How much did you pay for your first bass?

[Mr Gaston]

How much did you pay for your first bass and amp? How long ago and what did you get?

I'm curious how much this stuff cost way back when I should have started.

 

[pedroims]

Mexico 1987, Arbor Explorer P. Cant remember the exact price but was something around $90,000 pesos (70 USD) I remember that I paid half of it and mom give me the rest, I sold it to buy a bus ticket and went with my girlfriend to Tijuana for one week vacation, parents made big drama ( we were 14) so after the trip I was left with no bass and no girlfriend

No amp, I used a panasonic stereo by plugging the bass in the mic input.

 

[Dluxe]

Panama 1977. Gibson G-3 with a G-50B amp for $600. Stuff was more expensive overseas.

 

[pacojas]

1978,.. Bass, a St. George 4 stringer for $90.00. the amp was a NoName pawn shop 100watter that i paid less than $100.00 for. sounded like poop and hard to play, but more fun than BS-ing!

 

[ScarfFace]

Back in 1997 I was 13 and got my first, a Squier P Bass that my dad bought for me and I think it was $150. My first amp that I bought myself was a Peavey TKO115 (I think that's what its called) and it was about $300.

 

[Muttleybass]

Vancouver, BC 1976... $150, brand new. National BC Rich Mockingbird copy. I traded a cassette deck for a Randall 100w single 15" combo amp. Moved up to a Peavey Mk IV and a 1810 cab, but I can't remember what I paid.

First decent bass was a Rickenbacker 4003. I bought that used in 1981 for $400 from the guy from Stonebolt. Never should have sold it.

 

[Luke19Boarder]

My first was the Squier Affinity P Bass package with the practice amp. This must have been around 1997. I don't remember what it cost back then, maybe 200, 250?

 

[ArtechnikA]

February of 2013, I remember it like it was just a couple of years ago...
White, fretted, 5-string Synapse. $950.

 

[M.R. Ogle]

Not only do I not remember, I don't see how it could be relevant.

$100 back in 1976 was a lot more buying power that $100 now.

 

[tangentmusic]

1974:
No-name Jazz copy and small combo amp out of the Sears catalog.
$99
A fortune to a 14 year old back then.

 

[Frankiebass59]

1974 Fender P-Bass @ Manny's Music in Manhattan.
$195.00
Still own it.

 

[Marial]

Nothing, my oldest brother gave me his old Vantage strung with copper stings. As I recall they were akin to piano wire.

 

[AltGrendel]

1978 - Black Gibson Ripper (used), $250.00

 

[One Drop]

'78, a used Gibson 'SG bass' as most people called it then. Had black nylon tapes and cost me $150. I also bought a little Musicman practice amp, tiny, heavy, and sounded like ass. I can't remember what it cost me new but probably as much as the bass if not more.

I never liked the bass, but had no idea what a setup was or even that you could change strings!

 

[Fuzzbass]

1975 or 1976
Guild medium-scale solidbody, black. Model unknown*. Well used bass, plenty of dings
$120 as I recall

*It looked like an EB-3 with slightly tilted waist, two big humbuckers. VVTT control scheme with 3 position pickup toggle and "treble boost"... actually a phase switch. Bridge saddles made of wood! Served me well until I got a Fender Precision in '78 or '79.

A quick Google turned this up: it was a Guild Jet Star II (JSII). All these years, I never knew that until now.

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Edit: my first amp was an Ampeg B-100 combo with single 10" speaker. I had no idea of the wattage, but I'm certain that "B-100" referred to speaker size! I believe my dad and I paid $100 for it.

 

[Treadstone71]

2005...a Yamaha RBX-170 and a Vox 10w Pathfinder, bought for $150 and $50 respectively.

Of course, those were different times back then...

 

[mccartneyman]

In 1965 my mom bought me a bass & amp outfit from Spiegels: Kay singlecut short scale bass, Silvertone open-back amp with 15" speaker I think it sold for $150, which was about a month's pay for my dad (minimum wage was something like $1.25/hr) and he was not happy. A year later I bought my first real bass -- '59 Fender P for $175

 

[Big Hoss]

It was 2002, I bought a 1987 Ibanez Roadstar II from a coworker, and quickly hated it. The pickups were wonky, the tuners were shot, and at that time, I really had no clue that it would have been an easy fix. I liked the weight, and the neck though...

The same coworker had a Hondo P knock off he bought sometime in the late 80s for something like $50.00 that I think he still has...

 

[Johnny StingRay]

$100 for a sunburst Univox and $50 for some no-name 50 watt amp.........way back in 1976.

 

[Jon Moody]

How much did you pay for your first bass and amp? How long ago and what did you get?

I'm curious how much this stuff cost way back when I should have started.

I think it was winter of 1993, $150 for a used Applause 4 string PJ bass and 15w Crate practice amp. My dad was a band director, so we got the educational discount.