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One bass? Is it possible?


Crawford13

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8 minutes ago, Crawford13 said:

Realistically bass wise it would either be my Alpher or CS P Bass that stays... 

 

Realistically I could never, ever choose between my Shuker and my Wal. It'd almost be like asking me to choose between my children.

Edited by Rich
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2 minutes ago, casapete said:

The Covid pandemic has really made me wonder about having so many instruments generally, as well as how many basses.

There's no doubt I could manage with one for everything - it has to be light as possible, well made / reliable and plays and sounds to my liking. Hence I could flog everything but my favourite Precision Lyte. However, I can never sell my 63 P-bass, so that makes it two without even considering the heartbreak of losing my Dano,  Washburn acoustic/electric and a few more. That, combined with the market causing prices to be low, means they're all staying where they are. 😊

This is also a true consideration, now is not the time to sell. I am considering casing up a bunch of instruments and see if I get the craving to dig them out... 

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1 minute ago, Rich said:

Realistically I could never, ever choose between my Shuker and my Wal. It'd almost be like asking me to choose between my children.

This is very true. 

Even though I have many basses, I only have 1 child... 

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I suppose it is possible but also very selfish. Imagine all those guitar manufacturers and shops that will go to the wall. Imagine the cash flow implications to the economy from a limited secondhand market. No, in these hardened times we must all buy as many basses as we can just to keep the economy flowing. I only bought my recent fretless for that one reason!  😉 😀

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Of course it’s possible. Acoustic aside, I have 3 of one type of bass. One is used mainly for recording now, one for gigging, and one as a spare for the others. Theoretically I only need one, although I’d worry not having a spare. Still, I worry about everything anyway.😉

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1 hour ago, LukeFRC said:

No I think you can. 

But I think a better question is "what would you do with the money instead" - secondhand instruments are unlikely to devalue super quickly, the money will gain little interest at the moment (although debts are good to pay off). 

This. At the moment - well, pre and hopefully post lockdown - any spare money I have is going on driving lessons (40 years too late), but driving lessons aside - and all the associated costs involved in driving, which I’ve managed to avoid for those 40 years - I don’t have much else I want to spend my money on. I give quite a bit to charities each month, haven’t been on holiday for years, am not really that interested in gadgets or clothes or anything that many people spend money on, so guitars it is, when I can afford them. The main problem I will likely have in the future - apart from actually having any spare money 😂- is there are so few I can actually use, so it’s left me a bit gun shy about buying stuff.

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Nope. I have basses with sentimental value that i would never sell.

If you're asking could i get by with just one bass then yes i could quite happily get along with just my Sandberg VM4. It does everything i need from a bass.

Then again i do fancy a nice P bass :laugh1:

Dave

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I'd only ever gone out gigging with one bass for years. It's only been in the last year or two that I have taken a second one - initially as a spare but then I decided to use one for the first set and another for the second.

Usually the one for the first set has flats as a lot of the first half is disco, funk and soul but the second half has more rock and pop so I have a second bass with stainless steel rounds for the second set.

I don't agree that you have to spend a lot of money to get a good bass, in fact my Player Precision is already sold and I am in the process of selling my Stingray. I figured that it may be next year before I get to play so didn't see the point in having so much money tied up in these basses.

When we start gigging again, my main and only basses will both be Harley Bentons. The first set bass will be a JB-20 with licenced Hipshot Ultralites, Fender pickups and a Wilkinson high mass bridge. This will have D'addario flats.

The second set bass is a JB-75MN. This has EMGs with BTS tone controls, Fender high mass bridge and Hipshot US Ultralites with D-tuner on the E. This will have D'addario prosteels.

I already had the parts for the first one and the Ultralites for the second one. I've only bought the EMGs and Fender bridge specially.

If I was playing a gig with minimal gear then I could take either and leave the other one at home

Edited by Delberthot
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I tend to have one bass that i prefer to use (as only in one band) and i like the idea of having a "sound" that is consistant for the sound of the band. I also like to have a spare or back up for it because the idea of it breaking or having an issue at a gig terrifies me. In this band we play in Drop C so the strings on these two basses are a heavier gauge. This means that if i ever want to play anything in standard tuning (at home or at a jam) i have to have a third bass.

 

So three is the smallest number for me.

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If I ever went back to gigging I reckon I could cope with just the one, I wouldn't be nervous about gigging it without a backup but I'd always have one to hand.

As it stands, I've 3 - A Maruszczyk Jake 32" which is my forever bass, a Hofner Icon strung with flats cause I always wanted one and thought it could come in handy for something and a deko 5er I've just got because I've never played one before so it's a good learning curve.

The kind of music I'd be inclined to play (indie stuff), the Jake can do it all with ease. If I got into difficulty the Hofner would be able to hold its own I reckon in a backup situ.

Edited by rasher80
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I was happy with 4 basses, then I joined BC and read the Sandberg thread, and bought one, read the Yamaha thread, and bought one, read the 5 string thread, and bought one, etc, I’ve now got 12 basses, 5 amps, 4 cabs and 3 pedals 😁

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Im seriously thinking of downsizing - If my project Spector floats my boat I may have to make a difficult decision. I love my Vampyre but its heavy and I don't use it much these days - of all the basses I own its in the best condition and must likely to sell but I love it to bits visually and soundwise. I have sold basses I have loved before (my 76 p, my Epiphone TBird Pro, my 2013 FSR Pbass..) that I still regret geting rid of to this day.

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I can play a gig with a four or five string fretted. I can play a gig with a fretless 4. A double bass is also functional. Lately I have been considering, if I could play a gig with a fretless 5.

I am looking at the picture of James J. and I think that the right amount of instruments is "one more".

(I sold 7 instruments around a year ago. I think there are only 6 left. And a bass synth.)

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When i first started playing Bass again 4 years ago after a 30 year lay off i bought 5 bass Guitars in a matter of 4 months.

 1.Gear 4 Music  LA Bass

2.Ibanez sr 300

3 Yamaha 424x.

4. Ibanez SR 500

5.Sire Jazz Bass vintage.

i have 2 of these Basses left,but only play one of them,and the other one never comes off the wall hanger.

Guess which one that is.

 

 

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1 minute ago, Mickyk said:

When i first started playing Bass again 4 years ago after a 30 year lay off i bought 5 bass Guitars in a matter of 4 months.

 1.Gear 4 Music  LA Bass

2.Ibanez sr 300

3 Yamaha 424x.

4. Ibanez SR 500

5.Sire Jazz Bass vintage.

i have 2 of these Basses left,but only play one of them,and the other one never comes off the wall hanger.

Guess which one that is.

 

 

5 is the player, 3 stays on the hanger.

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Each time I thin down the herd, it's getting worse : I buy more basses with the money... as music is my hobby, being playing or listening, and like @Lozz196 I don't drink nor smoke. And it's always the same money, simply turning, so no family money is ever used.

Ideally, I could end up with only one sixer fretless and my sixer EUB.

Ideally...

I played as a semi-pro, meaning I still had a job, for a decade with only one fretless bass.

So ideally, yes !

But I love to try new basses or fretless things, so I'll keep having way too many basses.

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I managed with one bass for the first 24 years or so.

But over the last 12 years the collection has grown to 5 basses and although various things have conspired to ensure that I’ve been bandless since May 2019; I’d struggle to justify letting any of the 5 go.

Then again, Sod’s law being what it is; if I was to strip back to 1 bass, that would be the very time a project would come along needing the basses I’d just got rid of.🤨

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I got by for a couple of years on a ZZ Top branded P I borrowed from school for home practice. Then got by for another few years with just a Tanglewood Rebel, which I traded in and had just a Fender Jazz for about 10 years. I've had a peak of five basses, but these days I 'need' three.. 

A four string Jazz with flats
A five string active with rounds
A fretless

This is enough to cover everything I do, mostly classic rock covers and a wee bit of jangly guitar original stuff.

George

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