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What was your first bass guitar?

#2,401
A '65 UniVox copy Beatle bass. Bought $90 used in '68.
First good bass: Gibson modded EB0 > EB3 with addition of a DeArmond bridge pup & defretted. $150 used in '71.
First new bass: '77 Gibson Ripper fretless. Still have it & still gets played daily!
 
#2,402
In 1993 I got a Washburn MB-4. It was the only left-handed bass we could find in Austin at the time.
Still have it, and a friend recently guided me through a proper fretless conversion (actually, I just assisted a bit, set and trimmed the laminate, and sanded under instruction).
 
#2,403
First Bass, a 1978 Fender P-Bass.
Black PG on Black Body with a Maple Neck.
Purchased as a Graduation Present to me in May 1979.
Still have it, Still Play it.
I'll be leaving it in my will to my daughter, who does NOT play and likely never will...just to piss her off. :woot:

2008_0401_154454.jpg
 
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#2,410
Late '50's Danelectro Longhorn, in copper burst. Got it in 1962 for $120, with factory case. Took lessons and started playing in bar bands with it at age 15, had it and played it regularly for 12 years, and never had any problems with it. I have a Korean-made Danelectro Longhorn right now, but this one's sort of purple...
 
#2,411
My first bass was a Rickenbacker 4001 copy that I found in someone's trash on the street (late 70s). This is when I first started out, so I didn't know anything about setup, so I played it with really bad action and horrible intonation for about a year. It took me that long to realize that playing can be easier with a better bass. But man, I definitely built up some strong fingers. I finally broke down and bought a $200 G&L and it felt like it could play on its own. ;)
 
#2,414
I purchased my first bass 3 years ago. At 33 years, it was my first instrument and the first time i tried to learn to play music. I browsed through what was available at my local music shop at the time and found a few potentials. I then researched on the net for reviews to make my final decision, having absolutely no idea on how to play this thing and no reference to base myself on (I did not know anyone who played bass to help me), that was pretty much my only option.

So, I finally got the Yamaha RBX 170, in black. I played through my computer sound card with a DI, having no budget for an amp at the time;) I played on and off for about a year, trying to teach myself how to handle it.

After that first year, I decided that I loved playing (or trying to) bass, so I bought a Peavey Grind 5 and a good amp, it is still the bass I use now, I haven't touched the Yamaha in a long time. Now i'm slowly gathering money for a EBMM Sterling 5, tried it, loved it.. I should have enough cash in 2-3 years, gotta put the kids first ;)
 
#2,419
I was going through the herd the other day and can say I'm very fortunate to have all the nice guitars and basses that I have and be able to play such nice instruments. Over the past 50 years of playing and collecting I've owned and played a lot of great pieces.. This was not always the case.

I started playing guitar at the age of 10 and started playing bass at age 12. My dad bought my younger brother a bass thinking it would be easier for him to play because it only had 4 strings. He had no rhythm and gave it up right away.

I took it up because we, my garage band, needed a bass player, I had a bass so tag I was it, and I was hooked.

My first bass was an Eko Violin shaped bass. That was 1966. I've owned Vox, Ric's, Fenders, Gibsons, ESP, Schector, Ampeg Dan Armstrongs and many others.

Thought it might be fun to see what you started with. Let's hear about em.
 
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