2013 Squier Affinity Jazz and Fender Rumble amp starter kit around $300ish maybe $350. I wish I had bought the amp individually and bought a good bass, instead...
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How much did you pay for your first bass?
- Thread starter Mr Gaston
- Start date
No name on the headstock hollow body.Got it for $45 from a storage unit sale in 96ish.Didn't play it much at the time.Sold it about a yr later
When I actually started playing playing I got a Squier P bass starter pack $199 or $299,something with a 99 on the end of it anyway lol.
When I actually started playing playing I got a Squier P bass starter pack $199 or $299,something with a 99 on the end of it anyway lol.
My first, current and only bass is an American Special Jazz snagged off Musican's Friend used for $869 4 years ago.
I am a late starter, so my first, second and third basses were all purchased in the early 2000's. I honestly can't remember how much it cost, but my first bass was a P-bass copy and it was terrible. In fact, its terribleness might explain why I am deeply suspicious of anything P-bass shaped to this very day. Back when I was a heavy drinker, I once tried to smash it on the ground it (à la Paul Simonon) but the darned thing just bounced and continued to work just as badly as ever. I threw it away when I realised that its terribleness made it immune to conventional weapons.
$149 for a black Hondo fame series 830. Paid $70 for a hard case and then sold it all 3 years later for $115. No CL or ebay in those days. Sigh.
It was actually a great bass. Plywood body but the neck and hardware were top notch, and the plywood sounded cool. Like a really obnoxious 70's P bass. I bought one in Sunburst about 10 years ago on ebay for nostalgia. Paid $110 all in and it came with a hard case!
It was actually a great bass. Plywood body but the neck and hardware were top notch, and the plywood sounded cool. Like a really obnoxious 70's P bass. I bought one in Sunburst about 10 years ago on ebay for nostalgia. Paid $110 all in and it came with a hard case!
April, 2014. Cort EVL-Z6B, was a secondhand that was also during a 10 year anniversary sale for the shop. Shopkeeper said it was worth between $1200 - $1600, got it for $350.
1998 Squier P Bass with a Park made by marshall amp 150 bucks. I still have the amp wish I had the Bass. almost 20 years later and having maybe 10 other basses I now play a Fender P Bass. Funny how it went full circle.
Haji
Supporting Member
My very first bass and amp were gifts from my parents: an Aria Diamond PJ and a Peavey TKO 65. That was...about '86, I think. In '87, I got the first bass that I paid for, a black Charvel 2B that I paid...$350 or so for, I think...I really don't remember. First amp I bought was an Acoustic 150 watt head that was $199. I played that bass for about a dozen years, then got burned out on playing with guitards and diva singers, and sold it all. Fast forward to 2014, and I decide to get back into it. Bought a pretty beat up Ibanez GSR200 for $85, and later that year I replace that 87 2B with an '88 4B that I got in trade for a couple of airsoft guns. Kind of a wild ride.
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I'll play.
I bought a new Asian 1950's Precision knockoff slab-body for $280, and a used Fender Bassman 50 watt piggyback on a 2x12 tall cab used for $225 in 1972. My first bass rig, bought with my own money when I was 14. Neither was exactly awesome sounding, but I loved them, and kinda wish I had kept both...
I bought a new Asian 1950's Precision knockoff slab-body for $280, and a used Fender Bassman 50 watt piggyback on a 2x12 tall cab used for $225 in 1972. My first bass rig, bought with my own money when I was 14. Neither was exactly awesome sounding, but I loved them, and kinda wish I had kept both...
I paid 165 Dollars for a Used Ibanez Soundgear bass from Guitar Center about 2 Years ago. I paid 100 Dollars for an Ampeg BA-108 Amp to go with it.
My parents paid $300 for a Fender Music Master bass in December of 1979. I had Fender on my mind (friends suggested Fender) and I wanted the color to be black. I passed up a really good Guild and a few other basses I could have purchased for the same price. Years later I learned the Guild was a better bass but live and learn.
1974. $150.00. A "Leonardo" badged Japanese Les Paul style bass, some identical to it were sold as Ibanezes. My buddy had a Univox Les Paul guitar and I wanted the same thing but a bass, and that's what it was, black with multi ply binding and gold hardware. It had to be special ordered, and the Mom and Pop store I bought it at screwed me good at $150, I had no clue at the time, but a brand new Fender Precision was only $225 and you could buy a '60s P or J bass for $150-$200. They weren't "vintage" then, just used, and they were plentiful.
My first amp was a Univox UB-250 which was a little 25 watt solid state head that sat on a small 1 15" cabinet. Looked like a raisin on top of a watermelon and sounded exactly like crap. I bought that used for $100, probably about what it's worth today!
Late 1950's Kay Short Scale - Free (in 1962)
Sears Silvertone Piggy Back Bass Amp - My parents bought it for me for Christmas in 1963.
Sears Silvertone Piggy Back Bass Amp - My parents bought it for me for Christmas in 1963.
Year 2000. I had discovered "Californication" the year before and I knew I had to have a bass. So my Dad, (who's 1979 Guild B302 / Crate 1x15 had gotten me started) got me a shiny red Ibanez GRS200. $199.00. Along with a Rogue 1×10 practice amp. Couldn't have been more than $90. But I do remember it having some nice punch!
I remember UPS delivering that Musicians Friend box like it was yesterday. A NBD delivery is always the best feeling. But the FIRST NBD is just magical. And if my future child wants to take up an instrument, I'll get them started just like my dad did for me!
I remember UPS delivering that Musicians Friend box like it was yesterday. A NBD delivery is always the best feeling. But the FIRST NBD is just magical. And if my future child wants to take up an instrument, I'll get them started just like my dad did for me!
I am extremely luck my first, second and third basses were all gifts. The first bass I paid for was an Ibanez AB 10 for NZ$899 I sold it within a year it dimensions didn't feel comfortable to play and was causing me wrist problems so adios to that.
Golly! That was a fun read. "What we're gonna do now is go back…" Loved some tales especially - similar experiences. And all those lovely basses that seem so cheap, but really weren't - not at the time. Good to see some retentions too. You lucky dogs. I didn't retain mine, but it cost me nothing and may have been worth less than that 
In 1978, I was approached by two desperate high school seniors - two senior punks, as it turned out. I was a teen but only just. They'd heard from somewhere that I played guitar and asked me to join their band. They said they'd give me a bass if I did. I just couldn't refuse. It was a Riviera Jazz - chrome everywhere, with an Winter Olympic-sized ski-jump neck. I played it, and I use the term loosely, through anything that happened to be on-hand - never needed an amp. I couldn't afford one anyway, which was understood. Had a BALL!
That bass was purloined sometime that same year, by a very tall, long-haired tool, boyfriend of an erstwhile friend's big sister, who drove a black Tank Fairlane hearse… Needless to say, I didn't complain
In 1978, I was approached by two desperate high school seniors - two senior punks, as it turned out. I was a teen but only just. They'd heard from somewhere that I played guitar and asked me to join their band. They said they'd give me a bass if I did. I just couldn't refuse. It was a Riviera Jazz - chrome everywhere, with an Winter Olympic-sized ski-jump neck. I played it, and I use the term loosely, through anything that happened to be on-hand - never needed an amp. I couldn't afford one anyway, which was understood. Had a BALL!
That bass was purloined sometime that same year, by a very tall, long-haired tool, boyfriend of an erstwhile friend's big sister, who drove a black Tank Fairlane hearse… Needless to say, I didn't complain
First bass i still have, my only bass. Cost me $5
It was a present, but we had recently gotten a $100 amazon gift card through a raffle, so we used it on a bass as my birthday gift. A friend of mine gave me his old guitar amp for nothing, though now i have a fender rumble 25 bass amp, chanfed the strings on the bass and got it set up
It was a present, but we had recently gotten a $100 amazon gift card through a raffle, so we used it on a bass as my birthday gift. A friend of mine gave me his old guitar amp for nothing, though now i have a fender rumble 25 bass amp, chanfed the strings on the bass and got it set up
