The Opposite Of GAS?

[miles'tone]

These days I view myself as the instrument and basses as tools. Keeps things simple that way, and also silences that confusing voice of sentimentality. 

Edited October 13, 2023 by miles'tone

[Geek99]

Yes agree, it doesn’t get simpler than. Precision bass, and there’s nothing to go wrong. Accept no substitute 

[Barking Spiders]

1 hour ago, rwillett said:

I don't even know what some of this stuff is, exotic animals, plants, alien creatures?

Dhol - 

Darabuka - 

Caixa - 

repinique (hep) - 

I guess you'd recognise a djembe?

[diskwave]

The opposite of GAS?  Ok a bit left field this.......The audience.  They could care less what ur playing as long as they hear some sort of bassy drone....even then Im not convinced they're to bothered. Ive heard bands with two guitarists strumming on the neck PU...keys, and other assorted stage noise...and the bassist might have well packed up and gone home. Whatever you play or fuss over will always bow to those instruments that the audience can hear without bothering to hear...if you get my meaning.  Bass is the last thing the audience care about.

[Barking Spiders]

4 minutes ago, greavesbass said:

The opposite of GAS?  Ok a bit left field this.......The audience.  They could care less what ur playing as long as they hear some sort of bassy drone....even then Im not convinced they're to bothered. Ive heard bands with two guitarists strumming on the neck PU...keys, and other assorted stage noise...and the bassist might have well packed up and gone home. Whatever you play or fuss over will always bow to those instruments that the audience can hear without bothering to hear...if you get my meaning.  Bass is the last thing the audience care about.

 unless it's funk, soul or disco then they know it's the bass that carries the songs

[diskwave]

1 minute ago, Barking Spiders said:

unless it's funk, soul or disco then they know it's the bass that carries the songs

Totally. But Ive never had anyone, band wise or audience wise complain at the racket my ole Squire P bass makes in that department. In other words it doesn't really matter what bass or gear you use.. it will always sound to them like bass.

I had to play Lil L a while back.. that grt envelope tone etc. I just played it up the neck and they all went wow!  Total BS but within the noise of a live performance and well played it sounded good on a lowly 200 quid Squire.

[Mykesbass]

Opposite of GAS? SAG of course. Selling Acquired Gear.

[Bassman1974]

5 hours ago, Geek99 said:

Yes agree, it doesn’t get simpler than. Precision bass, and there’s nothing to go wrong. Accept no substitute 

Mine is an absolute keeper. I couldn't be without it

[gjones]

I came into a decent amount of money about 5 years ago and decided it would be a better investment to buy secondhand basses than put the cash in a savings account. So I ended up with about a dozen very nice pro basses but actually only gig one or two of them.  The others will slowly be sold off when I need the cash. 

 

When I do sell off the 'investment' basses I'll be left with my MIJ Fender Jazz (with John East pre amp) and my Fender Elite Precision, which is all I'll ever need. 

[DDR]

On 13/10/2023 at 11:46, Bassman1974 said:

It's a funny one,

 

As I progress through this journey of playing and learning, I realise that I simply do not need 6 bass guitars. Two instruments I thought I'd never sell, a Vintage Hofner and an AM Jazz, are potentially going up for sale as they just don't get any air time.

 

My question: If you previously had an extensive collection, what made you decide to whittle it down to a few less, and what instruments did you keep?

The main thing I've noticed is that when I'm actually busy playing I don't often think about new gear. When I'm not playing it gets me. A good friend of mine once said to me: just make sure that you're spending at least 90% more time practicing than looking at gear on the Internet. 

[Lw.]

I never had a particularly big collection but I did fritter money away on a variety of mid-range basses over the years, then I decided I needed a P bass (having spent most of my earlier years hating them) and it pretty much killed the gas.

 

Over night I switched to focusing on just having a few really nice basses/things rather than lots of ok stuff. 

 

Now I have a really good P, an almost as good J and an active 5er that I never play but for sentimental reasons need to keep (we've been through a lot) and it's actually a very good bass in its own right I just never play 5s anymore. 

 

Realistically now the only basses I think I'd look at buying despite knowing they would get way less play time than the P & J would be a Ric and maybe some form of Gibson. 

 

Honestly though, I reckon just the P would do. Younger me was wrong on many things but this was the worst mistake, so many missed opportunities for P bargains in years gone by! 

[Bassman1974]

4 hours ago, Lw. said:

I never had a particularly big collection but I did fritter money away on a variety of mid-range basses over the years, then I decided I needed a P bass (having spent most of my earlier years hating them) and it pretty much killed the gas.

 

Over night I switched to focusing on just having a few really nice basses/things rather than lots of ok stuff. 

 

Now I have a really good P, an almost as good J and an active 5er that I never play but for sentimental reasons need to keep (we've been through a lot) and it's actually a very good bass in its own right I just never play 5s anymore. 

 

Realistically now the only basses I think I'd look at buying despite knowing they would get way less play time than the P & J would be a Ric and maybe some form of Gibson. 

 

Honestly though, I reckon just the P would do. Younger me was wrong on many things but this was the worst mistake, so many missed opportunities for P bargains in years gone by! 

Exactly this. I've a P and a few J's, but added a Ric this summer ( after selling one a few months prior believing I didn't need one). Like you, and value aside, I'd keep the P over anything.