Your BASS History

[MiracleFEATHRS]

The two I miss the most: 1956 P-Bass, and a 1971 Telecaster Bass neck on a 1969 P-bass body… damn, I loved that bass.

I got a good story for ya
I was 16 workin my first job at a car wash,
One day I was working at the end of the car wash
We hand dried every car I think I was making 2.50 an hour.
Anyway , A guy came thru the carwash as we were drying his car , he rolled down his window I guess he asked me if I play " the electric guitar " cuz I had long hair , I said no I play bass guitar though , when we're done drying his car , he tells me to come over to the vacuums I wanna show ya somethin .
He opened his trunk to show me the
" electric guitar " he wants to sell..
He opens the case , it's not a guitar like he said, it's a Bass ,a FENDER Bass , I knew fender made bass guitars , I don't think I even knew what kind of fender it was . I knew about the telecaster cuz Tom Hamilton played one. No idea what a precision even looked like.
I got it for 50.00 cuz it looked Kool , took it home , plugged it in my plastic amplifier got nothin , no sound at all.
took it to Freds music , that's when I found out I bought a 70 fretless P bass .
That Meant nothing to me .it didn't work that's what I knew
I sold it to the dude working at Fred's for exactly what I paid for it a few hours ago. 50.00
That's called
Young and dumb

 

[Tommygun_ted]

Gibson Les Paul, the one with the slightly oversized body. Best tone I've ever had by far. The band I was in at the time split up and it was killing me to have it hanging on the wall collecting dust. Absolutely regret selling it.

 

[SteveCS]

I'll play:

1. Westone Thunder I, borrowed from a friend. Pulled the frets;
2. '70s Japanese 'Lawsuit' Jazz bass. Swapped neck for Mighty-Mite fretless and added a Shadow Maxibass piezo bridge pickup. Reinstalled the Westone frets and handed back to owner - he never knew;
3. 1982 Fender Jazz, Ash/Maple with dot/bound neck. Sold to fund...
4. 1979 Wal Probass, fretless;
5. 1982 Eko BX-7. Became #1 from '88 to 2015;
6. 1990 Chapman Stick in Padouk, #032. Swapped for white Oak when the frets fell out.
7. 1982 Squire JV '57 Precision. Olympic White refinished in black;
8. 2008 Warwick Corvette fretless. Retired the Eko but it still gets occasional playtime;
9. 2012 SBMM Ray34, Tobacco burst//Maple, fretted.
10. 1991 EBMM StingRay, fretless;
11. Hofner Ignition Club - a radical departure;
12. 1990 Fenix PJ in butterscotch - essentially a Korean Squier with a fantastically thin neck that feels just like the JV Squier.

2, 3, 4 and 7 are long gone. I somewhat regret letting 3 and 7 go, and I really regret letting 4 go.

 

[BlueTalon]

The only bass I regret not still having is a 76 Rickenbacker that I lovingly modified.

Some idjit who deserves to have his fingers pulverized stole it.

 

[chris_b]

I have 1 bass I regret selling and one where I regret the timing.

About 15 years ago I sold a 5 string Wal mk3. If I sold it now I could get 3 times what I sold it for!!

The only real regret, a Mike Lull M5V Jazz. The week after buying this great bass I bought a Sadowsky MV5 Jazz and that turned my head. I wish I'd been less hasty.

 

[jimmydean]

80's Villete-Citron , 65 Fender JB , Travis Bean TB2000 , 60's Gibson EBO , 70's Univox PB ,80's EBMM Sterling and a 86 Fender Fretless PB ......THERAPY OVER !

 

[Iristone]

I don't really want any of my sold bass back, but some I'd like a similar one.
My first bass: Epiphone Viola. If I could get a Höfner or Gibson EB-2, I won't miss it.
Second bass: J&D fiver. Returned within a few days, no regrets.
Third bass: Squier VM Jazz V. I'd like another fiver someday, but chances are it'll be a Stingray or Ric.
4th bass: Warwick Rockbass PJ, forgot if it was a Corvette or Streamer. I may get another passive PJ, or 8-string Rockbass (I'll likely convert it to passive).
5th bass: Gibson SG. No regrets, since I've bought a lovely Tokai EB-3 that plays and sounds better at 10% the price.
6th bass: Gibson Thunderbird. Traded for a Stingray that I again sold. Bought an Epiphone VP that sounds better and plays just as nice.
7th bass: Rickenbacker 4003. I still play it now.
8th bass: Fretless 51P partcaster. Sold it due to not learning how to play fretless. The 51p isn't my favourite pickup, either.
9th bass: a Plugiator synth. Still haven't arranged a MIDI pedal for it, unfortunately.
10th bass: the Stingray. I'll likely buy another - this time a fiver.
11th bass: the Epi VP.
12th bass: the Tokai.

 

[Gunga Din]

I had a used Ric my dad got me in high school after I had been playing bass about a year. I ended going in more of a Fender direction, so eventually sold it. I wish I still had it ... because my dad has not let me live it down to this day. Really. Like, he mentioned it when I was talking with him on the phone this weekend.

Who's your dad? John Hall?

 

[JC BASS 91]

There are 11 basses that I have owned and sold (or in one case, gave away) over the years. Hondo (Fame Series Bassmaster), Washburn (Bantam XB-200), Ovation, SX (Precision, Jazz and Jaguar copies), Peavey (two T-40s) and one I custom built myself.

However, there is only ONE of them that I regret letting go of and that is this gorgeous 1979 Peavey T-40.

 

[ultra60]

Only one I wish I had today was the late 70's Ibanez Ric copy (fireglo) I bought new. Waited months for it to be delivered. Mine had the correct looking Ric pickups. Sold it in the early 80's. Some guy offered to trade me a real Ric 6/12 convertible from the 60's. My response.... "Why would I want that thing?"

 

[coryr1000]

I went through many different basses in the 80's. The 2 I should have kept were a fretless 1983 Fender Elite II P bass that was solid walnut. The other was an Alembic Exploiter I ordered in 1985 with a curly maple top long scale shaped like and Explorer. We can't go back in time though.

 

[lbbc]

Like many, I suppose, I have bought, traded, and sold so many basses in my almost 50 years of playing. I'm sure I can't remember every one. .but here are the ones that come to mind:
1973 Aria Beatle Bass, 1976 Fender Precision, 1980's Aria Pro II, Aria ZZ, Ovation Magnum II, Vantage Witch Bass, Aria SG Copy, Fender American Deluxe Precision, Tobias Toby, Warwick Rock Bass, Kramer Aluminum Neck 450 DMZ, BC Rich Mockingbird, Peavey RSB, Ibanez BTB, Rickenbacker Montezuma Brown, Ernie Ball Sterling Blue Dawn, G&L ASAT Semi-Hollow, G&L L2000, Squier Chris Aiken Precision, Spector NS2, Carvin LB 70, Carvin T40, Carvin TSB4, Gretsch 5120 Orange Hollowbody, Squier Tele Bass, Ibanez AGBV200A, G&L Fallout Tribute, Dave Pushic Custom, 2013 Fender Coronado II Hollowbody, 1986 Alembic Persuader.
They each served their purpose, only the last 5 "survived". Some were sold when I needed the money, more than I needed the bass. Some were sold or traded to get the "next thing" I wanted (or thought I needed). It's all a journey. Some I wish I had back....others, not so much.

 

[bholder]

I've bought back copies of the basses that I sold. But there's that first one, which was never mine, it was my brother's, but I learned on it - a '54 Fender P. Sigh. No replacing that.

 

[Taustin Powers]

I have sold six basses in my life, and I don't regret selling them.

I do regret not buying a bass some 20 years ago. It was a Dingwall Afterburner that I played at Bass NW in Seattle. It seemed unreasonable at the time, cause we were about to move from Houston to Germany. But I still think about it.

Around the same timeframe I sold my Demeter VTBP-201 preamp. Sometimes I wish I hadn't. That thing sounded amazing.

 

[MiracleFEATHRS]

My first bass. A ‘63 jazz Mom bought me in ‘69. $300 for it and a bassman 212. . A B C Rich Eagle that suffered a headstock crack. A Modulus Q5 , an STR 5 , a Clarke model Alembic I got in a trade that I immediately converted to cash. And that’s about it for the ones I truly regret getting rid of.

I probably would have done the same thing
With the alembic .I played a few , honestly I think alembics are the most overrated , overpriced basses ever ,I just can't wrap my brain around paying 10 -20 - 30 - 40 - or more thousands of dollars .
But , If I was swimming in cash , I probably would
: ? )

 

[rtslinger]

current:
Bass guitars
1.Gibson The Ripper L9-S
2.MIM Fender P
3.SX P
4.Dean Hollywood Z
5.Epiphone El Segundo Acoustic
6.Ibanez SR300DX
7.SX Jazz
8.Epiphone Embassy IV
9.Charvel/ Jackson P2b
10.Silvertone P
11.Epiphone EB-0
12.Silent bass
13. SX Jaguar "Ursa 4 RN PBU"
14. Epiphone Les Paul Limited Edition
15. Dean Custom Zone
16.HB Progressive Series B-450
17. Glarry P
18. Tune TWX41-PSV
19. HLK Wolf bass
20. Glarry GIB
21. HB RB-414CS
22. HLK Spider bass
23. Glarryii jazz bass
24. Sterling Ray4
25. Glarry Burning Fire HH bass
26.Harley Benton MV-4JB Gotoh BK Deluxe Jazz bass
27. Spector Performer 4
28 Harley Benton MB-4 custom
29. Dean Custom Zone
30. Yamaha TRBX174EW
31. MIM Fender Jazz

gone but not forgotten:
Alembic Series 11.. stolen
BC Rich Jersey Beast.. stolen
Fender mustang lent to someone and never return he moved away and took it with him
Dan E long horn copy sold
1960's Norma made in Japan Fender P copy short scale my first bass! traded but not by me
Kay SG bass copy traded my second bass
70's Guild semi hollow body (didn't fit my imagine what a dumb a@@) don't remember the name looked like a fat Les Paul

 

[bassfran]

When I was young I made a dumb trade-in deal when I swapped a perfectly fine Hofner Club bass for a Hamer g*itar that never stayed in tune.

But I have no regrets about getting rid of the Steinberger. As good as it sounded it was unreliable due to the bridge claw failure rate.

Since then I've fortunately always come out ahead and am quite content with all my current axes. Even have a few, "cold, dead hands" ones.

 

[ADHD librarian]

So far I still own every bass I've ever owned.
I lend some out from time to time (some for years at a time), but I still know where they are.

I may sell some at some point (as the ones I have are all 4 string, 34" scale, fender shaped objects & I might want the $$ for a short scale or something a bit different) but then again I might not?

 

[Keitor]

I learned to play bass (or tried at least) with a Squier California Series P Bass that was heaven for me at that time.

And then we arrive to what I think was my biggest mistake: I've always wanted a Jazz Bass but also liked the idea of a 5-string bass and my options were: 1) Squier Classic Vibe 60's Jazz Bass; and 2) Squier Vintage Modified 70's Jazz Bass V.

Didn't know what happen next but an
Ibanez GSR255 came to me that wasn't a bad instrument but it wasn't the one for me, never got to play it well.

Time went by and a MIM Standard Jazz Bass arrive to me (the one in my profile picture), changed up bridge, tuners and pickups and it sounds amazing!

But I will never forgive me for don't acquire one of those Squiers instead of the Ibanez

 

[dustinymichaels]

I've got a few. No pictures unfortunately
78 Music Man Stingray, paid $800
81 G&L L1000, paid $400
95 Ibanez Atk, paid $250