A really good example of how you don't actually need a huge arsenal of instruments to be a great player can be shown in the career of legendary session bassist Joe Osborn. All the sessions he played on from the mid sixties onward through the seventies- including all the hits he did for The Mamas and the Papas, The Carpenters, The 5th Dimension etc were played on ONE Fender Jazz bass and ONE set of strings.

@scottkeeler2306

Жыл бұрын

I would add Chris Squire to your list since he pretty much played the same Ricky always.

@klinkepeter

6 ай бұрын

@@scottkeeler2306he also used Alembic

@klinkepeter

6 ай бұрын

that was a different time and also it depends on your musical profile, for example i do a lot of work of recording in studios for various styles, most of with the Fender Precision but sometimes with my jazz bass, Ken Smith and Alembic basses, same on stage…, recently a gospel tour with my KS, perfect instrument for this genre, Gwizdala is one of the most unique bassists i‘ve ever heard and in his case it’s a totally different story

@michaelmerritt9657

4 ай бұрын

😮

Yes! Glad you are bringing the 'gwizdala' bass back as your main instrument!

Great video, and can't wait to hear the new album!

Its such a great feeling when you declutter!

You've got all the sounds covered. Great video. I've always loved your playing on that Mattisson.

Good for you, having less stuff and just focusing on being creative is the way! Look forward to seeing how the process evolves for you

Super helpful advices and solid reasoning - thanks! 🌼

Love this! I will attest to having many axes and continually coming back to the artisan-ship of Anders’s work. It’s not for everyone, but mine has proved to be what gives my voice the most flexibility, depth and range. Thanks for letting us along the journey, my guy!

Waiting for you in Argentina! Good luck with the sale!

Great choice Janek. Your number one Is your sound and the P is a must have.

Amazing! thank you for bringing a lot of advice and contribution to musicians

A great selection your are keeping there Janek! It make sense to focus less on stuff and differencen and more on the "bubble" and creativity. I play much, much less than you but fancy a couple of different basses (freless four and five string) and also keeping my goto Yamaha five string. Keep it up and good luck with everything!

great video Janek, thank you for the inspiration!

Good to hear you're keeping the elm-Mattisson. That's the sound I've come to associate with you, love the sound and music you play on that bass.

@AmilcarBaxo

Жыл бұрын

Eu também acho que som do Janek se encaixa neste instrumento, no último trabalho dele em trio com os pedais também, isso ficou claro. Janek é uma incrível inspiração, isso que sou do Brasil terra do groove.

Congratulations on trimming down your collection. I got rid of a lot of guitars and basses I wasn’t using a few years ago. Kept a couple of important instruments and sold the rest. It’s definitely liberating to get rid of the excess paint in your pallet. Make room for the important stuff. Thanks!!

I knew about you from Scott Bass Lessons podcast that was really inspiring. Thank creating this content and looking forward for more

your a Awesome Brother Janek. you break it down real.

A very cool video! With regards to your Mattison bass, sometimes moving forward occasionally requires you to go backwards.

Always thought the same about the Mattison, happy to hear it back!

Want to thank you for turning me onto 5 string E to C tuning. Got a mg style fodera with 33” scale and 16.5 mm spacing that has transformed my playing. In love with that style of bass!

@ShadamAran

Жыл бұрын

How so has the string spacing changed your playing?

Janek, love you brotha💙. You are a maestro to so many of us🙏🏽

One of my weird "wave a magic wand" things would be to have a swap-shop for basses. It'd be great to have a decent, cheap fretless for a few months, just to try it out, then swap it for a short-scale, just to see what it was like. I don't want to own any of these but a change can be really inspiring! Buying and selling is such a faff and fraught with risks... Anyway. Love your channel, hope you keep enjoying making the videos!

Glad you're going back to the Mattison, I find it to be your best tone yet 😊

Completely understand. I have a 2010 Fender Jazz, a Squire fretless, Mouradian CS-74 & a Warwick Streamer Stage II. Streamer is the first one, purchased in 1990..and still the one I play 95% of the time. My boutique baby bass. Love it. The other 3 are more or less ornaments.

Eu adquiri um Warwick Thumb anos atrás 5 cordas! Depois de ver as possibilidades que Janek apresentou em um baixo de 5 cordas eu adquiri na época aquele encordoamento especial da Dunlop que ele usava. Foi um trabalho grande pois tinha importar para o Brasil. Mas isso me proporcionou uma virada de jogo no instrumento, uma nova visão como músico, eu acho que isso ja faz uns 6 anos. Então penso que este é um dos grandes trunfos de Janek, inspirar e ensinar ao mesmo tempo. Mantenho meu Thumb e um Fender jazz bass okoume ativo e claro alguns pedais. Viva Gwizdala

This is a life great lesson . Sometimes it takes great effort to shake the belief that a 10k (dare I say overly refined) instrument is the be all and end all . The sum of the ''imperfections'' of some of the basses you mention are actually strengths when it comes to the creativity, inspiration and attitude needed to nail a tune. Much food for thought here !

Wow Janek- some great basses - and great choices on which to keep! I’ve always loved Fodera from a distance, looks amazing, but is it heavy? Thanks for this awesome vid!!! 🙏🙏

Thank you for this content. I knew about it through Scott bass lessons podcast.Very inspiring content. Thank you

Yes, I love the sound of the black split-P prototype!

Did an album in LA back in 2014 with Elaine Davidson and Warren Huart producing. We went to Tim’s house to watch him put guitars down on Elaine’s album, he’s a master studio musician. Tim has a huge amazing collection of guitars and amps.

After trying lots of different things, the bass that gets the most love from me is a cobbled together partscaster J bass with flatwounds and cheap pickups, which I installed on purpose because I prefer them to the more expensive ones I've tried. Guess there's no substitute for just trying things out without prejudice.

I hear this. Since 2020 I have sold 9 basses, bringing me down to 4. Definitely happier, definitely not carrying any excess or feeling guilty that I've not played something for months.

@janekgwizdala

Жыл бұрын

Bravo!

Oh man, Cliff is a friend, and I love your playing, so I hope y'all come to Southern Cali!

Thank You!

I feel ya Janek. I truly only need 3 basses: A fretless and 2 good fretted for touring (1 main & 1 backup). So why do I have 17? Can't wait to get to where you are and thin the herd.

@PorchBass

Жыл бұрын

It ends up costing a lot in strings!

@janekgwizdala

Жыл бұрын

My thoughts entirely... "Why do I have over 30???!"

You got me thinking. I’ve got an ever growing appetite for new gear, AKA GAS. And all said here is true, so many times we get gear for the pleasure of saying “yes, I have it” and in my case, more times that I dare to accept “if only I had that …” I have two big pedalboards with all the bells and whistles, from Meris, GFI Systems, Strymon, Chase Bliss, Thorpy, OBNE, Hologram Electronics, Pladask Elektrisk and a lot more, and yet, I’m always, always drawn to my beautiful Tele or my super comfy Jazzmaster straight to the amp or computer interface, open my DAW, put a very simple pedalboard or the Helix Native and that is about it, I get lost for hours without even glancing at my pedals. Very good video / talk. By the way, speaking of your work with Steve Smith, the album is awesome! Now here’s the thing for me, and maybe I’m deaf but mix in that record is very bad for you. I was super excited to listen to your lines but I could barely hear it, its kinda lost in the mix.

I’ve thankfully avoided getting too many basses (I’ve only been playing bass for 3 years but guitar for 16) and the two that I have fulfill very different roles. A Yamaha PJ 5 string with tape wounds, and 37” B string 6 string headless multiscale MGBass with 3 active humbuckers. Effectively polar opposites of the spectrum, but they fill their unique roles much better than the other does, so it works. I do have a final 6 string bass I’ll be getting with true temperament frets in the future, but honestly I’m happy. If I felt I needed to fill out sounds more for whatever reason I’d grab a sire J bass and a shortscale just to finish off the list, but it just doesn’t feel necessary. Ultimately though, I’ve always felt bad leaving instruments unplayed. Typically having more than 3 instruments means that at least one of them I will not touch for significant periods of time, and someone else could certainly be making better use of it than myself. Decluttering is a very nice feeling, even if it’s objects with great memories. Would be fun to have one of these instruments, but I’m far too broke for that 😅

love the content

Didn’t see the basses in the store, have they been sold already Also I love your vids so much, have learned so much, you and Bubby Lewis are the reason why I bought a multi fx pedal

Your super talented, you don’t need all those beautiful Basses, I would love to own a Wal Bass but not in my life time, you have a fantastic collection of amazing instruments 🙏🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

this video helps me because even as a total nobody, I struggle with many of these same thoughts and processes. I've come to terms with the fact that my gear collection / tool box will forever be "breathing" as my needs, wants and means shift over time. I definitely like having several instruments. I play them all. Frequently. They all bring a different thing.

@janekgwizdala

Жыл бұрын

If you play them all, I think it's awesome. And that's just where I'm trying to get to. Have only instruments that I really use on a regular basis.

Great share 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

Funny that, I’m at the beginning of my bass playing journey, and I have already decided that I will never own more than 5 or six. As you alluded to, WE are the musical instruments. The physical instruments are merely the translation devices to communicate the music inside of each of us to one another. As we grow and develop as artists, we’ll find that we can express ourselves on almost anything that is put into our hands.

Good luck!

You bring serious gravitas and erudition to our Bass community…insightful analysis all round.

I think we can all benefit from some de-cluttering. You've had a lot of basses in your journey so far, and it's nice to see that you've found what works for you. No need to hold on to everything.

my new bass im switching to is a Dingwal D roc 5 with a Sansamp bass fly rig but still like my 2 fenders and 1 rickenbacker :)

I remember reading an interview with Eddie Gomez back in the early 90's. If I remember correctly, at that point he was into going gigs and just playing whatever upright bass that the venues had as a house instrument. He said that he got a thrill out of having to feel the instrument out and see where it took him in that particular moment. I always thought that was really damn cool!

I know what you are saying!!! For years I played a 1962 P Bass!! Loved it!! But!!!! One day I was with a friend (Merrell Fankhauser) in a music store in Fullerton and thats when I discovered the G&L L-1000! Simple bass, one pickup, great feel, Super great sounding!! I traded my 62 (at that point fretless) and never looked back!!!! Then, Im now 78 years old! Time to Thin the heard, God knows, when you pass away who does what with your collections. Sold everything!! I could just imagine that my family wouldn't want to deal with it!!!! Took the funds and bought a brand new Corvette (2023)!!

Phew! Really glad you're keeping the F-bass, that thing is gorgeous. Was really hoping you were selling all your basses to buy a Wal tho ;)

@janekgwizdala

Жыл бұрын

hahaha. People are so crazy about me getting a Wal. I've had several emails and comments about just that. Couldn't be further from the truth. I really am trying to get rid of stuff, not just make room for more gear.

@bongosock

Жыл бұрын

@@janekgwizdala I don't want excuses: I WANT THE WAL!! ;)

Waiting for you in Argentina!!!

Hi Janek!! I'm glad to hear that you are flying down to Argentina! in wich studio are you going to record your new album? (Panda, Ion, MC records, etc). Cheers from Argentina!

@janekgwizdala

Жыл бұрын

I'm not announcing the studio until after the sessions are over. Just for privacy reasons. But I'm really excited to be making my next album there in your city, and can't wait to spend time playing and hanging out there around the sessions.

I hear ya

These days I think you need a few basses just to cover different eras. E.g. a shorter scale bass with flats, a classic fender style bass and a more modern five string. I never expected to love 35" scale modern Yamaha basses so much. You still need something with flats though.

I had too many guitars at one point. I probably still do right now, but I'm mainly a guitar player and had 3 basses a couple years ago. I don't need 3 basses, I just need one, and that's my Squier VM 70's Jazz bass, the all natural finished one. I got it like 10 years ago and I could play it for the rest of my life. It was love at first sight. So now I have my one bass, three 6 string electrics, an 8 string, and a couple acoustics that basically just live in their cases cuz I'm not really an acoustic guy. This is enough for me. Every time I think about getting another guitar, I have to bring myself back down to reality. 😂

Go!

In case you ever have sellers regret the Acinonyx short scale bass from Nordstrand audio is a relatively new affordable bass modeled after the Goya Panther and it seems to be popular. If you were spending all your time in the studio for other people's recordings which covered a wide variety of genres than perhaps having bigger arsenal might be helpful. Sometimes they simply demand a specific brand/model for the recording and the answer has to be yes. I always thought that with the right set of strings, EQ, amp type/settings a good professional bass player can probably make almost any bass sound really good and work for a recording. I would also tend to believe that the bass you can make sound the best is the one you spend all your time playing, especially if there are technical challenges on the bass parts.

@janekgwizdala

Жыл бұрын

Couldn't agree more on all those points. I did love the Acinonyx when I tried it a few years ago, and it's a nice option to have if I ever wanted that sound again.

I just started learnin to bass not to long ago. I got a used spector starter bass at a good price. It is a passive hh with a slight electric buzz and war wounds but it plays easy and is perfect to learn on. guitar center had a beautiful ocean turquoise passive p bass I almost bought for my first bass that was so super sweet. I can see what you mean though. I am not even beginner good and I already was looking at more basses. If I keep playing bass I may need to build an addition for my addiction!

@garywall1572

6 ай бұрын

Oh yes addiction is the right word will the next bass I buy make me sound better, I should spend more time practicing and less time trawling e bay for basses😂😂

I can't watch so saving for later but see you holding a P??? Definitely need to watch, this is gonna be good one.

Jim O'Rourke is a Chicago legend. Gastr del Sol, Sonic Youth...his Drag City releases are all legendary.

Hi, just a though, I've just found your videos,( having been dog waking with your lovely friend Maisie here in UK )and I'm enjoying them very much as I've just started learning bass guitar im 70yrs old acting like im 40😅 young at heart. Listening to you now about your basses it seems most guitarists own more than one guitar. So here's a question why don't concert pianists own a selection of pianos? 😊 i think it Mark Knoppfler who said you dont need lots of guitars just one you can play well, I have 2 keyboards 2 accoustic guitars 1 electric guitar and 4 basses . I love my basses and like you love the sound and feel of the nylon flatwounds, I have 2 with nylon flat wounds 1 with metal flat wounds and 1 with round wounds none of them sound the same. So I suppose like you are saying it has to space ? Unless of course you happened to be Liberace 😂 love the videos and really enjoy the chats. Many thanks Gary.

Wow, I decided to do this last year. I went from 16 basses to 6 as of now. And considering selling one more. I’m mainly a fretless player and deciding on keeping the fretted jazz or Pbass.

@wren23_bass-synths

Жыл бұрын

@@hillblocksview yeah, I have my 4 main fretless ones. It’s hard deciding on those 2. I’m almost to the point of just keeping both. Some days the Pbass fits well and other days the Jazz.

All good choices 👍🏻. No fretless instrument though?

I'm not Janek Gwizdala by any means, but I've thinned to just 3 basses with that same focus. I really appreciate your honesty on every video.

Hey Janek! What happened to the Zakrzewski, Mayones, Ibanez basses, etc.? Haven’t seen those in ages!

Always prefer a smaller group of instruments to focus on and play. Highest quality and feel possible to cover most styles. Can't have too much rig but never liked oodles of unplayed basses sitting around.

There is a 1960 Goya Panther W3 bass for sale at guitar center for $1,250 right now.

I’ve been playing the same Chapman Stick since 1999 when I first got it. My full time gig since 2007. I hate having instruments around that aren’t being played. An unplayed instrument is just furniture.

I think I missed the video where you spoke about your session with Steve Smith & VII!? 😅

Wow. The MusicMaster was my first Bass. I got it Christmas 1975 when I was 13. My mom paid $100 for it and the case was $15.

@janekgwizdala

Жыл бұрын

That's amazing! They definitely were the "starter" bass back then. It's incredible how well the instrument has held up over 50 years to be a serious pro option.

You are finally understanding, i m a good jazz player, but i want like you to get rid of everything. Became a minimalist and still great musician on the road,. Please all consider of getting rid of uneeded, make a different world 😊

I look for Fender Musicmaster basses at least once a month just based on your KZread channel. Still want one.

@janekgwizdala

Жыл бұрын

Mine is still available for sale at my website: janekgwizdala.com/store/p/1973-fender-musicmaster-bass-please-read-description-for-shippingpickup-options-before-purchase

I thought, Lee Sklar did not play a lot of instruments. He used his Frankenstein (until today) and his Peace-Jazz in the old days, then the Dingwall and the Star Bass from Warwick. Not a lot. I never heard hin talking about lots of Basses.

@janekgwizdala

Жыл бұрын

Maybe he doesn't do it on a regular basis, but I've definitely heard him talking about going to the studio back in the day with many instruments for certain sessions.

@BassTheGroove

Жыл бұрын

@@janekgwizdala ok, I didn't talk to him :-)

@schwoebel

Жыл бұрын

Lee says he used the same bass on about 85% of his recordings - that should be a lot. 🙂 I also think that he can offer options "in case of need", but I also seem to remember him saying that he has never owned many basses at once. One source: kzread.info/dash/bejne/laB7xc6qgbWdkto.html about 1:10.

Yep, GAS is a serious problem for many of us. Currently have 15 guitars. F**king ridiculous! Annoyingly, one of the best playing instruments I have is almost the cheapest! lol

I remember seeing Abraham Laboriel play a Goya bass back in the day

@janekgwizdala

Жыл бұрын

Absolutely! He was really known for playing that instrument. I would love to talk to him about it one day.

Did you ever get the Echoplex preamp pedal to try? i remember you talking about it ad how so many people rated it. i discovered that the MXR booster mini pedal has the same circuit and is a lot smaller, plus they added a tone knob.... i am trying it out on the board with guitar, testing it with zero boost it definitely does something, but it's super subtle... for guitar i use an MXR compresser (set very subtle) always on and the Boost seems to do its colouring better when the compressor is off, it's almost like the effect i get from the compressor could be replaced by the booster.... only tried it for an hour or so am still unsure if i 'need' it or not

@janekgwizdala

Жыл бұрын

I haven't tried the Echoplex pedal yet. I'm still using the Xotic EP Booster that has the same pre amp circuit in it.

@DVDFRMN

Жыл бұрын

@@janekgwizdala Interesting that it has the same circuit also. same size i guess. So clearly you think it is worth having on the board for your Bass. i will have to try it on Bass also, do you keep it on always?

@DVDFRMN

Жыл бұрын

@@janekgwizdala i'm having a 'pedal studio' day. so many great episodes

@janekgwizdala

Жыл бұрын

@@DVDFRMN appreciate you checking out the videos! Looking forward to making some more that feature interviews with the builders themselves soon!

@janekgwizdala

Жыл бұрын

@@DVDFRMN always on.

To me being lefthanded has always been a great cure for GAS. I have been using the same two bass for more than 10 years now and I’m fine with it. From time to time I think I might want to get a fretless, but then I let it go because all my favorite bassist play fretless and I’m worried that I might try to copy/emulate them too much.

@janekgwizdala

Жыл бұрын

That's where I'm going wrong! I should just play lefty from now on, and I'll never have to worry about the collection growing again. 🤣

@richardpennington5445

Жыл бұрын

I’m a lefty too and have been playing for 42 years and only owned 4 basses (and still own 3 of them).

congrats for being with steve smith / vital information 🎉

if someone buys one of these basses ...I hope you don't forget to save a few bucks to have a proper set up :D How do you play with the action so high?

If you are a pro you need pro instrument and spare for it. It's enough for most things. From 60's or 70's almost nothing changes when it comes to bass. With today technology you need probably 5-6 instruments. P-Bass, J-Bass, 5/6/7/8/whatever string bass, fretless, double bass and/or synth bass ("or" cause you can imitate it with bass instead keyboard). What more you need? You can make all the sounds with those 5-6 elements.

@TenFalconsMusic

Жыл бұрын

...and a cheap (but functional) bass for those "I'm not sure I'll make it out alive" moments.

Does anyone know what that studio light is?

Well time to start saving to buy a legit "gwiz" bass 🤯🤯

Your Fbass deserves a 10mins video 🤙🏾

@janekgwizdala

Жыл бұрын

It's a great instrument. I'm playing it in quite a few videos, but I will make a dedicated video about it at some point.

Im going through the same thing. Had so many basses just for show. I only kept A 57 reissue jap P bass. (my fave) A 2007 highway one jazz bass ( necks on these things are great) and a Mustang JMJ. Im considering getting a a hollow and ill have all I ever need.

Dear Janek, Could you enable Spanish subtitles for your videos? Thank you so much.

now everyone is gonna sell all their bases - thx Janek xD

Me: Right on! Thin it out. Get to playing. Also me: So what’s he putting up?!

I am gibson from Kenya I am trying to learn the bass but not equped with one, I really would like to have one but the cost 😔. I came across this video and got some exitment, don't know if you are still desposing the basses which you don't need? Please consider this.

@janekgwizdala

4 ай бұрын

that's not quite what this video was saying... I'm getting rid of basses, but I'm selling them. Not shipping them all over the world for free.

Hi MrJ. I’ll buy one

@janekgwizdala

4 ай бұрын

There's one left... janekgwizdala.com/store/p/fjr5v0q0momv6tg1awtui3mrjc3mtx

Mate we get it, Wal's ain't cheap

@janekgwizdala

Жыл бұрын

Still not getting a Wal... I know I mentioned it way back, but from that one comment has come this belief that all roads lead to a Wal now. 🤷‍♂

No fretless ?

I would say that is a great idea. Really, you need a fretless a 4 string and perhaps a 5 or 6 string, if you're a studio player.

God I want that musicmaster

@janekgwizdala

Жыл бұрын

It is still just about available as of the writing of this post. But it has so far been the bass with the most shipping enquiries. Who knew?

I’m waiting for the day that Mattisson becomes available to order 🥵

@janekgwizdala

Жыл бұрын

I'm not sure I'm going back to the same "Signature" situation that we were trying to achieve before. There were too many things that didn't line up, and I honestly don't want to be in that situation again with signature instruments. Some things would have to change drastically to make it worthwhile for me to consider it again. But Ander's instruments are incredible. Regardless of the business side of things, there's no denying they are world-class instruments, and I have a very strong connection with this original prototype that he built me. I'm hoping to reconnect with him and just get a finished version of the instrument to see if it's as close to the one I have now, but with all the rough edges smoothed out.

The bass I was playing that sounded great yesterday, sounds like crap today, so I move to another one that sounds great today but not two days ago...Whats with that?

@janekgwizdala

Жыл бұрын

Unless there is something seriously wrong with the setup of the basses, it's more than likely the intent with which you're playing. That was one of the biggest lessons I learned, thankfully quite early on, as I was experiencing the exact same thing. I find it's beneficial to spend time with one instrument for a while, and really get a sense of what you need to do to maintain your fundamentals. That could be getting into a more rigid practice routine for a short while to give yourself some discipline. I know that's often the case for me if I'm struggling with something. It's most likely not the actual thing I'm struggling with, but more often than not something that needs me to zoom out and look at the bigger picture.

@brianallen5460

Жыл бұрын

@@janekgwizdala No nothing wrong with the set up. It's just funny how your ears can hear things differently from one day to the next...

I think I play it more is cos it has 24 frets and a flat fretboard. Necks with a camber, and less frets...feels uncomfortable.

My first "real" bass was a Fender Musicmaster, no idea what happened to it. I have been lucky in that I learned early on to play with my thumb in the middle of the back of the neck and not "strangle" the neck as so many do. As such I am comfortable with any neck shape, 4, 5 or 6 string and have never developed a preference for any spec. Not a studio guy so I don't need a big bag of sounds but I am a firm believer that the majority of a players sound comes from them, regardless of gear. The fact that you had moments with cheap basses says it all. To paraphrase Frank Zappa - Shut up and play your bass!

How do you travel with that bass...

@TenFalconsMusic

Жыл бұрын

I'm guessing he has an extremely good case and buys an extra plane ticket just for the bass.

@janekgwizdala

Жыл бұрын

I put it in a gig bag that goes inside a flight case, and then check it in just like I do my luggage.

Could never be satisfied with just one bass. Not that I need all the ones I have (16 at last count), but I want them. Like my guns, they are an investment in my hobby of collecting things of interest to me. I don't make a living with either, neither do I barter, sell, or trade them, but I enjoy them both immensely.

I wish i just had A bass i e been playing for 25 years and covid forced me to sell everything unfortunately I haven't gotten back to a spot were id like to be financially i had to realize my family was more important