Why have multiple basses?

[ROON]

What I have:
Ibanez RD300 - my first bass, fretted 4 banger. Keeping it for sentimental reasons.
Washburn T24 - my second bass which I should never have gotten. Want to sell it but I doubt it will fetch anything decent. Fretted 4 banger.
EBMM Stingray4 - my third and most recent bass, bought it because I was looking for a tone I couldn't find in either of my last two basses. Another fretted 4 banger.

What I want:
Some type of 5 string, as I need a low B for some songs now days.
Six string just to mess around on.

 

[pbass2]

#1 For different sounds (and next to bass design and the electronics, different kinds of strings is a big factor)
#2 for different feels (I play differently on my Jerry Jones than on my Sadowsky)
#3 for backups (my main bass is a P with flats, so I have two, setup as similarly as possible).

 

[Warpticon]

Because there is soooo much difference in basses. humbucker, jazz, split, passive, active, specific pickups, specific preamps, number of strings, fretted, fretless, short scale, medium scale, long scale, string spacing, fanned, tremolo, piezo, number of frets, body wood, neck wood, fingerboard wood, neck thru, set neck, bolt on...

 

[cusar5]

For me, I need multiple guitars/basses for different tunings. The band I'm in switches from E standard/Drop D to C Standard/Drop Bb. I also play stuff in D Standard/Drop C.

 

[pedroims]

because i like basses , i could buy guitars or drums or go to cancun , but i love bass i have never tried to learn how to play another instrument, however i just have a P a J and Stingray, what is next, dunno, probably an acoustic

 

[Blues Bass 2]

When I was young I would just get the best bass I could afford.Same with my amp,car,clothes,rent and everything else that it takes to live.One bass did me fine and I never even thought about having two basses.When you only have one you really bond with it.The downside is if it breaks you don't have a bass to gig with while it's being fixed so you have to borrow or rent one.

Now that I'm older I can afford to have a couple or three around.With good cheap basses like the SX basses it's not as hard to have a backup bass as it was when I was starting to gig,there were no good cheap basses back in the early 70's.

My Millennium 5 and my Fender American Deluxe Jazz 5 are both great basses that sound different and play different.I can use either and be happy but having them both gives me way more options.I've got an SX Jazz four to play around the house and I think it's great too,I wouldn't hesitate to use it on a gig I didn't need a 5 for.The guitar players I play with are older too and have at least 6 or more guitars to pick from so partly it's peer pressure for me.

 

[cosmicevan]

i love basses and women, but in my state, you are only allowed to marry one woman. fortunately, you can own several basses. they rarely get jealous when you play another and switching between them frequently seems to be making me a better bassist.

 

[Nick Kay]

Because not everyone has realized the beauty of the MM Bongo or the newer Lakland pickups/preamps.

 

[MODNY]

i have 2 fretted and 1 fretless, all are different.

1- ash body, ebony fretboard

2- ash/bubinga/maple body , ebony fretboard

3 - ash body/ maple fretboard

thats why

 

[Kenny Allyn]

ONE Precsion bass ...

And 5 count em five Jazz basses

... What was I thinking a year ago I had "0" Jazz Basses

 

[ndrly]

It's the only alternative to having a drop D-tuner on your bass for switching to standard E to drop D. Also, some players like to alternate between standard tuning and grunge tuning (half a step down).

 

[*smb]

They're good for different things. I wouldn't detune my Ibanez semi-hollow artcore bass and blast out Mastodon songs, for example.

 

[Lon86]

why do some of us like multiple women...

 

[sgtdemeo]

Because if one is good, then more than one must be more good??

 

[Warpticon]

See? I was listing options and COMPLETELY FORGOT semi-hollow and acoustic.

 

[peterbright]

Well I have to keep at least one at the office to play when I get a chance & one at home and one at each mistress's house etc.

 

[BigBassBob]

My Rick4003 sounds nothing like my US Am. Dlx P-bass V (that has been upgraded with an Aguilar OBP3)... and neither sound like my fretless pbass.

It's nice to have a large tonal palet

 

[fusionbass81]

I somewhat agree with the thread starter. I have an upright, fretless J and a fretted P. That is all I need for awhile now. But if I have extra money I can spend on a bass, yeah, I probably will.

 

[lowbass68]

Different sounds, different feels, different tunings.

I have a Warmoth J for most things.
My beat-up mutilated P-copy for solo stuff.
Steinberger for piccolo tuning.
Aria Pro II for BEAD tuning.
My mini fretless for doddling.
Kramer Duke (I have no idea why I keep this)

Considering that I sold off about 20 basses over the past 2 years and only added the Warmoth, I think I thinned out the herd pretty well.

 

[MyUsernameHere]

Ditto for all the reasons posted. Plus, sometimes my dark brown bass goes better with my shoes than my red, black or light brown ones.