Current Basses

Talk to any bass player and given enough time the conversation turns to the basses they have in their stable.  Most bassists I know have at least one back up bass and many have more than that.  Being a weekend warrior I have a difficult time justifying owning a lot of basses although I do own two at the moment.

I own two nearly identical ESP-LTD B5E's purchased about two years apart.  As referenced in an earlier post I made the move from four string to five strings to accommodate the lower tunings of the band I was in at the time.  I did not have any interest in going back and fourth between the two tunings and so I made the decision to stick with the five string bass.  Over time I sold off my four string basses to good homes and had just the ESP-LTD B5E.

I was (and still am) playing in a prog/hard rock band with my best friend for several years and had always had the thought in the back of my mind that it would be a good plan to have an identical back up bass "just in case."  Just recently I joined a second band that is tuned to C standard rather than B standard.  I had a strong aversion to tuning a bass up and down for each time I played with either of the bands.  Add to that the intonation nightmare that would have been sure to ensue and the addition of a second identical bass to my stable seemed justified.

So now I have one bass tuned to B standard and a second identical bass tuned to C standard.  It may seem a bit far-fetched to some but it works for me and I like it.  I still need to get another case because it looks like my two bands will be gigging together soon.