The Bass You've Had the Longest

[edervjo]

My '81 AriaProII SB1000, bought it in '81 for $605.65 Custom paint in '86, EMG in 2008
Note wear at pickup and below the G, and the patina on the bridge...

 

[maxschrek]

 

[Pilgrim]

Is this the 30th one of these threads??? Probably.

OK, once again...1963 P, mine since 1967, repainted @ 1972, new neck about the same time when the truss rod broke in the original neck.

And if no one in the family is interested in playing bass, they can sell it after I'm done with it.

 

[JohnnyBottom]

1983 Ibanez Musician....little did I know

 

[JRA]

i couldn't find a decent pic of the bass itself so this will have to do:

it's ~30 years old, but it's now in pieces (disassembled) awaiting its next assignment. i'm guessing the pic is 20-25 years ago...might be some rehearsal --- i used to rehearse in a lot in places with white walls. the body is heavy swamp ash, too heavy for me now, but the neck is so good --- one of my all-time top three! i still use that strap, though.

i have several axes that i'd never ditch, but i'm not really interested in selling any of them. i'll give 'em to players that enjoy the fretless thing, or i'll give 'em to players who should be enjoying the fretless thing!

i don't have a take-it-to-the-grave ax (cremation here)....besides, who would burn (or casket-ize) a fretless?
that's something you'd do with a p-bass.

 

[lowfreqgeek]

1996 L2500 Custom. Bought it new in Spring 1997. Still with me.

View attachment 4705187

I distinctly remember mowing the lawn and dreaming of *that* bass in 1996. Blueburst over Ash L2500 Custom. I loved the Greenburst, too. I was starting my first year of college that Fall and buying an L2500 wasn't an option for me then.

 

[Peter Hess]

 

[Peter Hess]

I don't know why it posted 3 times but the alembic Epic on the right is my oldest. I got it in 1998 just 3 years after it was born for a song. Someone must have really needed cash in a hurry.

 

[eastcoasteddie]

I distinctly remember mowing the lawn and dreaming of *that* bass in 1996. Blueburst over Ash L2500 Custom. I loved the Greenburst, too. I was starting my first year of college that Fall and buying an L2500 wasn't an option for me then.

The place I bought it from had a Trans-Green with body binding on display, which I was about to purchase. The guy said, "What color do YOU want? We can get it…"
Two weeks later the BlueBurst arrived.

 

[Sonicfrog]

The bass I've owned the longest????

OK. You asked for it!!!

Here's the background. I was writing songs and lyrics since I was 13, but never picked up an instrument. I had no confidence at all that I could ever be able to play, so I never tried. I kept my writings private as I also thought it was crap.

Fast forward about 10 years. My older brother payed guitar. At some point he must have seen me writing stuff on a napkin or something. He started on bass as a teen and moved to guitar. He had his old bass laying around. He basically threw it at me and said "learn this!", and that set me on the road to being a bass player.

Nore: Many years later he would say he was surprised I stuck with it and got good. I told him I was as surprised as he was!

So, now, I'm scrolling through looking at all the pretty basses that you peeps have had for a while. My first bass is NOT one of those.

Ladies and Gentlemen. Meet the hideous Spider Queen!!! I pulled the frets, and added the ground wire from the bridge. Otherwise, it's pretty much the way it was when it landed on my some 35 years ago.

It's gloriously hideous!!!!

 

[Riff Ranger]

View attachment 4705784 View attachment 4705784 View attachment 4705784

I love the Alembic next to the Peavey. There's something really transgressive (in my mind) about the idea of playing that bass through that combo. I say this as someone with well-documented genuine affection for both Alembic and Peavey.

 

[jmlee]

1968 Fender P-bass that I've had since 1971. This young feller is playing somewhere in the 80's. And here it is again being played by an old feller in the late 2010's...

 

[gregbackstrom]

What is that one bass you will go to the grave with, that you will never sell, that you will always love (as much as you can love a bass) and have had since you can remember?

Probably my Ken Smith, if there's room in the pine box

I bought it new in the '80's and travelled NA for years, playing for a living.

 

[Riff Ranger]

The bass I've owned the longest????

OK. You asked for it!!!

Here's the background. I was writing songs and lyrics since I was 13, but never picked up an instrument. I had no confidence at all that I could ever be able to play, so I never tried. I kept my writings private as I also thought it was crap.

Fast forward about 10 years. My older brother payed guitar. At some point he must have seen me writing stuff on a napkin or something. He started on bass as a teen and moved to guitar. He had his old bass laying around. He basically threw it at me and said "learn this!", and that set me on the road to being a bass player.

Nore: Many years later he would say he was surprised I stuck with it and got good. I told him I was as surprised as he was!

So, now, I'm scrolling through looking at all the pretty basses that you peeps have had for a while. My first bass is NOT one of those.

Ladies and Gentlemen. Meet the hideous Spider Queen!!! I pulled the frets, and added the ground wire from the bridge. Otherwise, it's pretty much the way it was when it landed on my some 35 years ago.

It's gloriously hideous!!!!

View attachment 4705793

Great story about how you got playing, but what's the story with that instrument?! Medium-scale pre-lawsuit MIJ meets mad entomologist? Dig the naked wire to the bridge

 

[Sonicfrog]

Great story about how you got playing, but what's the story with that instrument?! Medium-scale pre-lawsuit MIJ meets mad entomologist? Dig the naked wire to the bridge

That's my brothers work. He was in a band called Rat Salad. I never really asked how this came about. Maybe I was too afraid too!!!

 

[Riff Ranger]

That's my brothers work. He was in a band called Rat Salad. I never really asked how this came about. Maybe I was too afraid too!!!

 

[riverbass]

Modified 97 Stingray 5 that was modified lie this when I bought it in 2000. Lane Poors and Demeter onboard preamp. My never sell bass...

 

[kittywithabanjo]

2006 Ken Lawrence Brace II

 

[Nedmundo]

After nine years without playing bass at all, I returned in 2002 and the following year bought this 2003 Jazz brand new. It was the first year with the S-1 switch. It immediately became my number one, and I'm still more attached to it than to any of my others. In 2005, it received a set of Lindy Fralin's noiseless Split-Jazz pickups, and I added the Fender black sparkle guard around 2011.

 

[felis]

Squier Vintage Modified Mustang bass.

It used to be the Squier Jaguar SS bass, which was my first bass,
but that recently got traded towards a Sabian Leopard Ride cymbal (drums are my main instrument).