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Technically you only need 2 basses, a Precision and a Jazz. However, you really need a Stingray as well. Then you'll have every tonal palette covered. Oh, wait, but if your Precision has flats for the whole Motown vibe, then you're going to need another Precision with rounds so you can do punk, grunge and rock tone. Actually, you need a Fender Telecaster bass as that has a humbucker pickup and will sound different to anything else. While you're at it, you need a fretless as well and you might as well get a fretless Precision, Jazz and Stingray. Have I mentioned short scale basses, oh no. Ok, so you will also need a short scale bass for when you are older and your neck and shoulders are buggered. So to summarize, you need 1 x Precision with Flats 1 x Precision with Rounds 1 x Precision Fretless 1 x Jazz with Rounds 1 x Jazz Fretless 1 x Stingray 1 x Stingray Fretless 1 x Telecaster bass 1 x Mustang Short Scale So the answer is 9, you need 9 basses. I've used logic, a little bit of science and maybe a little bit of bias 😂

You only need one bass....... Nah.... not really!! 😂🤣😂🤣

I had one bass once. It was about 45 years ago and immediately prior to that I had no basses 😎.

Ok, after some research, I discovered that the bass player was Ladi GEISLER, a guitar player using a technique of his own to get the "knack bass" sound. Check this excerpt from his Wikipedia page : "From composer and big band leader James Last, he bought a late 50s Gibson EB bass guitar, with which he developed his legendary "Knack bass" sound that would become an integral feature in the Easy Listening orchestra of Bert Kaempfert. Later, he used a Fender Jazz Bass model. Most recently, he used a Fender Precision Bass when he was invited to live or recording sessions. Geisler's knack bass sound was a treble staccato bass guitar sound in which the bass string was plucked with a pick and immediately suppressed to cancel out any sustain." https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ladi_Geisler

My impressions of the members here is that the majority of us are past our midlife crisis and are pretty much financially stable. Many of us have, or have had, high end equipment costing thousands of pounds which realistically won't pay itself off from our income as musicians, however we are at a stage in our lives that we can treat ourselves to quality gear in our hobby/interest. Whether we "need" more than one bass is immaterial - I can't take my money with me when I die so I'm going to do what I "want" to do with it and spend it on the most important person to me - ME!! I don't drink, take drugs, drive a fast car or bike or have wife/children to spend it for me - my gear is possibly my only real eccentricity though to be honest I do hoard a lot of stuff I probably don't "need". Not hurting anybody else though... If I want to buy another bass, I will!!

13 at the moment , and I’m looking at another one because 13 is an odd number 😁

Taken int total, there is no way you can accuse anyone of over playing on this album. Jaco's lines are no busier that James Jamerson's on 90% of the Motown stuff. His melodic inter-playing is exquisite. Even 'Dry Cleaner' is just a slightly funked up 12 bar really. I get that some don't like it but 'overplaying'? Not to my ears. I have been listening to the S&L lp for four decades and it remains my favourite album of all time. I like a lot of Joni but I LOVE the Shadows and Light album because of the band who are, to my ears, one of the most musical enembles ever to have graced a stage. Greater than the sum of it's considerable parts.

"Everything is nice....but more is better"..

I don’t know about needed , but if you can afford it, and it’s something you like, go for it, just because you play at home doesn’t mean to say you can’t have an expensive bass 🙂

It's only a bit more practice that separates us... @Matt P is going for 20" radius and - based on that hand radiusing ebony is a quick very slow way to insanity - I've ordered a couple of extra radius templates for their wonderful radius routing jig. In the meantime, I routed the slot for the trussrod: And, based on the fact that for all the 'nice-to-haves', the one 'must-be-able-to', is that it must be able to fit in the Hiscox case, a quick check: Phew! I will be pondering a while to make sure I haven't forgotten anything before I cut anything, but I'm pretty sure I can cut the side profile of the neck now...

I'm a bass player predominantly, well I used to be back in days. Now I own more guitars than basses. I don't play in any band. I don't smoke or hand my money to pub landlords, so technically I invest.

Realistically you only ‘need’ one bass as long as you like playing it and it’s reliable. Actually you should probably have a spare if you’re a gigging bassist. Oh and then you can have one with rounds and one with flats. However if they’re both P basses for instance then you should probably have a Jazz, well 2 as you’ll need the rounds and flats combo. What about a Ray, EVERYONE has a Ray.... etc... I currently have 15 I think. I use them all and love them all. Do I need them all? Yep. Am I still Gassing after basses...... Yep 😂 Buy what you like/can afford and be happy but always play bass 😁

I think the only option is to fill up your bedroom walls with every conceivable configuration type and colour that you like and budget for some quality wall hangers and space for all the hardcases 😂 Ultimately it’s your decision and your quest for the tone you like. Do you need more? Of course not... do you want more? ... why are you here if you don’t! 😃 most importantly what ever you decide. Enjoy playing.

Ebonizing the fretboard on my BBPH:

Oh dear, I just posted this on the short scale thread. The ebony board on the fsr was the clincher for me

14 then. 😆

I'm old enough to have paid his wages, once. 😎

'Darling, cheese head, I was yards too greasy' 😄

I see those bastards at Lucozade have hijacked my idea for a new hotstep band by using my favorite Ini Kamoze track in their stupid TV adverts. Which was going to be the opening song in my set, but now any millennials in the crowd would be all "Oh, its the Lucozade song!"... so basically thats ****ing ruined it. 😟

I remember the first time I upped the ante and had two basses...I reckon I was 16 or 17. Living it laaaarge. An Ibanez Roadster (RS924) and a Gibson Grabber G-3. One was great, one was terrible but quite aerodynamic on at least three occasions.

Looks like I forgot to post pictures of my Limelight bass. Its a replica of a 1960 Fender Jazz Stack Knob Fretless in Sherwood Green.

Agreed. One of my guitarists often boasts about his fourteen guitars. Problem is most of them are cheap rubbish. He should sell off 12 of them and make sure he has two or three good quality and reliable instruments for the bands he's in. And reliable amps and pedals. IMO of course.

Who doesn't like to own nice things? As long as you can afford it and you've got space, why not! The other way to look at it, if you buy 2nd hand, you'll not be losing money - especially if the basses aren't getting battered from gigging etc! As an aside, I look back and cringe over the years I did some quite massive gigs with no back up bass. Literally one loose wire away from a disaster! From about 2017 onwards, I've always carried a backup. Not worth the risk.

Oh dear. This (normally as a thread) never ends well 😂

Not helpful either, but if one likes "A Swingin' Safari" then one might also like "Zambezi" and "Africaan Beat" off the same album, and at any rate I'd direct one's attention to "Living it up" from "Living it up!". On the positive side, this stuff isn't hard to listen to, and you'll be well-protected from anything artsy. 😀 I lurve it.

You can only play one bass at a time. In nearly 20 years gigging, I've never needed a back up bass (or amp, or pedals).

Unless you subscribe to the less is more school of thought, therefore, less is better. Combine the 2 and we have a nice infinite, self perpetuating loop. (Sorry, I’ve been in the DoI thread and become more obtuse than normal). Get on topic, Ez! Ahem... Downsizing to one is a noble quest and by ordering a bass that covers many bases (pun intended) you could achieve your goal. However, what you could end up with is a very bass that will do everything, but doesn’t do any one brilliantly. You say you gravitate to one bass, what sort of bass is that? Do you pick up the others at all, if so, which one/s and why? It could be that downsizing to 2 would salve your conscience and free up some cash (if required). Perhaps try putting the less used ones away in cases and out of easy reach for a couple months and see if you miss/needed them? Ultimately, this is Basschat and GAS rules. Therefore, don’t downsize, buy more! 😁* *please feel free to ignore paragraphs 1, 2 & 4

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Finally... protection!

It's this: From Guitars and Woods (G&W) in Portugal. The basic set-up with one set of radii (to your choice) is a reasonable cost although the additional radius plates are quite expensive. The new Mk 4 with the bearings is better than this one which sticks a little, but this is still pretty good. Ends up quite expensive if you don't own one of the 3-4 types of palm router that it fits already, of course... You still need around 10 mins sanding with a block to take out the rout lines and you do get loads of ebony chips...but not the dust except for that last 10 mins.

Mr Tulip ? many forget it was initially american jazz from a calypso prospective ,, charlie parker , louis jordan , many others, Johnny Ace, a combination that eventually drove the sound into a heavier beat , a darker rolling, more serious at times approach to the basic bubble gum rock n roll pop turn around of the day ,

Think about who is going to pay for it. If you're planning to split the cost between the individual band members, it's a good idea to work out up front what you're going to do when someone leaves, and be completely honest and transparent about it.

And McDonald’s 😁

I'm in similar reflective mood , which can be dangerous 😼 Havent gigged for years , and won't be doing so anymore . I 'm counting the amount of basses I have in my small flat ..Jack Daniels bass/ dean taxi bass/ Washburn status/ custom headless and fretless bass from my bass / Warwick corvette/ vester fretless Warwick copy . Total =6 I have the JD Bass and Dean Taxi Bass , as wall art . Hard to get hold of, but not hugely expensive in the scheme of things . Probably keep . The Washburn status is the bass that I have gigged with 99% of 5he time It has been made passive and sounds more rock than funk . I nearly sold the Warwick and headless , but decided against at last minute . So the dangerous bit ; I have been getting into recording short bursts of rubbish on GarageBand on bass ,,,plus Moog grandmother and Moog DFAM I haven't picked up the bass for sometime and thinking of having just one . I did think of getting rid of all basses and maybe getting a status bass and having done with it . Maybe a status bass and a status fretless to go with it Then again , I have a fretted / fretless brother and stepsister with my Warwick / vester combination . I miss the scheter 5 string ( I'm a 4 string player ) but when I was in 2 bands I never had time to master it due to concentrating more on rock poses ensuring I put on a show for the punters . I'm probably no help , but you can see a slippery slope can quite easily happen when you only have 1 pair of hands . Syths are also addictive ...and costly

I think for a bedroom player its fine to have one bass, if moneys not an issue its fine to have more too. If you are a gigging player I think you should have two (or more) not necessarily to take two to gigs but there are those rare times you pick up a bass and it doesn't work, if this happened half an hour before you had to leave for a gig there could be trouble. Personally I have a fair bit more than two basses.

@VTypeV4 - I'm late to this thread, but that's an epic review. Just epic. I'm lucky enough to own a V4 chrome-knob head, but the tale of the amp is a long, and hard one, with a happy ending. She was bought in Andorra (in Pas de la Casa) by Breeze (from Oxford), who were playing the ski season in Soldeu that year. They had no idea what they were buying was quite so special: they just knew it was one hell of an amp. A V4 Mk2 all-valve 1x15 combo! They used this amp for many, many years and when I depped bass for them (we played as Janeiro in the Aspen Bar in Soldeu in 2007) I brought a 2x12 TE cab I had at the time (they helpfully lugged it all the way there in the van). An absolute monster of an amp, they'd never so much as had it serviced in all that time: the covering was already off in places, and during the season I had to repair the speaker cone with superglue and duct tape(!). She ate up night after night with huge tone, barely running and filling out the whole bar (no PA feed required). Fast forward a decade from there, and the guys finally managed to completely break the combo, purchasing a small TE one to replace it as a stage monitor: by this point their PA was much, much better. They then realised how rare the amp was, and the drummer tried dismantling everything, removing the head from the combo, etc (the speaker was long gone), but he didn't get very far, and the pieces were cosigned to a draughty, leaking(!) shed. I did a couple more gigs with them, and they told me about the V4, so I told them I'd love to do the amp up for them. When I costed it out (there were busted tubes, it needed professional help) they got a little less keen, but then stunned me by asking if I just wanted to have the amp, as they said I knew how special it was and I would look after it. I spent a month or so stripping the cabinet, but sadly it was completely shot: the top had come off and no amount of woodwork was going to bring that MDF back in a way which would take those earth-shattering lows. Deciding it might be a good idea to turn it into an amp I could use at gigs without needing a van (the V4 combo was a 2-man lift!!) I decided to turn it into a head, furiously researching how the V4 heads looked. I didn't have a front grille, so I decided to get Zilla Cabs to do something which would approximate that - and they came through strong! I also took the handle arrangements from both the V4 and the V8 heads and now have 3 handles on top - one in the middle, 2 on the edges - which makes for much easier lugging about. Zilla worked totally remotely from schematics I made of the head unit, including valve clearance and position for the heat grille on the top. Electronically - to my astonishment - the amp had actually survived all the abuse, the beer (2 power valve seats actually had dried beer caked around them.... I AM NOT KIDDING), and even the capacitors were still good. This thing is just immortal. And now she's gigging again. The result is a beautiful, amazing amp, with more volume than the Warwick Pro Bass IX 900w head I have (it's ridiculous though a 1x15 and 4x10 at 4 ohms). The studio mode is very welcome, and the compressor, as you point out, is really nice, very musical. I've got an aftermarket footedal which works a treat on the channel switching and compressor on/off. Here's some pics of what Zilla did, and the amp ready for a function gig a couple of years ago. I think the approximation of the front grille is pretty cool, like some kind of boutique amp. Either way, she sounds amazing. Thanks again for an amazing review. I had no idea these were so rare.

I think @Spoombung has carried out some research in this area. Personally, my Danelectro Longhorn did this type of tone splendidly.

Don't know what your budget is, but generally, if it is an item you can only use one at a time, I think it is wise to spend the same money buying one expensive thing rather than lots of cheap stuff of the same thing.

It has to be the Peavey TNT combo.

The Geoff Love Orchestra - Bond themes. Christmas presents were different in those days.

Buy once, buy right. Up your budget to £300 and get something like a second hand fender rumble 500 combo. It's as much as you'll ever need, a combo, light and reliable. If you stutter around the £150 to 200 mark you'll either need to upgrade eventually, not like the weight or want to change. The rumble will also hold its value. And is a great gigging combo.

I really enjoyed my tea & biscuits in my browser instead of the usual cookies and I'll definately divide my forum time between TB and BC! Cheers 🍺

Bit like this! - a 1976 Aria Pro II - another bass I guess I shouldn't have parted with!!!! It was more F*nder than F*nder!

For the budget light is unlikely, so I’d look for a 1x15 Trace combo, plenty powerful enough and space saving too.

Normal stuff - as I can't think of anyone else who builds like this, don't assume it's the way it should be done! I cut the notch in the neck blank using the router in a home-made thicknessing rig: So I end up with a rebate like this: Which, relatively shortly, will be glued to the top like this: ...and eventually will be covered by the fretboard like this: Time for a cup of tea, I reckon