My first "real" bass was a white Patriot, bought new in 1985-6 and I still have it! I won't sell it because it's worth much more to me to keep it than the $125 or so that I'd get for selling it. Setup/neck has been very stable except for when I recently put flats on it. The case is truly awesome, lots of protection - my bass was thrown (yes thrown) across a parking lot once in it's case and it suffered zero damage. At Jazz school back in the late 80s I was encouraged to put a Jazz pickup near the bridge, to sound more like Jaco, but I resisted and am glad I did. The foam does disintegrate after twenty years or so, and it did leave gunk on the body, but it cleaned up ok and now looks just like it did back in the 80s. And plays and sounds the same too.
I play a P bass these days, but I suspect that my predilection for dialing off the treble on my p bass comes from doing so for so many years on my Patriot. Yes, a very aggressive, grindy, punchy, ballsey tone, even with flats... And no, they do not sound like a P bass, although the pickup is in pretty much the same spot. I've never played a single coil P bass (like a '51) but I expect the Patriot is probably similar in tone.
My first bass was a Sears Harmony P bass... Bought on clearance for $75 in like 1984. Not sure what the finish was but it flaked off easily, from the body and the neck, and the neck was crap - frets uneven, a slight bow, and at age 14 I was stumped as to how to fix it. Wish I had it now too though. I think I sold it to my school for $50, to replace their aging Ampeg Big Stud, which is the first electric bass I learned on. That's another whole thread...
Anyway, thanks for the memories, and enjoy that Peavey!!
Ohwell, I'll live vicariously through you for a week or so...
