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Si600

How many guitarists have a bass?

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Just out of curiosity really. As most of the membership on here seem to be from next door, I imagine it's fairly safe to say that a lot of bassists have a guitar. I was wondering whether the same was true of guitarists, or folks who classify themselves as guitar players.

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Good grief...whelp here goes:

Basses:
1978 Musicman Stingray (heavily road rashed)
1979 Alembic Series 1 (1/50 with graphite neck)
1986 Pangborn Warlord (graphite neck)
1993 Pedulla Pentabuzz
1998 Status Series 1 headless 5
2000-ish Spector NS5CR
2009 Shuker Headless 6 MIDI
2016-ish self build (headless, semi hollow, arched top 5 string with steinberger neck)

Guitars:
Partscaster - Hitmaker replica
Chandler Custom Stratocaster - 'Kiwi's Broom'
Kleinberger replica - graphite neck, Steinberger bridge, Fernandes sustainer (due to be parted out)
Yamaha MSG - Mk1
Yamaha MSG - Mk2

Works in progress: 
The Clean Machine - MSG/RS Esprit cross
HSH Partscaster - mahogany body, roasted maple neck, Kahler X trem, Dimarzio pickups
HSS Partscaster - mahogany body, flame maple neck, Wilkinson VS100C trem, Fernandes Sustainer (from Kleinberger)

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Yeah but, no but, yeah.

I know @Kiwi and @leftybassman392 from next door. Do you consider yourselves bassists first, in which case having a load of basses is not unsurprising. 

I'm asking whether folks who see themselves as primarily guitarists have a bass lurking as many bassists, in my perception of BC, have the odd guitar.

I'm also being nice and getting the content going 😉

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1 hour ago, Si600 said:

Yeah but, no but, yeah.

I know @Kiwi and @leftybassman392 from next door. Do you consider yourselves bassists first, in which case having a load of basses is not unsurprising. 

I'm asking whether folks who see themselves as primarily guitarists have a bass lurking as many bassists, in my perception of BC, have the odd guitar.

Not so much consider myself as forced to by sheer lack of skill on guitar alone.  I struggle to play fast mainly because I'm so used to a 34" scale and 15mm string spacing and being left handed on a right handed instrument.  The solo in Rosanna by Toto or Highway To The Danger Zone by Dan Huff is about as quick as I can get.

Rhythm stuff is mostly a breeze. I'm even attempting chords+melody of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star for my 2 1/2 year old daughter.  But it's a bit like being the winger in a 5-a-side football team because you can't shoot goals.  Or the designated setter in a volleyball team because you can't jump and spike if someone else tosses the ball high above and in front of you. 

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I'm currently down to a single bass (Seibass Original headless 5er - Leftie of course), which I can't see me ever selling.

Mostly down to the fact that I don't gig anymore, I have slowly but surely moved my other basses on. At one time I think I had 9 or 10, including several Fenders, 2 Shukers, A Wal Custom and a lovely Roscoe fretless among others.

 

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19 hours ago, leftybassman392 said:

I'm currently down to a single bass (Seibass Original headless 5er - Leftie of course), which I can't see me ever selling.

Mostly down to the fact that I don't gig anymore, I have slowly but surely moved my other basses on. At one time I think I had 9 or 10, including several Fenders, 2 Shukers, A Wal Custom and a lovely Roscoe fretless among others.

Basses?!  :)

 

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I'm interested to hear about why those who are primarily basssists havearange of basses - or not. As primarily a crap guitar player who also enjoys playing bass badly, I find the only bass I really am interested in is a P bass - the traditional, one-pickup job. If I was to play bass out, i'd probably pick up a 51 style P bass configuration, and *maybe* one or to others, though TBH mostly when I think about it the alternative basses I'dl ike to have would be all variants on the P Bass - like a P bass with a Firebird shaped body, that kind of thing. Interestingly, with guitars my tastes have narrowed over the years also as I've figured out what I like - Im' selling off a whole bunch of guitars in order to replace them with a couple of Gretsch Electromatic semis, a second Strat (with a maple board; my old US Std 1994 is rosewood), and an LP DC JUnior type. Truns out I'm just not a fan of humbuckers, and no matter mow many of my guitar heroes played Gibbys or LPs in paticular, I'm just so over those. I think it's a natural pattern of eperience, finding what I want - and not being able to justify a hugecollection for the sake of collecting. Inmy experience, bassists always seemed to be more satisfied with a smaller number of specialised basses than would be the case for guitar players, but I wonder if I'm wrong on that?

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Yes, everyone has a path to explore in finding what works for them.  For some people the path is pretty short and direct and for others it gets esoteric. If a guitarist wanted one bass to fit most genre's, a p bass could probably sit in the mix better than most.  I think the elephant in the room is some of us play instruments for entertainment value.  They're toys, not tools.

Guitar wise my headless Kleinberger  and Hitmaker fits that mold easily.  I could get by on the blue HSS strat and Yammie MSG easily.

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Oh, certainly, if they were mere 'tools' few of us would have call for more than one.... I mean, my desire for a second Strat probably wouldn't happen so much if I had bought a blue one with a maple vboard back in 94, but I love my old Fender far too much to part with it in favour of the configuration I now prefer. And I'll stick my neck out and say that, all other things being equal, probably the only person in our house holdwho could hear thedifference between rosewood and maple is the dog. And I doubt she much cares so long as Daddypig is happy and givesher lots of fusses...

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On 22/02/2020 at 05:14, Kiwi said:

Good grief...whelp here goes:

1978 Musicman Stingray (heavily road rashed)
1979 Alembic Series 1 (1/50 with graphite neck)
1986 Pangborn Warlord (graphite neck)
1993 Pedulla Pentabuzz
1998 Status Series 1 headless 5
2000-ish Spector NS5CR
2009 Shuker Headless 6
2016-ish self build (headless, semi hollow, arched top 5 string with steinberger neck)

Hey Kiwi, i'm an alembic lover and would love to see a pic of that graphite series bass if possible. If it's out of place here then maybe drop a pic in the alembic group on basschat?

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5 hours ago, jazzyvee said:

Hey Kiwi, i'm an alembic lover and would love to see a pic of that graphite series bass if possible. If it's out of place here then maybe drop a pic in the alembic group on basschat?

You may have seen it already on the first page:
https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/26098-the-alembic-thread/?do=findComment&comment=270629

Photobucket doesn't do us any favours these days however.  Repost here:
https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/333124-rare-basses/page/7/#comments

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On sheer numbers, I guess I should call my self a guitarist as they outnumber the basses - not by much but there’s definitely more of them. 

And my go to instrument for noodling on is an acoustic guitar. So although I play bass in a band, I’d probably consider myself a guitarist. 

Not a very good one, if I’m honest but ability wasn’t mentioned in the question. 😁

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On 06/03/2020 at 13:04, EdwardMarlowe said:

I'm interested to hear about why those who are primarily basssists havearange of basses - or not. As primarily a crap guitar player who also enjoys playing bass badly, I find the only bass I really am interested in is a P bass - the traditional, one-pickup job.

I can't believe no-one has "bitten" yet, if this was over-the-road on Bass Chat, World War 3 would have started! The strange thing is that I almost agree with you though. Although I have half a dozen guitars that all get used regularly (different pickups, different tunings, etc) I have only 2 basses that I play - a five string Spector Euro and a four string EBMM Sterling; any bass tone or playing "feel" that I need can quite happily come out of one of these.

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I'm a drummer, but have several guitars, and several basses. I only have one drum kit though (one kit to rule them all...). In saying that, I do have a second kit, but I lent it out to a buddy, got it back and have not touched it since. It's pretty ropey. So, several basses, but only one 'go to' bass: my Hofner Verithin. I was gifted a fretless six-string, but that's been 'confiscated' by Our Youngest, who uses it exclusively, now. We also have a very nice Cort Fiver, originally for said Youngest, but he prefers the Sixer, so I use it when I want a different tone from the Verithin. There's another four-string; I don't recall the make/model, and can't be bothered to fetch it to see, but it's quite a modest little thing.
Guitars..? No, I'd better not get started on those... :$ 

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I was a drummer percussionist that had to stop playing back in 1999/ 2000 for medical reasons.

I’ve got a few acoustic and electric bass guitars.

I have arthritic fingers and recently took up the bass again as a form of hand and finger exercise and something to do with my son during lockdown.

 

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Coming back to this, it occurs to me that I haven't spoken about my guitars. The current collection comprises (all lefties of course, and more or less in order of vintage):

Gibson ES335 dot '84 in cherry red. All original.

Fender U.S. Standard '90 in black. Much modified over the years, and currently sporting a set of David White old glories and refretted with jumbos.

Patrick Eggle Berlin Plus '93 in gold. Minor touches to my personal spec at time of manufacture, but otherwise original.

Takamine EN10L mid/late '90s. All original.

Ibanez RG470L mid/late '90s in black. All original. For sale if anybody's interested...

Epiphone Les Paul, circa 2000 in cherry s/b. Original HBs recently replaced with Phat Cat P90s.

Rob Williams custom Tele, built to my personal spec by Rob in 2013. All original.

Faith Mercury semi-cutaway parlour guitar 2018. Without doubt the best acoustic guitar I've ever owned and up there with the best I've ever played.

 

So then, pretty clear where my priorities lie. :)

Also worth saying that with the exception of the last 3, all have had to earn their keep, having been extensively gigged and/or used for teaching.

 

Edited by leftybassman392
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