Your Four Basses Forever
I have an idea for a little game that should be fun and maybe even enlightening. It’s based on one I enjoyed on a car blog, but adapted for our interests.
The main idea is: If you could have any four basses in the world for the rest of your life, cost no object, what would you choose?
Here are the rules:
1. Forever. You may only own and only play these four basses, for the rest of your life.
2. Cost no object / no monetary value. These basses (or the materials) will be bought for you. You may not sell them or give them away, and you may not buy others or have others gifted, or make others for yourself. The four will be destroyed on your death. So, they have zero monetary value. All service, including wear items and refrets, is free for life.
3. No mods. You can specify your pickups et cetera, but once you receive the instrument it stays that way forever, aside from replacing strings or worn parts. No defretting a fretted, or fretting a fretless. Yes, you may change string types and brands.
4. No prestige / historical / hero worship. For example, you can ask for a perfect replica of Jaco’s Bass of Doom, which feels, looks, and sounds precisely the same and is indistinguishable from the original, but not the actual BOD. This is about playing bass, not provenance.
5. Types of instruments. Fretted and fretless bass guitars, ERBs, ABGs, DBs, Chapman Sticks, Warr guitars, Ashborys, bass ukes, bass banjos and the like are all good. Must be a bass-range stringed instrument, or bass-range plus. Let’s leave out things like pianos and harps where you don’t pluck the string and/or you don’t stop the string against some kind of neck to change the pitch. Also, note that if you play DB, be sure to include one, or you won’t have one.
6a. Actual instruments. Specify an actual brand or builder, and the model and aspects of the instrument to be bought or built. Not just ”a bass that sounds like x and plays like y and looks like z.” And of course, you can list an instrument you already own.
6b. Your own build is OK. It doesn’t have to be a purchased instrument, if you’d like to include one or more of your own builds. The magical anonymous patron will cover your materials, and any subcontractor costs. But the same rules apply as far as no modifications after the fact, no sales, etc.
I think this will be fun!
I’m putting this on the Luthier's Corner first, and after a while I intend to post on the main Basses forum. We can see what the differences will be, which will be interesting, and may even be useful for those here who build as a business. (I know cross-posting is generally not allowed, but mods, please let me know if you think it will not be OK in this particular case.)
Now have at it! Feel free to elaborate on the details, that makes it all the more interesting.
I have an idea for a little game that should be fun and maybe even enlightening. It’s based on one I enjoyed on a car blog, but adapted for our interests.
The main idea is: If you could have any four basses in the world for the rest of your life, cost no object, what would you choose?
Here are the rules:
1. Forever. You may only own and only play these four basses, for the rest of your life.
2. Cost no object / no monetary value. These basses (or the materials) will be bought for you. You may not sell them or give them away, and you may not buy others or have others gifted, or make others for yourself. The four will be destroyed on your death. So, they have zero monetary value. All service, including wear items and refrets, is free for life.
3. No mods. You can specify your pickups et cetera, but once you receive the instrument it stays that way forever, aside from replacing strings or worn parts. No defretting a fretted, or fretting a fretless. Yes, you may change string types and brands.
4. No prestige / historical / hero worship. For example, you can ask for a perfect replica of Jaco’s Bass of Doom, which feels, looks, and sounds precisely the same and is indistinguishable from the original, but not the actual BOD. This is about playing bass, not provenance.
5. Types of instruments. Fretted and fretless bass guitars, ERBs, ABGs, DBs, Chapman Sticks, Warr guitars, Ashborys, bass ukes, bass banjos and the like are all good. Must be a bass-range stringed instrument, or bass-range plus. Let’s leave out things like pianos and harps where you don’t pluck the string and/or you don’t stop the string against some kind of neck to change the pitch. Also, note that if you play DB, be sure to include one, or you won’t have one.
6a. Actual instruments. Specify an actual brand or builder, and the model and aspects of the instrument to be bought or built. Not just ”a bass that sounds like x and plays like y and looks like z.” And of course, you can list an instrument you already own.
6b. Your own build is OK. It doesn’t have to be a purchased instrument, if you’d like to include one or more of your own builds. The magical anonymous patron will cover your materials, and any subcontractor costs. But the same rules apply as far as no modifications after the fact, no sales, etc.
I think this will be fun!
I’m putting this on the Luthier's Corner first, and after a while I intend to post on the main Basses forum. We can see what the differences will be, which will be interesting, and may even be useful for those here who build as a business. (I know cross-posting is generally not allowed, but mods, please let me know if you think it will not be OK in this particular case.)
Now have at it! Feel free to elaborate on the details, that makes it all the more interesting.
