Would it be sensible or pretentious? You have solid reasons for leaving your other basses at home, and you’re not claiming to be anything other than being interested in playing a bit.
My analysis concludes: not pretentious!
I took my bass on a trip to see my uncle and nobody even noticed me playing in the hotel. I mean, as long as you don’t bring your 500 watt rig, it should be fine. I had a 5W amp.
This Easter, I didn’t play for three days and it felt like ages when I got back to it, although I didn’t miss it for a second on the trip.
We went to the Maldives on honeymoon 20 years ago and two weeks was a long time on a fairly isolated island. I used to scuba dive back in the day but I haven’t been down in a long time so doubt I’ll go this time.
I can only spend so long sat in the sun, swimming or reading a book before I get bored. They have a good gym on this particular island but one and a half hours/day is more than enough, so taking a bass seems like a great idea.
Sorry to be late to the party, but let me add my 2 cents worth. Being an extensive traveler for the last 25 years, over those years I tried to learn/play the bass guitar. Every time I would leave for a trip, I didn’t have a bass to practice with and came back home practically having to re-learn everything I knew before. Fast forward… I found B2B and this forum and through the knowledgeable folks here, I found out about the TB4P Traveler Bass. It made a world of difference keeping the skills up, so I recommend taking a bass with you. I use the TB4P on short trips (1-3 weeks). I can bring it on the plane and put it in the overhead compartment. I don’t take any of my full scale basses because I’ve seen what baggage handlers do to regular luggage. I feel having a bass with you on trips is well worth it. It’s too bad there’s no lefty version of the TB4P.
Hope this helps.
Closest thing to a travel bass that I can find that’s available in lefty is the Steinberger Spirit XT-2:
It’s less than the TB4P but more than the Cort Action Plus I was initially looking at, but not by so much that cost would be a factor in my choice.
The problem I have is finding a Steinberger to try out; my local dealer is not a stockist and neither do any music stores (relatively) close by. Seems they’re online only. I’m wondering if I’d be better off with the Cort or order the Steinberger online from somewhere with a good returns policy.
I’m not planning on picking one up until August, so no great rush.
I own a Steinberger Spirit XT 1 and though it’s short, it’s a heavy bastard. The good news is they stay in tune easily. The one I like for travel is my Ibanez Mikro.
Hey @pauldavidson335d I’m not a frequent flyer like @JerryP@John_E but there’s probably some kind of limit on the length of the bag that goes in the overhead locker in the plane.
I’m not sure a regular short scale bass would fit? Or even a headless?
As Jerry says the traveller bass fits in the overhead bin.
If it ends up in the cargo hold you might as well buy a cheap mini bass that you don’t care if it gets damaged?
@Barney when I fly I normally travel in horizontal class so a bass could go in the wardrobe if it didn’t fit in my overhead bin. It’s one of the reasons I was thinking of the Cort; it’s not expensive and I understand it’s a lot of bass for the money.
If it does go in the hold and get damaged, I have travel insurance.
There appears to be a few musical instrument shops in the Maldives.
If any of them sell second hand gear maybe you could arrange to either rent one, or buy one with an agreed buy-back price for the end of the holiday.
Otherwise, I like Barneys idea of buying a cheap bass with bolt on neck and just unbolt the neck. It’s only 4 screws. Maybe even a Squier Mini P-Bass (3/4 size).
A used Harley Benton is likely to be cheap enough you could even just leave it in a charity shop rather than carry it home if you were so inclined. Harley Benton B-550LH 2020s Black | Reverb
