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What was your first bass guitar?
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- first bass old real
Mine was a metallic purple Oscar Schmidt by Washburn. On sale for like $70, so I was pretty sure I could convince my dad to buy it for me. Cool bass, it was playable, the finish was shiny and I babied it like an instrument worth thousands.
In some ways I miss it, almost like I should feel guilty for betraying my first bass in some personified way, but I really outgrew the instrument, don’t miss playing it, and wouldn’t have had room to keep it all this time. Chances are good I like my fond memory of it better than I would like seeing the actual instrument today. I eventually pawned it for more than it had cost new and used the money for some other bass I had to have.
Hopefully that bass went on to be at least a few other peoples’ first bass over the years instead of sitting unused in my closet.
In some ways I miss it, almost like I should feel guilty for betraying my first bass in some personified way, but I really outgrew the instrument, don’t miss playing it, and wouldn’t have had room to keep it all this time. Chances are good I like my fond memory of it better than I would like seeing the actual instrument today. I eventually pawned it for more than it had cost new and used the money for some other bass I had to have.
Hopefully that bass went on to be at least a few other peoples’ first bass over the years instead of sitting unused in my closet.
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I think we've done this before, but I'll play.
1997 Fender MIJ Precision bought in 1998 (at 29). My only bass for 8 years.... Still have and play it, but not my no. 1 anymore. Would grab it in case of fire though.
I started in the 70's. Back then, there were NO 'cheap' basses that were anything more than aggravating plywood assemblies (it's just TOO funny that those sleds are somehow collectible now, they were sleds . . . . ), so you had to start on a 'professional' bass, pretty much Fender, Gibson, Ric, weren't a lot of choices. So, this:
Brilliant Bill Lawrence designed pickups and passive tone network. To my mind, the closest Gibson ever came to a bass to honestly compete with Fender. And amazingly, for an all-maple axe, not particularly heavy, as they didn't make the body really thick. Would have really looked exceptional in a different look with everything back drilled without that big pickguard, but that must not have been the idea.
Brilliant Bill Lawrence designed pickups and passive tone network. To my mind, the closest Gibson ever came to a bass to honestly compete with Fender. And amazingly, for an all-maple axe, not particularly heavy, as they didn't make the body really thick. Would have really looked exceptional in a different look with everything back drilled without that big pickguard, but that must not have been the idea.
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Some sort of no name P bass copy I got when I was 11 or 12. It sounded bad, played like crap, neck was awful. Traded it in when I was 14 for a G&L. Still have that one, and played it at a jam session last night.
MIM Fender Jazz from around 2000? Still have it, and it is my main electric. Pickups have been upgraded and fret work has been done and it is a great/solid instrument.
Epiphone Viola Bass. (1997). It was 489, and my mom had to meet me at the Guitar Center to charge it to her credit card. The great thing about that bass is no person other than me ever wanted to play it or even pick it up.
Great bass as I remember it. Talk about neck dive.
Great bass as I remember it. Talk about neck dive.
I started on an Ibanez GSR200, sold it, then later missed the light weight and fast neck so I bought an Ibanez SR650 (same pickup config, same body and neck shape, but way nicer)
Mine was a used P bass copy of some sort, four decades ago. The junior high jazz band director recommended a Music Master to start on but we could not find one. I would love to know what the actual make and model were of that first bass. It's a long shot but let me know if anyone has any idea....It was three color sunburst, white pickguard, maple neck, very heavy, and I swear the body was thicker than any bass I have ever touched since. The one thing that might help identify it was that it did not have a P type pickup. It has a single rectangular pickup with silver metal cover, I believe with screw type pole pieces, and I remember it was loosely attached to the pickguard with springs and screws. It was horrible and a year later I moved up to a black and tort Memphis P bass copy that I kept almost 10 years. Once I had the second one, that first bass got the Jaco treatment with pliers and wood filler. That did not end well and I remember selling it at a garage sale for $10.
No name Sears bass around 1978 with a no name amp from Sears as well. I don’t still have it and don’t miss it. Was OK for a high school Freshman, I guess.
The bass was an odd kind of offset body, almost like a Jazzmaster. The amp had an 8” or 10” speaker and was of unknown wattage.
The bass was an odd kind of offset body, almost like a Jazzmaster. The amp had an 8” or 10” speaker and was of unknown wattage.
We did this before I believe
I bought a no name bass off the local classified ads for $35 back in 1973.
It was my learning bass for a year until another bassist at high school wanted to sell his bass to get a Rick. I thought I was buying a used 64 Fender Precision, only to find a few years later I had purchased an original 1959 pbass for $250!
I bought a no name bass off the local classified ads for $35 back in 1973.
It was my learning bass for a year until another bassist at high school wanted to sell his bass to get a Rick. I thought I was buying a used 64 Fender Precision, only to find a few years later I had purchased an original 1959 pbass for $250!
My first bass was a Kent Jazz Bass 1971-72 , not a bad bass really . Got it with Kent or Winston 100 watt combo amp . Both ended up being stolen by a band mate .
Parents gifted me a used $25 Kay electric in 1969, replaced by 1970 new Epi bass; gifted by my grandmother Both basses “died” and I bought 1972 Ric 4001 which was stolen in 84; replaced by used 78
Gave the Kay away, still in the “dead” Epi
My first was the red Highway 1, still in regular rotation (when gigs happen), but my Highway One Precision is my #1.
Okay my BFF at the time (guitarist) begged my mother to buy me a bass from Sears Xmas Wish book(catalog) a very long time ago! I was grateful, but it was a cheap( not solid wood) Jazz bass copy. funny thing was strangely oversized, I couldn't find a case to fit it! It was quite a large beast & heavy too! I played for a year, then I discovered a cool Hondo P bass hanging at the local Music store for under a hundred bucks($95)! Again employed my BFF to beg mother &the Store to trade in /up for half. Ugh. I didnt even have an amp yet, My brother acquired a small silvertone which then got traded up to a mid size Peavey. I had the Hondo for a couple of years til my other BFF bought from me for a100 bucks! I often think about those basses & how "Basic" they were, But I was just glad to have an instrument! I'd often go to the swapmeet down the street to shop, but every thing was outta my price range at the time. I remember really wanting a "bedazzled" Fender, but the seller was way over priced, because of the rhinestones! " just think how it'll sparkle under the lights!". dejected I passed.Hoping 1 day I could afford a fender! now i've got 4!
My first was a no name that was paper thin and spray painted end to end before it was given to me by a friend. I do not have it. I gave it to a kid when I got my next one. That first playable bass was a blonde Vantage P and it was awesome. Such an improvement. I would love to find one like it.
1988 Yamaha BB1100S. Bought it brand new in Burlington, VT and I still have it and its original case and strap. Was my main bass for about 6 years. It is pretty heavy and I have since gravitated towards narrower necks, but it is a good bass.
Mine was a no-name something-or-other, with action so high you could use it as a long bow! I called it a Kanardly (because you 'kanardly' play it )
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