We ALL have that ONE bass...

[NecroticImbecil]

I pretty much only regret selling a couple of basses many years ago, and that is only because if I sold them now I'd get many times the money I did back then.

I did trash my first bass, a plywood P copy, trying to defret it. My 2nd bass, a 79 4001, was one I'd rather have sold yesterday than in the 90s. My 3rd bass and most since I have kept and taken good care of.

 

[Ric5]

We ALL have that ONE bass...

For me it is more than that one bass At any given time I have between 12 and 20 basses and I have owned 75 +/-

So I would like to have them all back.

 

[2saddleslab]

Over 30 years ago found a modded 75 Tele bass with a Dimarzio humbucker and BA bridge at a local pawn shop. I eventually “refined” the existing mods (custom chrome pu cover plate & new pickguard). Would love to have it back just to have it back.

 

[Wisebass]

Hi P. Aaron

Sold off a ‘68 Fender Paisley Telecaster for about $500.00.

This is sooooo stupid. I have to like you for that!

Wise(b)ass

 

[Kmonk]

The only bass I regret not having is 78 Jazz in Sienna Sunburst with block inlays. I bought it in 1980 and I loved the way it played and sounded. My band broke up in 1984 and I left the bass and my 1972 SVT head and cab at the drummer's house with the intention of picking it up a couple of weeks later. When I went to get them, I found out that he traded the bass and the amp for an Alembic Spoiler. I was pissed. I needed a vehicle so he gave me his van and some cash but I really wanted my gear. I have never seen another Jazz bass like it.

 

[blindeddie]

back in 1995 i joined a punk band that did pretty well, got signed, put out a few good records and toured the US ALOT. i bought a brand new G&L SB-1 which in my opinion is the best possible Pbass you can buy. i LOVED IT! everything about it and i played the hell out of it for about 4 years solid. toured and recorded a ton with amazing results.

this pic is NOT my exact bass, but mine was EXACTLY like it. then one day at the local music store, the drummer and i were killing time and i saw a brand new G&L ASAT tele bass. the owner of the store started giving us all this BS about how much better it was than my bass because of the active pickups blah blah blah... so i traded my beloved SB-1 in on it with alittle more cash to boot. long story short, it was total load of crap the salesman dumped on me and i ended up HATING that ASAT. so i went back to see if i could buy my SB-1 back but it was already sold. could not get in touch with the buyer and it was gone.

 

[GIBrat51]

[

Well, actually, we all don't. If you could ask my parents, they'd tell you that I was pretty much born 30 years old. And, yes, I've been called lots of things - but, while some of them are true, dumb ain't one of them. Still, I've had - and lost - other things that fit the description, though, so I know what you're talking about. Anyway... I learned to play bass back in 1968, on a left handed friend's blue '68 Rick 4001. But, for reasons that I won't go into here, I didn't own my first bass until I was in my mid-30s. So, I wasn't young and foolish, by any means. And, I still have it; this A-neck '78 P-Bass. And I have 23 other basses, too. Never have sold one, and don't intend to, either...

 

[twc1313]

2006 - Lived in San Francisco, was 24 and recording/touring with a serious band. Got to record with Lyle Workman (Beck) and Justin Meldal-Johnsen. This was my Fender Custom Shop 64 Jazz Relic in LPB, matching headstock, simply perfect. As a grumpy old man who needed to buy a house and get furniture, I foolishly sold it. This is the ONLY bass I ever regret selling, not for the cost, but for the memories and time in my life it represented.

Jazz Bass - LPB - YSS

• twc1313
• Mar 4, 2017
• jazz bass lake placid blue

 

[Tom Gallo]

My first bass was a Univox hi flier. The one with the humbuckers in it. I was thrilled to get it, but it really was a poopie bass. The neck pickup eventually stopped working. I ended up giving it to the son of a coworker who was starting to learn to play.

I'll probably end up buying an Eastwood reissue at some point.

 

[gtlover]

Are we talking about basses, or relationships?

The relationship between me and my Ibanez goes back several years before I even met my wife. I would die for my wife and kids, but I would kill for that bass. I feel almost as strongly about my MIM Jazz Bass.

In the early 2000's I had an Ibanez Jazz Bass that I sold due to needing the cash more than a 4th bass at the time. I've had moments of regret mixed with bouts of GAS about that one. Oh, to be young and stupid again.

My first bass was an ABG , and I have regretted trading it in on my first solidbody , 34" bass.
I still play the latter, but you all know how it goes with trade-ins. Never a good deal to be had that way.
Looked liked this one. Quite striking with bronze strings, and a mix of microphone and pickup made a gorgeous recorded tone.
View attachment 3191799

Dude. That for me is the one I've really missed - my second ABG was an Applause AE40 in black, almost like that one. +1 on the miked tone (try it with a kick drum mike!) although I used stainless roundwounds. While the preamp and pickup left a lot to be desired, it played great. My main band in college was an acoustic duo, so between shows, practice sessions, front porch jams, and stairwell noodling that bass got a ton of use.
Then, a few years later, I was lured by a closeout deal on an (imported) Ovation, so I traded it in... and regretted it almost immediately. Yes, the Ovation was "nicer" but that Applause was just better. While I did get another ABG not long ago, I still keep my eyes open for a black Applause in the hopes that it may come back to me.

 

[Bassmaticmatt]

I had two. My first bass was a 70s epiphone that disappeared. The second was my first "nice" bass. A Ibanez SR 500 that I lost in pawn. I stumbled across the sr years later and bought it back. It's one of my main players. I found a dead ringer for the epi. Now I have no remorse.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

Pretty cool how it survived all those stickers and come out the other side looking so...pristine.

Rubbing alcohol

 

[Gaolee]

I was young and foolish, but the urge to modify and destroy was channeled in other ways. I never made ham fisted modifications to a now priceless bass guitar or any other guitar, for that matter. And, I don't regret the few that passed out of my hands. The one that I would have regretted giving up is the EB-2 I still have.

 

[FirewalZ]

In High School I had a Fender Performer...it's long gone

 

[Snibborwocky]

2 regrets: Selling my '91 Stringray in an apparently rare blue burst I have only seen once in the last 25 years and my second regret was trying to install the mutes on my Fender Jaco bass without following the instructions and template it came with.

 

[saabfender]

This looks like the bass I bought in high school. Some time after getting out of the Army, I was a young drunk idiot and not playing a lot but doing some live sound. I got in the habit of taking it to a close by pawnshop for the occasional float between paychecks. Once, time got away from me (being a young drunk idiot) and I realized three days too late I needed to get over there and get it. Too late, it had been sold.

It was a good bass. Played great. Sounded OK. Not a huge amount of regret for the loss of the bass, just for the mistake itself. Although, I have to admit I’ve always kept an eye out for it.

 

[TrevorOfDoom]

I had a Cort Curbow that i liked, but I happened upon a deal at Guitar Center for a Deluxe Active Jazz bass.
Snagged it.
Loved it.
I gave it to a friend of mine who had sold his bass to help pay his mom's rent.

Heartwarming story, no?

He turned around a month later and traded it for a crappy Ibanez guitar.

 

[Rumbledore]

never did lose a carrot me self

 

[Spectrum]

... that we got when we were Young and dumb.

In My case... 3.

We either did something dumb, like... letting it go for a stupid reason.
Or, still have it, and wish that we had taken better care of it.

I fit into BOTH categories. Before I embarrass Myself (and I will, PROMISE), let's hear YOUR story, see pics.
Live and LEARN. UGH!!!

Since I started in the 80s I have owned 4 basses. I still have three of them. The first was a cheap short scale that I traded in after a few months for a much nicer one. None of these was regrettable; they all served or continue to serve a purpose.

Now that I am older and have more disposable income than a broke 15 year-old, I could blow money on a novelty instrument if I want, but I don't see a need.

Instead I waste my money on pedals.

 

[sawzalot]

I had one of these and luckily I kept it.

It's a MusicMan Stingray 4 that I bought new in 1994. For a couple of decades I played 5-strings almost exclusively and only occasionally picked up the Stingray. Then I found I was playing better on only 4 strings for a variety of reasons and started using the Stingray as my main axe. By then it had a really bad case of fret sprout and it literally felt like playing a saw--I actually cut myself on the fret ends once or twice. So I took it in for some long-neglected fretwork and now it's the best-playing bass I own.