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Taken for Granted?


neilp
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I just got my Aria SB1000 back after loaning it to a guitarist friend of mine who;s thinking of leaving the Dark Side. In the meantime I've been playing a perfectly good MIM Jazz Bass - what I started my bass career playing - and enjoying the JB for what it is. Then the Aria came back - with rave reviews from said friend - and I've come to realise how much I took it for granted. Flawless design, superb neck, great sound and versatility. But above all, it just fits in my hands. No thought needed, it's a huge part of what I am as a bass player and I couldn't part with it.

Anyone else had this realisation about taking an instrument for granted? Or are you all less conservative than me?

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[quote name='neilp' timestamp='1451670569' post='2942300']
I just got my Aria SB1000 back after loaning it to a guitarist friend of mine who;s thinking of leaving the Dark Side. In the meantime I've been playing a perfectly good MIM Jazz Bass - what I started my bass career playing - and enjoying the JB for what it is. Then the Aria came back - with rave reviews from said friend - and I've come to realise how much I took it for granted. Flawless design, superb neck, great sound and versatility. But above all, it just fits in my hands. No thought needed, it's a huge part of what I am as a bass player and I couldn't part with it.

Anyone else had this realisation about taking an instrument for granted? Or are you all less conservative than me?
[/quote]

All the time. Its so easy to forget how good the bass you have really is, particularly if it is the only one you play.

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[quote name='neilp' timestamp='1451670569' post='2942300']
Anyone else had this realisation about taking an instrument for granted? Or are you all less conservative than me?
[/quote]

No. I sold my 76P Bass thinking that a P bass is just a P bass and I could get another any time... but it ain't so. I missed it, and no other P seemed to do the trick for me; so five years later and a huge effort to get the cash together, I finally got it back and am very glad I did so. 70s Fenders are not much of a muchness and differ wildly in weight and quality!

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I try to rotate gigging my basses as much as possible, I have quite a few and now don't gig that often so yes it is a constant surprise to pick up a bass I haven't played for a few months and remember exactly why I brought it.....which then triggers the guilt trip of having really good gigging basses sitting around not doing what they were intended to do but, I don't want to sell them because, to me, they are the basses I wanted...if that makes sense

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Definitely! For the last two and a half years I've been using my BB424x and it really is the best instrument for me.

I've used other basses at jams and when I try out other basses at shops and stuff I always think that they're not as good as my 424. Whenever I get it out of the case and jam with it it just does everything I want it to.

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[quote name='Roger2611' timestamp='1451672788' post='2942334']
I try to rotate gigging my basses as much as possible, I have quite a few and now don't gig that often so yes it is a constant surprise to pick up a bass I haven't played for a few months and remember exactly why I brought it.....which then triggers the guilt trip of having really good gigging basses sitting around not doing what they were intended to do but, I don't want to sell them because, to me, they are the basses I wanted...if that makes sense
[/quote]

I know exactly how you feel...

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10 years ago I began the revolving door of basses. In the beginning was a 2000 Musicman Stingray 5 followed by about 120 other basses - Fenders,. Warwicks, Modulus, Aria, Yamaha, Ibanez, Rickenbacker, Warmoth, 4, 5, 6, 8 & 12 strings, fretless, fretted, acoustic, semi acoustic, and so on. Some were sold before they were gigged, some were sold before I got them and some made a gig or 2. Some of the more expensive ones were the most disapppointing. At one point I was taking 2 basses worth £4000+ to pub gigs.

Last night I played the 2002 Stingray 5 I bought from Andy Dye at a Hogmanay gig and I felt like I was home again. My mate Mick the guitarist kept turning round all night. He told me at the end of the night it was because it sounded so good.

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Thankfully I haven't had to find that out! The SB1000 has been in my life since 1987, and the Wal since 1994. The Cort and the Jazz Bass are just backups. The two main basses are all I really need, and yes I think I do take them for granted

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Totally. Ive been playing a P bass of some sort for 20+ years, mostly because it was what was available secondhand at that time, and sounded good.

In more recent times I've explored a range of different basses, including jazzes, T-bird alikes and various other bits in an attempt to broaden my experiences and scratch that itch of trying some new gear.

However in the last few weeks I've dug out my main P bass (a USA 1995 one since you ask) for a couple of gigs and totally realised how much of my whole approach to playing depends on this instrument. It's everything I live for in bass.

It's taken me a big circular journey to realise I had the right bass for me in my hands all along.

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[quote name='neilp' timestamp='1451670569' post='2942300']
I just got my Aria SB1000 back after loaning it to a guitarist friend of mine who;s thinking of leaving the Dark Side. In the meantime I've been playing a perfectly good MIM Jazz Bass - what I started my bass career playing - and enjoying the JB for what it is. Then the Aria came back - with rave reviews from said friend - and I've come to realise how much I took it for granted. Flawless design, superb neck, great sound and versatility. But above all, it just fits in my hands. No thought needed, it's a huge part of what I am as a bass player and I couldn't part with it.

Anyone else had this realisation about taking an instrument for granted? Or are you all less conservative than me?
[/quote]

Yeah, I've had total regrets after selling or trading some great instruments. Like the saying goes you don't know what you've got till it's gone! I'll never part with my current crop. I've learned my lesson!

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