• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

What was your first bass guitar?

#2,481
My first bass guitar was a Hofner copy ...

hofner01.jpg


That bass got smashed on stage when I had a Pete Townsend moment.

Since then I have owned over 60 basses ...
 
#2,490
1st was one I built in woodwork class, POS, heavy as hell but wish I still had it.

Closely followed by Hofner Senator semi-acoustic with flats, don't miss it one bit. Saw it in a music shop years later and could have bought it but chose not to.
 
#2,491
When I was 19, my dad brought home an Ibanez gsr200. He'd just started a new job and the department were putting a band together, and someone had lent it to him so he could start to learn. I'd always wanted to try the bass and had been told I'd suit it (essentially big paws). After a couple of weeks he gave it back and I was gutted, but then he bought a Hofner Ignition violin bass. Now these things are as basic as you come and are made in china, but it was perfect! So I learned to play on that.

A couple of months down the line I received a scholarship at university, and went straight out and spent it on an Epiphone Thunderbird Classic Pro IV. I love it - looks badass, sounds great, neck dives a bit but less than most t-birds. Essentially it was a Gibson but £1000 cheaper. Now though it doesn't get a look in, thanks to my stingray. I need to sort a couple of things out first, like a new amp and a couple of pedals, but at some point the t-bird will be part-exed for a p bass.
 
#2,493
'78 P-Bass-2.JPG
This one; '78 P-Bass; got it from a fellow lefty I was stationed in England with, in '88. He found a '58 P in a London pawnshop; this one paid for it's restoration from a Punk bass.. Had to have this one refinished about 20 years ago (had to; long story), and put the covers back on. With the mute and flats, it's kind of a specialist these days, but still gets played a fair bit. :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: steveinohio
#2,494
I started playing in 1986, when I was 12 years old. My first bass was a Cort X bass that was a big ol' piece of crap. The bass pictured is not my personal bass that I had but this is exactly what it looked like. [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
 
  • Like
Reactions: steveinohio
#2,498
Rich Terry said:
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.
Click to expand...
I think it was a sunburst Gibson EB-2. One pickup. Hollow body. Two cutaways. Followed very closely by the Ric 4001 I traded the Gibson for. I was a colicky boo-boo. I had GAS early.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back