Can you remember the VERY FIRST bass you ever played?

moe.moe

moe.moe

Inactive
Jun 22, 2008
1,940
606
Chicago South Suburbs
#1
Hey brothers and sisters...
Just thought for the fun of it if you can remember or even STILL own your VERY FIRST bass that you ever played and your experience with it.....


I started out at youth group one night at church. I played a Peavey T-40 along with a beat to heck Fender bassman amp that was as big as a Sub-Zero refrigerator. That Peavey must have weighed about 80 pounds that evening ! ! ! It felt like I was trying to play a giant Sequoia!
The guitar player didn't show that evening and the bass player switched over to guitar to fill in which left no bass player.... he asked me if I could play bass for the evening. (I was singing that night, and had played very little and I mean VERY LITTLE acoustic guitar....)

I had NEVER, ever played bass before and was a bit nervous.... needless to say I wrecked most if NOT ALL of the worship tunes that evening, but love prevailed that evening and no one criticized my efforts, but rather on the contrary, they were ALL encouraging!
Ever since that night the "bass bug" bit me, I've been on an amazing "bass" journey and it's been a gas.... Not to mention, I have also picked up G.A.S. along the way unfortunately....

And now I'm here on TalkBass.. an awesome forum and a well of inspiration, instruction, and encouragment! :hyper:

Thanks all ! :)


peace!


moe.
 
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#2
Still got it with me, though i don't use it for gigs anymore.
Some random/unknown-brand/cheap Jazz Bass.
And i love it.

My first professional gig ever (7 years ago):
dsc02451wj.jpg
 
#3
A blue very late 90s ibanez g something (not sure if they had gsr then) entry level bass with a precision pickup. I don't think I ever changed the strings even though i played it for a few years. In fact I remember when i asked my bass teacher if i should change strings and he asked to see my bass. The look on his face when he tried to play it was hilarious. The neck was horribly bowed which made the tension and action very high, but i never played another bass my parents just got me the cheapest one for christmas, so i didn't realize it. This along with me playing close to the bridge (allowed me to cut through more with a cheap little combo amp when playing with others) led me to develop very strong hands. Amazingly enough i never had problems with intonation.

I later upgraded to a better used mahogany soundgear ibanez with active electronics and the previous owner did a nice setup on it with very low action. Bass playing got easier after that. I could play fast now lol.
 
#4
My dad's 1976 Jazz Bass - I played it for a few years before getting my own first bass, a Carlo Robelli 5-String for Christmas. The Jazz was modified with a Dimarzio Humbucker instead of the normal neck pickup, and they added two switches. It was a very amateur mod-job, and I tried to restore it back with my dad. It only went so far.
 
#6
chilliwilli said:
A blue very late 90s ibanez g something (not sure if they had gsr then) entry level bass with a precision pickup. I don't think I ever changed the strings even though i played it for a few years. In fact I remember when i asked my bass teacher if i should change strings and he asked to see my bass. The look on his face when he tried to play it was hilarious. The neck was horribly bowed which made the tension and action very high, but i never played another bass my parents just got me the cheapest one for christmas, so i didn't realize it. This along with me playing close to the bridge (allowed me to cut through more with a cheap little combo amp when playing with others) led me to develop very strong hands. Amazingly enough i never had problems with intonation.

I upgraded to a better used mahogany soundgear ibanez with active electronics and the previous owner did a nice setup on it with very low action. Bass playing got easier after that lol.
Click to expand...


Hey Chilli...

That's CLASSIC ! ! ! Totally sounds like a scene that should have been in the movie "The Blues Brothers"... !

Thanks for the post !

peace !
 
#7
fender precision deluxe 3TSB, MIM.

friend of mine switched from clarinette to bass-guitar, bought this beauty and introduced me to it. bought my first own bass few weeks later.

never came across another p-bass that felt that comfortable.
 
#8
A custom Tobias 5 stringer..don't know what the model was. Back when the Air Force sent us to Germany, I must've been 10 or 11. Our choir director at church was also the bass player, and he mentioned that I should learn to play the bass (I was playing drums at the time.) He showed me my first bass run, one I still use today lol! I didn't actually start playing bass until 9 years later, after I'd graduated from high school. My dad decided he was going to "learn" and bought an old Ibanez TR (JR?) 4 string. It's what I practiced on until I bought my first Squier MB-5 lol....
 
#11
I started on an URB ... my parents couldn't afford to purchase me one after we moved away from the school district that had Orchestra. I got a red Rogue and a gorilla guitar amp. I played unplugged most of the time.

I gave that bass to my friends kid... We were moving and my friends were helping me their kid was present. He sat and plucked on the thing on the back porch most of the morning. I heard him ask his parents if they would buy a bass. He wouldn't give up. He even said he would sell his guitar... after i heard that... i said... take it home it's yours...

Last time i went to visit he had his buddies on the room and they were jammin out on the guitar and bass :D

still wish i had the bass though... he wouldn't sell it back to me last time I offered him a hundred bucks for it. he said 300 wouldn't be enough. :(

at least it's being played
 
#12
Yes it was my black Ibanez RB850 i think I bought it in '86? I t was shortly after Rush's Big Money video came out.At the time I thought it looked like Geddy's Wal:smug:. I still have it but I had it de-fretted years ago and really don't play it very often.
Brent
 
#13
It was a black Synsonic (spelling?) 3/4 size from sears. About the size of a guitar and I had no clue what I was doing. First bass when I actually had a small idea of what i was doing. A MIM Fender Jazz, Midnight Blue (Purple)
 
#14
A family friend gave me a 12 string acoustic, and a bass amp.
Random.

Then he sold me/my parents a red Kay EB-3 copy for 25 pounds sterling.

Action like a longbow, weak p'ups, but I loved it.
I was 13.
 
#15
Yep. It was a loaner, actually 2. One was a Peavy T40 natural finish boat anchor. Actually liked it but you all know about the weight. The other was an old hofner like maccas. I can't recall if it was really hofner , probably a knock off but the neck was really twisted and unplayabl (even though I tried), and even the hollow body was warped. I'm sure just like a girlfriend we all remember our first.
 
#16
The first bass I ever played was in 1975. Don't have a clue what kind of bass it was, but to the best of my recollection I think it was a tele knockoff. It was an incredibly sad experience for me...

I had been playing guitar for a few months, was actually pretty good for the amount of time I had invested, and was putting together my first band. One of my friends had a bass. Can't say he could actually play it, but he had it, so he was in. First night we attempted playing together he left it in my house. I couldn't wait to get my hands on it.

I remember clearly how HUGE the strings felt, and how badly I wanted to make that instrument sing. Only problem was the neck was horribly bowed, and the strings were about an inch and a half off the neck. I knew a little about adjusting bridges, and the saddles on this were already flat against the body. Without the internet this back in 75 wasn't a simple thing to research. I knew nothing about truss rods. To make a long story short, I figured this is what a bass was meant to be like, and regardless, I was determined to learn some kiss songs. Bla, bla, bla... it was impossible. I couldn't play this thing, and as magical as it seemed the bass was, I went back to the guitar which I was comfortable with. For 10 years. I am certain that I was a bass player from day one.

Still wanting back then to play bass I somehow talked my parents into buying me a telestar. While it was much better than the first bass I played, it too had horrible, horrible action... and sounded like crap too. My thinking at that time was that you either had a fortune to buy a fender ($400 at the time?) or you had a crap bass. I didn't have that kind of money, and if I did it was going to a guitar for sure.

If the internet was around back then I'm 99.9% certain I would have learned how to adjust the necks, or at least been led to basses that were playable. Bass would have been my one and only love. I guess I can't really complain cuz I can play guitar fairly well and I guess that makes me a more rounded musician. Unbelievable the doors the internet has opened, that we all now take for granted. The only sources for knowlege back then were books and magazines. And good luck finding the specific info you were looking for. Good luck even finding out what bands played what. There weren't even VCRs back then. If you wanted to see your favorite band play you had to either go to their concert, or pray that they'd be on in concert or the midnight special. And that you'd be home to see it. A subscription to TV guide was essential.
 
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#17
When I took a guitar class in junior high, the teacher would reward good progress with bass access on Fridays. The bass in question had no name on the headstock, but appeared to be a Japanese short scale from the 60s or 70s. Body shape was somewhat Jaguarish, color was dirty gold, strings were ancient flats, pickups were large soapbars, and the action was about 3/4" above the fretboard. 13 year-old me thought it was the most awesome thing in the world.
 
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