First Bass Rig

CTC564 · #1 10-10-2011, 02:15 PM

Back in the early to mid 80's my first rig was a Sunn Concert amp and 2 Sunn 1x15 cabs that had the speakers mounted diagonally inside the cabinet...

What was your first rig?

will33 · #2 10-10-2011, 02:21 PM

A squier P-bass and a Fender Sidekick amp. Back then that was a 115 combo at about 50 watts or so. I was 13, the band consisted of me, mom and dad. My ratio of money spent on gear vs. money earned playing said gear hasn't been nearly as high since.

CTC564 · #3 10-10-2011, 02:30 PM

Wow...great point!!! Now, I gotta come up with an approximate $$$ I spent on gear vs earned playing said gear....

Btw, not a bad rig at 13

I was playing a Sekovia Les Paul copy into a HEATHKIT (DIY electronics amp kit) that my dad built me claiming "it was just as good as those OTHER amps" :-)

RickenBoogie · #4 10-10-2011, 02:31 PM

I built my own using mom's stereo phonograph. toobz baby. sounded awful, but it worked. My first "real" amp was a Peavey.

sanderic · #5 10-10-2011, 02:36 PM

I had a Gibson EB-1 bass and an early 60's Ampeg B15N.

will33 · #6 10-10-2011, 03:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CTC564

Wow...great point!!! Now, I gotta come up with an approximate $$$ I spent on gear vs earned playing said gear....

Btw, not a bad rig at 13

I was playing a Sekovia Les Paul copy into a HEATHKIT (DIY electronics amp kit) that my dad built me claiming "it was just as good as those OTHER amps" :-)

For me that would be circa 1984-85ish. Rocked many a VFW hall with old country and oldtime german polka's, waltzes, and the occasional schottische.

CTC564 · #7 10-10-2011, 04:05 PM

Not bad at all...I didn't start playing out until I was in my early 20's and I blew more 15's than you could shake a stick at with that Sunn Concert...EV, JBL, Gauss...didn't matter, that amp ATE speakers (and no one ever figured out why)

Mid to late 80's I went to an SWR SM-400 with a 4x10 Goliath and a 1x18 Big Ben...

And luckily, I did end up making more $$$ than I spent on gear...but not by much :-D

soulman969 · #8 10-10-2011, 04:10 PM

First rig ever was a Dano Single Cutaway Bass and a Gibson/Kalamazoo Bass amp. First professional rig was a Fender Bassman with JBL's. coupled with a 66 Jazz Bass.

Mojo-Man · #9 10-10-2011, 05:30 PM

My first practice amp was a used 1966 B15N.

First big rig, was an Ampeg V4B / V6B 2x15 cab.

Solboy · #10 10-10-2011, 05:36 PM

My first rig was a Gilbert Basslines jazzbass copy with a broken G string tuner( so it only had 3 strings) & a Peavey TNT 100 w/ Black Widow that my dad bought for himself in 1975. The amp just went out about 4 yrs ago

dhsierra1 · #11 10-10-2011, 05:50 PM

a cheap short scale J Bass copy (Lero?) that I sank a mudbucker into the neck position and had the original pup rewound (by Dan Torres!) and positioned into the bridge position.

That was fed into a Standel preamp head going into two 2-15 cabs w/the power amps built into the backs. Maybe 100 watts at the most for each. Plenty loud.

The power amps eventually went up in smoke so went w/a used Peavey head but I can't recall the model.

Earned all the money that went into those and frankensteined them myself. Nearly 40 years later still doing the same thing

will33 · #12 10-10-2011, 06:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CTC564

Wow...great point!!! Now, I gotta come up with an approximate $$$ I spent on gear vs earned playing said gear....

Btw, not a bad rig at 13

I was playing a Sekovia Les Paul copy into a HEATHKIT (DIY electronics amp kit) that my dad built me claiming "it was just as good as those OTHER amps" :-)

Wierd thing is, back then, my going pay was about $50 a night plus some comped soft drinks, burgers/fries, etc. Going rate for a typical bar band in typical smalltown, USA is still about $50 a man plus maybe getting a few drinks comped. The difference? A dollar then could get you a helluva lot more than a dollar does now. It's not that the bands are worth more, they're not, the dollar is worth less, and well on it's way to becoming worthless.

Down & Outman · #13 10-10-2011, 06:26 PM

Another 70's child. First amp was a Sunn 200s and a Sunn 2-15 cab with JBL D-140's. Had a Univox black violin bass that was horribly neck heavy.

Later on got a Marshall Lead 100. then upgraded the speakers. First to Cervin Vega (junk, blew them out) and then to JBL K-145's. Later on, after too many beer spills in the Marshall, got a Sunn Colesium 880.

I now have a Yamaha B-100III (with parametric eq's) running through a JBL K-140. Got about $300 invested in my rig. Play for free at church, but I enjoy it.

**peledog** · #14 10-10-2011, 06:46 PM

I had the Peavey Basic 60

Session1969 · #15 10-10-2011, 07:03 PM

Aria P-Bass and a Randall 175 watt 15" combo around 1983-84

James Hart · #16 10-10-2011, 07:56 PM

Early 70s Ampeg B15N... and a Sears Christmas catalog Harmony short scale (that my Grandfather rescued from the trash and repaired)... hated both.

Replaced the bass with an Ibanez Destroyer and the amp with a Carvin PB300 and EV12L loaded Kustom 4x12.

paganjack · #17 10-10-2011, 08:12 PM

700rb-ii and a neo 112!

(after a stint with a behringer something or other)

bobba66 · #18 10-10-2011, 08:21 PM

Sunn Beta head with Peavy 2-15 cab. Had a '76 Fender Precision with Jbass p/u and Badass bridge. Early 80's.

fishstix · #19 10-10-2011, 08:24 PM

I was fortunate in landing a paying gig with my then girl friend's, now wife, dad's wedding band before I had a bass rig. I had a Sound Gear SR800 but no amp. With a paying gig already lined up I bought a Peavy Mark IV and a Hartke 410. I made a bunch of money with that rig before moving on.

fourfinger · #20 10-10-2011, 08:29 PM

Likewise, early 80's. Traynor 1x15 combo was my first amp, followed by a Guild Thunderbird amp, but in those days I played as much guitar as bass. When I got serious about bass I got a Peavey Mark IV head and 1820 cabinet. No fond memories about the bass tone of any of the above.