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How bad (or good) was your first bass?

#241
My first bass was a used Granada EB3 copy (Matsumoku made)

More than good enough for starting on--and for years it did what I needed it to do.
I wasn't playing bass in a band--but for jams, playing at home, and doing demo recordings it was more than sufficient
The EB3 bass i known for what is called a Mudbucker pickup--and this copy is muddy--but the other pickup is better, and normally I use both pickups.

Pros-lightweight, short scale was easy easy for my smaller young hands, affordable, did the job I needed it to., and if it matters--looks great
Cons-pickups a bit weak, the bridge didn't allow for individual string intonation.
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Originally it had a pick guard & bridge cover--both have been removed--I like the look better, and the witch hat knobs replaced by speed knobs
 
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#246
My first bass was ibanez GSR390 WN (stance for walnut color) made in china with pj configuration back in 2006. At that time maybe its good bass because i dont know anything about what is the "good bass" definition. Its quite good and can be do the work for jamming and use in some gig until i start the real work and leave it into dust. On 2013 i check it had neck crack on the headstock join and go to repair luthier to fix it. After married my GAS is increase significantly until know i have 8 bass that i bring to japan but this bass still keep in my indonesia house as one of living history of my life.
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#247
Hurricane Jimmie said:
So Anyway, my first bass was also a Hofner Beatle Bass. Bought it new in '72 or so.
Can't complain because even though I had no experience and couldn't play, it got me into my first and second bands because it looked so cool. I had instant 'status'.
But as a beginner, it wasn't a very good 'first bass' for me.
Too much feedback that due to my inexperience, I didn't know how to control.
Click to expand...

I was already an established guitar player so I already had an expectation what a bass should play like, and this one just had too many problems. The action was 1/2" high and no travel left on the bridge. As I learned more about Hofners the bass needed a neck reset, but by that time I was disinterested in playing bass and it got closet duty.
 
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#255
duanev3 said:
I was already an established guitar player so I already had an expectation what a bass should play like, and this one just had too many problems. The action was 1/2" high and no travel left on the bridge. As I learned more about Hofners the bass needed a neck reset, but by that time I was disinterested in playing bass and it got closet duty.
Click to expand...

Many years later I bought an Epiphone Viola Bass. It was a very nice instrument and it had a center block that prevented feedback.
Used it in a 60's band I was in, just for some vibe on the Beatle songs. In another band, I put it on a stool with a stand and played it like an upright.
 
#256
I started playing bass in early 1983.

I bought my first, a Vantage double P ( the exact same model as in the first pic below) brand new for $600. A new Precision was $1200 at the time, and despite wanting one desperately, I couldn't afford it, so the Vantage looked like the next best thing.

Being young and inexperienced, I wasn't really aware of such things as neck-dive, but the Vantage had it in abundance, to the point where I could only play it sitting down. That, and the fact that it didn't sound all that good (nothing like a Fender) caused me to fall out of love with it pretty quickly and I only ended up keeping it until something better came along, which it did...

One day in early '85 I was browsing in a local music store and spied a second hand Ibanez MC824 Musician hanging on the wall for $290. After trying it out to my satisfaction, I bought it using the Vantage as a trade-in.

What a great bass that Musician was. Very comfortable, no neck dive, and sounded light years ahead of the Vantage. In hindsight, it was much better than the '78 jazz bass that replaced it about 6 months later (but what did I know LOL).

Anyway, I ended up selling the Musician to my brother for $100, and he gigged it for several years until it was stolen.

Here they are: two examples of the basses that got me started.

original.jpg

Fg-FJ3t9RpM_1_.jpg
 
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#259
upload_2022-5-17_18-25-57.jpeg


One of these Harmony basses. My grandmother got it for me for Christmas one year. By todays standards for a beginner instrument, it was pretty bad. Short scale, crappy sound. I guess it was good enough though, it was all I had for quite some time while learning and I guess it did the job.
 
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#260
Where I lived as a youngster there wasn't that much to choose from. But I happened on a used Gibson EB-3 and managed to acquire it on "hire purchase", as they called it. It had suffered the usual headstock breakage, which had been functionally (if less than elegantly) repaired. Coming from guitar, I played it with a pick and thought it sounded rather convincing. Intonation may have been approximate (no individual saddles), but with Pyramid flats the rumble was present and correct. Then after about three years I was inspired to rip out the frets - in retrospect, not such a good idea. It finally disappeared as part of a gear trade.

I've later determined it must have been a 1963, and this is exactly what it looked like:

1963_EB-3.jpg
 
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