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Why Not Just One Bass?

#161
Last night, I looked at my bass, and I wanted to play it, but it was just too late. I went to bed. This is happening to me more and more. From a purely practical standpoint, the fact that I barely I have time to play the one bass I own is the biggest single factor slowing down my desire to buy more basses. Variety is nice, and I would love a fretless, but if I don't play it, it is awaste of money, IMO.
 
#162
I am, by nature, a collector...and for awhile there I probably had 25 basses/guitars stashed around the house. Only 2 or 3 saw regular action.

I have since gotten more in touch with my minimalist side, and have cut down to 3 & 3......one fretless J for my artistic side, one fretted P for swiss-army-knife applications, and one novelty for fun and/or collectability...and for g**trs, one Fender-style for twang, one Gibson-style for crunch, one acoustic for the couch & porch.

May slip back into hoarding mode someday if I'm getting a lot of work, but for now, feels better keeping the toolbox small.
 
#169
Dr. Cheese said:
Variety is nice, and I would love a fretless, but if I don't play it, it is awaste of money, IMO.
Click to expand...

Maybe you should still consider buying one. It is not only a different tone but also a different feel. I enjoy it very much and it brought back a lot of fun into my bass playing.

Sometimes motivation helps finding time, where there seemed to be none before.

Right now I own three basses, a 5 a 4 and a fretless. Not counting my first bass, that I never play and keep for nostalgic reasons (plus I wouldn´t make any money out of it).
But I appreciate your opinion and looking at myself over the last years, I might come to the same conclusion one day. :rolleyes:
 
#170
Dr. Cheese said:
I know I'm just rambling, but the longer I read TB, the more I feel a need to put my love of bass in its true place: a hobby. When I read here about actual working musicians, I realize that I just am not doing what they are doing, and there is no need for me to have the amount or type of gear that many of them are rocking (I know a bunch of guys who work would be pretty happy with my Peavey and Eden.)

I'm not saying I'm over GAS, or done buying basses. I just feel much less of a need to own expensive gear compared to how I felt years ago. I think TB and age have really made me see things differently.
Click to expand...

+1

That's basically where I'm at too. I have 4 basses at the moment, but only use two of them; a 4banger, and a 5er. I'm completely satisfied with both, but may upgrade to the Ibanez SR Prestige or Premium sometime.
 
#171
spade2you said:
(face palm) I give up.
Click to expand...

I may not. I don't know, I read about why have expensive basses or more than one or whatever and I get thinking that my 1-3 gigs a month just simply don't require a Rob Allen and a Sadowsky. I went and played some cheaper stuff today after work and it's hard. I do like the Geddy Lee but that's about it.

Thankfully the market is very slow...especially for $1,500+ basses so I have time to rethink....
 
#175
Id rather have a few purely for drastic differences like number of strings, really different sound, or tunings. Im playing downtuned metal so i cant put my strings back in standard without replacing them, itd be nice to have something in standard that i could pick up whenever i felt like it.
 
#176
I've got one. Schecter Stiletto Custom 5. I love this bass so much; playing it has become so natural for me that I will always keep this bass.

Just sold my first bass, which was a Squier P Bass I got when I was 12. Bummer to sell it, but I needed money for an amp and I never played the P anymore.

I'd like a Fender P Bass and a fretless 5 string. And maybe a Rick. Other than that I don't ever see myself having more basses than that.
 
#177
My gigging days are over (nerve damage) but I play about half as well as I used to at church. I have one bass far better than I deserve (Alembic), and my Peavey TL-5 in reserve in case something dies while playing. Love to look at bass porn, but that's as far as it goes...
 
#179
I had one bass for about 20 years. Ric 4003.
I still have it too. That sucker's got a lot of mileage on it.

During the 90s, I picked up an ABG and rode the unplugged wave across NAmerica, which was fun, but really the Ric was the "real" bass. Truth to tell, I only had one amp, too: GK 400b (not a typo - this was before the 400rb)

Eventually, my sound changed. And then grew.
I decided I needed a fretless, and wound up gigging with it a lot.
Then the 5 string conversion hit me.

And on and on. I make a point of using all of my basses for some situation regularly, either studio or live. Sometimes it's just the local open jam, where I'm fortunate to play with some pretty happenin cats on our off nights. Bringing a different bass every week keeps them on their toes. ;)

I remember when I only had one bass, and I gigged a lot with it. Now I can afford more and I while I still love the old Ric, I love options even more.

I still use (a new) GK though. :bassist:
 
#180
I really like the idea of having just ONE bass which is the ultimate instrument of choice.

I have four, but there are two six strings, one with maple board and one with ebony (TRBJP), one fretless and one 4-string which was my first bass and will not get sold. It seems to me quite justified although one can have as many basses as desirable.

But I somehow dig more that Marcus Miller or Victor Wooten style who basically have had that "one" bass which has served them for years than that of for example Dream Theaters John Petrucci who has 10 new guitars for every tour. Of course, he develops them too but I like the idea of having the chosen one :)
 

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