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What was your bass progression & why?

BigDanT

BigDanT

Aug 26, 2011
971
1,481
Indianapolis
#1
Just curious as to what others' bass journey has been and why. I know there are lots of us who own multiple basses but for the purposes of this discussion, I'm referring to your primary bass (bass style).

For my own progression, I'll skip a few gaps where I tried something pretty quickly and moved on.

1. Sears Jazz Bass Knockoff -- First bass ever. I learned a lot on this instrument including messing around with setup, electronics, etc.

2. Ibanez Roadstar II -- This was what I considered my first "real" bass and i pretty much liked most things about it. I ended up pawning it for beer money (I know, smart move, right).

3. Another jazz bass knockoff -- Probably gigged more on this bass than any others. It was a beater but sounded fine. Loaned it to a keys player and it disappeared for about a year.

4. Schechter Raiden -- After many years not playing regularly, this got me back into playing bass. For under $400 it was a decent bass. Nice looking fast neck. I just never really bonded with it and thought it always sounded kind of thin.

5. Fender Highway 1 Jazz -- Bought this used for $500 and it served me well. I kept it as a back up bass until earlier this year.

6. Fender American Deluxe Jazz -- Beautiful, well built bass but I didn't care for the pups in passive mode and rather than mod an already expensive instrument I traded it for...

7. 2011 American Standard P Bass -- I LOVED this bass. One of the best basses I've ever owned. It was my first P bass. Foolishly I felt I was missing something without the bridge PUP so I traded this for an Am Std Jazz that I didn't keep for very long at all. I swapped it for another Am Std. P but that P just lacked the mojo of the 2011.

8. Fender 1975 AVRI -- Loved this bass as well but I just couldn't get over missing the P. So, when I got a chance i shifted this and bought yet another...

9. 2014 Am Std P -- this was a very nice bass but after living with it for a while I was missing a little of the bite that the bridge pickup could provide, so I traded my Hwy 1 and this bass for...

10. Fender 70s AVRI Hotrod Jazz -- This is the first P/J i've owned and i'm liking it a lot. It has the thunder of the P but I can also dial in some bite when needed. The only thing I'm not sure about is the neck. Really nice jazz neck but I kind of miss the heft of that 2011 P I had. I've heard people on here say that 2011 might have been one of the best years for Fender Ps in a long time, and judging by my experience, I'd have to agree.

So, that's where I am for now...
How about you???
 
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#2
First played an Applause guitar so much it has multiple grooves in the fingerboard.

1) Applause ABG, black, 30" scale. Put every kind of string on it before it was cool. Traded in due to feedback when joining my first band, didn't know about feedback buster (or maybe it didn't exist then). Used this bass on many cassette multitrack projects, and even in a real analog studio.

2) Vantage 4-string P/J, green, standard scale. This was the bass I traded the Applause in for. Still my main bass to this day.

3) Cort MEB acoustic, scored for under $200 shipped due to an incompetent ebay listing that kept it out of standard search results. A monster ABG with a good preamp. My only "expensive" bass, the A-stock listed over $1000. (This one is a B-stock and does not have Mark Egan's sig on it - pea sized finish blemish)

4) Jay Turser Semi-hollow, 30.5" scale. Violin bass tone with standard string spacing. Bought used in new condition.

5) unknown URB, currently a project instrument, but it's been gigged and brought to festivals.
 
#3
Crazy. I've been playing 20 years and I'm literally on my 4th electric bass. I've gotten rid of two basses ever, one slab one acoustic. And they have all been cheap, relatively speaking.
My first was a used stinger, given to me. I covered it in teen angst stickers. I've posted pics before, but not in a while. Still have it. I'll grab some pics later if anyone's interested.
Still have my second, a MIM fender jazz 5 I bought with money given to me for high school graduation.
3rd was a peavey, either grind or fury, don't recall. I bought it in 05 for a specific band I was in, then left, so I sold it 3 months later.
In 07 I bought my current ibanez sdgr505, nothin fancy I realize, but does the job for me. The soft wood is really starting to show its age, the back of the neck near the headstock has slightly formed to my hand. I'm more than happy with it though, especially the weight.

I left out URB.
 
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#4
1. Laguna P copy, MIJ, 80s? 13th birthday present in 1990. My dad is a drummer who plays a little guitar. He picked this over a mid 70sbFender Jazz because this played better (both were 150 bucks). I was a little disappointed because I wanted some sort of 80s rock looking thing, but he did me right in the end. I still play it, now has a Duncan quarter pounder and a replaced pick guard

2. Koa/maple carvin LB 76. Purchased with money from first part time fast food job and first paid gig (pit orchestra for big river) in 1994. Mainly because Les Claypool and this was one of the few 6s that wasn't 3 grand

3. No name upright. Music store had it super cheap 500 bucks with a fishman pickup in it). I still can't play for Jack

4. Warmoth mongrel fret less. Got the body and a fretted neck on ebay for 75 bucks. Body was varnished with a brush and was solid maple. Whole thing probably weighed 14 pounds. Sold to fund...

5. Carvin lb76f. Stumbled on exact twin if my fretted For 400 bucks in 2006.

6. Warmoth hot rod J bass. Wife's cousin painted it nitro, has nordstrands, audere pre. My main 4 string now

7. 95 stingray - from the TB classifieds this summer. Not sure what took me so long. This is what a bass is supposed to sound like

8. Warmoth P with a J neck. Charcoal frost finish from MJT. In progress
 
#5
Started on acoustic bass in 4th grade (1974). In junior high joined the jazz band and started playing an Epiphone ET-285. Made me want my own bass, so ended up buying a late '60s/early '70s Jazz bass in Lake Placid Blue. (Never did figure out the date due to the neck code being jibberish and never trusted the serial number on the neck plate).

That bass was refinished twice and finally went away in the mid 1980's. From that time until I stopped playing bass in the early 1990's went through a ton - Silvertone (Danelectro) solid long scale, MIJ jazz bass that I modified with a TS pickguard and finger rest, Yamaha BB300 fretless, an Alembic Spoiler (that needed to be refinished) and a very early Rick Turner Electroline.

The reasons for all those changes was GAS, pure and simple. Enjoyed buying, modding and trading basses as much as playing them. Only stopped when it was putting a serious hole in my credit card.

Then came a long break where I was physically unable to play bass and switched to guitar. A couple of years ago decided to try bass again and picked up a used Squier Bronco. Sold it about a year later. Then recently purchased a used 2014 Epiphone EB-0.

That's the story as of today. Still fighting GAS. My wife thinks probably not successfully with getting this bass. We shall see how long it stays this way.
 
#6
1. '85/'86 Kramer Aerostar - bought new in May of '86 at Alpha Music's Spring Cleaning Sale. There was a massive line to get in. By the time I made it, it was the only one left in my price range. I worked as a roofer the prior summer to save the money for it. It was so lightweight that I didn't even think it was wood.

2. '81 Fender Precision Special - was a gift from my parents on my 18th birthday ('88). Was like going from a Renault Le Car to a Porsche 911. The Kramer soon got the boot. Can't remember when I let this go, my early 20's are kind of a blur. Still kicking myself, though.

3. '84 Fender Precision Elite II - found this online at a gospel music store in Atlanta. My favorite looking and sounding bass, but not my favorite to play. The wide beefy neck doesn't quite agree with my short fingers, but I made it work. It was my #1 player for about 15 years. It makes an anchor feel like a feather, but is an absolute tone monster. Can get pretty much any tone I want out of it, but it does have an inherent modern, slightly scooped, bright tone.

4. '01 Fender Precision Special Deluxe - received this due to a shipping error by zZounds. I ordered it with some other items. A rep called me saying it was out of stock and they had no idea when it would come in. I told them to cancel it. 2 years later, I get home from work and it's waiting for me on the porch, shipping invoice but no price invoice. The credit card I used on that order was paid off and closed. I had no way of knowing it wasn't paid for. 18 months later, they called me up wanting to know how I was going to pay for it. I informed her that sending people something and then demanding they pay for it is mail fraud. Was on hold for 10 seconds. She came back and said "We'll take care of that for you" and hung up before I could say "Thank you ma'am. Have a great day." I think I'm getting a tort guard for it for Christmas. Can't wait to hear the massive tone improvement. ;)

5. '09 ESP LTD B-155DX - my first, and to date only, 5'er. Got it because I wanted to experience a 5'er without going all in, price-wise. In the end, the only thing I ended up liking about it was it's appearance. Sold it a year or two later.

6. '90 Fender HM - thought it was a unique looking Jazz-esque bass. Black headstock, white body, black hardware. This bass had seen better days. Headstock has a split though all 4 tuners that supposedly had been professionally repaired. I would have done a much cleaner job, but it is structurally sound. Body was chipping paint in large sections and had an ugly gouge at the edge, near the controls. I stripped and repaired the body, repainted it in sliverburst. One of my favorite players.

7. '?? Maestro Fretless - very inexpensive bass. I bought it because it's unique looking. Plays horribly, balance is horrible, tone is horrible. Massive eq'ing necessary to get anything near a usable tone. I recently converted it into a floor lamp for the mancave.

8. '04 Fender Dimension - this bass made me hone-in on the final aspect of my setups that I never addressed - string height off the body. The neck heel is typical thickness, but the body is thin. It had a decent gap, almost .6", between strings and body, and I found myself wedging my thumb under the E in a manner that felt very natural. I now setup all of my basses with that string-to-body spacing. Another one of my favorite players. Neck is finicky and requires double the tweaking of all my basses - 4x/year instead of 2x/year. I love the neck width - 1 9/16" at nut - and board radius - 12".

9. '79 Peavey T-40 - had been on my longterm GAS list for some time. I bought this one primarily for the sake of nostalgia. Body is freaking huge. It's very versatile, tonewise. With the tone wide open, mine is easily the brightest bass I've ever played.

10. '86 Peavey Dyna-Bass - I hate the name of this bass. I love love love everything else about it. This one is currently my favorite player.
 
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#10
Mvilmany said:
1. P Bass

2. Same P Bass, added tort pickguaurd.

To be transparent, I also own a Danelctro, and a G&L L-2000
Click to expand...

Similar path.

Started off on an early 57 AVRI bass that my dad helped me buy. Pretty quickly I started wanting more basses and got a cheap-o Washburn bass that I promptly got rid of.

I had a bunch of Precision basses throughout that I tried to replace my #1 with. Yamahas, Ibanez, etc.

The first bass I had that almost usurped my 57RI was a first year G&L L1000 with the roundish headstock. It sounded a lot bigger and was a little more versatile than the P-bass even though I always had it in OMG mode. If I remember correctly it got stolen but its been so long and I've been through a lot of basses.

The third main bass I had was a 70s P-bass that weighed a ton and had a jazz bass pickup. It had super old strings on it and I never changed them. It sounded awesome. Unfortunately, it weighed a lot and I got rid of it for a Stingray which was then my main bass for maybe a year.

My current #1 is a Fender Custom Shop P-bass. I still own the 57RI but its been parted out amongst my basses.
 
#11
Is it bad I can't remember them all?

I'll try...

Yamaha rbx 350
Peavey fury
Peavey t40
Peavey foundation 5
Spector NS2000 (Korean)
Rickenbaker 4001
Gibson Grabber
Bunch of Teisco basses. (4 or 5)
Fretless Warwick corvette
Musician Sterling HS
Warwick FNA 5
Spector (Czechoslovakian)
Fretless Warwick Thumb
Dingwall SuperJ
Smith S2G
Skjold offset 5
Grove SwampRoot
Fretless Landscape hollow body
G&B art bass
Fretless Sage

I know I missed a few.
 
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#14
I went from cheap basses to very fancy expensive basses because I assumed they must be 'better,' then built a few fancy parts basses with crazy preamp EQ and pickup coil switching features, and now I play dead simple passive P type basses because they are better for my sound goals as it turns out. Wish I knew 25 years ago, would have saved a lot of money and pain.
 
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#17
In terms of primary gigging instruments, my progression over 20-plus years has been:
Electra Phoenix Bass with P-Bass pickups
Hofner knockoff
American Standard P-Bass
American Standard Jazz Bass
American Standard P-Bass again
Lakland Skyline Duck Dunn
1975 Fender Precision Bass
See a pattern here?
I have other basses, but P-Basses just seem to work best for me.
 
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#19
Ibanez Roadstar 2, back in '83 I think. Kind of maroon. Got a Peavey TKO 65 that same day. Then scored the same bass in black about '85, and it came with a TNT 130 I think it was called, and sold the TKO. Played both about the same amount.

Then also in '85 got a Cort Slammer Bass. Cheap. White, just like the Kramer the guitar player in my high school band was playing. Nice and light for jumping around on stage like a doofus too. Scored a Peavey Mark 4 head and some great big stupid cab just after that and sold the TNT.

Sold the black RS2.

Was homeless / couch surfing / VW bus living for awhile after high school in the late '80s, and lost track of the Cort, and who knows what all else, somewhere, probably either in a hunger or substance induced haze, hard to know. Not sure what ever happened to the head and cab, those 1980s / early 90s were hard on a fella.

So down to my OG RS2, and then it fell off the deep end too.

Then I ran off into the woods, kinda missed most of the '90s, and when I came out went acoustic for awhile and didn't play much bass, mostly guitar, dulcimer, mandolin, a little banjo, started the fiddle too but had to quit because it made the dog howl too much.

Borrowed a Yamaha, can't remember the model. Kinda half way between surf and seafoam green. OK, but not quite the quality of the RS2.

Bought an Ibanez AEB10 in the brown burst. Nice, and still got it.

Got a new Squier VM Jaguar special, active pups, killer.

Lucked into a 1977 Fender P for $300. Still got it.

Bought a used VM fretless Jazz, swapped necks with the VM Jag, sold the jazz with the fretted neck, love the fretless jag.

Guess somewhere along there also had a little Traynor Bloc40B amp, a Fender sidekick100 head with the funny front ported 115 cab, a Fender rumble, a MIM Fender P, maybe a couple more came and went too, but those stick out the most. Now the amp is a Traynor Smallblock 200 through a pair of Hartke XL cabs, a 210 sitting on a 115. Hear all this hoo-ha about needing all this power, but the 200 watts is oodles for any playing out I do, and it sounds great for both the acoustic and electric gigs. Its' nice to feel so satisfied with my set up, and also to have survived the 80s and 90s.
 
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#20
I wonder if I can remember. Here goes (excludes all charity projects)...
  1. Squier VM Jazz 4
  2. Spectorcore fretless 4
  3. Warwick Rockbass fretless 5 - sold to purchase AEB
  4. Michael Kelly AEB - sold to buy pedals
  5. Epiphone Allen Woody - traded for Mustang
  6. Mustang
  7. Stingray 4 HH BFR
  8. Steinberger 5 - sold to buy G&L
  9. G&L M2500
  10. Craigslist Squier P bought to modify, modified then gave to son
  11. Many iterations of mods to each of the above
  12. Sold all of the above to build four Warmoths
  13. Sold Warmoth P to build a Warmoth J-P-J (this is currently in the works)
Why? GAS and an insatiable desire to experiment, modify and build.

Before and after photos of 2015's big flip shown below. The P bass in the Warmoth lineup is gone and a JPJ in a J body with a J neck is on the way from Warmoth.

IMG_8421-crop.jpg IMG_0565.JPG
 
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