If you grew up in the 60's, 70's, or even into the 80's and played bass you
know there were not many playable affordable basses on the market. Japan, Italy, Taiwan,
etc etc were churning out basses by the thousands to keep up with the demand of American kids who wanted to become rock stars. These basses in most cases were virtually unplayable.
Sporting sky high action and necks you could ski off of. I still have the scars of trying to get a string to the fretboard! You could not run to the local music store and pick up a playable and affordable Squire or Ibanez off the rack.
No boys and girls, if you were going to buy a real bass there were not much other choices
than (in my opinion) a Fender Bass.
In my case Flashback 1979. After working my butt off for what seemed forever and armed with around $500 bucks in my pocket I headed off to the famed Music Row on 48th St in NYC.
My goal? A used Fender Bass. After hitting a few stores like Manny's and Sam Ash I soon learned there were more choices, so it came down to this:
1972 P Bass
1978 Stingray
1979 Modulus Graphite BaSSStar P/J
After some deliberation I walked away with the Red Modulus. (no its long gone now)
So let's hear what your first "real" bass was?