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How bad (or good) was your first bass?
- Thread starter CochinoBass
- Start date
This is the first bass that I remembered when writing that post but there was one before that which I have no idea the name of. The only thing that rings a bell is that it came from Wild Woody's and I think it was a Fender Shaped Object.It was 1968, I had been playing bass lines on my father's 6 string electric guitar (Western Auto Truetone). Somehow during my parents divorce, my mother bought me a Gibson EBO and a Standel 2 15 amp. Should I say more? Of course I don't have either of them.
A POS late 60s Japanese pawn shop bass. Terrible action, horrible tone. Loved it until I got a better one, 1971 Telecaster that I I modded and still have
I've seen that bottom picture 1,000 times, but just now noticed the reverse load base cab behind you. What is the rig you're running there?
My first bass was a 1961 Epiphone Newport shorty in Gibson cherry red, in a Gibson HSC under the Xmas tree in 1972.
Ive sold/ traded back for it TWICE.
Stripped down and waiting to be restored.
Its mighty mudbucker will roar again!!!
Ive sold/ traded back for it TWICE.
Stripped down and waiting to be restored.
Its mighty mudbucker will roar again!!!
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My first was a pos a friend gave me. All I remember is short scale, 1 pickup, red. No memory of what happened to it. But it was a beater. Probably gave it back to the guy when my mom bought me a Vantage.
My first bass was too good. It was a used Rickenbacker 4001, bought it used at a steep discount, but it sounded so beautiful to me. It was such a lovely sounding instrument that the tone took care of itself, and it intimidated me. I know that this makes no logical sense, but that's how I reacted. I sold it when I was still a teenager and quit playing.
Many years later, I decided to start over again with a Fender Mustang. Small, with a more humble sound, but there is no mistaking that I am the one playing it, rather than the other way around. I would love to get another Ric someday in the distant future, but that will be when I feel that I've developed enough skill to have earned the privilege.
I stepped up to a full scale recently, and bought a secondhand Japanese Fender Jazz. It sounds great and is serviceable enough for someone just learning the craft.
Many years later, I decided to start over again with a Fender Mustang. Small, with a more humble sound, but there is no mistaking that I am the one playing it, rather than the other way around. I would love to get another Ric someday in the distant future, but that will be when I feel that I've developed enough skill to have earned the privilege.
I stepped up to a full scale recently, and bought a secondhand Japanese Fender Jazz. It sounds great and is serviceable enough for someone just learning the craft.
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I don't remember what my first bass was except that it was missing the G string.
In 1975, my first bass was a no-name Rick copy that was very hard to play because the strings were so far away from the neck. Action - awful. Intonation? Not even close. One good thing though, it built up my left (fretting) hand strength pretty quick! And yes, I still have it.
It was a Japanese Jazz copy in 1973. It was all I could afford at the time. It played ok but I longed for the real deal - a Fender Precision. I found one several months later and I still have it. I earned a living with that Precision bass for many years.
Harmony HB22. They’ve become a bit of a retro thing in the last few years.
Rogue on Amazon (sent from MF) selling for $25, various coupons/whatever, I got it for under $10. It was so cheap I figured I should have a bass in the house. I remember it played well. Soon afterwards friends got me into a project playing bass (everyone plays guitar better than I do), so viola, I became a bass player. I went out and got nicer basses, and eventually sold the Rogue for $50. 
![015-1[1].jpg](https://www.talkbass.com/attachments/015-1-1-jpg.4689935/ "015-1[1].jpg")
1968/69 and I was 16 and bought a used Japanese Fender copy with a Jazz body and a P-bass pickup. I imagined they did that not to get sued. ... I can't imagined I paid more than $40 for it and I can't imagine where I got the $40 to pay for it. ... It was my first bass so I can only imagine the action was high and the output was low. ... Maybe it stayed in tune, or maybe it didn't. ... I played it till I started dating then pretty much stopped. ... By 1971 I was looking for a change in life and decided to pick up the bass again and went out a bought a used 1966 P-bass. ... Which was much better and did stay in tune, which made me play so much better.
The first bass I played wasn't mine; it was my dad's. I started playing it at age 7. It was a 1977 Music Man Stingray white pickup fretless, and I still have it (he passed away in 2007).
I played that as if it was my own for nine years, but I didn't own it. Then I got a fretless G&L L-2000, very lightly used, for a great deal, in my junior year of high school. That was the first bass I ever actually owned. I still have it too.
So...both of the instruments that could be called my first bass were excellent. I still have both of them, and they are lifers for me.
I played that as if it was my own for nine years, but I didn't own it. Then I got a fretless G&L L-2000, very lightly used, for a great deal, in my junior year of high school. That was the first bass I ever actually owned. I still have it too.
So...both of the instruments that could be called my first bass were excellent. I still have both of them, and they are lifers for me.
I had the same Montgomery Ward POS bass and amp! Luckily, my HS had a Fender Jazz that I played. Once I graduated college I bought a used '72 Fender Jazz that I still play to this day!
It was an SX P-Bass copy that cost $99 in the mid 2000's.
To be honest, it was pretty good for what it was. I wasn't really into playing bass at that point, I just recorded bass parts for songs I wrote. It was an okay first bass.
Then came my Warwick 5 (which is when I decided I didn't like 5's) and then my real P-Basses.
To be honest, it was pretty good for what it was. I wasn't really into playing bass at that point, I just recorded bass parts for songs I wrote. It was an okay first bass.
Then came my Warwick 5 (which is when I decided I didn't like 5's) and then my real P-Basses.
