Why?

[Alexis Duntov]

I have been sitting around letting some extra money coming my way burn a hole in my pockets thinking about what I can buy, and now I am thinking why? I could use a fretless upgrade, but I don’t need one. I certainly do not need another fretted bass. Why do I always want something else?

I have a suggestion. Give yourself some goals. I would do three things:

1) Set specific goals and a timeframe in which you want to achieve them. For example, be able to play a solo note for note, or be able to read and play the melody of jazz tunes, walk the bassline, take a solo. Or work out of etude books, which are great because they usually increase in difficulty you go, so you have empirical proof that you are progressing.

2) Get a subscription to Modacity, which is a great practice app that allows you to create specific practice items (scales, arpeggios, songs, etc) and start logging hours. It is immensely rewarding to see how much time you have spent on given items and how you have improved.

3) Commit to a certain number of lessons with a respected teacher (*not always a famous player*) and allocate that money to that.


Do these three things for three months and then reevaluate. I promise you there will be progress and it will feed the hunger for more. Cheers from Brooklyn, Doc.

 

[nonohmic]

2) Get a subscription to Modacity, which is a great practice app that allows you to create specific practice items (scales, arpeggios, songs, etc) and start logging hours. It is immensely rewarding to see how much time you have spent on given items and how you have improved.

I briefly looked into this, but not enough. I have limited time to practice and would love something to keep me on track during my random practice schedule. Does this work well for that?

 

[Alexis Duntov]

I briefly looked into this, but not enough. I have limited time to practice and would love something to keep me on track during my random practice schedule. Does this work well for that?

It’s ideal for that. You have 30 minutes to practice? Do two octave arpeggios for 10, reading etudes for 10, free play for 10 etc. Then you will look at your weekly and monthly tallies and say “wow, I’ve spent x hours on y item this month and my speed and accuracy have much improved.

 

[Peteyboy]

I have been sitting around letting some extra money coming my way burn a hole in my pockets thinking about what I can buy, and now I am thinking why? I could use a fretless upgrade, but I don’t need one. I certainly do not need another fretted bass. Why do I always want something else?

Collecting records is like that. "Need" never enters into it - it's all "want".

 

[OregonJim]

Why do I always want something else?

Because we've been programmed to be consumers.

New & Improved!
Last year's model is obsolete
New is better
Vintage is better
The polls say...
You want this
You NEED that
You'll look better
You'll feel better
You'll play better
Somebody on TB said so

 

[Dr. Cheese]

I have a suggestion. Give yourself some goals. I would do three things:

1) Set specific goals and a timeframe in which you want to achieve them. For example, be able to play a solo note for note, or be able to read and play the melody of jazz tunes, walk the bassline, take a solo. Or work out of etude books, which are great because they usually increase in difficulty you go, so you have empirical proof that you are progressing.

2) Get a subscription to Modacity, which is a great practice app that allows you to create specific practice items (scales, arpeggios, songs, etc) and start logging hours. It is immensely rewarding to see how much time you have spent on given items and how you have improved.

3) Commit to a certain number of lessons with a respected teacher (*not always a famous player*) and allocate that money to that.


Do these three things for three months and then reevaluate. I promise you there will be progress and it will feed the hunger for more. Cheers from Brooklyn, Doc.

I appreciate it!

 

[nonohmic]

It’s ideal for that. You have 30 minutes to practice? Do two octave arpeggios for 10, reading etudes for 10, free play for 10 etc. Then you will look at your weekly and monthly tallies and say “wow, I’ve spent x hours on y item this month and my speed and accuracy have much improved.

Brilliant. Sold.

 

[Bikeguy57]

As always, I love the feedback I get when I post here. The thing I want to achieve in terms of gear is to upgrade my fretless situation in response to the loss of my Pedulla. Ordering a Status graphite fretless neck for my SBMM SR50 ticks a lot of boxes. The bass is a present from my wife, so it is in my permanent rotation. It sounds great too, and I have been a Stingray fan about as long as I have played basses. The interesting thing is that the one issue the bass had has been it’s neck, and graphite will take care of that. Finally, I am a big fan of graphite necks, and putting a graphite neck on my Stingray is way cheaper than buying a Modulus or Gould bass!

Thanks, Low End Lobster, for your video!

This sounds like a solid, big boy decision. Go forth and mwh!

 

[brianrost]

As a society, we're constantly bombarded with advertising telling us we need something that we really don't need. On top of that, people are not really the rational creatures we like to believe we are.

Constant reading of first Guitar Player and later Bass Player, followed by befriending a vintage collector, the arrival of Musician's Friend catalogs and later the internet all contributed to making me feel like it was abnormal to not get more gear.

Just today, I got an email from my Sweetwater sales guy letting me know that price hikes are expected on basically everything in a few more weeks, so buy now to save money. Actually, to save money I should buy nothing

 

[drumvsbass]

Building the discipline it takes to stick to an effective practice regime isn't fun. New gear is. The idea that actual practice (not just playing) on new gear is going to somehow be more inspiring, never adds up. In fact, it's a detriment. Settle in. Make a bass a comfy pair of shoes. Otherwise part of your technique development is being eaten up by getting to know a new bass. I played the same $800 Japanese PJ for 20 years before I bought a second bass. Comfy shoes. Never mind the hair...

1991

Now it's fretless

 

[dbsfgyd1]

I have been sitting around letting some extra money coming my way burn a hole in my pockets thinking about what I can buy, and now I am thinking why? I could use a fretless upgrade, but I don’t need one. I certainly do not need another fretted bass. Why do I always want something else?

My pastor once told me, if you keep looking at something long enough, you’re going to want it. He wasn’t exactly addressing the purchasing of bass gear, but I think you can get the drift.

 

[Pyrat]

I faced a similar dilemma....so I just bought the Tony Franklin fretless and saved myself a ton of "fretting"....

 

[iiipopes]

If a man's reach does not exceed his grasp, then what's a heaven for?

 

[40Hz]

Something to consider. Instead of another piece of bass gear why not buy something completely different?

My guitarist SO and I have a pretty decent mixed instrument collection that grew out of a desire to get outside our respective wheelhouses every so often. Do we’ve got keyboards, some woodwinds and reeds, various string instruments, a few homebrew instruments we built for ourselves, small percussion instruments, etc. And we play them all. So there’s never a dull “not again!” moment when it comes to wanting to play some music.

Just don’t make the mistake we recently made (after much discussion) and start going down the modular synth road. There’s no longer any hope for us. But you can still be saved if you don’t allow yourself to be seduced by that siren’s song.

 

[wmmj]

I’m happy with my 2 basses and a guitar. I test myself occasionally by going online looking for used deals and fancy stuff but I always end up thinking how cumbersome to have one more bass and having to do maintenance work on it. And there’s already so much family stuff and crap related to my other hobbies. Once I inevitably think of the situation, I give up. Maybe some day I will own a fretless or electric upright again, but for now 1 five string and 1 four string is fine.

 

[Reg Braithwaite]

I have been sitting around letting some extra money coming my way burn a hole in my pockets thinking about what I can buy, and now I am thinking why? I could use a fretless upgrade, but I don’t need one. I certainly do not need another fretted bass. Why do I always want something else?

I was struggling with the same question earlier this week. My trite answer to myself is that I’ve forgotten that I use gear to make music, I don’t use making music as an excuse to buy gear.

...and I’m reminded of an old joke:

What’s the difference between a Musicologist and an Audiophile?

“A musicologist uses a stereo to listen to music. An audiophile uses music to listen to a stereo.”

When I’m suffering from GAS, I definitely feel like I’ve forgotten that I’m supposed to use gear to enjoy making music, not making music to enjoy gear...

 

[boombloom]

Why? Because you don't have a Wishbass yet.

 

[Bruiser Stone]

Take your significant other (or just yourself) to a nice restaurant, or restaurants, and give us a review with your astute talents for detail, assuming you are comfortable at this point doing so. They will appreciate your business. Sometimes I travel through the STL for work and would use the information accordingly.

 

[nonohmic]

The idea that actual practice (not just playing) on new gear is going to somehow be more inspiring, never adds up.

This most certainly does add up. The trick is to stop looking once you find it. I've had plenty of basses that were good enough to practice on; but my current #1 that took me a few years to find has inspired me to practice unlike any other instrument.

A musicologist uses a stereo to listen to music. An audiophile uses music to listen to a stereo.

Bwahahaha

 

[Carl Hillman]

Why do I always want something else?

It's human nature. Very few people have managed to curb the want for more and more stuff. (I know I haven't.)

Some things to think about, though. Consider whether a new material item will truly make you happy, and for how long. Did the last thing you bought help you achieve lasting happiness?

Also, meditate on what is going to happen to all your stuff after you die. 10 years after... 20 years... 50...100 years.... 1,000 years. Everything that is material is transitory. All the stuff we have accumulated will eventually end up in a land fill somewhere.

These are things no one likes to think about, but it can be a step toward acknowledging, and being grateful for, the things you DO have. Focusing on gratitude can alleviate some of the GAS.