I started out on a no-name short scale abomination that my dad bought at an auction or something; once we started actually playing it was replaced with a Cortez J-bass copy. Although it was a copy of a Jazz Bass, it had, to my recollection, the biggest, beefiest, widest neck of any bass I've ever played. Still, I found it strangely comfortable to play. (I will return to this theme.) From there we progressed to a Peavey T-40. (This was probably around 1984 or so.) Although I played these basses, technically they belonged to my father, not me.
My first bass I actually owned was a Yamaha BB-1600 (this would have been around 1988-89); I'd been playing guitar in a band and bought it from the bassist when he got a new Fender Jazz. I never bonded with that one, though, and I traded it in on a metal-neck Kramer 450B at a store. I played the Kramer into the early 90s. I briefly had some sort of P-J Ibanez that I got used in 1993, but shortly thereafter I found a Gibson Ripper which became my main go-to bass for a while. I sold the Ibanez and traded the Kramer as part of a three-way deal for a drum set.
In 1996, in need of a backup, I went to a music store to try some different basses. As a baseline, I first played a MIM Fender Precision they had lying around, then several more esoteric and expensive basses. To my surprise, nothing else I played felt or sounded better than that Precision---so I bought it. I had not expected to get a P-bass; it wasn't even on my radar. I will admit to being a little prejudiced against Fenders because they were so . . . well . . . common.
It wasn't too long before I realized that I was almost always gravitating to the Fender; the Ripper tended to sit in its case. Nothing against the Ripper, which was a fine instrument, but something about the Precision was just really really comfortable. Still, I was not quite willing to accept that this generic bass could be a terminal instrument for me. So over the subsequent years I tried a whole bunch of other basses. I got another Kramer (a Focus 7000); I had a Guild Pilot as my number one for a while in the early 2000s; I tried a fretless (a Yamaha RXB250F that I found at a pawn shop). Then, in the mid-2000s I paid off my student loans and embarked on a much more extensive program of experimentation.
This went in several directions: I tried a number of "good" basses, including a Rickenbacker 4001, Rickenbacker 4003, a Carvin LB60, a Schecter Stiletto Elite 4, a Modulus Vertex 4, a Hamer Cruise Bass, a Guild SB-608 Flying Star (I have a weakness for pointy), a Godin Shifter 4, and a Gibson Midtown Standard. I tried some oddball instruments, including a Kramer "The Duke" headless shorty, a Mosrite-built Acoustic Black Widow, a Danelectro Dano 63, a Rogue VB-100SX violin bass, and another Peavey T-40. And I bought some cheapies to experiment with, including (thanks to the TB buzz) a couple SX basses (SPB-57 and SJB-62) and a couple cheap Deans (Custom Zone and Metalman V).
None of those basses stuck. I never found anything I liked better than a Fender Precision. I found two basses that I put on par with a nice Precision: a Gibson Les Paul Money Bass, and a Peavey Fury (which is functionally a Precision with a Jazz neck). I did find a better Precision, an early 70s model that has a certain magic about it, but I still have the MIM Precision that started me down this path, although I've replaced the electronics on it. I have one other P-bass of sorts, which is a parts bass I built from a MIM Fender body, a Warmoth neck, Fralin pickups and a Hipshot A bridge. That, my two Fender Precisions, and the Fury are my main basses, all slight variations on the Precision theme.
A few years ago I decided I should explore Jazz Basses, so I have a few of them as well: an AVRI 62, an FSR Antigua, and a Warmoth creation with an ash body, a wenge/wenge neck, and DiMarzio Ultra Jazz pickups. They are nice, and of course different from the Precisions, but I don't find myself reaching for them very often. I might cut back to just one of those.
The only other basses I have besides the four P-basses and three J-basses are the Gibson Money Bass and an old Danelectro Short Horn, which is strung with flats and can provide that woody thumpy sound if I need it. The Precisions, I've come to realize, give me what I like best from a bass, and if I need something I can't get from them, a Jazz, the Gibson, or the Dano can almost certainly get the job done.
However, just a few months ago, I started on a new chapter in bass playing, when, after years of thinking about it, I finally bought myself an upright, an old Kay M-1.
My first bass I actually owned was a Yamaha BB-1600 (this would have been around 1988-89); I'd been playing guitar in a band and bought it from the bassist when he got a new Fender Jazz. I never bonded with that one, though, and I traded it in on a metal-neck Kramer 450B at a store. I played the Kramer into the early 90s. I briefly had some sort of P-J Ibanez that I got used in 1993, but shortly thereafter I found a Gibson Ripper which became my main go-to bass for a while. I sold the Ibanez and traded the Kramer as part of a three-way deal for a drum set.
In 1996, in need of a backup, I went to a music store to try some different basses. As a baseline, I first played a MIM Fender Precision they had lying around, then several more esoteric and expensive basses. To my surprise, nothing else I played felt or sounded better than that Precision---so I bought it. I had not expected to get a P-bass; it wasn't even on my radar. I will admit to being a little prejudiced against Fenders because they were so . . . well . . . common.
It wasn't too long before I realized that I was almost always gravitating to the Fender; the Ripper tended to sit in its case. Nothing against the Ripper, which was a fine instrument, but something about the Precision was just really really comfortable. Still, I was not quite willing to accept that this generic bass could be a terminal instrument for me. So over the subsequent years I tried a whole bunch of other basses. I got another Kramer (a Focus 7000); I had a Guild Pilot as my number one for a while in the early 2000s; I tried a fretless (a Yamaha RXB250F that I found at a pawn shop). Then, in the mid-2000s I paid off my student loans and embarked on a much more extensive program of experimentation.
This went in several directions: I tried a number of "good" basses, including a Rickenbacker 4001, Rickenbacker 4003, a Carvin LB60, a Schecter Stiletto Elite 4, a Modulus Vertex 4, a Hamer Cruise Bass, a Guild SB-608 Flying Star (I have a weakness for pointy), a Godin Shifter 4, and a Gibson Midtown Standard. I tried some oddball instruments, including a Kramer "The Duke" headless shorty, a Mosrite-built Acoustic Black Widow, a Danelectro Dano 63, a Rogue VB-100SX violin bass, and another Peavey T-40. And I bought some cheapies to experiment with, including (thanks to the TB buzz) a couple SX basses (SPB-57 and SJB-62) and a couple cheap Deans (Custom Zone and Metalman V).
None of those basses stuck. I never found anything I liked better than a Fender Precision. I found two basses that I put on par with a nice Precision: a Gibson Les Paul Money Bass, and a Peavey Fury (which is functionally a Precision with a Jazz neck). I did find a better Precision, an early 70s model that has a certain magic about it, but I still have the MIM Precision that started me down this path, although I've replaced the electronics on it. I have one other P-bass of sorts, which is a parts bass I built from a MIM Fender body, a Warmoth neck, Fralin pickups and a Hipshot A bridge. That, my two Fender Precisions, and the Fury are my main basses, all slight variations on the Precision theme.
A few years ago I decided I should explore Jazz Basses, so I have a few of them as well: an AVRI 62, an FSR Antigua, and a Warmoth creation with an ash body, a wenge/wenge neck, and DiMarzio Ultra Jazz pickups. They are nice, and of course different from the Precisions, but I don't find myself reaching for them very often. I might cut back to just one of those.
The only other basses I have besides the four P-basses and three J-basses are the Gibson Money Bass and an old Danelectro Short Horn, which is strung with flats and can provide that woody thumpy sound if I need it. The Precisions, I've come to realize, give me what I like best from a bass, and if I need something I can't get from them, a Jazz, the Gibson, or the Dano can almost certainly get the job done.
However, just a few months ago, I started on a new chapter in bass playing, when, after years of thinking about it, I finally bought myself an upright, an old Kay M-1.
) I found myself in a brand new band and baseless. So I bought a Fender P Deluxe off of my buddy that I used for a while. I HATED it. Sounded very dull, lifeless and had a ton of neck problems. Later was given back to settle an outstanding debt (no regrets, actually just saw it at my local GC a few weeks ago.)
