Lost Loves

[Jefus]

For me it was a yellow Yamaha RBX-200F. Yellow body, black neck and headstock, lined rosewood fretboard and a single P pickup.

There was something about that bass that I haven't heard in another bass since. I keep thinking it was the fretless rosewood board, but I think it may have been the pickup or possibly whatever material they used on the fret lines, but it sounded unusual. Sold it for $175 in 1995. I tried buying it back from the person I sold it to for $450, but they had already bonded.

I hope someone is still playing it somewhere.

 

[Killing Floor]

Nothing that would matter to anyone else.

80s Kramer Forum bass in hurt-your-eyes hot pink.

This model....
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....but in this color.
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Awesome basses. I have a black one at my mom’s house and about once a year she asks if I want it. I’m thinking it’s safe there but maybe time to bring it home. Fastest necks ever.

 

[Killing Floor]

I had a Kubicki ExFactor, black. I bought it new and used it for everything. Gigs, sessions, tour, everything. When I went back to school in 97 I eventually sold it for an entire semester of tuition and books.
I guess earning an engineering degree is ok-ish but it’s not as great as that bass was.

 

[corndog]

An early serial number 2003 EBMM SUB, wired in series from the factory. That bass had an outstanding tone. The neck was excellent and it was average weight.

I used it as a partial trade for an HH Stingray SloSpecial. I never bonded w that bass.

 

[Marko 1]

Since I'm adding BEADs to my stable of 5ers, I'm wishing I hadn't sold this MIM Jazz. Fortunately I did keep my MIM P which is now BEAD, and I bought a cheap off-brand Jazz that I kinda like, but I'm really wishing I still had this.

 

[LowWay]

Meh. No lost loves really. Well, maybe my pre-Gibson Tobias. I disassembled it in the 90s, rattle can refinished it and never reassembled it in a fit of mania while in a punk rock band. It wasn’t as nice as my current bordwells, but that is probably my favorite bass I owned before discovering bordwell. Also my pedulla mvp4 was a dream except for the weight.

 

[Element Zero]

Ibanez ATK305

Still have mine I bought in ‘98. I never play it anymore as the electronics developed a periodic but annoyingly loud crackle. What a workhorse though.

 

[Andy Marshman]

Not so much 'loves' but memorable - Gibson walnut finish EB4L and an Ampeg B-15 that I restored. And, a Hwy 1 Tele that I Frankenstein'd into a short scale bass.

 

[whero]

I've told this story on TB before, but an Ibanez Roadster RS 820 in "brown sunburst" exactly like the one on the right of this old catalogue image from 1979.

Here I am playing it in about 1983, with my faithful Boss CE-2 and PH-1 pedals that I still have, and some ridiculous sunglasses I don't remember owning.

I traded it in on a new Ibanez SR1305 PD. But I loved playing that Roadster, more than I ever liked the SoundGear. If I found an RS 820 in half-decent condition I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

 

[Michael Stanley 2112]

I'll omit the one I let get away (a one-of-a-kind Gibson Prototype I could have had for $1,200 back in 1989).

The bass I miss the most (and it's the only one which comes to mind whenever this type of thread is posted) is my 1983 Ibanez Roadstar II bass.

It was an incredibly well-built (They were still Japanese-made back then) and great playing instrument. It was a work horse. I bought it as a back-up to my '72 P-Bass and it eventually reversed roles with the P-Bass.

A MONSTER BASS, well worth my $400 (with a hard shell case) outlay in 1983.

 

[dpaul]

My biggest regret was selling my ‘89 Kramer-era Spector NS-2 back in 1995. I sold it for a good cause, but it’s the one I miss the most. It played and sounded like no other. This is from 1994, a year before I sold it.

 

[lbbc]

Montezuma Brown Rickenbacker
G&L ASAT (owned by Tom Hamilton)
Ovation Magnum IV
Carvin TSB4
2007 Blue Dawn Stingray

 

[Relsom]

Not just that I let it get away, but how incredibly stupid I was for making this deal..... '75/'76 4001 Burgundyglo that I had bought new. I got a wild hair in the '80s and decided it would be a smart thing to chop out the baffle in my Traynor 6x10 and reconfigure it for 3x12. No scientific calculations, no real electronics or acoustical engineering involved. I pulled up into my friendly neighborhood MI shop and proceeded to fork over my 4001 for a trio of raw Music Man 12" driver's. Foolish, I know.
I have a 2nd regret, but far less stupid than the Ricky story. I sold my Kramer era NS-2 to fund a brand new SWR Redhead combo. I thought I was going to love that amp more than I did. Actually grew to hate it.

 

[CGremlin]

I have two. The first was my '88 Jetglo 4003 that I sold to pay bills. I have a '14 4003W now that sounds a lot better, but it doesn't have the feel that the older one did. The second bass was one I never actually owned - an '87 Guild Pilot. I worked in a music store at the time, and borrowed that bass to play a number of theater gigs. I thought long and hard about buying it because it was just a joy to play, but ended up buying my Ibanez RB-800 instead. I often wish I'd bought the Guild instead, but the Ibby has served me well for many years.

 

[rtslinger]

Alembic Series 11.. stolen

 

[booch29]

A Yamaha BB 1500A.
It was, and still, the best bass I've ever owned.

 

[theduke1]

My first G&L that was a Christmas gift from my wife 1986
Duke

 

[JC BASS 91]

My burst Peavey T-40. Heavy, built like a tank but what a sound. I had a white T-40 as well, but this burst one seems to be rather on the rare side.

 

[getrhythm]

A '90s passive Music Man Sting Ray, sunburst w/ maple board. Sold it to a drummer friend to fund a set-up and accessories for a new upright bass. Never felt another bass guitar that was just magnetically drawn to my hands like that one. Every few years I ask my buddy to sell it back to me. No luck yet. I regret selling it to this day.

 

[BD Jones]

I've got two. One was a POS Ventura P-bass. It had a horrible burst on it (not that I don't like bursts, but this was poorly done). I stripped it down and put a gloss on the raw wood and it came out great. I de-fretted it and out new pickups in it and it became a beast, and it weighed like one, too. My other was a Steinberger XM2 gloss black. I bought it used in the early 90s for about $500, which was an amazing deal. I know they pop up all the time on Reverb but I can't justify the price. Everything else I've gotten rid of I haven't missed.