I picked up my paycheck today for X dollars. And the Warwick bass guitar I did have in mind was about X dollars too. Oh, the temptation!

I packed up my basses and that old effects rack of mine last night, but it was getting too late to go to the music store. I packed Schwartz (the Ibenez fretless), and the white Jackson CA5 5-string. Then I packed up Big Red, my first bass.

Do I really want to sell my first bass though? That's the dilemna I kept dwelling on. There was really only one thing holding me back: the nostalgic value. Actually, it's not my very first bass. The first one I played was my dad's. Then he got me my own one year. So it is MY first bass. We looked at different ones in the store that day, and while I was willing to settle for something under $200, this is the one he bought me. It was the best out of the 3 I was thinking of buying. I played this though most of my bass lessons from my first instructor, and all of them from my second instructor. I played this bass in jazz ensemble in highschool and college. I played my very first show with this bass, plus most of the shows that followed, including all the ones with my last band. It's really just a descent Fender copy. Red body, black pickguard, one passive pickup, one volume knob, one tone knob, 4 strings. I added a hipshot D-tuner and a little window decal of my fraternity letters, but other than that it's remained pretty unchanged.

But I rarely play it these days. I don't even play every day any more, and when I do, it's invariably one of my other basses. So should I trade it in? Well, this is how I finally rationalized my decision: If I was to trade it in, how much would I actually get for it? $100? Maybe $200 tops? Is such a comparatively low amount worth trading it? Nope! So I'm keeping it. And maybe with all the fretlesses and 5-strings I'll have, it might be good to have a good ol' fretted 4-string around. Though what I really need right now is a full field day to just drive around guitar stores. If I'm going to spend over $1000 on an instrument, I might not want to limit my choices to what 3 local stores have in inventory.