anyone playing bass guitar since '51?

dunamis · #1 10-15-2006, 01:13 PM

Bass Guitar's only 55 years old and TB is the world's largest community of bass players.

This leaves me wondering if anyone on the boards started playing BG in the "The Beginning" (ie: 1951-- when Leo said "let there be low end" and, behold, there was low end!).

So c'mon-- don't be shy about admitting your age! Who comes closest?

brake · #2 10-15-2006, 01:31 PM

I think most of the guys that have been playing electric bass that long started on URB.

dunamis · #3 10-15-2006, 03:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brake

I think most of the guys that have been playing electric bass that long started on URB.

Yep! Probably so.

dunamis · #4 10-16-2006, 03:25 PM

Well, I guess there isn't anyone on here that goes back that far on BG (at least not anyone who's reading the "Bassists" section of the forum anyway!).

Who goes back farthest then?

I'll start... I started on BG in 1975.

dunamis · #5 10-16-2006, 10:52 PM

Bueller...

Bueller...

Bueller...

nysbob · #6 10-17-2006, 10:34 AM

'70 for me.

Baryonyx · #7 10-17-2006, 04:20 PM

I started after 2000AD, so I'm certainly not gonna win this one!

VERS · #8 10-28-2006, 12:40 AM

I started in 2006

62bass · #9 10-29-2006, 02:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dunamis

Well, I guess there isn't anyone on here that goes back that far on BG (at least not anyone who's reading the "Bassists" section of the forum anyway!).

Who goes back farthest then?

I'll start... I started on BG in 1975.

I think that most guys that started that early would have trouble seeing the print on these forums.

Seriously, I started in 1961, on a Danelectro bass. And I can still read this print without glasses.

pointbass · #10 10-29-2006, 12:30 PM

Started on DB at age 10 in 1961, first EB at age 12, a 1963 Fender P played through a Sano accordian amp (20 watts!!).

But yeah, most guys actively playing in 1951 were likely playing DB .....

dunamis · #11 10-30-2006, 01:44 PM

Looks like '62Bass' is the winner (in this case, a euphemism for 'oldest') so far, with pointbass a close second.

You guys both have my respect. I was *born* in '61, started on BG in '75 when I was 14, quit playing when I was about 25, and started again in 2003 at the ripe old age of 42.

I wish I hadn't given it up when I did-- I might not be such a hack now!

Any others out there who started on BG even earlier? Perhaps a late 50's guy?

62bass · #12 10-30-2006, 04:30 PM

I win for age so far I guess. I was born in 1940. My first instrument was steel guitar at age 9 or 10. My first "bass" amp was a 12 watt Gibson guitar amp.

lawsonman · #13 10-30-2006, 06:11 PM

Man, you got me by a year. I started playing in 62 on a old lavender colored Hagstrom.It was junk.In 65 my parents bought me a 64 Jazz that I played until 69 when I bought a Gibson EB-1. I'd give anything to have both those back

62bass · #14 10-30-2006, 08:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lawsonman

Man, you got me by a year. I started playing in 62 on a old lavender colored Hagstrom.It was junk.In 65 my parents bought me a 64 Jazz that I played until 69 when I bought a Gibson EB-1. I'd give anything to have both those back

Hagstrom. I never saw any of them around back then. My first bass in 61 was a Danelectro Longhorn. I got it for $90 new in Seattle. A year later I got a shiny, new Precision. After the little Gibson amp, an electronics geek friend of mine built me a 40 watt tube amplifier with a Bassman style preamp. That wasn't bad for what it was. Speakers were always a problem. I kept blowing them up. With 40 watts!

lawsonman · #15 10-31-2006, 04:56 PM

I actually had 2 hagstroms.My second one was a hollowbody which had a pretty nice sound.I had a Fender Bassman with 2 12's if I remember right.I use to blow a speaker about every other gig.

RareBear · #16 10-31-2006, 05:17 PM

I was still swimmin' around in my dad's nut sack in '51. I'm a child of '55 and picked up the bass in '77.

ElMon · #17 10-31-2006, 05:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RareBear

I was still swimmin' around in my dad's nut sack in '51. I'm a child of '55 and picked up the bass in '77.

Third time I've almost choked on my own spittle this week because of TB!!!! LOL!!!!

62bass · #18 10-31-2006, 07:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lawsonman

I actually had 2 hagstroms.My second one was a hollowbody which had a pretty nice sound.I had a Fender Bassman with 2 12's if I remember right.I use to blow a speaker about every other gig.

Yes, I blew a lot of those Bassman speakers too. Terrible amp for bass. It wasn' until JBLs came out that I managed to get a decent sound with enough volume. And I even blew JBLs, just not as easy.

I never saw Hagstroms then but I was in Western Canada. Probably they weren't imported there then. There were some Kay electrics and Danelectro for a while. And Gibson and Fender.

202dy · #19 10-31-2006, 09:02 PM

August 1969. My best friend tells me that he is putting a band together. Since I played the organ for a couple of years I volunteered to play keys. He said they had a keyboard player. So I volunteered to learn the drums. He said they already had a drummer. So I asked what was left. He said, "Bass". The picture that flashed into my mind was an upright. He said no, that it should be an electric bass. The new picture in my mind was the same with an extension cord coming out of the lower bout. I figured that it plugged into the wall socket. Then he showed me some pictures. He had (still has) catalogs from Fender, Gibson, Gretsch, EKO, Danelectro, Coral, and others from '67 to '69. When I saw the Jazz Bass in the '69 Fender catalog I was intrigued.

My first bass was a Sekova. My folks bought it for my birthday on the condition that I take lessons. Big neck, short scale, two big pickups, I took it apart the first week. Stopped when I removed the pup covers and saw the coils of wire. But I was hooked. My second bass was a Guild JS II. I'd like to find both of those guitars again. I acquired my first Jazz Bass in '74. I was playing in a band and one of the guitar players didn't like the sound of the Guild humbuckers. He lent me his beat up '66. I liked it so much I bought it for $175.00. It's the only thing I own that's not for sale.

I've had a few clients who started playing bass guitar in the early fifties. All of them came over from the upright. Unfortunately some of them have passed away in the last couple of years. Our new-fangled instrument has come of age.

dunamis · #20 11-01-2006, 05:55 AM

My first amp was a Fender 'Super Bassman' 100. It had a silverface plate with blue letters, black tolex, 2x15 cab.

Not sure of the date, since I bought it used from ad in the newspaper. As I recall, the seller was getting married and was selling gear! I figure it must have been a made between '68 and '72?

Fender must have figured out the speaker problems by then since I played that amp on 10 quite a bit and never did blow a speaker.

I sold the amp sometime in the early 90's for $300.