Do you play all your basses?

[Blademan_98]

I have four '4' string basses.

2 fretted and 2 fretless.

I was thinking about dropping that down to just the two. I sat down today and played them all in turn. I really did think that it would jump out at me which ones to lose.

I decided in the end that four is not excessive and I really did not want to part with any of them.

It was a great couple of hours and made me really smile

Those of you with mutiple basses, do you have a day like that and just play them all to really get a feel for them?

My 5 string fretless just sat on it's stand looking upset and unloved

[Doctor J]

I get through them all regularly, some are more favoured than others but they all get a look in. They all play and sound differently so I have no problem justifying their presence to myself

[stingrayPete1977]

I'm looking for another one

I have one originals band that has to be done on a 5'er and trying to get another function band going since quitting two other bands a year ago where I will only take 4's to practice so I can rotate them all. I love it!

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

I have about a dozen or so basses. Some I don't play much - and two or three I play a lot. I would like to thin the herd, but I think I'd miss even the ones that hardly get played. Most are hanging on the wall, so in a way serve as artwork.

When I took my unlined fretless bitzer precision to a jam night a week or so ago - the first time I've played it for a long time, it really felt like having a new bass as it was so unfamiliar. It seems there's something about playing an unlined fretless that makes people think you must know what you're doing as I got lots of complements about my sound and playing - which wasn't far off how I normally sound or play when people don't normally give a flying monkeys

[lemmywinks]

I'm thinking of clearing out the ones i don't play, which are actually the only expensive ones (a Zoot custom and the Warwick).

I like my cheapy Jazz bitsas, it's hard to let go of a bass as beautiful as the Zoot though!

[Doddy]

I use whichever I feel like using at the time although I do tend to favour one of my Fenders,as they are always out on
a stand. The more expensive instruments tend to live in cases.
Gig wise,I always take my main Jazz Bass with me as well as another bass,which lately is usually one of my five strings.

[Heathy]

At the moment I feel that one is all I need.

[Lozz196]

I have 3 Precisions, one of which I bought last week, with the intention of selling another to fund some of it, so I`ll be down to two, both of which will get use.

Generally, I have one for home use - my sunburst one - and another for gigging/recording.

If I had any sense I`d sell the sunburst one as well, as I don`t need 2 basses, but I just can`t bring myself to sell that one.

[fender73]

I'm down to two now, just done a herd thinning exercise. Looking to get a 5'er and keep things basic for a while. I make it a policy only to buy basses that i can gig

[Marvin]

Got 2 basses, play both - but one more than the other.

[BottomE]

They all get an airing though some more than others. There are two that i would say get more gigs than the others but i use all the basses for recording. Its nice to be able to choose a bass which has qualities that suit a particular song rather than playing about with EQ.

[Clarky]

Ignoring my acoustic/DB stuff, I have three fretted basses I want to keep and a Wal fretless I will sell when the market recovers. Those three fretted basses are each lovely in different ways (a YOB Precision, a replica early-50s Precision and Wes Steed's 'Herbie Flowers' inspired Jazz). Despite being an avowed P man, I am enjoying the Herbie bass the most recently (could be my never-fully-recovered left hand finds the narrower neck width less of a strain). I cycle between each of them several times a week. Between them they cost less than a decent motorbike so I have no guilt at all, even if logically I do not need them all. Besides if I totted up what the Mrs spends on handbags and shoes ....

[Linus27]

Yes and only tonight I played all but one of them.

[thisnameistaken]

I have three bass guitars and a double bass, and yeah I do actually play them all. All the guitars are 4 strings and fretted, one is my Warwick which is just all Warwicky and ace so of course I play it, next up I've got a Squier Jazz which I keep strung with flats so that has a reason for existing, I also have a Fender Jazz with a '70s Allparts neck on it which I have been using for recording recently and it's a fun bass to play because it feels so different to the Warwick, but to be honest I'm thinking about shifting that bass to help fund a second double bass.

[waynepunkdude]

Not at the same time

ATHANKYOU

[amnesia]

I do play them all.

My T'bird generally only comes out of the case with the band in C/G/C/F tuning

I play my Streamer Stage I at home, practicing for the band in C/G/C/F

I play my Streamer LX and my acoustic at home in E/A/D/G

[Rick's Fine '52]

I play all mine, some more than others if I'm honest, but each have their own thing that draws me to them, and each have their own distintive characteristics.

I've often got a particular bass out, with the intention of selling it, but after opening the case, and taking it for a spin round the block, i instantly fall back in love with it, and remember what made me buy it in the first place.

Personally, i don't think you can have too many basses, but thats just me, i love 'em!, but let's be honest here, you only [i]need[/i] one!

If i had space, and money for a 100, thats how many I'd have...simple.

[mike257]

Not so much recently, but over the last few years they've all had turns as the 'main bass' depending on the gig. The Stingray has always been my 'go-to' for my punky/rocky/heavy stuff, the T-40 covered a stretch I did with a more classic-rock type band, and the Sandberg got strung up with flats and spent two years as my #1 for an alt-country/americana band. The modded Squier came out for a few with that band too, usually when I needed rounds for a bit more balls on certain tunes. I [i]could[/i] have used one bass for all of those gigs, the Sandberg and the T-40 being the most likely to stretch across them all, but I love my 'ray too much not to keep using it.

Oh, almost forgot..... the Jazz copy I won in the basschat charity raffle a few years ago takes pride of place in the music room as my 'playing at home' bass, although it's been souped up with a few mods and done a gig or two as well. The rest of them stay at the practice room full-time.

I think you can do it all with one bass, but it's nice to have choices - even the finest meal in the world would lose some of its shine if you had to eat it every single night

[SteveK]

Hey guys! Aren't you worried (what, with all the threads on the subject) that, with all this chopping and changing basses, [b]you[/b] won't sound like ...[b]you[/b]?
Cos it's a well known fact that yer sound comes from yer bass. So, it stands to reason that if you change yer bass, then, [b]you[/b] won't sound like[b] you[/b] any more.

Actually, I have a favourite that I keep coming back to, a 1985 Warwick Streamer that Warwick have recently reworked and given a new lease of life.
A couple of instruments haven't seen the light of day for 5 or 6 years.

[Linus27]

[quote name='SteveK' timestamp='1316645660' post='1381020']
Hey guys! Aren't you worried (what, with all the threads on the subject) that, with all this chopping and changing basses, [b]you[/b] won't sound like ...[b]you[/b]?
Cos it's a well known fact that yer sound comes from yer bass. So, it stands to reason that if you change yer bass, then, [b]you[/b] won't sound like[b] you[/b] any more.

Actually, I have a favourite that I keep coming back to, a 1985 Warwick Streamer that Warwick have recently reworked and given a new lease of life.
A couple of instruments haven't seen the light of day for 5 or 6 years.
[/quote]

Not overly worried as I have a couple of workhorses (Precision and Fretless Jazz) that still sounds like me as the tone is in the fingers or so I am told My other basses are just my bit of fun at home or when I want a bit of variety. Also, nothing wrong with changing your tone from time to time. I am going down the Warwick route at the moment and it compliments by normal tone. Still sounds like me just a bit different I guess or not as the case may be

[chris_b]

I just keep things simple. I gig the Lull, practice at home with the Lakland and the other 2 are mothballed.

[neepheid]

I absolutely play all of them, if I don't then my wife will make me sell them

[Chris2112]

Yes, I tend to go through phases of playing one almost exclusively and loving it and then playing another a week or two later and remembering why I love that one so much!

[JTUK]

I am down to two and I take both to gigs. No point for me otherwise..

[ead]

I've three basses all quite different in character. The fretless, a modded RBX270, probably gets the most use as it mostly lives on the stand, then the Overwater Aspiration then the Spector (both in hard cases). It just depends what I feel like.

They all get gigged though.