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Your First bass and how it mattered...

#61
My first bass was a Parts P Bass, built for Dale Peters of the James Gang. He was the one who sold it to me when I was 14.

oldschoolme.jpg


Ash body, Maple J neck with Ebony board, Fender Lace Sensor, Schaller tuners.
It was a nice bass and I guess I didn't really appreciate it until it was gone, but I did love the bass for years.
Mainly, the end lesson of that bass was this:
You can change EVERY SINGLE PART on a P bass (I did) and it won't make the same sound as a 2-pickup bass.
So I realized that I don't like a plain old P bass and I probably never will.
But I will always play bass!!!:bassist:
 
#62
A B.C.Rich Warlock neck hung down like it was looking for water. sounded and looked cool but was a great leason in form over function being not ok. Next bass was Conklin groove tool 5 string ahh now that's the ticket. Found out what I loved in a neck and tone of a bass with that one .
 
#64
Sometimes we regret selling our first or older Basses.
I know i have a few regrets. I can't even remember what I did with my Guild B-301 w/ Dimarzio split P p/u 25 yrs ago !
But usually the reason for selling was to make the step up to a better bass.
 
#65
Mine was a cheap Norma short scale right handed bass mid 1960's and I am left handed so I turn it upside down and learn to play it G,D,A,E. I played it that way for a while. When I started taking lessons in Elementary school it was a upright and I had to learn to play right handed, so my brain had to switch not so easy for a 9 year old. When I started taking private lesson (10 years old) I was playing the left hand electric style upside down bass, my goal was to buy a left hand bass which I quickly found to be out of my price range. So my instructor suggested I switch and I had to again flip my head around to play right handed which as most who have played upright and electric they are two different animals. I was using the technique I learn on upright and had to stop and learn everything all over again. Although it was a little easier for me to learn it right handed since I knew where the notes were and scales and such, I wasn’t used to fretting the electric with the strings E A D G which was a real challenge. So I guess I will say my first bass hindered me.
 
#66
A Hondo jazz bass copy (I started playing in the late seventies) with horrible humbuckers.

The thing is, looking back, I just was into music and excited about discovering things to play and to do. I wasn't aware and therefore I didn't care, how crappy that bass was. So maybe therefore it wasn't crappy at all.

That bass is long gone-but I do remember it fondly also how I had picked out and learned a bass line from a Madness record (I think the tune was One Step Beyond) and played it to my dad, who came up to my room especially to hear it, was appreciative and supportive of the effort. My dad has been long gone now too, but it's a memory I'll always cherish.

At 46 years of age, that state of wonderment and excitement about music is something I do work to reconnect to. Owning a flock of high end basses does seem to be in the way, although I am certainly not planning to recoup that Hondo.
 
#67
My first was a Silvertone F hole archtop 6 string that got dropped by the deliveryman when being delivered to my buddies house. He got a new one and gave it to me. Everybody was playing guitar and were way ahead of me learning to play so no band for me....that's when I found out the 1st 4 strings of a 6 string were the same notes as a bass.....
My 1st real bass was a HEIT violin bass (Japanese). It was a real junker but I got strong fingers from playing it. It also saved me from a school career of playing coronet in the school band. My parents wanted me to play an instrument so the bass was fine with them. 1st good bass was a Gibson EB2. Taught me how bad mudbuckers sound. Got my 1st Fender (P) in 1973 and never looked back. (Well maybe a little...sure wish I still had the EB2 for the money it would be worth now...) Still playing Fenders.
 
#68
Somewhat typical high school band story: 3 guitarists (me included) & a drummer at very first ever band practice. With me being the worst on git by far, I declared I would buy a bass. The next day I picked up a nice used Peavey T-40, not knowing anything about basses - turned out a good choice (although too many knobs/switches!). I wish I still had this bass 30 years on. Fender guy now and forever! On a side note, I'm much better on guitar now ;)
 
#69
My first bass was a 1972 Gibson EB-0, bought for $150 when I was in High School in 1993. I was getting decent with it until I had to go to a summer camp thing in the summer of '94, and couldn't bring it with me. When I came back home later in the summer, I couldn't do anything with it, and put it down until I started playing again this past summer.

I love it for how unique it is and for the tone you can get with it, though when I started playing again, I needed a full-scale bass with more versatility, and picked up a MIM Fender Jazz Bass. Still, that EB-0 holds a special place in my heart, and I don't know that I could sell it.
 
#70
Late 1962 - almost 1963 and I saw Nokie playing a Venture's signature bass by Mosrite.

I immediately bought one (and found I could have gotten it for a much better price than at a music store in Huntington Beach), but it was mine and I added it to my Mosrite 6-string guitar in matching candy apple red.

Both of these played like magic as the action was low and the output (for the time) was powerful. It also helped to have thin strings on them too - but that's a different consideration.

I was getting pretty good and had landed a gig in Garden Grove at The Lamplighter (CW), and my guitar playing friend Donnie said he's haul all the gear to the bar, and he drove off in my 1959 Chevy with all the gear inside it.

When I got to the club, he was nowhere to be seen, and he never showed up at all the whole night.

Next day, the cops came to my house and asked me to go with them to the police impound lot in Santa Ana. My car had been in an accident and had burned up.

My bass, guitar, both amps and my car were toast, as was Donnie. He died in the flaming crash.

That kinda set me back a while.
 
#72
In 1977 I was in the 8th grade. Saved up enough to buy a Gibson Thor bass amp for $100 & a bass that had the name "Telestar", I think, for $75 from a C/W bass player in my hometown. Had it through high school & tried to teach myself how to play, but gave up. Now at 49 yrs old I have bought a Peavey Millineum & have a 89 Foundation in layaway for Christmas.
 
#73
...landed a gig in Garden Grove at The Lamplighter and my guitar playing friend Donnie said he'd haul all the gear to the bar, and he drove off in my 1959 Chevy with all the gear inside it.

When I got to the club, he was nowhere to be seen, and he never showed up at all the whole night.

Next day, the cops came to my house and asked me to go with them to the police impound lot in Santa Ana. My car had been in an accident and had burned up.

My bass, guitar, both amps and my car were toast, as was Donnie. He died in the flaming crash.
Click to expand...

Holy Cow that's like a movie right there, But man it's Real Life !
 
#74
The first bass I owned was a Gherson LP. It was probably a 32" scale instrument, which today is coming back to haunt me. It weighed a ton. It had good rock and blues tone, and was impossible to slap. The strings were flats and thick, and the humbuckers were pretty muddy.
I was dead set on not having something that looked at all Fender-ish, and I thought it looked cool in black , and I could afford it. For the same price, I should have gotten the Gherson 4001 copy: still kicking myself for not doing that one.
 
#75
65 P Bass. My dad put a fretless jazz neck on it(it was his bass). I have used this bass since 1992. It has not been easy to play(I do a lot of sight reading). This past week I finally bought a 2003 G&L SB-2. It is a dream to play. The tones I get out of it are awesome. I don't think I will use the P any time soon.
 
#76
sturoc said:
Give a beginner a good quality instrument from the get-go and they will grow into it keeping for along time, becoming proficient and enjoying all that bass playing can give.
Give that same beginner a crappy playing bass and they will struggle, being hindered by the low quality,tone etc. Possibly frustrating them to the point of changing instrument types or stop playing all together.
Click to expand...


My parents finally believed that I really wanted to play guitar and paid $250.00 for my first guitar and amp, a Canora 3 pick up SG copy & Trend 80 amp. For a knock off it had decent tone, intonation and was quite playable. At that time, that money represented almost a months wages for my dad. Several of my friends got instruments that year but only one other got a playable instrument. We were the only 2 that kept playing. 5 years later I got my first bass, a Raven jazz clone to jam with some friends. Jam sessions led to gigs which have led to a very long love affair with the bass. Over 40 years of gig's and I still look forward to making music with friends.
 
#77
I started on a Kay upright in 7th grade and played string bass in school orchestras and stage/jazz bands thru my college years. Along the way I got a 68 Hofner with tape wounds and that became my only bass for the next 20 years. I still play upright now and then but only when I have a chance to play someone elses...don't have any room to keep one around. Having 10 years of formal music education on bass is the best thing I could have ever learned in school. I wouldn't trade that for anything.
 
#78
I first had a Ibanez gsr200fm....fail....bad j pickup , returned, exchange for same. Fail again, un correctable warped neck....this is 2 months after I started...frustrated, about to give up cos there was no way I could afford a better bass. I was very discouraged.

I don't consider those Ibbys my first...those were temporary....
When I returned the second bass, on a stand what the bass I hoped to own and it kept me going. With help, i got it. The quality, sound and feel of it kept my spirits high for playing, and I'm so happy with my Warwick....I will never quit.
 
#79
Early 70's Silvertone short scale from Sears. Action sucked, intonation was impossible. Had a matching Riviera amp that blew up! I really struggled with it for about a year, and then decided I needed a real bass. Ordered a brand new natural finish 74 Precision. What a difference! My chops improved considerably.
 
#80
Mine was a Rogue sx100 bass. I still have it to this day and love to jam on it. It has a super light body and plays quite nice. I went through a phase of thinking that if a bass didnt look "cool" then it wasnt good. Years later i invested money in a sweet Genz Benz amp and plugged the rogue in for fun and she played pretty sweet. This was important because it taught me that what makes a bass good is if YOU like the way it sounds. I still jam on this bass today and i bought it years ago for 60 bucks. In my mind that was 6o bucks well spent to begin my bass playing career. - Jeff
 

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