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How bad (or good) was your first bass?

#321
Lafayette Radio catalog bass (before they were assimilated by Shadio Rack). Violin shape. Multi laminate (read as REALLY THICK PLYWOOD) bolt-on neck (funny how Phil Kubicki resurrected that approach to great effect). Horrible. However, in my efforts to make a silk purse out of that sow's ear I managed to break the truss rod (they actually sent me a replacement neck NO CHARGE!) which propelled me into a lifetime of tinkering, tailoring, occasionally butchering, and otherwise customizing basses and the odd guitar here and there. No regrets!
 
#323
My first bass was an Aria Pro II XRB with blue crackle finish, PJ pickups and pointy headstock. It was perfect for The Metal. Image stolen from somewhere on here. It was completely mediocre, but I loved the paint. It fit the music and that was the important part.

Aria-bass-front.jpg


I broke A strings all the time. Never figured that one out or had the problem on another bass.
 
#325
My 1st bass was a used early-1970s Gibson EB-0L (rare slotted headstock with tuners pointed back, and an early sample of a 34-inch "long scale"). Seemed like a very long neck to learn on, with my small hands! It could have used a good pro setup as well. But even as a bass newbie, I realized the limitations of its infamous single 'mudbucker' pickup. Replaced it with a DiMarzio, which added much-needed punch and clarity. I kept that EB for ten years before selling it. Bought it for only $200 then..... I wonder what it would go for now?
 
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#326
I'm not sure what it says about me, but I honestly don't remember. When my brother and I chat about it, we just call it my "black bass," if you made me guess I'd say it was an Ibanez. Style was a quasi J knockoff. I say quasi because I think that is sort of what they were going for, but it was very much its own thing.
 
#327
I received a used Kimberly short scale bass for my fourteenth birthday for which my parents gave me money to buy from a neighbor. Sort of burgundy in color, had one pickup, and an action that reminded me of a traditional Native American bow. Had a volume pot go bad prior to my first gig with it, got it repaired, and it got through the gig. Taking pity on me my music teacher offered to trade it in toward a Conrad hollow body which I took him up on! (I do regret that later I didn't take him up on an even swap for a Conrad clear acrylic bass—a copy of the Dan Armstrong Ampeg bass that now brings a good buck in resale.
 
#329
Nothing great, but not awful....Westone 4-string in 1986. It stayed in tune and I was able to learn on it... but the action was high compared to the basses I play now. I developed some nice calluses on my fingertips from playing the Westone for several years, until I upgraded to a Spector NS2.
 
#331
Brand new maple Magnum (maybe) jazz clone-- a paper route money special. Great bass to develop finger strength on because it started with a straight neck which gradually became the shape of a banana. This meant the action went from about 1/8" to about 3/4" in a couple years-- ready to play upright! It had some kind of silver pickups from which I learned the meaning of "microphonic" and lended itself to many lessons on soldering. I'm not sure whether I learned more about music or about luthiery with that bass.
 
#332
Well, my current bass is the first I owned/ever played.

Cort C4H, active/passive, with humbuckers (on my profile pic).

Double-cut mahogany body in combination with a wenge neck, topped with standard 24-fret rosewood fingerboard. Don't exactly know the year of it's make.

One hell of a bass, I have to admit. I got it in a mint condition through Reverb - kinda lucked out because it had been in studio use previously, so little use. When I got it there was trouble with frets under fifth - deaf ones, but I got it through professional setup and now it plays like a dream. Had to get used to the strings (Rotosounds), but otherwise, it's OK.

The guy who did a setup on it commented it's a solid one and I couldn't agree more. Price/performance was right so it resides in its forever home here and it's played often.

I am curious, though, do no beginners turn to Cort made instruments?
 
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#333
Yamaha, early 80's-ish P-Bass. I switched from guitar when I went to college for music at 25. I wish I still had it. I did all my first few years of gigs on that bass. So anyone in the CT area have or every see a tobacco Yamaha P with P-J emgs from the 80's, i'd buy it back in a heartbeat.
 
#334
Hawk256 said:
Yamaha BB300. Not a terrible bass at all. It was actually pretty good for the money. Didn't play it long before I bought used BB2000. Wish I had kept the 2000. But there are a lot of basses I wish I had kept.
Click to expand...

My first bass was a red Yamaha BB300. Really a decent sounding and playing instrument. In a fit of rage, my stepdad smashed it on the porch in front of our house when I was probably 16. He later replaced it with a more expensive, but worse sounding Washburn. I wish he had just replaced it like for like. Eventually I might pick up another BB300 if I can find one at a decent price.
 
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#336
My first bass was a "Kingston" brand PJ copy.
I bought it for $70, and it was awful.
The pickups either sounded muffled, or thin, and not much between.
The neck was twisted, the upper neck had a ton of fret buzz (like unusable, the notes would fret out and everything from the 13th fret to the 17th was all just the 17th fret) and it had zero sustain.

I sold it to a friend who turned it into a fretless-- which fixed the fretting out issues, and I bought it back for the same price, but the truss rod eventually broke. So I sacrificed it to the fire gods, filmed it, and made it into a music video for my band at the time.

 
#337
My first was a Yamaha BB300 which I played through high school and college, because I had no money. I thought it was great at the time. I still think it plays well, but the tone etc? Not so much. I gave it to a neighbor's kid who wanted to start playing bass :)
bb300.JPG
 
#338
My first bass guitar I think someone made in wood shop. Huge neck with no tension rod and no frets.
There was a volume control but no tone control. The pick guard was red plexiglas with crumpled aluminum foil behind it. That was around 1965. It might have sounded good plugged into a decent amp which of course it never was.
 
#339
JIO said:
I don't have a single photo of it, but it looks like the same bass I bought new from Woolworths dept store for $40 in 1966. Especially if it is in fact a long scale, which mine was. I vaguely remember it had a (chrome plastic or metal script) hs brand name - "Stadium". It was also branded "Tempo", "Orpheus", "Valiant", "Howard", and most likely a number of other names stemming from Teisco roots.
Click to expand...


It was long scale and for some reason back then I always thought it was a Howard bass. I got that photo from the web, mine is long gone.
 
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#340
#1 was a 1984 Squier Precision, MIJ.
Like 95% of the folks here, I sold it..and regretted doing so.

Fortunately, about 16 years ago, I found/bought a 1983 MIJ Squire Precision, and I've had it since.

#1 was a great bass - but I only know that because the '83 feels just like it, and it's a killer.

I've modded that '83 quite a bit: HipShot UltraLite tuners, DiMarzio Will Power pickup, Fender Hi-Mass bridge, and just recently filled and re-routed the body to accomodate reversing the pickup (bass strings closer to the bridge) - but it was only worth the trouble because the "raw materials" were there, and great.
 

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