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GAS: What causes yours??


silverfoxnik
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I bought a beautiful Waterstone Indra about a year ago, and I didn't look at a bass website or chat room for months. Then in the autumn I decided to take a quick peep at TalkBass again, then I joined here, then I got GAS... I got it bad.

The thing is, right then I should have just maxed out the credit card and bought a tube rig or something similarily impressive to satisfy my problem. What I actually did was I tried to appease my craving with little things- effects boxes. Buying stomp boxes is the GAS equivalent of smoking crack... it gives you a quick and easy instant hit, it is hugely addictive and while the initial outlay is small it quickly builds up, leaving you penniless and on the streets, pimping your ass to dirty old men just to score another fuzz...

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[quote name='Alfie' post='133958' date='Feb 4 2008, 10:40 PM']I bought a beautiful Waterstone Indra about a year ago, and I didn't look at a bass website or chat room for months. Then in the autumn I decided to take a quick peep at TalkBass again, then I joined here, then I got GAS... I got it bad.

The thing is, right then I should have just maxed out the credit card and bought a tube rig or something similarily impressive to satisfy my problem. What I actually did was I tried to appease my craving with little things- effects boxes. Buying stomp boxes is the GAS equivalent of smoking crack... it gives you a quick and easy instant hit, it is hugely addictive and while the initial outlay is small it quickly builds up, leaving you penniless and on the streets, pimping your ass to dirty old men just to score another fuzz...[/quote]

Hi there local boy eh? My gas was slightly cured by trading up to my Warwick dolphin but i still managed to justify a aria sinsinindo on the grounds that i can use it at work etc, i also have started to suffer from pedal GAS and have managed to justify a new compressor AND an upgrade kit! now looking at exotic componants for the upgrades!!!

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I used to suffer really badly from it, the main problem was I could afford what I wanted, so since I started playing (in 2000 I would say it was) I probably have owned 100 guitars and basses, god knows how many drum kits/cymbals, keyboards etc, but I am finally managing to cut back on it and save! But it meant I bought instruments I couldn't play (like guitars, drums etc) and got decent enough on them, and have recorded and played in bands on those too, so it had a benefit.

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i know more or less the kit i'd like to own - the list is (relitively) short and simple. i'm lucky i can't afford things quickly so the 'thrill of the chase' will be longwinded and leisurley and when i do make the acquisitions they'll be very special. all this business Does make me happy :)

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Umm, i think its more of a personality aquired syndrome, more than a gear aquired thing. its not just basses, its most things if you think about it. If you question anything, and lets face it many people dont, then you will always think that there is something better or more complimentary to your life. my bas colection is poor, bui know what i want in the long run, same as with amps etc, but in reality , i also have some of the finest climbing gear in the world, and im alway slooking for more. see, its about your pesonality type!
Matt (AB)

Edited by Absolute-beginner
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What is all this talk about selling! this is concept that is totally alien to me and I am sure that you have all been put up to this by my wife. I thought you were all nice people who loved Bass and amps and cables and effects but no! you keep talking about selling these wonderfull collectable items.......

I have never had a problem with GAS :)

The problem I have is the lack of money to buy all those wonderfull Bass Guitars.

Now what I realy need is another piece of kit for my collection.

But don't tell the wife please :huh:

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I suffer like the rest of you, but have alwasy had my 'stock' basses, a 66' Jazz and 68' Jazz. I would never part with these. On the other side I've had something like 2 - 300 basses and guitars (I've got photos to prove it to!), but none have satisfied me either.

Part of buying something is the huge endorphin rush you get when you hand over the money. I value this momentary rush more than I do say the steady security that saving money gives me (although now I'm 26 I'm trying to save as much as I can!).

Part of it is an immature thing with me. When I was a kid I had no money, and so I had to save for months to get something. Now I work 5 days a week if I want something (from a £3 CD to a £1500 Wal) I feel I deserve it then and there.

But the fact that I can get something straight away means I've not really 'earned' it (in the sense I did when I was a kid) so I resent it.

My 2 favourite basses, well, I saved and traded for a year to get the money for the 66 and practically built the 68 from parts, so I've invested time and effort into them, which translates to love. Yup, I love those 2, but the rest are transient...

I' trying to cure myself. I've got 8 more basses, 2 sets of pedals, and 6 guitars to go and I'll be sitting on £3,000 no debts, a full ISA, a living room with only 6 guitars in it as opposed to the 30 that were in there in the past and a fuller life.

Or a bank account that will get smashed for a Pre-CBS Jazz!

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It very much looks like I may have cured my GAS, I always seriously wanted a Sei Flamboyant 6er, when I got one I was very dissapointed with it, so it got sold, I bought a MM Stingray that I always had GAS for, but when I got it I hated the neck, plus it was a 4 string and I missed bottom B, so it got sold. I always wanted a Status Kingbass so I bought a 4 string with LEDs and having totally missed the lessons learned (not!) of missing bottom B on the Stingray, I missed bottom B on the Kingbass, so it got sold ! :) Lesson learned is all that glitters is not gold.
I then ended up doing what I planned to do in the first place over a year ago and bought a new Status S2 Classic 6er headless - result - cured GAS !

On the rig front it was more easy, I had my Hartke HA3500 amp which is brill, and originally had Hartke 2x10 transporter and 1x15 transporter cabs. So all I've done is sell the transporter cabs and buy Hartke 1x15 and 2.5 XL cabs - GAS sorted !!!!!!

But, on the other hand I might just start saving for a 5 string Kingbass, Oh bugger ! got GAS again :huh: ;) ;)

Edited by Johngh
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[quote name='tauzero' post='133098' date='Feb 3 2008, 04:05 PM']Obviously a psychiatrist would be the best person to ask about this. As none was at hand, we asked Clement Freud to speak for a minute on the subject of Gear Acquisition Syndrome:

"Gear Acquisition Syndrome, or GAS, is, according to Grandfather Sigmund, a form of kleptomania. The sufferer feels a compulsion to own a piece of equipment, be it an instrument, an amplifier, a speaker, or an effects unit. This feeling is not extended to the point of outright theft, however, and legitimate means of acquisition are pursued. The drive behind GAS is, in fact"

Bzzzzzzz!

Paul Merton has challenged. Paul?

"He repeated GAS."

That is a correct challenge. Paul Merton, you have fifteen seconds on the subject of Gear Acquisition Syndrome.

"I remember once acquiring a gear. When I started driving I had a Mini, which I later replaced with a Maxi, which had five gears instead of four, so I had acquired a gear. Some Formula One drivers have taken this to the extreme, with seven gears in their"

And there goes the whistle to mark the end of the minute.[/quote]



Clive: Bzzzzzzz! Repetition of 'gears', Nicolas.

Nicolas: Of course you are correct Clive, but the whistle had already sounded indicating that the minute was up.

Clive: Can I have bonus point anyway, Nicolas?

Nicolas: Eff off - you can't even spell my name correctly!



Clive

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The trouble for me was that I had so many bass heroes.. I like Marcus Miller (so I bought a Fender Jazz), Mark King (Jaydee, Status, Alembic), Mick Karn, John Giblin (Wal), etc..
In the end I bought around 85 basses during the last 23 years and I own around 19 for the moment. I have been buying basses like crazy the last two years with extreme GAS since I just wanted to have every bass I had ever wanted..I had a lot of gigs so I was able to financially..
Finally I realised that after a long search the one bass that does it all for me is a Wal (I bought six Wal basses last year..) and my GAS is gone, what a relief and I dare not to think of all the money I have invested ànd lost during that long search...

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[quote name='kdphysio' post='133083' date='Feb 3 2008, 03:36 PM']It's just like women......there's always a more beautiful one out there....... but luckily guitars can't say no! :huh:[/quote]
Yes, and thankfully they don't point and laugh when you're naked either. :)

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[quote name='wombatboter' post='135187' date='Feb 6 2008, 05:34 PM']The trouble for me was that I had so many bass heroes.. I like Marcus Miller (so I bought a Fender Jazz), Mark King (Jaydee, Status, Alembic), Mick Karn, John Giblin (Wal), etc..
In the end I bought around 85 basses during the last 23 years and I own around 19 for the moment. I have been buying basses like crazy the last two years with extreme GAS since I just wanted to have every bass I had ever wanted..I had a lot of gigs so I was able to financially..
Finally I realised that after a long search the one bass that does it all for me is a Wal (I bought six Wal basses last year..) and my GAS is gone, what a relief and I dare not to think of all the money I have invested ànd lost during that long search...[/quote]

Glad you've found the one bass for you (or is it, the six basses?). But, 6 Wal basses is a hell of a lot of £££££!! Are the all Custom models?

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[quote name='silverfoxnik' post='135350' date='Feb 6 2008, 11:43 PM']Glad you've found the one bass for you (or is it, the six basses?). But, 6 Wal basses is a hell of a lot of £££££!! Are the all Custom models?[/quote]

I sold a Pro fretless this year (and I paid for another one but lost the money due to an Ebay scam) but these five are the ones that I still have. But I'm planning to sell the midi Wal since I don't use it and I think some other bassplayer with a vivid imagination can do great things with it..


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[quote name='wombatboter' post='135591' date='Feb 7 2008, 11:13 AM']I sold a Pro fretless this year (and I paid for another one but lost the money due to an Ebay scam) but these five are the ones that I still have. But I'm planning to sell the midi Wal since I don't use it and I think some other bassplayer with a vivid imagination can do great things with it..


[/quote]
Wal-tastic!! :)

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[quote name='wombatboter' post='136299' date='Feb 8 2008, 09:24 AM']Thanks ! Ever since I heard that Wal-sound of Dean Garcia on "This is the House" by Eurythmics and Mick Karn's basslines I knew these British basses were the ultimate instruments for me.[/quote]


Yep - you just gotta have a Wal!
Mine will have been with me 21 years this year... & it will be coming to the grave with me!
:)

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[quote name='GreeneKing' post='133311' date='Feb 3 2008, 10:19 PM']I've gone up to 18 with my Warmoth body and neck on the way next week.

And I'm a bloody therapist!

;)

A happy one[/quote]


HOW DID THAT HAPPEN??? :) :huh:

You said to me before Xmas that you had 13 basses and you need to get rid of one as 13 is an unlucky number. So how did selling one to me go up to 18??? ;) :huh:

Your beyond help I think ;) :D ;)

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There's a recurring theme for Wals being keepers.


Any other ye olde faithful brands?

I'm reluctant to mention jazz/Stingrays and Precisions because of the amount they get passed around.


I bet most Fenders have herpes the amount of different crotches they meet.



So..yea, any other long-term electric bass suggestions?

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[quote name='paul, the' post='139237' date='Feb 13 2008, 02:44 AM']There's a recurring theme for Wals being keepers.

Any other ye olde faithful brands?[/quote]
Personally, Warwick. But it would have been another brand had that other brand included an instrument that I really had to have and had for 20 years. And most Warwicks I wouldn't give the time of day to because of those great big thick necks.

What you should do is have a look at the "first bass" thread, wherever it is, and see how many times you see "...and I've still got it". Tends to be stuff you wouldn't expect, like Ibanezeseseses and Washburns and Hondos (this isn't intended as a criticism of the instruments). Some people even keep Fenders for more than two years.

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[quote name='99ster' post='136728' date='Feb 8 2008, 05:36 PM']Yep - you just gotta have a Wal!
Mine will have been with me 21 years this year... & it will be coming to the grave with me!
:huh:[/quote]
Yup... this year will be the 22nd for me & my P.B. :)

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