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First Bass You Got?

Squier VM 70's Jazz in maple.

I had not a clue when going into Guitar Center to look for a bass.

The salesman would ask me if I would like to play something.

Inexperienced, I would just say, "thanks man, but I'm just looking."

Not a friggin clue what a J or P was. A Fender from a Musicman!

Lost and embarrassed that I couldn't play a thing.

Then I walked in and seen a maple VM Squier.

It was just calling me in the store.

Like a magnet, I bought it.

Been a Jazz fan ever since.

Now she is strung with flats and is my spare bass.

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Waaaay back when I was in 11th grade I bought a Crestwood bass from a friend at school for $30.00! It was a hollow body, no f holes with a body shape similar (but not identical) to a Gibson EB2 and it had two pickups. Also had a floating bridge. For what it was it actually played pretty decent but from the 13th fret up on the G string, every note was G#!! Could have been a high fret or a strange warp, but what the hell did I know back then?!?

I played that bass for about a year until I saved up enough for my first good bass which was a new Gibson EB3. Worked after school and on weekends washing dishes to save for it. Still wish I had it because I felt like I really accomplished something when I bought it.
 
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New 1964 Kent 528 from Sears. Mostly a Pbass copy. I just recently located and purchased one identical to it and it's now with me. Great condition for 50 + years. Action is good in the lower 2/3 of neck. Had to sell it a couple of years later to buy my new 1966 Fender Pbass in olympic white. Ah, t
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he memories.
 
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I started on a Commodore semi with snapped off tuners ( I tuned using pliers),a nailed on plywood pickguard, pickup held in with a nail and it had 3 strings.
Cost me £1.
Then I graduated to a Kay EB100
Kay EB100.JPG

That was a setback to my playing.Woolworths UK is not the best place to buy a bass.By 81/82 the Japanese had really upped their game and I bought a local
store branded P bass for £119,fantastic bass and one I wish I still had.
 
my first bass was a 1987 bc rich platinum warlock (pointy headstock) it was that purple blue,green finish and i loved it but it was stolen and btw i would gladly play one in public if it was setup properly lol my first 5er was a squier precision in british racing green metallic.
 
I borrowed my cousin's white Washburn P-style bass... not sure what the actual model name was, but it was late-80s and had the pointed headstock and all. I then got a Dean Edge 4 as my first bass.
 
I've played drums forever.

A couple years ago, I decided to give bass a try without knowing anything about it.
I got a Squier Jaguar SS, just because it looked decent, the smaller size seemed
like it might be easier to handle, and the price was right.

Good choice for a first bass, I think. I've still got it, and use it a lot,
though I've gone through several others.
 
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It was 1974 and I was in high school. Some friends were starting a band and there were too many guitarists and no bassists. I ended up with this copper colored 15 fret Danelectro with a lipstick pickup. The seller wanted $15, but he took $12 because it had a broken G string. No case. The thing was so awful. I gave it to one my friends so he could use the parts (what parts?!) to build a bass. He made this weird offset V thing out of it. Back in 2002 I went to the luthier in town and there it was hanging on the wall. I had to buy it just for the history. I think it was $30.
 
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My first bass was purchased.... yesterday. I think I may be officially the newest bass player here. :) An Epiphone Thunderbird IV, picked it up at Guitar Center after trying a bunch of others. Just really liked the sound (what I was able to produce, at any rate), how it felt and it just looks way cool. I'm looking forward to practice now.
Welcome to TB.
 
First bass was a Gibson G3, which I bought in 1979 for maybe $300 with no case. At that time they weren't worth that much, but I didn't know! Loved that bass, which died tragically in a head on car wreck. Fortunately, no humans were hurt terribly bad :)

I still have a Gibson G3 in my humble little collection and if I want a punchy, grindy kinda tone, it's still the bass I use :)
 
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Mine was a Czechoslovakia-made Jolana Iris bass...see the photo.
I got rid of the cover plates immediately and played without them. Originally, it came with factory installed strings that were covered in plastic!? I jokingly called those laundry wire.
From that, I went on to a Yugoslav made P bass copy, mangles a bit. At one point I even put in a Bartolini pup, but sold it very soon after, in order to get my first "real" bass, which was Washburn Scavenger. Matter of fact, I am trying to get that one back now.
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