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How bad (or good) was your first bass?

#261
ToddB1963 said:
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.

View attachment 4693396
View attachment 4693397
Click to expand...

That Musician is absolutely beautiful...
 
#262
How bad (or good) was your first bass?

It was bad - but the fire burned hot within me as a young teen to overcome it. The rest is mystory.

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#263
84 Ibanez RoadStar. Great bass, really nicely made, I had it set up properly at the store I bought it from and I recall the tech saying he basically didn't need to do anything to it. I don't remember why I sold it to be honest but it no doubt had an influence on me and is one of the reasons I like Ibanez basses to this day (I own several and have owned a number more).
 
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#267
It was awful . In the mid 70's my bro in law gave me a Hofner violin bass copy with no name on the headstock. The action was like an inch and a half and it had dead flat wounds. My dad bought me a Kustom 100 watt stack so I was committed ( to really anoying my family hah !) I started working shortly thereafter and purchased a Black Ibanez Roadstar PJ with a Maple neck.
Wish I still had that sucker.
 
#268
It was a fretless plywood hollowbody something. And when I say "fretless" I mean that frets were violently torn out. The action was high on the first fret and impossible on the 12th and you could easily stick your whole hand in there. The neck was bowed beyond belief and didn't even have a truss rod. The strings were very difficult to press and had been broken and then tied together in knots in several places. It sounded surprisingly good, even if completely out of tune. Ten or more years ago I sold it to some kid for $4.18.
 
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#269
Mine was a Grant jazz copy. It was very heavy, had a natural finish and black block fret inlays and whoever sold it to me included 2 sets of strings - a standard nickel set and a black plastic-wrapped set which I switched back and forth between every few months.
I genuinely don't know if it was good or bad, but it taught me everything I know about how to strip, rebuild and set-up a guitar.
That bass also left me with a lifelong hatred (yeah, absolute and complete hatred) of the Jazz Bass shape.
 
#271
I was lucky. When I was 16 I traded a Winston guitar to one of the seniors at my high school for a Silvertone (Dan Electro) dolphin head bass with hard case in perfect condition. Why did he trade? The bass had no strings on it and he didn't want to put strings on it. My Winston 6 string had a new set of strings at the time so that's what interested him. My best friend gave me an old set of strings he had off of his bass and I was playing it by eight o'clock that night....
 
#274
my first bass was a fender musicmaster olympic white in the late 70s ... i know these are flavour of the month right now but personally i couldn't wait to get a long scale, just didnt get on with the muggy kind of tone from shorter strings ...especially the E string.
 
#275
Like many kids growing up in the Milwaukee area in the 60's and 70's Eko guitars and basses were everywhere. For me it was the Eko 995 or "Beatle Bass. Obtained from and imported by LoDuca Bros. Seemed like they had a store or studio on every corner. The bass itself was adequate. Sound was thumpy. The neck a thin bolt on that was continually needing adjustment. But it was what it was. In the 80's I had a chance to visit their warehouse. Bodies, necks, pickups, and parts just laying about everywhere. One guy being tasked to assemble one at a time. The Eko bass got me started.
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#279
First bass has been my only bass! Played this thing for about 20-25 years. Not bad, but not too amazing either. 1984 Squier Bullet Bass by Fender (made in Japan).

Love the tone of this bass, plus who doesn't love a good burst finish? (apparently nobody anymore....)
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#280
I was lucky. My first was a 48th Street Custom Guitars jazz bass that s friend sold me when she was desperate for cash. It's at least as good as a Fender. I had to put it away because it's too heavy (12+ lbs). I was getting back aches and neck pain and stay pain and oh it was painful. That's when I started playing Danelectros.

I've thought of selling it, but no one would probably give me what I think it's worth. I pull out out once or twice a year.
 

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