"Married" to the same bass for almost 50 years

[SteveC]

I've had my '62P since 1968 or 9 so I make that 42 or 43 years, I cannot remember that far back clearly.

It was my only bass until about 5 years ago, now I have 8 and am looking for #9.

Interesting...that was about the time you joined Talk Bass........

 

[kellyrojo]

I have the ATK that I bought in high school in 96 (I think) still. Well actually a friend has it right now but I can always get it back if I want....Didn't really use it too much lately so better it in the hands of someone plucking it! Good bass---wont ever ditch it

 

[willgroove2]

I have a '77 Gibson Grabber brought new for me by my dad in '79,so 32 yrs still have it and still use it for sessions every once in awhile

 

[Peepaleep]

I've had this FrankenFretless since 1990, so that's 21 years. It's an '83 P Body with a '90 Warmoth birdseye maple/ebony J neck. I've added the EMG's, the J p'up and the BAII bridge (which I will soon be swapping out for a traditional Fender bridge). It's not pretty, but it's a workhorse.

 

[squarepeg]

I've had my Lado for 20 years.

 

[loendmaestro]

I've got a 1974 Rickenbacker 4001 I've had for 25 years. I'm looking at it hanging on the wall this very second....

 

[Easy8]

I've had the same '60 P for 40 years. Others come and go, but this one has always the moneymaker.

 

[T40Chump]

T40 for 27 years. I have a Stingray (1 year) and a Spector (3 years) that are in regular rotation but the T40 has always been my "go to" bass.

I can't envision life without the Peavey.

 

[Rockmusician]

I had an Alembic 5 string for 7 years. I traded it for a 4 and now wish I had kept it.

 

[Mayers]

I have my Yamaha BBN5IIL for 9 years now. I bought 3 other basses since but I still come back at my Yamaha ... I still scearch for a nice bass that will be like my Yamaha.

 

[BioDriver]

My old bass instructor still has the same 74 J bass he bought when he was 16. He's had it refretted a few times but it looks sick!

 

[NortyFiner]

I owned my first bass, a 1984 Fender P of uncertain origin, from 1989 until 2004ish, when I had to sell it to make ends meet. I still miss it dearly.

 

[James Mobius]

That's a good question. The first bass I built, a 4 string fretless, which is now a 5 string fretless, in 1984, or was it 83? hmm. around then. pretty sure it was my last year of high school and I graduated in 84, have used it on 4 CDs and still use it. that's er, 27 years! I've lost count, but last time I thought about it, I'd owned over 30 basses, most of which were cheap, a few of which were not, 4 string Alembic Persuader, only one pick up, paid a grand, plus $100 for the case, could not sell it through the wants ads, traded it to guitar center with a little cash, I think $200? for an Ibanez V which I still treasure, the store sold it, used, for what I paid for it new, inside of a week! that guy could have saved $300 if he'd read my want-ad. when I moved to Japan I got rid of a lot of stuff, including a vintage early 60's Hofner, which I sold for, ouch, $350. I think I paid $300 for it, so at least I made a profit. boy do I regret that, not just cuz it's worth over 2 grand now, I wouldn't sell it now, it looked great, sounded great, was fun and easy to play and weighed nothing! (*kicks self again*)

 

[Stan Laurel]

I have a Jackson 5 string which I bought about 1998 though I usually play a Conklin GT7 now. I still have matching 1967 Ric 360 6 and 12 string guitars that I bought new in 67. I don't play guitar much anymore but I'll never part with them. One day my son will have them.

 

[Bassist Jay]

The longest I have owned a bass is my 1994 Ibanez SR 500 Soundgear bass that I bought new in early 1994. Maybe April or May? So it is 17 years and counting. That is cool though for those folks who have owned a certain bass for several decades!

 

[Rezdog]

Greetings from the North,

I still have my 76 TBird that I bought new.....35 yrs wow.

Rezdog

 

[Pilgrim]

Holy Crap that's a beauty. Is that the OG finish? Is it Shoreline Gold? (Admittedly not a Fender finish expert).

It's a Ford gold from about 1972, straight out of the Ford color charts. It's reasonably close to a couple of Fender colors. You can look at options here: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[Jeff Scott]

I got my first Rickenbacker in 1973, and still have it (see avatar).

 

[SpecialBlender]

Could only ever afford one bass at a time, played bunches of them over the years but kept searching. I bought my Yamaha TRB5II new in '98. I finally was able to buy my first Dingwall (Combustion) last Christmas off TB. That was 2 weeks after I joined Talkbass and I've had chronic gas ever since.

I have no intention though of parting with my Yamaha, but to ensure it gets some playing time I'm having it professionally converted to fretless. Never had a fretless but I love how the Yamaha sounds and plays so I know I'll have a good one when its done.

 

[woodyng]

been playing for over 30 years,been through a lot of basses,the longest i ever kept one was 11 years for an '83 ric 4002,now gone. i have had a ric 4000 for about 8 years now,and a ric 4004 cii for about 3 years now-both of them aren't going anywhere anytime soon.