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The Bass that I miss the most.

RiZzBot

RiZzBot

Drunk + bass + broken strap locks = :'(
Nov 23, 2014
1,233
1,120
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210, Texas
#1
Besides my grandfathers Rickenbacker, the only other bass I really ever wanted was Ernie Ball SR4. I remember hearing this bass on numerous recordings and thinking how monstrous the tone. Because I worked part time at an arcade at the time, I never really thought that I'd ever have the $1.5K to spend on a instrument of that caliber. When I was about 20 years old the band I was playing in at the time was auditioning vocalist. Come to find out the guy we chose was also a bass player and had the sickest SR4 I'd ever seen. It had a black body, rosewood fretboard and matching black headstock. I literally wore this guys down by bugging him every waking moment to sell me the bass. He finally caved after about 3 months of nonstop badgering on my part. Aside from the birth of my children this was one of the highest points of my life. The bass was everything I ever dreamed. I quickly dropped every other bass I had at the time and only used my SR4. That bass went through a lot with me; about 5 different bands a wife and many other high and low points in my life. I found myself out of work and desperate to jam. I put out an add in Craigslist (a decision I would regret the rest of my life) as a Bass player looking for a band. The guys who responded to the ad wound up being a ex-con who had a lot of emotional and psychological baggage. Hell of a musician but a total whack job. One day after a late night practice I decided that I would leave my gear at his hovel, since we were going to gig the following day. Everything about this screamed DONT DO IT MAN, but the thought was silenced by my laziness and the inebriation brought on by the mass consumption of Lone Star beer. The following morning I awoke with a bad feeling in my gut. I figured it was from the late night jam/party session I had had with my new found prison pal. Just as I was about to call this loser the phone rang. I answered my cell and the next moments are somewhat of a blur. Turns out (from his account) that his house had been burglarized and along with some of his crappy gear my SR4 was taken too. I will never live down the decisions I made that night. Take heed friends! Please feel free to share your stories of the bass that you miss the most.
sr4.jpg
 
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#2
Nuthin to do with a bass but a similar story. A buddy of mine loaned his dads Fender guitar amp to a "friend"because the friends amp was in the shop. He got the same call a couple of days later. House burglarized and the amp was gone. We found out about 6 months later from the "friends"ex that he had pawned the thing to pay off a drug debt. Beware of low lifes in the music biz.
 
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#3
For a couple of year I was checking every online classified ad and pawn shop in the city. I was so pissed that I even at one point thought of beating some info out of this guy. When I tried looking him up again, found out that he had committed his third felony, and was back in prison. What a lowlife scumbag.
 
#6
I think I miss them all, in different ways and for different reasons. I couldn't pick just one. Can I even pick a top three...?

Fender P-Lyte (stolen which makes this one hurt uniquely since I didn't voluntarily give it up, recorded my old band's first album with it)
Guild B-30 ABG (gorgeous, dumb to sell it but needed lots of neck repairs that I couldn't afford)
EBMM SR5 (had it from new for 20+ years, recorded my old band's second album with it, traded it in a fit of GAS)
Warwick Thumb (looked and sounded beautiful, too damn heavy though and was desperate for $$$ at the time of sale)
EBMM Sterling (just sold it to help pay for my custom build, probably the best bass I've ever owned up until now, what was I thinking...?)

...nah, had to be a top five list, and I feel guilty now for leaving out my Squiers. :(
 
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#8
Link Removed

This 2007 VM Jazz. It was heavy, but i gigged it hard through high school and into my first year of College. Traded it for a fretless version that didn't work out, and have lost contact with the guy I traded it to. I'd love to be able to reacquire it as the guy who got it was a drummer and probably hasn't played it much.
 
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#10
Back in the late 1980s I bought a burst 1960 Precision that looked brand new. A real closet queen. A guy I was playing with at the time had gotten wind of it being for sale by a guy he knew, and I bought it. I didn't actually play it often, because I liked the sound and feel (and look) of my well-worn burst 1964 P better.

I sold it in 2001 to a business associate of mine, and he still has it, seldom plays it, and it still looks new. It sits on a stand in his office, along with a couple dozen other prime examples of historic guitar and EB American stalwarts, including my Oly White 1962 Jazz, one of my 1965 Ps, and a Coral Pink Gumby-Head National electric guitar that I also sold him. At least I can pick them up and reminisce a bit when I visit.

I probably should have kept that cherry 1960 Precision.
 
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#15
After listening to a few of the CDs my old punk rock band released between 2002 and 2007, I realized that I miss the 1980 Rickenbacker 4001 I used to play back in those days. Holy Mother of God, what a tone! A 4001, roundwounds, and a 50 watt Fender Bassman 10 with the channels bridged and every knob dimed is a beautiful thing. I was running two Bassman 10's for a while on gigs. The funny thing is, I still own the bass! I just never play it anymore because all those years of beating the living daylights out of it with the roundwound strings really chewed up the frets. Some day I will have it re-fretted.
IMG_0139.jpg


I also miss the '75 Gibson Grabber that was stolen from me in Wilmington, VA on my first tour in 2002. It had a really nasty tone to it. Still not over that one. I only got to gig it a couple of times. At least the guys in the opening local band were kind enough to leave behind my Rickenbacker since their bassist already had one. :mad::rage::mad::rage:
 
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#16
1967 Standel, because it was my first.

1973 Rickenbacker, because probably it was the best sounding bass I ever owned.

Early-ish Wal 4-string, just because.

Pre-Gibson Tobias Basic 5-string fretless custom, because it played effortlessly and it sang. Even the guys who made it thought so, though they couldn't say why it was. Just a very special instrument.
 
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#17
jj4001 said:
After listening to a few of the CDs my old punk rock band released between 2002 and 2007, I realized that I miss the 1980 Rickenbacker 4001 I used to play back in those days. Holy Mother of God, what a tone! A 4001, roundwounds, and a 50 watt Fender Bassman 10 with the channels bridged and every knob dimed is a beautiful thing. I was running two Bassman 10's for a while on gigs. The funny thing is, I still own the bass! I just never play it anymore because all those years of beating the living daylights out of it with the roundwound strings really chewed up the frets. Some day I will have it re-fretted.
View attachment 529907

I also miss the '75 Gibson Grabber that was stolen from me in Wilmington, VA on my first tour in 2002. It had a really nasty tone to it. Still not over that one. I only got to gig it a couple of times. At least the guys in the opening local band were kind enough to leave behind my Rickenbacker since their bassist already had one. :mad::rage::mad::rage:
Click to expand...
Sweet Ric!
 
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#19
A '58 Precision with no finish or pick guard on it that I bought for $1200 in about 1996, had refinished and added an after-market gold anodized pick guard. For some now incomprehensible reason I traded it straight up for a Lakland 55-94 Deluxe in about '98 or '99.

Yeah, I know, I know...
 
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#20
A '68 or '69 (not sure) Telecaster that was stolen from our practice space back around 69-70. I still miss it. I bought it new and only had it about 4-5 months. It looked a lot like this one
 

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