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Why?
- Thread starter Dr. Cheese
- Start date
I use to have a stash of disposable money that I kept just in case I needed a new bass or amp. Every time a family member would give me money or I sold some gear I would add to the stash. Eventually I realized I didn't need or even want any new gear, so I bought a new mountain bike instead!
Nah, more like we were all born with the need to want.Because like all of us you have been indoctrinated into consumerism from the day you were born
At birth: the nipple
Soon after: everything you can fit in your mouth
As a toddler: everything you can reach
As a pre-schooler: your sibling's toys
School age: toys
Teen: stuff
Adult: toys and stuff.
No sin in it, as long as responsibilities and true needs are met. Gotta keep oneself content and happy in this life, and hey, some of us work hard enough to earn it, no matter what it is we do.
You could always send me all your basses and money and move to the desert and eat honey and grasshoppers.
It worked for the prophets, but then I don’t think any of them played bass.
Nope. My teen daughter's grandma gave her 50 bucks recently and she blew $38 of it on some compact mirror she just "had to have". I could have gotten a small mirror for $5 or less at the 99 cent store!
It's her money and though I gave her the lesson about saving it for something cooler or more useful or about not spending so much on something that can be had for far less, I can't argue when I'm spending over $3k on one bass!
I just told her the remaining $12 was her lunch money for the rest of the month so she'd better stretch it out.
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Window shopping for basses online is fun. I just have to constantly remind myself that I don't truly have enough time to play one fine instrument to its fullest, and every instrument I own other than my main is a complete frivolity.
Stay off of talk bass!
Yeah, it doesn't work for me either...
Yeah, it doesn't work for me either...
Why? Or, why not? Heh. I've played the same bass, thru the same rig, for goin on 11 years. Part of that is my nature. I don't like fallin in with the crowd. If others have new gear every week, I'll be the guy not doin it. It's also part my heroes. Most of mine were associated with one bass guitar. The other is expense. Bass Guitar turned into an Industry. I paid 1200 for my first Smith CR6, Today that bass would cost me 6000+. Ridiculous.
But mostly what keeps my GAS away is gigging. The busier I am, the less I tend to lurk here, peruse classifieds, etc. Last year was tough. I sat a lot more than I am used to. Spent more time shopping, being tempted. Bout the time I was ready to pull a trigger? A gig or rehearsal or recording date would come up. I'd plug in my Jazz and forget I needed a thing.
Maybe it's something inherent in me. I do live life as a minimalist, nuttin much tempts me. Maybe it's something I learned. I used to own a lotta bass guitars and equipment. Taking 4 or more basses to gigs way back. But I am here to say GAS can be eliminated. Activity, out of doors, is the key. Fer me. Plus, my friends own scads of basses and gear. I can live vicariously thru them. And use anything I want without the expense of investment.
My bass and rig cost me a total of 1300. Used em on countless dates. Paid for themselves long ago. Best rig I've ever played thru. I continue to try new stuff. But nuttin does it for me like the stuff I already own an use. Long ago, it was a goal of mine to have gear that I'd rather play at home than the stuff I saw in stores I worked. Took awhile. But I've achieved that goal. GAS is but a memory.
But mostly what keeps my GAS away is gigging. The busier I am, the less I tend to lurk here, peruse classifieds, etc. Last year was tough. I sat a lot more than I am used to. Spent more time shopping, being tempted. Bout the time I was ready to pull a trigger? A gig or rehearsal or recording date would come up. I'd plug in my Jazz and forget I needed a thing.
Maybe it's something inherent in me. I do live life as a minimalist, nuttin much tempts me. Maybe it's something I learned. I used to own a lotta bass guitars and equipment. Taking 4 or more basses to gigs way back. But I am here to say GAS can be eliminated. Activity, out of doors, is the key. Fer me. Plus, my friends own scads of basses and gear. I can live vicariously thru them. And use anything I want without the expense of investment.
My bass and rig cost me a total of 1300. Used em on countless dates. Paid for themselves long ago. Best rig I've ever played thru. I continue to try new stuff. But nuttin does it for me like the stuff I already own an use. Long ago, it was a goal of mine to have gear that I'd rather play at home than the stuff I saw in stores I worked. Took awhile. But I've achieved that goal. GAS is but a memory.
It's just human nature to want what we don't have. Put a child on the floor with a their favorite toy, then bring another child in with another toy, the first child will want what the other one has...
Companies and ad agencies prey on this and create even more desire in us to have what we don't really need.
I have a pedalboard that's perfect, actually more than I need on it, but ads pop up for a new pedal and I think I have to go check it out... even though I have a good one of that type, thoughts arise of how much better a new one would be...it wouldn't be better, just different.
Buying pedals is usually a less expensive way to cater to my GAS than more instruments or amps, but still an addiction that I'm having to curb.
That nagging urge to get something new is an illision and I'm having to talk myself down off of it.
I have more than enough of everything I need. I just keep reminding myself of that.
Companies and ad agencies prey on this and create even more desire in us to have what we don't really need.
I have a pedalboard that's perfect, actually more than I need on it, but ads pop up for a new pedal and I think I have to go check it out... even though I have a good one of that type, thoughts arise of how much better a new one would be...it wouldn't be better, just different.
Buying pedals is usually a less expensive way to cater to my GAS than more instruments or amps, but still an addiction that I'm having to curb.
That nagging urge to get something new is an illision and I'm having to talk myself down off of it.
I have more than enough of everything I need. I just keep reminding myself of that.
Here how I've been approaching it lately. We just added our son to our insurance (ouch), and he'll be headed to college next year. So I ask myself some questions:
1. Do I need this instrument? Does it fill a gap that the instruments I currently have don't?
2. Is this a highly desirable instrument that doesn't come up for sale often at a good price?
Then I stew on that for about a month. Then I come back to it and see if I feel the same way then.
1. Do I need this instrument? Does it fill a gap that the instruments I currently have don't?
2. Is this a highly desirable instrument that doesn't come up for sale often at a good price?
Then I stew on that for about a month. Then I come back to it and see if I feel the same way then.
My GAS is so idiotic. Searching for a Tbird to buy and can't wait to spend the money on one. The idiocy comes from the fact that I don't really want a Tbird, I just want the sound. What I really want is to put Tbird pickups in my J that is getting a new roasted maple reverse headstock neck this weekend. But, every time I look at the Lollar Tbird pickups, I can't stomach the $450 or so they will cost, but yet I am willing to drop a couple of grand on a Tbird. SPSM (somebody please shoot me).
Perhaps a talk with a financial planner might help you sort out these see-saw feelings about buying any more gear that you don't need. They are really good at throwing some ice-cold water (read: reality) on things to give you a perspective. Trust me, I know.
I'm somewhat in the same boat. Only not quite..
I'm happy with my bass gear. I just have a few studio items that seriously need upgraded but dont want to spend the money. But theres a pedal I've been looking for in the used section at GC.
I'm happy with my bass gear. I just have a few studio items that seriously need upgraded but dont want to spend the money. But theres a pedal I've been looking for in the used section at GC.
GAS is unavoidable and incurable.
For me, I’m very happy with my lineup. The only other bass in my sights is a Stenback. I’m on the waiting list. But there’s about a 3 to 4 year wait. So who knows?
I’m sure I’ll still have GAS in 3 to 4 years.
For me, I’m very happy with my lineup. The only other bass in my sights is a Stenback. I’m on the waiting list. But there’s about a 3 to 4 year wait. So who knows?
I’m sure I’ll still have GAS in 3 to 4 years.
You want the experience, not the product. For example, I’d buy a tent not because I want the fabric but the experience of camping. Of course I don’t think this is completely true. Sometimes I want something because it’s pretty.
I have a one in, one out policy. If I want something, It's gotta be worth selling something else I really like. If it's not worth swapping for something I already have, It's not worth it! This also offsets the cash outlay. It's a hobby I enjoy and can afford. As with everything else in life, find a happy medium and enjoy yourself. Five is just a number I'm comfortable with.
I think a lot of us probably lust after instruments, amps, equipment that we really don't need. I saved up and worked extra hard to get my beautiful, used Ibby SR800 and my new MIM Precision Deluxe special. The thing is, I live about 30 freakin' miles from the Roscoe headquarters in Greensboro - I love their basses, got to play a couple of them, but reality can slap you in the face - just had 2 who graduated from college 3 weeks ago, and my last one is starting this fall. Tuition, expenses vs. my GAS....so yeah, for me, gotta be real - I'm happy with my basses, pedals and my relatively new Rumble 500. But as F Costa so aptly put it, it can be a mental disorder, and I know I've been afflicted that several times!
it is call "bassistmusthaveit" syndrome it is a rare genetic disorder usually hereditary passed on by a parent or grandparent who had musical talent of some kind and the Y chromosome gets morphed into chromosome that looks like this some how the strand is read as bass pair instead of base pair.
hope this helps RTS
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