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The first bass you had!

It was a Hondo P-Bass copy, sunburst with maple neck and black pickguard. Rent to own. I had wanted a Gibson Victory Artist that was in the same music store, but my mom said no because she thought "bass" was going to be just another phase. I ended up drilling holes in the body, smashing the neck and killing it off with a 12 guage some time in '84.I got that bass in 1980.....dang 27 years! My, my how time she do fly!
 
A white Fender P bass with a tortoise shell pick gaurd. My uncle gave it to me with a sears silvertone bass amp back in 1973. Wish i still had it. It got burned unfortunately and I was bassless for 10 years when my little wifey bought me a marina bass (probably samick) and a gorilla amp.
 
An EB0 or EB3 copy shortscale, plywood, red Kasuga bass with flatwounds, given to me by an Aussie in Tokyo, who's friend had found it in a dumpster, when I was 13 and a sax player visiting my Dad over there for the summer.
By the next winter, I knew bass was the thang. Came back next year, and the one after that, and played with that guy's band, The Hitmen.
 
Rogue 4 string fretted with pickups that I swear were just hammered into the body. The tuners felt more like can openers and the strap buttons were drilled about 1/2" into the horn and back end.... Which made for several interesting and frightening moments.

The 1/4" jack felt like it was press-fitted into the body--no thought to actually screw it in. Wow it was a terrible bass. The fretwork would've been decent had it been on a fretboard that was made of unchipped and unwarped 'rosewood'.

Well at any rate I moved from that to a Tobias 4 string whose punch and slappability were superb, as were the electronics, wood, construction, and looks. By the end I'd made several improvements and sold it to a guy for basically the same amount I paid for it 3 years into having it.
 
ive been playing this OLP Stingray 5 bass that i picked up at the pawn shop for 50 bucks....i love this bass. great sound only problem the bad nut but i have that rigged so it will work right.I would try and trade it in for money twards a new one but i would miss it too much in the time period between selling it and getting a new one.It s a natural finish with a reddish black swirl pick guard.
 
The bass I learned to play on did not belong to me and was the infamous Peavey T-40. Tobacco sunburst, rosewood fretboard and black pickguard. WAAAAAAAYYYYY too heavy for a 5'2", 16 year old gal!

The first bass I ever owned was a Kay P-bass copy. Sh*t brown with a white pickguard that had turned cream colored on all the exposed areas. Maple neck that was so thick it felt like holding onto a Louisville slugger. It had the chrome pick-up and bridge covers and a thumbrest. All that stuff was quickly removed! I had it for 2 years when the fretwires started popping out of the neck. I used to beat them back in with the handle end of a screwdriver. Sometimes they wouldn't go back in and I would just rip them out. The final straw came when I was playing it one night and the E string machine head came off. After that, I disassembled it, repainted it Lake Placid Blue and it was transformed into a replica Steve Harris Precision. Sold it in 1991.

My first decent bass was a 1976 S.D. Curlee. I still own that one and will never part with it. And I wish I had my first one back too.
 
So what was your first bass you had? Brand? Model? How was it, did you like it, and how soon you switched to another (better?) one?

Glad that you asked (albeit over 5 years ago ;) ), as I just found a photograph of mine recently.

Andysfirstbass.jpg


It was a Westone Thunder I Active (branded as "Electra" in the USA, I believe).

I never liked the look of it (horrible body shape :hmm: ), but it was a superbly built, great sounding and really easy to set up and play bass - what more could a beginner ask for :smug: ?

I kept it for a couple of years, before buying a second neck for it and de-fretting the original one.

Shortly after that, I got a job and started ploughing all of my spare cash into more basses :rolleyes: .

22 years later and nothing's changed :smug: !
 
Started in 1967 with a Silvertone (Danelectro U1) bass, and a Airline (Montogomery Wards) amp. Had lessons from two guys who remained my friends for life. One was killed by his adopted son, but the other guy and I are getting together for a jam Aug 4th. That will be 40 years of playing together. Not too bad, for a couple of old farts.
 
My first bass was this 1972 Rickenbacker 4001 FireGlo, it was 4 years old when I got it & I still have it cuz I couldn't find anything that I liked better.
It's been my baby to this day, many basses have come & gone, but the RIC has always been the one. :D

DCP_4971.jpg

DCP_4977.jpg
 
My first bass was a squier P-bass from INDONESIA (oh god...). Then about a year or a year and a half later I thought the electronics broke and I bought an '84 G&L L2000 (all with my own cash, that's the only reason my parents let it fly). Now I revamped the ol' P-bass and play both basses regularly.
 
Peavey Millennium BXP P bass that came in my basspack. I just started back last october so Ive only had one bass since then...A Millennium BXP J Bass :D Still waiting to buy my first "real" bass which should be very soon once I find the right deal. Just started buying my first real rig with a GK 1001RBII new for cheap, no cab yet though.

I sold my P bass to my friend for 50 bucks and now it just sits in his basement...might try and get it back.
 
Oh man, in 1970 I started with an Apollo hollowbody bass that was just a piece of junk. It was used, lasted less than one year and literally started falling to pieces. That experience and the easy availability of guitars pushed my bass playing aside and I started playing guitar. Year later, I got back into playing bass. Now that I am teaching bass lessons, I still recall and use some of the information I gleaned from those early bass lessons with that Apollo bass.
 
1977 Gibson RD Artist bought new off the showroom floor at American Music Company, Odessa, Texas, in 1978. Just sold it last year to a guy from Guelph, Ontario, Canada, because it was so heavy and I'm now so old I just couldn't play it anymore. 2 years after I bought, I was in law school and working security at an Alice Cooper/Baby's/Legs Diamond concert and the Baby's bassist was playing one so we spent part of the evening comparing notes on our basses until I had to go to the backdoor of Hemisfair Arena to get John Waite in the door. He refused to wear his tour pass and thought he was special. He actually thought a San Antonio cop should recognize him and let him in the door. He threw a fit until I went and got him inside. He was threatening to kick everyone's ass's------all 5'4" & 140 lbs. of him!!!! Man, were we scared!






BTW, Mr. Matt, that's the most beautiful 4001 I've ever seen. The binding is blinding!
 

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