What did you do with your first bass?

[jwj1701]

A 1985 Washburn B4 w/hard shell case. Cost me $400 back then. I still have it. It needs a new nut after my nephew borrowed it. Could use some new tuners but i keep it because of the really thin neck, thinner than my current highway 1 jazz.

 

[jwj1701]

A 1985 Washburn B4 w/hard shell case. Cost me $400 back then. I still have it. It needs a new nut after my nephew borrowed it. Could use some new tuners but i keep it because of the really thin neck, thinner than my current Highway 1 jazz.

 

[jwj1701]

Sorry about the reply post, I'm a newbie hear.

 

[Charlzm]

Hey,

I'm interested in hearing what some of you did with your first bass, and why.

I got my first bass in 1982. It was a mid 70's Rickenbacker 4001. It was quite buzzy, so I replaced the stock pickups with DiMarzio humbuckers (had to rout out the p/u cavities slightly and cut the neck p/u hole a little larger, including the pickguard) and the stock bridge with a BadAss bridge (because Geddy Lee and Jeff Berlin used them).

This turned the bass into a honking, piglike beast that lacked any detail or subtlety. I sold it a few years later.

Moral of the story: keep it unaltered if it's a nice bass.

 

[KrisWarrington]

I had a Fender P-bass Lyte that was made in the 80s, it was given to me by my father. I gave it to some kid at a music store (luckily for him I had it in my truck) who was begging his parents for one of those fender starter kits. He seemed happy, his parents... not so much.

 

[Mr.Fingers]

1978 "Black on Black" Musicmaster bass. Sold it because I could use the money. Now that I'm older (and wiser?), I would have kept it, not to really play it fulltime (it's shortscale and I'm quite big), but because it was a darn good bass for the money.

 

[Lawkeeper]

Put it on a stand, and play it at least every other day..

 

[Roy Vogt]

41 years later I've restrung my 1970 Kalamazoo EBO copy with flatwounds and I'm playing it in my Cream tribute band, Cream Dream. So glad I bought it back after I foolishly sold it in '72 (I bought it back 6 months later). That old giant Mudbucker gets the Jack Bruce "burp of doom" perfectly!

 

[RaniBrandt]

White Squier P, covered in stickers. No idea where it ended up. I either traded it when I upgraded to a MIM Jazz or I gave it away. Likely the latter. I sold the Jazz when I moved from Denver to NYC, thinking I'd never play again. Guess I was wrong!

 

[NKUSigEp]

Sanded/ground the finish off the front of it, carved some über-cool "tiger stripes" into the wood, and then burnt it with a long-handled lighter.

I'm not sure why, really...

 

[jShipp]

It's in a gig bag in the closet

 

[DRN-PWNS]

my plywood PJ. the finger board delaminated from the neck, Its sitting in a gig bag in the closet waiting for me to get the balls to replace the finger board.

 

[chadhargis]

I sold my first bass. Sold my second bass too. Just sold my third bass. But have my fourth, fifth, and sixth basses. I really only play one of them, but the other two aren't worth the hassle of selling. I'd probably loose money on them by the time I paid to pack and ship them.

My brother has the first instrument he ever owned. It's some sentimental attachment that keeps it around. It's like getting sentimental about a screwdriver, it's a tool. There is no music in any bass. There is no soul. There is nothing but wood, wires, magnets, and metal.

The music is in the player. Be sure to keep the player around for awhile.

 

[maxiegrant]

My first bass is in my living room right now. It has three different sets of strings on it (or pieces of three), and the strap is some refugee from a Guitar Hero game. It's a Hondo of some description, a P-Bass clone I purchased in 1985 for $150.

It is usually referred to as my "yellow" bass, because that's about what color the finish on the wood is. I sold it in 1987 when I bought my Rickenbacker 4001. I bought it back in 1991 or so for $90. The intervening owner had put a false pickup switch in, and disconnected all of the pots because they were so crackly. I think I reconnected the volume pot. Not sure, honestly.

I used it on my band's latest CD for the first song because I was looking for a thumpy P sound. Of particular interest to me was that the mongrel strings that were on it had the E and A sounding dull and thuddy, and the D and G sounding bright and twangy, which played perfectly into the arrangement of the song where I wanted the notes I played on the D string to be more accented. I had to take it apart and re-do the entire neck before I could play it, though. I had in the 1980's read some ill-conceived article by Billy Sheehan advising me to deliberately screw up my neck with shims, and once I removed that silliness the bass was actually quite playable. I think I may throw some new pickups in it and re-string it and see if I can use it for a beater from time to time.

 

[kjpollo]

I traded it in on my SECOND bass! Being young and in college, I didnt have all the money to buy my next one outright so I needed the credit toward the bass I bought.

What were the basses in question, you might ask?
Well, Bass No. 1 was a POS 3TS Memphis P-bass copy with some weird non-precision looking, microphonic humbucker. It was bought new in late 1979 and I dont miss it one bit.

Bass No. 2 was an all-black Kramer Duke ordered brand-new from the dealer. (this was circa 1982-83). The Duke was subsequently traded in on a used T-40 in 1984, which was then traded in on a NOS Ibanez Musician in about 1985. Then in late 85 or early 86 I bought a pre-EBMM so for the first time ever, I had 2 basses at the same time! This was my "wealthy" period- single, living at home, saving $$. (well, not really- I was spending it on basses!) I bought/sold/traded the Ibanez, the Music Man, an Alembic, a highly modified late 70's Fender Jazz, a Steinberger XM2, A Charvel 3B and a Spector NS-2A.

I'd love to get all of those basses back (or at least a lookalike) except the Memphis and the Alembic. Funny, right? the most and least expensive basses I probably ever owned and those are the 2 I wouldnt want duplicates of. The Memphis because it was just God-awful and the Alembic because I learned that Explorer shaped bodies dont work for me.
The only one I've "replaced" is the T-40. And I've owned a couple of other Jazzes in recent years so I dont really feel the need to buy one yet again. Not knocking them, mind you. Its just that I've learned I have a strong preference for humbuckers over single coils.

 

[bizbomber]

I managed to keep mine. It's an 86 Peavey Foundation. I teach music in school and I keep it in the school to play if need be. I don't gig with it since I got my Fender affliction.

 

[Tevatron]

Oh! I sold it. It was a 1960s Kay, Precision copy. My parents bought it for me used in 1969. I went on to buy and sell many more basses after that... I will never forget that Kay though!

 

[ryco]

Gave it away. Was a used cheap-o Univox copy of a Hofner Beatle Bass. Was constantly having electronic problems and had a "movable" (held in place by string tension) bridge. Always going out of intonation.

Girl in high school was wanting to learn to play bass, so gave it to her when I got a Gibson EB-3. Later found out she was chanting for it. Weird.

 

[noeinstein]

Mid '60's lawsuit Japanese P Bass copy... stolen in 1973 along with my vintage Vox amp and cab, record collection and my special TV combo (one - sound no picture, another - picture no sound)... I'm still pissed about it. Regardless of what you do with it (I like give it to a young player who can't afford one) at least keep a picture of it.

 

[~Ethan~]

I've still got mine. It's an Ibanez gsr100, currently in pieces. I'm still deciding whether I should defret it or just make a fretted tenor. I'm gonna pretty much change the look of the bass completely.