What was your first bass guitar?

[funkinbottom]

My first bass was an Aria Diamond Hollow body. Wish I still had that one. It got traded to the neighbor for a Knox (Teisco) solid body.

Not mine, but it is the same model and finish as my first.

 

[Jazzdogg]

What was your first bass? When did you purchase/receive it and do you still have it?

For me it was a white Peavy Foundation given to me as a Christmas gift from my parents in 1984 or thereabouts. Kept it for about four years before trading it in.

My first was branded "Kawai;" this was around 1967 or '68. The neck was warped and it had high action as a result. But, I was so enthralled that I ignored the blisters and played on - until I bought a jew P bass in '73.

 

[micahwc]

The black one in the middle was my first. It’s a “Cruise created for VMI”. I don’t know much about the brand. I’ve seen that VMI stands for Vega Musical Instruments, Vantage Musical Instruments, and Virginia Institute of Music. They seem to have a bad reputation for being cheaply made, poorly playing basses.

mine seems to be an exception. It is easily one of the best feeling basses I’ve ever played, the body seems solid, the weight is good, and it’s really comfortable to play. My parents bought it for me in 1997. We lived in rural Montana at the time and we bought it from a guy selling instruments out of his basement. I’m fairly sure he did a good setup to include dressing frets, as they have always been great.

it now has 24 years of wear. It has a Wilde pickup in it with a varitone. The tuners are starting to feel sloppy so I may replace them in the near future.

I need a control cavity for it, my older brother borrowed the bass for a number of years and lost it somehow.

the J bass next to it was my second bass, it was originally a 1999 Fender MIM jazz V. Most of it isn’t original anymore. It’s currently tuned to D standard, it has Seymour Duncan’s and a varitone. Pickups have a series/parallel switch as well.

the Warmoth is all hipshot, nordstrand, and noll. It’s what I gig with.

 

[backin82]

'94 Fender MiM Jazz bass. Purchased it from my cousin with an amp for $350 back in 2003. Still have it, and never plan on selling it.

 

[Swerve]

99 Squier Affinity P Bass. Paid $199 for it from a little music store in Houma, Louisiana in Feb 2000 when I was 15. I had $200 and it was the only one I could afford. Stupidly traded it away about two years later, wish I still had it.

Was identical to this one.

 

[_One//Man//Mutiny_]

Squire affinity P Bass, got it for Christmas from my parents about 15 years ago, gave it away to a friend a few year after that and it traveled around the country and made its way back to me last year! I repainted it and gave it to my brother!

 

[Hummergeist]

Hondo II Precision copy.

 

[zacharybass76]

What was your first bass? When did you purchase/receive it and do you still have it?

For me it was a white Peavy Foundation given to me as a Christmas gift from my parents in 1984 or thereabouts. Kept it for about four years before trading it in.

My first bass was a 16th birthday present from my dad, back in 1992. It was a black Fender MIM Precision bass. I ended up putting EMG pickups in it and it was a good-sounding bass. Unfortunately, I traded it to my local guitar shop several years later after I got a new bass in 1995 as my high school graduation present. I would kill to get my hands on it again, but I'd be content with a 1992 MIM Precision just like it.

 

[rashrader]

My first bass was an Aria Pro II The Cat that my Mom bought me in 1984. I knew nothing about basses at the time, but I really wanted a Rickenbacker, so I saved up and got one about six months later. I don’t have any pics of it.

 

[OregonJim]

My first was a Peavey T-40 that I purchased new in 1981. It was the heaviest bass I've ever owned. Swamp ash body and maple neck. Also the only bass I wish I still had. Like an idiot, I traded it in on a red Hondo Flying V bass - worst instrument I ever owned. It had a twisted neck, uneven frets, and the output jack ripped out of the body after a week of using it.

 

[red_bassist]

Christmas 2016 I got a Squier Affinity P bass in black with the white pickguard and a Peavey Microbass amp. I traded the bass in a few months later to try a different bass. I still have the Peavey Microbass amp. My current bass is another P bass.

 

[kodiakblair]

I remember my first bass well and the circumstances around buying it.

Intended buying a slug gun but was waylaid by 2 budding guitarists.

Them " We're starting a punk band"
Me " Brilliant "
Them " You're playing bass ! "
Me " I don't have a bass !!!"
Them " No bother, J*** round the corner is selling his. Let's go. "

Picture this with 3 strings, pegheads busted off, no PG, a ply PG holding the pots and covering a hole.
Princely sum of £1 sticks in my mind.

 

[mongo2]

The first instrument I played bass on was a student piano accordion with 12 bass buttons in 1961.

 

[EdwardofHuncote]

Always makes me sad when this thread comes around...

My first bass guitar, a late-60's Kalamazoo KB, Gibson-made, short-scale with a single mudbucker. I traded her to another TB'r for an MIJ Strat several years ago.

I keep hoping to find it again.

(brown tort guard, brass nut, and Strat knobs are not original...)

 

[TrevorR]

July ‘82 from City Music in Truro, Cornwall, UK. A red Aria SB700 which was a birthday present from my parents. Fabulous bass. Still own it, still play it!

 

[legalbass]

My first bass guitars belonged to my older brother, cannot even recall what they were but they were the ones I started fiddling around on when I realized I had no genuine desire to learn guitar. The first bass I ever bought was a brand-new 2008 MIA Fender Precision, which I eventually had outfitted with a Status Graphite neck and pickup. It was great; I very stupidly sold it about eight or nine years ago. Really wish I hadn't. If I could only get it back, I'd fit an all-black pick guard. It looked like an Oreo when I sold it.

 

[Bleecker]

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.

Like this? No affiliation.

Vantage 650B Bass 1980 Natural

 

[Bleecker]

July ‘82 from City Music in Truro, Cornwall, UK. A red Aria SB700 which was a birthday present from my parents. Fabulous bass. Still own it, still play it!

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Original case too! Good job keeping it all these years, its a beaut!

 

[Nephilymbass]

What was your first bass? When did you purchase/receive it and do you still have it?

For me it was a white Peavy Foundation given to me as a Christmas gift from my parents in 1984 or thereabouts. Kept it for about four years before trading it in.

Peavey fury. Got it for Christmas in 1994. I was 13 years old. Don’t still have it. Traded it away around 2000. By then I was primarily playing 5 strings and I’ve mainly stayed a 5+ string player since. The only 4 string I currently own is a fender acoustic and to be honest I’ve never played a 5 string acoustic that was both affordable and sounded good. And I rarely gig with an acoustic so I can’t justify spending big money on one.

this is me at around 14 with the fury and my first bass amp. I believe the amp was called a peavey basic 50. 50w 112 combo. Sold that amp in a yard sale to a neighbor and he turned out to be a great player.

Picture is kinda of messed up because it’s a phone shot of an old Polaroid picture

still have those trumpets though

 

[2F/2F]

'77 Music Man Stingray fretless.