First Bass… does anyone remember going there?

[TK4261]

1987 at Alta Loma Music in Southern California. Got a Candy Red Ibanez SR P/J...Cannot remember the model #

 

[five7]

I use to go there, knew the owner as he also was a knife collector. Sold him a rare microtech with his name on it.

 

[mexicanyella]

View attachment 4454685[/QUOTE]

1983 Ibáñez Musician. This was the first one I owned and I still have it. I had joined a band in 7th grade as a singer, but the bass player kept flaking. I used his red no name Precision knock off. And my sister's boyfriend played bass and was keeping an eye out for something nice but affordable for me.

He actually bought this right off and brought it over. Someone had removed the logo and the local shop didn't know what it was so he got it at a good price. He figured he could resell it at a small profit if I didn't like it but I loved it instantly and paid him back over the summer.


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Wow, that brings back a few memories. The bass player in a college buddy’s punk/hardcore band had one of those, in a dark metallic gray. He played it through a Crate B60 combo with a crunched-up Milwaukee’s Best can jammed in back between the top of the speaker enclosure and the bottom of the chassis, to keep the speaker connected firmly seated in the dodgy output jack. That amp spent its life cranked to the moon until he linked up for a Hartke head and 4 x 10 cab.

It was a pretty slick and comfy instrument!

I still play my first bass, a pawnshop 1999-ish Squier Affinity P. It’s been a solid, no-nonsense rock tool, after a setup and a set of chrome flats.

 

[Beej]

@Thebiggestjerk Is it just me, or is nearly every single person in this thread doing this?

 

[Pet Sounds]

This seems so dumb now, but I got my first bass, a non-Hofner Beatle bass copy, in the mid 1970s, and I found it boring to play in my bedroom, so I sold it and didn't play bass again for almost 20 years. I was a rhythm guitarist who liked to strum and sing, and the bass seemed like the dullest thing in the world. I totally didn't get it then.

 

[HardNHeavy]

My first "bass" was this one:

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It was the situation of three guitarists and somebody had to step up!

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Once I found out that trying to play an 18" scale fretless bass and sing at the same time was a little difficult, I got my first real bass!

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the red is a weird looking bass by guild, i like the white one, and love that drumkit too!!

 

[Dropped D]

To your original question (though I appreciate all the responses )...

While living in the Springs, I visited First Bass quite frequently. Always an interesting collection and a very narrow shop, if memory serves. Not far from Wedgles, where I did purchase a few things. Also not far from Caboose Hobbies (always fun to walk through), and then the Blue Bonnet for lunch to appease SWMBO.

As a side note, I did snap a picture of the first bass I ever bought. Started to remember the story surrounding its purchase...until I re-read Thebiggestjerk's original question...

 

[Joe Nerve]

When I was 19 I met a very pretty girl one night in a club. When the club closed she invited me to take a walk on nearby baseball field. She said, "Let's play baseball," and I reluctantly played along. She said, "I'll pitch. You be the batter."

She mimed a pitch, I swung, and she yelled, "You got a hit!!!" I ran to 1st base, and she ran there too. When I stopped, she made out with me, and then said... "You got to first base! Lets see where this goes now."

I'll never forget that .

Das all.

Only been to Denver once, so I can't help any with the store.

 

[Flashback Bass]

@Thebiggestjerk Is it just me, or is nearly every single person in this thread doing this?
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Ohhh, now I get it!

 

[JRA]

i "got to first bass" when i was in my 20s so it's not exactly a childhood memory, but it was nearly 50 years ago, so there's that. i got a fretted ric 4001 fireglo at IRC music in indianapolis and thought i was cool for having an EB (had been playing/learning DB). what i don't remember is how long it took me to really dislike the thing (it was fretted) before i ditched it for a fretless fender.

no pics.

 

[Honkey tonk]

I made my first bass , fretboard had a quarter inch gap between the neck
"Bendy fretboard " the idea sucked just as bad as the execution

 

[Kipp Harrington]

1987 at Alta Loma Music in Southern California. Got a Candy Red Ibanez SR P/J...Cannot remember the model #

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Dude! I worked at Alta Loma Music for a brief time right around the mid to late 80s. I always frequented that store. Hung out there a lot and knew a few of the people who worked there pretty well, including the owner. In fact, my avatar is a pic of me and the band I was in playing at Sam's Place on New Years Eve. Do you remember that bar? Right next to Sal's Pizza.

 

[Altitude]

1stBass was a great shop. The guy was a big Tobias fan. It was around when I first got back to Denver from Austin in 1993.

Was it the same guy who ran GuitarX a couple miles up the road later?

Sadly zero boutique shops that I know of anywhere on the Front Range now.

 

[skortch]

It was on S. Broadway in Denver Colorado. Boutique bass shop…

or did you all think I meant something else?View attachment 4454320

This is a funny thread...

I used to stop by every time I was in the neighborhood. I remember there were a lot of high-end basses and amps packed into a shop that was one or two sizes too small. Great place.

The owner was quite the character. Didn't he eventually move down near S. Lincoln and I-25? Once I got back to bass playing the shop was unfortunately gone, along with most non-GC brick and mortar stores.

 

[TK4261]

Dude! I worked at Alta Loma Music for a brief time right around the mid to late 80s. I always frequented that store. Hung out there a lot and knew a few of the people who worked there pretty well, including the owner. In fact, my avatar is a pic of me and the band I was in playing at Sam's Place on New Years Eve. Do you remember that bar? Right next to Sal's Pizza.

Yes, Yes! Very cool! I remember Sal's Pizza and Sams's...I also remember Music + and Warehouse music....Good memories in the 80's..My Parents still live in Rancho Cucamonga

 

[overit]

Black Aria Pro II RSB from the local music store I was taking lessons from as a kid, sometime around 1987 in Fords, NJ.

 

[Kipp Harrington]

Yes, Yes! Very cool! I remember Sal's Pizza and Sams's...I also remember Music + and Warehouse music....Good memories in the 80's..My Parents still live in Rancho Cucamonga

Small world, eh? Oh yeah... Music + and The Warehouse were located on Foothill Blvd. if my memory serves me correctly. I really miss Pizza Royal; the worlds most delicious pizza!

 

[funkinbottom]

Waltrips music, 1969. An Aria hollow body just like this one (not mine, stock photo) Would love to have that now.

 

[Pdaddy1978]

It was Christmas eve, 1972, under the tree.
A 61 Epiphone Newport purchased 2nd hand from a local gospel duo.
Then, we went to Pete Jones music and bought a brand new HSC that said GIBSON on it. Probably belonged to an EB0. My basses kissin cousin.

 

[mexicanyella]

When I was 19 I met a very pretty girl one night in a club. When the club closed she invited me to take a walk on nearby baseball field. She said, "Let's play baseball," and I reluctantly played along. She said, "I'll pitch. You be the batter."

She mimed a pitch, I swung, and she yelled, "You got a hit!!!" I ran to 1st base, and she ran there too. When I stopped, she made out with me, and then said... "You got to first base! Lets see where this goes now."

I'll never forget that .

Das all.

Only been to Denver once, so I can't help any with the store.

So that’s where you decided to end that story?

That’s cool