I like the crayon analogy, but I think it doesn't really cover the whole story.
If some basses are the crayons, some are feltmarkers, some are pencils, etc.
My basses all have something in common. But they're not all the same.
Most of them are mahogany. But some are short scale, some are long scale.
Some are solid, some are hollow. Some are bolt on, some are set neck.
I have one bass that is maple with a long scale set neck. But it has LO-Z Gibson pickups and a Gibson type three point bridge. Which makes it "family" of some other basses I have.
If you stick with the crayon analogy, you can make a beautiful drawing with ton-sur-ton colours.