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first bass to give you GAS?

#41
I was playing the usual assortment of uninspiring consumer fare back in the '70's and early-'80's (Ric 4001, '60's Fender Jazz, G&L L-1000, MM Stingray), but during a visit to the Hollywood Guitar Center, I met a guy with an Alembic. I can't remember which model---probably a walnut Series 1 with an outboard PSU---but it was my first hands-on experience with a handmade bass. Talk about love at first sight/listen!

I shopped around for years after that wake-up call, all the while saving up for my first custom bass. Turned out that Alembic wasn't exactly what I was looking for. Ditto the Foderas, Smiths, or Pedullas of the day. I ended up ordering a custom Tobias from the Cahuenga Blvd. shop in '87 and never looked back, but if it hadn't been for that Alembic encounter, I don't know how much time, effort, and money I'd have pissed away trying to squeeze silk-purse performance out of my old pig's-ear instruments.
 
#42
Double Agent said:
No disrespect, actually its cool. If anything, I hope I can keep playing and gigging as long as some the dudes in here have been doing it.
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Oh, I know. Just goofin' around. I *am* almost twice your age though. Wish I could say I've been gigging a lot of that time, but no.

Are we still talkin' about basses??!? :hiding:
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Yeah. A '68 Telecaster bass. My first GAS. But I picked on her a lot. She'd hum sometimes too....
 
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#45
It was last year, when I joined talkbass. I had already been playing for a year and a half, playing a fender jazz deluxe. it had like 4 year old strings on it that were absolutely disgusting (not vintage-y whatsoever) and some of the higher frets were turning green. also the back of the neck was super sticky and the jack wasnt soldered right (I didnt know it at the time) so it made a lot of noise if the cable was moved in the jack. It pretty much sucked to me, even with my absolute zero knowledge of basses. It really made me hate bass.

When I joined talkbass, one of the first basses I saw was anIbanez ATK 305 with a clear pickguard. I wanted it, badly. I went through 3 other basses and after 5 months I finally got it (or one that looked exactly identical). It was a really great feeling to buy something that I really wanted and it turn out be just perfect for me. Sure someday when I am older and can spare a few grand, I might have a custom bass built for me (maybe I wont even like it!) but for now and hopefully for a long time, I am set with this one. So I pretty much defeated my bass gas, not too often does that happen, especially around here on talkbass (which is like a giant gas tank feeding all who read and post on the site)
 
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#47
The Golden Boy said:
That is EXACTLY it. Except I never got the bass.

I think that's about the same age when I would go to the local shop that had a Hofner knockoff. I still remember that it was $105.

I've never owned a violin bass. Part of me would like to get a Hofner or a butchered EB-1, but I really haven't liked the ones I've played.
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As an aside...

When Frank Zappa's "Valley Girl" was big- I remember daydreaming about playing that song with a band in my middle school auditorium. I remember thinking I'd be able to get that bass sound out of a hollowbody Hofner knockoff.
 
#50
been playing for 6 years, currently 18.

Anyways, I never saw a bass that really truly appealed to me till I saw a wal mach II with with flamed maple facings on bass-central. This was probably 3 years ago. I even emailed the wal dude asked how much one was, came out to $3900. And he ended his reply with "so, want me to place the order?"

Of course I couldn't and still can't afford that, but if I had known that wals were going to be indefinitely discontinued not long after...well...geez I don't know what I would've done.
 
#51
jomahu said:
what was it? when was it (how old were you, how long had you been playing)?
and did you surrender to your will?
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My local small town music store only carried Gibson, Daion, Hondo, and Aria. I got my first bass, a Daion Savage from them around 1981 or 82. A few years later I wanted something different. The local store had an Aria SB1600 that really played and sounded great, but I ended up getting a Steinberger XP2 instead from a store in Austin. A couple years later my local store went belly up. They still had that same Aria. I ended up buying that bass for $300 in a liquidation sale. I still own the Aria and Steiny. Here she is:

aria.jpg
 
#54
I was probably about 14, and Yes Fragile had been out for about awhile. Never heard anything like Chris Squire's tone on that record. Had MAJOR GAS for a Ric 4001, and Swing Bass 66s...but then I played a Ricky in a store, and it was a rather dead sounding one...and a few sets of 66s that I had gotten in a row were bad.

I still had the GAS for the tone, but lost some of the winds from my sails. I don't think I had major bass GAS again until the Steinberger came out.
 
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#55
i was about fourteen, been playing for about five months and i saw a local band that went on to become Madina Lake (i've seen their video on mtv, so i'm guessing they've gotten pretty popular) and their bass player was playing a black EBMM Stingray with a maple neck. never bought one, but i did receive a natural OLP MM2 for free a couple of years ago.
 
#56
I played guitar in school, although not very great. Also went to guitar lessons for a single year. At some point my dad took my to one of his friends' sons gig, he played a 69 black Rickenbacker 4001, and I loved the look of it :D
I then had a massive gas for a Midnight Blue 4003 :bassist:

Later on, I bought an old and pretty cheap copy of a 4001 and started a little band with some of my friends :D
 
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#58
Ricks seem to be a common "first GAS" bass--they certainly were mine! My junior year in high school ('79-'80), I'd been playing a couple years on a cheap Harmony out of the Sears catalog when one of my bandmates introduced me to Rush. I didn't dig Geddy's vocals much at the time, but the black 4001 was about the coolest thing I'd ever seen or heard. I saved all summer for a Rick, but ended up with an aluminum-necked Kramer instead. I did finally get a blonde 4001 a couple years later in college, and kept it for a few years.

Mike
 

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