Most expensive 1st bass to learn on ? ?

[Danger McLovin]

When you were just starting out,
When you were looking to buy your very 1st bass,
Before you even really new how to play . . . . .

What is the most expensive bass guitar you bought to learn on ? ?
Like has anyone bought a custom bass as their very 1st bass guitar to learn on ? ?

 

[chris_b]

I bought my first bass in 1965, a Framus Star bass, one pickup and small body. It was the cheapest bass in the shop at $355 in today's money. This was pre CNC machines, back when people built basses.

I had to wait for another 3 years before I could buy my new Fender Precision, which was over $2000 in today's money. That was the most I'd spend on a bass for the next 30 years.

 

[Dadum]

If you’re good at buying and selling, you can buy a fairly expensive used one, use it for a few years and then sell it at a small loss or slight gain. The $/year “rental” isn’t much (assuming no credit card is used). The cost of “additional required gear” can be high so think about how you’re financing the amp and other stuff.

I bought a new bass with body damage for a discounted price of $550. I think it will not be a problem selling it close to that in a few years but I do plan on keeping it. Some additional expected expenses would be for a pro setup at some point.

A lot of people buy a bass and switch pickups and customize their basses. I didn’t want to hassle with it so I bought one with pickups that are more expensive and I’m not likely to change them.

 

[JRA]

Like has anyone bought a custom bass as their very 1st bass guitar to learn on ? ?

i haven't had that experience!

clue me/us in on your thinking. thanks.

 

[Zooberwerx]

Never happened here, either. My first was a <$100 Lafayette or similar and that was a lot of money! OTOH, I watched a dad buy his 11 y.o. son a really nice Gibson Les Paul as a first guitar...that was '79 or so.

Riis

 

[RattleSnack]

You'll likely get more interesting answers on the Double bass side of this forum. Double basses are generaly much more expensive than bass guitars.
Mine was same as most everyones, cheap no-name bass.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

Not my first bass, but purchased shortly after my first bass and what I really learned on was a Steinberger XM-2T at about $3000 in today’s money. I was in the Army with almost no expenses.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

I bought my first bass in 1965, a Framus Star bass, one pickup and small body. It was the cheapest bass in the shop at $355 in today's money. This was pre CNC machines, back when people built basses.

I had to wait for another 3 years before I could buy my new Fender Precision, which was over $2000 in today's money. That was the most I'd spend on a bass for the next 30 years.

You mean, back before Peavey

 

[Tom Bomb]

One thing to keep in mind, the sound quality is intrinsic to the adventure. No sound, no quality. If it looks like a nice bass, that's one thing. But it has to sound like a nice bass. You cannot learn to play what you cannot hear. A good bass should have a broad pallet of sounds, so you'll be learning with as much depth as possible. Your ear, and therefore your mind, can only become familiar, for the most part, beyond the physical scale, with what's there, in the room, sound-wise. A good bass should solely be determined by its musical potential. And, by the law of averages, if you're buying wisely, the value will be there. Always get a keeper if you can. Forget the price — a good bass will always pay dividends
​

 

[Bass V]

considering the concept that you never stop learning, I'm currently buying my most expensive bass to learn on, it costs more than the 2 basses I bought my first day out bass hunting. now those 2 old Fenders easily eclipse this new one by the number$, but I wish I would have found my ultimate pair which I now have back then instead of waiting 4 decades for them to be created by Asian Epiphone. the flip on that is I know what it's like to open a case from the Fullerton era and get that unforgettable whiff of a vintage Fender specimen up yer nose, it's priceless.

 

[bholder]

It wasn't mine, it was my brother's, but for his 13th birthday, my parents bought him an old bass a guy from church had in his attic. For $45. It was an authentic original 1954 Fender Precision, worth, oh, maybe $6000 even back then.

That's what I learned on. My first basses I bought for myself a few years later were about $100 - $150 - a Fender Musicmaster, and an Epiphone EA-260. Both great, but nothing like that '54.

 

[mongo2]

When I started learning bass mine was an early '60s Silvertone Model 1444 by Danelectro I bought used back when dinosaurs roamed the earth. Since it was my only bass, it was therefore my most expensive bass...I still have one I play often.

 

[marchone]

When you were just starting out,
When you were looking to buy your very 1st bass,
Before you even really new how to play . . . . .

What is the most expensive bass guitar you bought to learn on ? ?
Like has anyone bought a custom bass as their very 1st bass guitar to learn on ? ?

My first bass was a short scale Kay I bought in 1966 for $5 and a tab of acid. The action was a half inch high and it wasn’t intonated. But I was determined (it really calloused my fingers) and bought a Fender Telecaster Bass a year and a half later in 1968. I sold the Kay for $35. It still had the same roundwounds on it.

 

[Stewie]

Short scale Univox copy of a Mosrite $100 used 1973. 73 Jazz Bass, 1975 used $295

 

[Scarey Larry]

You can spend anything on basses. I started on a $50.00 Fernandez, and not the $$$ custom Fernandez's. For me, the most important item is not cost but function. Comfort matters too. All the talk on the forums is correct, it is your fingers, not the hardware. So after a couple of months I dumped the Fernandez for an Ibanez (that is what I could get). For me it would be a cheap new, or used, name brand bass. Fender is one, but I think Ibanez makes some great equipment, as do many others. You can certainly start with a custom Sadowsky NYC, but an Ibanez SG 400 will do 92% of what the Sadowsky will do and save you thousands.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

1978 Rickenbacker 4001, $450 with HSC, and every cent I had after a summer mowing lawns. Like driving a Ferrari with a Learner’s Permit, but I didn’t regret it. My teacher had a CBS era 70’s P that felt like a POS compared, I let him borrow it a couple times.

 

[DonaldR]

I would spend between $800-$1000 on a used bass. You will have a really nice instrument to learn on and if you don't like it you'll be able to resale it for $800-$1000.

If you want to by a brand new bass, I would get a Yamaha TRBX-505, simply because it's a nice bass, plays well, have a good active tone and a good passive tone so you can see which one you prefer, feels smaller than a P or J so more comfortable.

I would personally start on a 5 string as it can generally (did I said generally?) cover more music genres (new country, metal, etc.) without drop tuning and you'll be able to explore more left hand positions.

 

[basslicks]

I just learned on some random Gibson knockoff that cost like $100. It worked fine for me. I didn't get my first "expensive" bass until maybe 10 years later (by expensive I mean $1000 or more).

 

[MVE]

Growing up, I was about 14 or so, one of my buddies father was a well known local jazz guitar player. When my friend started playing a little guitar, his father just lent him one of his 10 or so Les Pauls. This one was a ‘70s black custom 3pu.
My friend didn’t have a lot of money and he lived in an apartment with his mother. So it was a little odd to see this legendary guitar just sitting in the middle of his somewhat messy bedroom floor.

 

[bcbassman]

I had a Tempo bass with action so high that you could drop a cat through it! it was only 35 dollars used then.
I then bough a Hagstrom bass for $155 new then but that was in the 1969.

I don't know of any rich kid stories but i am sure that it happened. It was and is actually a smart thing to buy a quality instrument, used, to start out on, because if the person loses interest, they can possibly sell the instrument for what they paid or more.