fingerboard radius, neck shape and even the neck pocket.

Now I only own four Stambaughs. And a couple guitars.

I still have GAS for a Stingray Special (and the Stingray guitar for that matter) and a great Pbass from Moollon or maybe Carey Nordstrand, but by and large I'm happy with what I have.

 

[Blind owl bass]

Wow, two fretless committers in one thread and on the first page, no less! I'm impressed!

3 fretless players on 1 thread!

I am also fretless only bassist! first bass was a ibanez soundgear, which quickly got upgraded to a 95 american fretless p bass. which was stolen from my bands trailer eventually along with my first upright bass 1942 kay......poopie happens......my primary bass is a neck thru, unlined (but dots on the side) 5 string custom bass made by Bernie Lehman of Rochester Ny. I have owned many P's and J's, and think the p body lined fretless j neck is the way to go for my fender style fretless tone/feel.

just literally found a mint fretless yamaha bass in my parents basement. (brothers girlfriends bass, got it for 100$. it plays better than It should!

really tempted by this old Godin, semi hollow body bass in a shop near me. think its vintage. plays great, i want to rip the frets off bad!

 

[SteveC]

I went through a lot of basses in the "quest for tone" and the "perfect" bass. I eventually landed on Roscoe. Love the neck, love the sound, love the feel, love the look. I just added the "Roscoe Pino" this week.

 

[Wanker_Joe]

I had a few basses from various manufacturers and then I purchased a Warwick Streamer Stage II and fell in love with the NS shape. Eventually that led to me getting a Spector Rebop, a Steinberger XP-2A and a NS-Designs WAV Radius 4. There's something about Ned's designs that resonate with me. I don't think I can go back to basses that he didn't have a hand in designing...

 

[pie_man_25]

I have two jazzes, both are nice. Two is more basses than I can play at once, but one has five strings and a switchable active pre. After a while I kinda just realized that more basses is just more money down the hole, that could potentially go to retirement or a livingspace or a really nice sandwich... Or maybe lessons or a workbook to work on technique or theory. It's not even a small amount of money either - new bass money, even on a cheap one, is comparable to several sandwiches or books or lessons.

Part of it is the money, most of it is just value, nothing wrong with what I've got.

 

[bwildt]

VIVE LA DIFFERENCE! -- as long as it doesn't look too weird.

Not being a very flashy person, my basses reflect my personality-- Mostly traditional looking instruments. Other than that, I find fun in having different format instruments. Out of my collection, my desert island basses would be my Fender Precision V, followed by my G&L L2500. I don't have a duplicate of anything. I switch between 4 and 5 strings. I like and play them all, depending on the gig or how I feel at the moment. It's kind of like picking out what shirt to wear.

Fender P5
Fender PJ (4)
Fender SCPB (Sting)
Fender J fretless (4)
Yamaha J5 (BBG5)
G&L American L2500
Musicman American SUB5
Peavey T-40
Ibanez AGB140 semi hollow

 

[mdogs]

First real bass was a 69 Jazz, beautiful bass, so of course I sold it sometime in the 80's. Moved to actives for many years and fell in love with Pedullas. Beautiful basses that play like a million bucks, but got bit by the Musicman bug one day and eventually sold off the Pedullas and bought a couple of MM's. During the Pedulla years, had a couple of different Fenders, but they never stuck. Went full on MM for a couple of years and then traded one for a Fender Roscoe Beck 4, the one bass that I regret letting go. These days, I mostly play my Fenders, nothing feels so right to me. My MM's get little playing time other than practice at home, the Fenders get the stage time. I am not a P guy, although the one that is getting the most play time right now is a PJ. I love the way the bridge pickup tightens up the overall sound and if I need the fatness of the P, it is just a knob tweek away. I don't really care whether you like Fenders or not, the one absolute is that NO ONE has ever done the wrong thing by bringing a Fender.

 

[ElectricBass72]

I like to have options. It would be boring to play the same type and style of bass all the time, IMHO. EBMMS5 HH, Fender Precision, Ibanez SR, ESP Fretless, Rickenbacker 4003 and Ibanez ATK.... all of these have 99% of electric bass tonal diversity covered. Active, passive, 5-string, 4-string, 6-string, single coil, humbucker.... yep.

 

[bassboysam]

Beyond Fender and Rics, maybe vintage MusicMan and Gibson, I just find all other basses ugly.

I currently have 2 Rics, 2 Js and 4 Ps

 

[SteveC]

Unbelievable that before the first page was over, we've had three people totally committed to fretless! I'd have never thunk it.

I thought about it a long time ago but there are times when I feel I need/want frets.
I do play my fretless almost exclusively at church.

 

[TinIndian]

I have no particular afinity for any one brand. Currently I have a US Peavey Foundatin S I bought new back in the 80's and an Import Peavey, I have a couple G&L's, A US P Deluxe, a highly modified Sterling RAY35, A German Warwick and a parts P bass that my buddy Tim used on his Tech 21 Demos for the new Steve Harris pedal. All of them go out in the rotation because I love to play them all. In fact if I find they aren't going out in the rotation they go down the road. No sense keeping something I'm not using. Same for amplifiers. At the moment I'm looking at different US Peavey's that I've wanted to try out and, in the spirit of Black PJ basses, I'm gassing very hard at the moment for a Lakland Skyline 44-64 GZ. You won't find a more Black P bass than that! And it has Geezers as a kicker stock.
Right up your alley @JimmyM !

 

[ElectricBass72]

Beyond Fender and Rics, maybe vintage MusicMan and Gibson, I just find all other basses ugly.

I currently have 2 Rics, 2 Js and 4 Ps

I love the look of Ernie Ball Stingrays and Rickenbackers... but I find most Fender and Gibson basses to be exceptionally ugly. But they sound good.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

Posting this as hopefully a fun thread with without judgment, without whininess because someone doesn't want to play yours or my favorite basses. I'm in it for the pics and fun stories of why some folks have settled on only one type of bass or one beloved favorite for everything. So please don't muck up this thread with douchebagginess, but yes, I'm going to talk about why I ultimately stuck with Fenders or Fender "tributes." Please feel free to contribute stories about what made you stick with only one type of bass if you have, and leave the sniping at other brands to a million other threads. And post pics.

When I started, my first good bass was a new 76 Fender Precision. We had a store in Orlando with a great selection where I could play all the different types of basses out there from Alembic to whatever ended in Z back then and the P sounded and felt as good as any that I was willing to pay for. Nice bass, a little too wide a neck pocket but as good as any from that era once you deal with that. I'd occasionally paint it and mod it over the years once I decided the pickup wasn't doing it for me by itself, but it was my only good bass for 15 years and I couldn't wait to ditch it and get something more high end and "modern" back when "modern" was the proper term for a bass with now-45 year old technology. That's what I did. I totally didn't want to play Fenders just on principle of being too broke to afford anything else.

So once I got some money, I experimented with others. I've tried everything from hollowbodies to active neck-thru boutiques, the cheap to the sublime, and they work very well for me on some types of music, OK for others, and not too great on a couple types. The only thing I could bring and always sound great on everything no matter what it was were Fenders. I still have bouts of wanting to use a different type on a gig, but I've given it up. Love a good P, love a good J, but I've decided on the PJ format with Geezers for my number one all-around does-everything bass, though I usually stay on the P. I'm counting my P in with the PJ's, too, but a PJ always goes to first time meetings with new musicians.

In black of course. With Hipshot Bass Xtenders. Still got that 76 Precision too, though the only thing left of the original bass is the body. It's the one in flat black. Doesn't have to be a real Fender, though. My go-to is a Hammersmith PJ I got 3 years ago. But it has to be black and have Geezers. I have a pieces parts PJ with flats in seafoam green, but it almost became black 2 weeks ago until my wife ordered me not to touch it. So it can stay here for her whilst I rock the Black Brigade:

View attachment 3659163

I like splits because they got "the sound" but, I'm stepping out of my comfort zone in a bit, and buying a geddy.

 

[SteveCS]

Oops, forgot the obligatory pics. Here are my current two:

'03 Crescent Moon fretless, maple/ebony neck-through, one piece sapele body, w/Q-Tuner pickups:

View attachment 3659266

2018 Marco Bass MV, bolt-on maple/purpleheart neck, ash center block, cedar body, maple top wings, custom neo sidewinder Marco Bass pickups:

View attachment 3659268

I know you no longer have it, but I think we need/deserve a pic of your old fretless Bean (is bean-porn a thing?) at this point, just to complete the set.

 

[JRA]

fretless cats stay up late!

Or get up early!

this thread is making for a great fretless-only player's convention! i have played unlined fretless axes, exclusively, on any/all gigs, since sometime in the 70s. all are: thinner necks (J-esque), rounds, cheapies when possible, modded to great lengths, or assembled from parts...

i have a P and a J (non-fender: clones/"tributes"):

but my go-to, 'gotta'-have-at-least-one-on-the-gig' are my PJs:


the story:
- 'schooled' on piano and woodwinds, but wanted to play jazz, so
- started 'the bass' on upright = too big!
- first EBG was a ric = to much metal on the board!
- switched to fretless = ahhh, relief!
- found PJs to be the best, overall, for me

loving the pics! (especially the fretless pieces! )

 

[SteveCS]

...

loving the pics! (especially the fretless pieces!)

Just for you...

 

[bhunt1]

I like G&Ls best because of the way the MFD pickups sound. The early 80s ones in particular are magic. I also like Carvins. Those two brands are lefty friendly so that works for me as a lefty. Now some pics:

1985 G&L SB2


1983 G&L L2000


1981 G&L L1000


The Carvins in the background are LB70, SB4000, and LB76.

 

[Eddie LeBlanc]

Started with cheap basses from Japan as that was only what was affordable in the 60s. Lafayette Electronics (think a Tiesco)

Then a Violin shaped Electra (kind wish I still had it)

Moved onto Hofners (eventually had 2)

Then a Les Paul Electra that eventually was de-fretted

Then a G&L 2000 that got de-fretted too

then an array of Ebay buys with a Tobias, a couple of Hohners (even the Steinberger copy)

A Gibson T-Bird

Then a nice Warwick Infinity SE

And now Spectors

And my latest baby

The Spector neck throughs are the best feeling and playable bass I've ever touched.

 

[stringthrough]

I don't... I see no point in it. However if you have lots of $$$ you can buy the same bass(es) in different colors, woods, etc.

 

[Stewie]

When I started, I had a Univo xMosrite shortscale copy. I was honored to have a lesson from my hero, the local bass phenom. The first thing he said was "Get rid of that piece of crap and buy a Fender" I said I had been lusting for the sunburst fretless Precision in my dogeared Fender catalog. He said "Nope, buy a Jazz Bass" So I did. After about a year, the neck started to twist. "Wonderful", I thought, and went to E.U.Wurlitzer's i9n Boston, where I bought a fretless Fender P neck. I bought and sold a handful of basses (all Fender) but the fretless Jazz was the only one I played from 1976 'til maybe 5 years ago.

5 years ago, I bought an MIM P bass used. I loved the sound. About a week later, I swapped necks and the P became my only player

Then I started playing upright, it just fit with the the jump blues, boogies and early rock n roll I was playing. I traded some amp stuff for a Squier 50s bass, because I missed the 68 Tele I sold when I was in high school for $200. The "Tele" is my back up and is a fun change from the doghouse I usually get to dance with

So, I always stuck with Fenders, the Jazz hasn't been played in years (too many knobs). I am tempted to have a fretless maple tele neck made for the blue bass.