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Was your 1st bass a P.O.S?

#141
Yes. It was a plywood p-bass copy (maybe Harmony) that my dad picked up at a garage sale. Had one of those super-microphonic silver humbuckery pickups. Swapped it out with a great Bill Lawrence blade p-bass pickup in 83ish, which was a massive improvement. Served me well as a starter. Soon after that, I bought a Yamaha BB-300 off the new drummer in our band (played that for years) and so did my own fretless job on it, repainted it with white house paint, and solid it when I left college in 90. Nostalgia, yes. Miss it, no. Do wish I still had that pickup, though!
 
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#142
Yeah, my first bass was a P.O.S. for sure. 1968 When I got it from friend. A no named red body, four string, Rosewood board. Heavy as a darn boat anchor, and a neck that was bigger than most baseball bats. But it got me playing bass back then. About the only good thing I guess I can say about it, the memories from back then, and eventually getting a better bass.
 
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#144
Nah, it was an Ibanez 5 string of some sort I can't quite remember. Played guitar and bought it to help record some things and play it on the side. It was the late 90s and the 5 string was super important for my nu metal riddled brain lol. Bass was a nice one, probably an SR and was a cool blue/green color. The amp I bought with it was a giant POS though, a completely ragged out Peavey TNT 115. The speaker was definitely blown to hell. Good times though, played that a lot.
 
#145
100% mine was It was a gift from my parents when I was in middle school and it was a blue Rogue bass that did not stay in tune longer than an hour of playing. Super lightweight so I suppose that was a positve lol. The action was super high ( i knew nothing about adjusting at the time) and ironically it was stolen
 
#146
yes..the charvelle had cheap pickups, the BC Rich had bad neck dive


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#149
SteffanB said:
Back in the late 70's when I was in Jr. High. I bought my 1st bass from Music Unlimited. This place would be a hot spot for musicians today! Any way, I picked up a copy of a copy of a copy of a Fender Jazz Bass for $35.00. One thing it wasn't was a copy of was a P.O.S!! Action was 2 inches above the fretboard. Neck had to be adjusted twice a month. Stayed in tune for maybe a hour! As much as I hated it, I believe it made me a better player. Anyone have similar stories?
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Mine was playable, the sound marginal, but good enough for a polka band. By the time I was 16, and had played a few different basses, and bought a Hagstrom I that for a short scale, and very little wood on the body if any (man, you guys concerned about weight would have loved this thing) sounded surprisingly well. I replaced the strings once, unfortunately those flats bloomed, and the sound became a muddy mess. I didn't know round wounds even existed back then, so I sold it.
 
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#151
Yes. Unknown make, found somewhere, hollow body red sunburst c. 1965-1970, microphonic pu's screwed on, once removed only played acoustically (which was fine, I was a trumpet player with base ideas) 1975 had EUWurlitzer guitar shop cut a hole and put in a Bill Lawrence double blade, still unplayable at high volume. Removed frets in 1979 (a total success) and moved on to Many Other basses. Don't know where it came from and I don't know where it was left... First borrowed solid body usable bass was a black Univox jazz copy with 4 unsimilar strings- a round, a flat, a white tape and a black tape. Learned Black Sabbath Paranoid record on it. Amp was a reel to reel with delay.
First bass amp was a Peavey TKO 40, soon I used Two of them, why I have 2 Fender Rumble 100s now.
 
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#152
In 1963 a 13 lb Kent P bass copy with a neck as thickb as a baseball bat. I was 14. Didn't even know about truss rods then. Think it was 60 bucks with a hard case. My teacher had a nice little Hagstom. Since he gave lessons at the same store that sold me the bass I can still hear him say " I cant believe he ( the store owner ) sold you this bass! "
 
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#154
First bass was a sunburst Fender Mustang probably from the 70s (I think). I had two Stingrays and a P-Bass years later, so I thought I didn't need it anymore. Really, really wish I hadn't sold that, but there's a long list of basses, guitars and amps I wish I hadn't sold, including the two Stingrays and the Precision.
 
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#155
Yep.
A Kramer Aerostar ZX70 b-stock. Doesn't even have the Karmer logo on it. Terrible frets, treacherous bridge, plywood body, and a paint job that chips when you look at it too hard.
It is still in my closet. Although the pots are dead are a weird size, so I never replaced them.
 
#156
SteffanB said:
Back in the late 70's when I was in Jr. High. I bought my 1st bass from Music Unlimited. This place would be a hot spot for musicians today! Any way, I picked up a copy of a copy of a copy of a Fender Jazz Bass for $35.00. One thing it wasn't was a copy of was a P.O.S!! Action was 2 inches above the fretboard. Neck had to be adjusted twice a month. Stayed in tune for maybe a hour! As much as I hated it, I believe it made me a better player. Anyone have similar stories?
Click to expand...

Well, it was better than no bass but only marginally so! :laugh:

My first bass (a loaner) was not very good. It was a Tempo brand. I think they were made in Japan. The next bass (another loaner) was also a Tempo but it was easier to play. Unfortunately, I didn't know about setups at the time.
 
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#160
My Mom bought me a Kapa bass at Veneman's in Silver Spring Md. The amp was an open back 2x12" stamped frame tall combo. The amp endured a lot of destruction. The Kapa was actually good. I was doing a bass solo in "Canned Heat - Boogie" in a Temple. The neck began to separate from the body which prompted a destruction scene. We had all just watched Monterey Pop with it's two destruction performances. Oh and Antonioni's "Blow Up." My guitarist bolted it back together with the bolts going through the fretbd. It became the prop for our stage show. Meanwhile I was playing an early Gibson EB that was shaped like the Gibson TV guitars and had the rear facing tuning pegs. Yeah we had great gear then.
 
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