Nobody has the authority to validate a collector's passion. It is what it is. I for one wouldn't complain if my neighbor had a house full of exotic instruments but couldn't play them. People who can't paint still collect paintings. I only have two basses ATM.
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Why have so many basses?
- Thread starter Lefty4string
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I had a lot of basses at one time.(12 to 16).
I had 3 to 5 that were solid recording/performing basses. I was doing a bit of TV work so I would snag another cool or oddball bass for that purpose. Another big reason was being able to write them off on my tax returns.
I had 3 to 5 that were solid recording/performing basses. I was doing a bit of TV work so I would snag another cool or oddball bass for that purpose. Another big reason was being able to write them off on my tax returns.
Well collecting is fine. but when it affects a serious players ability to get an instrument he truly needs or would do justice by owning. well then i just don't agree with collectors. guitars were meant to be played.
-Sounds like somebody got outbid on ebay.
If it wasn't for the collectors & hobbiest's the instrument manufacturers couldn't stay in business.
Also a lot of people are collecting thinking that a lot these instruments are going to be really valuable one day, don't think so in a lot of cases. there are just way too many Fenders and Gibsons etc being made and all distributed around the world. just too many. what is valuable is what was always valuable are 50s and 60s perhaps 70s gems.
How pretentious you are. no i wasn't . as a matter of fact being lefty. i usually have scored every instrument i had my sights on. but nice try.
Companies( mainly Gibson & Fender but others too) have made more limited edition models in the last 20 years than in the entire history of their firms.Usually at mondo inflated prices. This lures collector/ investor types in who think if they hold on to it for 2 to 5 years they can make a profit or killing on the instrument.
They usually have to sell at a loss & are damn lucky to break even.
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I'm trying to be humorous. You just seem angry about something that is actually helping more competent bassists get access to high quality mass produced instruments. To claim that there is some kind of shortage, or that creating a shortage would improve quality is absurd. The more people that buy decent basses, the cheaper and more available they become, because more get made to satisfy the market. Being a lefty, I think you would even feel the market shortage harder if less people were buying basses.
It really only annoys me when someone has a rare discontinued bass in their big collection that they flaunt online yet probably never play and refuse to sell for a reasonable price. . Otherwise my attitude is at least they aren’t spending that money on drugs and I do want the companies who make basses to be successful so they aren’t trying to retire on each sale.
For me personally having had even 5 basses at once I realized that collecting basses just wasn’t for me. Not only am I a quality over quantity type guy. But I also am not a big fan of maintaining a ton of basses. If I ever got up to even 5 again it would be a nice main player, cheap backup, fretless, double course 4x2 8 string for example, and something I could bow like an NS Omnibass or cello. And even then I would mainly maintain the main player and backup and only restring and setup the others if I planned to use them in the studio.
I have no desire to own 20 fretted 4 strings like some folks do. There’s a couple YouTube players who have pretty big collections that I can understand. For one because they play bass and or teach bass for a living, but they also don’t have a regular job and they have string endorsements and also have many of their basses strung with flats or tapewounds which they never change. Janek Gwizdala is a good example. All his fenders have tapewounds on them. His older Fodera 5 has half rounds, and his main Fodera is the only bass he seems keep rounds on and he changes the strings on that bass every 3 days. He also has a string endorsement. Andy Irvine has a massive collection of everything from old fenders to modern stuff like warwicks and dingwalls to companies I’m just now hearing more about like hammersmith. He plays music for a living, has a string endorsement and he doesn’t restring or tweak the setups on them unless he plans to gig or record with something different. Another thing about Andy though Is if you talk to him he is willing to sell a lot of the basses he owns. I even talked to him about buying his Warwick custom shop 12 string (6x2) which i couldn't afford but he did make me an offer. Which goes back to my original statement that it’s really only annoying to me when people refuse to sell a rare bass that they probably never play.
Not absurd. i have been playing since the late 80s professionally. have been in many types of bands from here in PA to Northridge, and Hollywood ca. Played spring break Daytona in the 90s. just so much. i remember a time when musicians were serious and there were not a lot of hobby people. Gibson quality is going down? Music man. i have had to send a stingray back because of fret problems. i could go on about quality control issues. and not just about basses. i also play guitar. had quality control issues. pa system issues . expensive home studio monitors issues. "quality control" is a problem when too many people are buying . not absurd at all.
I think the bigger question is: who cares? Who decides how I spend my money? Who decides whether or not I'm good enough to merit owning more than one instrument? Suggesting that demand from wanna-be's (however that's decided) keeps 'deserving' players from getting the gear they need is a very dubious claim to make. Can you back that up somehow? Likewise, the suggestion that high demand causes lower standards of manufacture. Based on what? Sales of instruments have been the highest ever in the past few years; are instruments today of lesser quality than any time in the past? Again, based on what?
I see a lot of speculation, but no evidence. I own several basses because when I had the money, I indulged myself. Because I don't gig anymore or play like Victor Wooten, did I break any laws? Should we introduce an audition into the buying process? Few things annoy me more than the idea that someone else can decide how to spend my cash; it's like having someone pick out what I'm going to eat in a restaurant. I'll buy what I like, and if anyone doesn't like it, tough.
I see a lot of speculation, but no evidence. I own several basses because when I had the money, I indulged myself. Because I don't gig anymore or play like Victor Wooten, did I break any laws? Should we introduce an audition into the buying process? Few things annoy me more than the idea that someone else can decide how to spend my cash; it's like having someone pick out what I'm going to eat in a restaurant. I'll buy what I like, and if anyone doesn't like it, tough.
I am currently in an industrial band as the singer and guitarist. i am always angry. i never get to play bass.
I have no idea why some enjoy having so many basses but it's not my business nor even an interest to know why. That's their business. Do collectors impact supply? Based on my own experience I highly doubt it. Reverb alone has nearly 18,000 listed of which roughly 8,500 are used or B Stock. That's a hell of a lot of basses to choose from.
I own three; a PBass, a Jazz Bass, and the G&L L2500 pictured in my avatar. Each is strung differently and fill a specific need either live or in a studio. None are all that expensive but the PBass and JBass have both been significantly modified to my liking. They're tools of the trade just as a carpenter has more than one saw or one hammer.
I own three; a PBass, a Jazz Bass, and the G&L L2500 pictured in my avatar. Each is strung differently and fill a specific need either live or in a studio. None are all that expensive but the PBass and JBass have both been significantly modified to my liking. They're tools of the trade just as a carpenter has more than one saw or one hammer.
as is stated several times. it is about quality control. is it not true when too many people want the same thing eventually the integrity of a certain thing begins to decline? i believe so.
But ... that is exactly what you did by starting this thread. Don't worry about other people's choices. Live your own life how you like and let others do likewise. Peace.
Belief isn't proof. You can find plenty of threads here on TB where people argue that the new bass they own is superior to a 70's bass, or vice-versa. It's a very subjective experience with only anecdotal examples. But that doesn't provide serious evidence that it's true.
If anything, the best you could suggest would be that if say, 1% of whatever a factory makes is crap, it's more noticeable when you make a million items a year as opposed to a hundred. But that doesn't mean the overall quality suffers; it could even improve with more streamlined production methods and less reliance upon human fallibility. But blaming that on people desiring to own more than one or not being 'worthy' to own more than one, takes you into very murky territory. People who don't play up to some arbitrary standard yet still purchase basses might be what keeps some companies afloat. Hard to make quality instruments for deserving players when you can't afford to keep the lights on.
I can respect that. A Fender Precision is fine instrument that can cover a lot of ground. But what happens if the job requires fretless or perhaps the sound of a soloed bridge pickup on a Jazz bass? Or what if the job requires you to bow a string bass or play pizzicato in a big band? Just maybe you could cover a bit more ground if you were interested in a couple of different instruments.
Perhaps you should open your mind to the endless possibilities that are available if you revel in differences instead of dismissing them as pointless or worthless.
I feel i was very humble and politically correct about how i posted my dislike of collectors who can't play well and put Youtube videos up showing their 20 guitars that they can't play. you only need one to get good.
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