Before I got my first professional job as a musician I only had two basses...a Fender Custom Dinky Jazz 4-string (which I still own) and a Warwick Proline Corvette 5-String. In essence...that's all I needed. Both basses were very reliable and did their jobs very well. I swapped and changed my basses several times over many years, but ever since day one I have always had two basses...no more, no less.
My band signed to major label and I quickly learned the importance of having back up instruments when I was touring. The strings go out of tune under hot lights or cold outdoor festivals very quickly and it was easier to change over a bass after 3-4 songs instead of attempting to tune it between songs. My tech would then have enough time to tune the other bass ready for the next change. It also became very important if I had technical problems such as a string snapping or a Donald Duck jack input. I could swap the bass quickly without too much disturbance...even during a song. When you are touring and playing 6 nights every week your instruments do pick up wear and tear, so you have to expect the unexpected and sometime you learnt that in some very embarrassing and painful ways. Unfortunately, I have also had instruments stolen and I would have really been in the sticky stuff if I had to show up to the gig without a bass to perform with. On tour I usually took two 4-string and two 5-string basses and one very good tech! That was very conservative compared to my guitar player...he used 8 guitars!!! I couldn't really afford to buy 4 or more top end basses, so I bought mid budget Ibanez Soundgear and Washburn Bantam basses. I wasn't too afraid to knock them around a bit as they were easy to repair or to replace.
I was very blessed to come into contact with the Warwick artist rep for the UK through my friend Glenn who was one of their main UK endorsee's at that time. My band was supporting his band One Minute Silence for a short 10 date tour and we played the Mean Fiddler in London on the last night. Ben (artist rep) also noticed that I played a Warwick bass and made some very flattering comments about my performance. He asked me if I was sponsored or an endorsee with a company and I said no. I then gave him the sob story that our contract advance wouldn't even cover the cost of a new flight case, so he took pity on me. He said that he could hook me up with a sponsorship, but not an endorsement deal. That basically mean't that I could buy any Warwick branded product for a very low price. I can't discuss how low, but you would be shocked how low it is! He sent me the paper work to sign a week later, but I didn't jump onto it straight away. I toured for another 6 months, saved some cash, I then sold my touring bass collection and ordered two off the wall and two custom built Warwick basses!
I have bought a few other basses since then such as my Warwick Dolphin 5-string fretless and Thumb BO 4-string, Status Energy Custom 6-string (sold), Fender 72' reissue Jazz (sold) and 82' P-Bass fretless (sold), KYDD upright (sold) and a very nice MTD 535 (stolen), but even though I am not a touring musician anymore is there really any need to have this many basses? Not really, but I keep them for the same reason why some folks collect motorbikes, baseball cards or Star Wars action figures. I am fanatical about the instrument! I love how they all look different, sound different and feel different. There is so much variety out there and I find it very exciting and challenging. I'm not the kind of person who will buy a bass and treat it like a piece of furniture. I buy basses that I will play and enjoy using. I buy with my heart and not my head. Not sure if that's a good thing or not, but that's my excuse!
