I am emotionally attached to a bass that's taking up space and I don't want any more

[Jack]

3 hours ago, kwmlondon said:

Cor! Some absolutely gorgous basses there! Those two 4-strings are very similar to mine, I think my one's just a lot more beat-up but does have the original 80s mute bridge. How much is it worth? I don't know. I don't think it's collectible as it's post-EB and doesn't have the original case etc.

 

I have to admit the idea of selling it with the option of selling / or swapping with the option of getting it back in the future really appeals.

 

The only bass I've played in the past few years in a store that I had proper lust for was a Singray 5 string fretless. Oh. My. Days. That thing sang and thought it was really REALLY hard to play (I'm not experienced with a fretless) it sounded incredible with rounds on it. If I'd had £1800 in my pocket when I was in The Bass Gallery, I may have walked out with that thing!

 

BTW here's pics of my 'ray

 

https://imgur.com/a/d3nNSXx

 

And a video

https://imgur.com/a/yEJkPwC

Well the same to you. The translucent red is a great colour for the Ray, although as you'll know I'm biased 😁. I still think you should keep it but I certainly wouldn't mind looking after that for you. 😍

Edited Saturday at 15:00 by Jack

[kwmlondon]

27 minutes ago, Jack said:

Well the same to you. The translucent red is a great colour for the Ray, although as you'll know I'm biased 😁. I still think you should keep it but I certainly wouldn't mind looking after that for you. 😍

Okay! That's good to know! Let me sleep on it, and you have a think as well and maybe we can discuss it. Cheers!

[jazzyvee]

3 hours ago, chris_b said:

 

. . .  . or you could give it to me. I'm a lot younger than I look. . . .  really!

Hahaha good try. Joking aside, personally having a bass like that go free to someone who will appreciate what it is, is far preferable to selling it dirt cheap. Of course they could just sell it and make a killing but hopefully I will find a keen buyer. 

[Mokl]

On 30/08/2025 at 09:16, Terry M. said:

But remember that if you were in his position you would no longer be interested in 4s 😊

Very true 😂 

[jd56hawk]

[kwmlondon]

2 minutes ago, jd56hawk said:

Hmm.

[Terry M.]

@kwmlondon I'm really keen to find out what your decision will be as and when you arrive there. Can I ask why you feel 4s aren't for you anymore?

[kwmlondon]

1 hour ago, Terry M. said:

@kwmlondon I'm really keen to find out what your decision will be as and when you arrive there. Can I ask why you feel 4s aren't for you anymore?

Thanks for your interest. I will let you know when I make a decision but I’m not in a hurry. 
 

It’s a good question, why don’t I play 4 strings any more? I just feel like an extended range suits me. I like being able to play a D below E without having to bend my brain around drop tuning. I like being able to play in F without pivoting so much. When I play a 4 string it’s like getting into a car that has 4 gears or watching a film on an old 4:3 screen. It’s very personal but it just feels more me. 

[tauzero]

On 30/08/2025 at 15:49, kwmlondon said:

I don't think I want to sell it outright.

 

I think what really appeals is the idea of doing a long-term swap for something that I'd use so it could be with someone who would get good use out of it while I had something that I'd enjoy getting to know. 

 

There's always 5-strings in the marketplace for sale because people have decided that they don't get on with them. You could see if anyone has one you fancy that they haven't managed to shift for a while and see if they'd go with your idea of a long-term swap while their 5-string rises in value due to being a classic and because more people see the benefits of a 5-string.

[kwmlondon]

5 hours ago, tauzero said:

 

There's always 5-strings in the marketplace for sale because people have decided that they don't get on with them. You could see if anyone has one you fancy that they haven't managed to shift for a while and see if they'd go with your idea of a long-term swap while their 5-string rises in value due to being a classic and because more people see the benefits of a 5-string.

This is very wise indeed. I shall give this suggestion a very big think.

 

The great thing is I'd see how I felt when the bass isn't with me any longer. If I don't actually miss it then we will have an answer.

 

Good call.

[Terry M.]

5 hours ago, tauzero said:

 while their 5-string rises in value due to being a classic 

Is this in reference to a SR5 in particular? I've noticed the used prices of them (pre Stingray Special) has jumped up quite a bit. 

[tauzero]

3 hours ago, Terry M. said:

Is this in reference to a SR5 in particular? I've noticed the used prices of them (pre Stingray Special) has jumped up quite a bit. 

 

Not really, just that as a bass becomes older it becomes A CLASSIC, in the period before it becomes L@@K, RARE.

[mattbass6]

On 29/08/2025 at 13:03, kwmlondon said:

I have a beaten up '89 Stingray 2EQ that I've had for 30 years and have gigged with when I was younger, but I've not really played much in the decades since. I got back inot bass over the past 5 years but I just have no interest in 4-string basses any more so it sits in a case... but... I am finding it it really hard to consider selling. It's the only consistent instrument I've had in my life. I've also been told by other people who have played it what a special instrument it is and how I'd be an idiot if I ever got rid of it, but it's sitting in a case doing nothing which seems awful to me.

 

I'd appreciate your thoughts.

 

EDIT - we have a very strict one-in, one-out rule with instruments here. This means I have a bass that is taking up the space that could be taken by something I'd actually play.

 

Having said that, I've played a Dingwall 5-string almost exclusively now for 5 years and have zero interest in playing anything else so maybe I'd be swapping one bass I don't play for another bass I don't play. 

 

I still have my 1986 MIJ Fender Precision that my Mum and Dad bought me for Christmas, in 1986. My first real bass. I don’t use it anymore but I can never get rid of it. It’s the only bass I have ever kept and whenever I open the case, all the happy memories come flooding back. It’ll go to the grave with me. Such a precious and irreplaceable thing 🥰

[kwmlondon]

5 hours ago, mattbass6 said:

 

I still have my 1986 MIJ Fender Precision that my Mum and Dad bought me for Christmas, in 1986. My first real bass. I don’t use it anymore but I can never get rid of it. It’s the only bass I have ever kept and whenever I open the case, all the happy memories come flooding back. It’ll go to the grave with me. Such a precious and irreplaceable thing 🥰

You see, I don't have that. When I get my 'ray out it's a bass. It's a nice bass but it's a bass. It's a MusicMan Stingray like hundreds, thousands of others and while it's a very fine instrument it doesn't feel irreplacable in any way, I just look at all the wear it's had and think "some of that is from me onstage!" and that's the nice thing, but I do think maybe I'm not as attached to it as I thought I was.

[BigRedX]

My first bass was a second-hand Burns Sonic. At the time it was the only bass I could afford and for over 10 years the only bass I owned. I used it on the demos that had CBS records interested in signing my band. It went through numerous modifications in order to keep it playable. However when I could finally afford something good it was replaced with a 5-string Overwater Original. After that it spent most of its time unplayed in its case. When my current band did their first set of recordings I used it on one song. We re-recorded that song recently and I used one of my Gus 5-strings instead, which sounded better. When I had my big clear out of instruments I thought long and hard about keeping it for sentimental reasons, but I ended up selling it. It didn't really fit with any of the music I've played over the past 30 years, and if I had kept it, it would have gone back in its case and into storage. 

[kwmlondon]

10 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

My first bass was a second-hand Burns Sonic. At the time it was the only bass I could afford and for over 10 years the only bass I owned. I used it on the demos that had CBS records interested in signing my band. It went through numerous modifications in order to keep it playable. However when I could finally afford something good it was replaced with a 5-string Overwater Original. After that it spent most of its time unplayed in its case. When my current band did their first set of recordings I used it on one song. We re-recorded that song recently and I used one of my Gus 5-strings instead, which sounded better. When I had my big clear out of instruments I thought long and hard about keeping it for sentimental reasons, but I ended up selling it. It didn't really fit with any of the music I've played over the past 30 years, and if I had kept it, it would have gone back in its case and into storage. 

Thanks. That's very interesting and great to know.

[Terry M.]

3 hours ago, kwmlondon said:

You see, I don't have that. When I get my 'ray out it's a bass. It's a nice bass but it's a bass. It's a MusicMan Stingray like hundreds, thousands of others and while it's a very fine instrument it doesn't feel irreplacable in any way, I just look at all the wear it's had and think "some of that is from me onstage!" and that's the nice thing, but I do think maybe I'm not as attached to it as I thought I was.

And if that's not enough it has the audacity to be a string short 😂

Taking my own thoughts and feelings out of this and being as objective as I know how,this post from you is pretty much giving you the actual answer to the conundrum and may lead to the beginning of the end of this thread. 

Edited 7 minutes ago by Terry M.