Your first bass love?

[IamGroot]

Around 1990, I was a dedicated guitardist. I borrowed a beatle bass and got the bass bug, then went out and bought a Kaman GTX 53 for $125. Total crap KMD 240 pickups and bridge. Awesome resonant body. Very playable neck. Low action Very light.

I have kept it in my bedroom to play unamplified for decades when I had insomnia. Flatwounds. Throwing it in a hot trunk never warped it

Someday, I may pimp it out with some Bartolinis.

 

[Malak the Mad]

I came to learning my way around a bass guitar later in life. I'd been kicking the idea around in my head for a while, but it wasn't until I saw this sexy beast…

…a Squier Standard Precision Bass Special, that I decided to give it a whirl. I figured something like that won't cost me a fortune, so if I decided it wasn't for me (much like when I tried my hand at guitar when I was in fifth grade) it wouldn't be a big deal.

I loved that model's look so much, there was a time when I had the whole set…aka The Three Amigos!

 

[LinusKarlsson]

My first real love was also my first Fender - a MIM Classic 60's J-bass. I bought it for the money I got for working extra at the supermarket on weekends. It was a wonderful bass! Used it for a couple of years before I got the P-bass bug and traded it for a MIJ Fender P PB70.

 

[saabfender]

Sure, why not.

I had been borrowing a friend’s Peavey T-40 (the worst bass... in the world!) and needed to buy my own. I saw a Jazz Bass (‘76) in the paper for $350. My mom took me to look at it. Later, she said the second I opened the case, she knew I was going to buy it. I loved that thing for about 10 years. Then, being a young drunk idiot, left it at the pawn shop too long. That’s pretty much what it looked like but nearly new and not all scuffed up.

 

[BlacknWhite]

My very first bass was an old 80's Yamaha RBX200 that my mom bought me in like '92 when I was 13. This kid she worked with needed money so she bought it. I had never even picked up a guitar or bass at this point. She came home one day with The Yamaha, Peavey amp and a distortion pedal. As soon as I hooked it up I knew I wanted to play bass!! I wish I had of kept it... I would totally buy another if I found one. I must have played a hundred shows or more with that bass.

(NOT My bass just a pic of one. Mine had black Vol and tone knobs and an updated bridge)
Total 80's bass!

 

[ScottTunes]

1967 Hofner violin bass with the bar magnets, similar to this one:

 

[delta7fred]

Back in 1969 I needed a new bass quick because I had just snapped the truss rod on my Japanese P bass copy and was gigging regularly. I didn't want to get into debt buying a new one on credit and all I could afford for cash was a filthy black Ric or a very badly refinished 62 Fender Precision that were in the bargain basement. Nobody wanted old basses then, even Rics or 62 Precisions!

I tried the Ric first but it just didn't feel comfortable, then I picked up the P and it just felt so good (apart from the sandpaper finish). Our guitarist worked in a spray shop and refinished it properly. I still own it and have no plans to sell it.

 

[Snaxster]

Your first bass love?

Suzi Quatro.

 

[filmtex]

My first bass was a Harmony short-scale with a hollow body. The guitar tuners, howling f-holes and microphonic pickup made it basically unplayable. Even in 1978 $75 was too much to pay for it.

I bought this in ‘59 Precision at Jim’s House of Guitars in San Diego in 1979. Best $40 ever.

'59 Precision

• filmtex
• Apr 11, 2016
• precision bass

Bought this guitar in 1978, been playing it since.

Though it had a nice sunburst finish on it and the pick guard was nicer looking. I’ve been playing it ever since.

 

[neo 7]

A Squier Jaguar short scale. I had been playing a P-Bass for a couple years and it never felt comfortable. I had seen the Jags online and loved the look of them. Then I walked into the music store looking for a cab. I wanted to try out a used 2x15, so the sales guy hooked up a head and told me to grab a bass off the wall. I picked up a Squier Jag not realizing it was a short scale. Fell in love with it instantly.

 

[ajkula66]

If we're talking about the actual love...

My first bass (Gherson Jazz Bass copy) as well as my second one ('79 Fender Precision Bass, bought brand new) were both "no love lost" experiences.

The third one - Ibanez "lawsuit era" Jazz Bass - was very deeply loved by silly old me and I kept it for quite a few years even after it got to the point of getting no playtime at all. I eventually sold it to one of my students, and was very happy to see someone enjoying it, and playing the living daylight out of it just like I did in my teens...

 

[Watchootognbout]

I had owned nine basses before I bought a bass that I really liked.
Why?
Bass makers weren't making what I wanted!
Until Tune made this.

 

[Eon Sky]

I was 16 years old and was learning guitar by borrowing my mom's acoustic. I had a friend who was moving and his dad didn't want to take the bass with them, so I expressed interest in buying it. My parents bought it and I spent six months paying them $100 a month to pay them back. A 1972 Gibson EB-3. I had no idea about short scales or anything like that, I just knew that I liked making things rumble. And I thought it was pretty cool that my bass was 9 years older than me.

I still noodle on it from time to time, but it always hangs in its place of honor in the living room.

 

[SturmUndDrang]

A couple years after the OP got his Kaman, I scored a red Epiphone EBM-4 with a reverse headstock, gold hardware and what I thought was an amazing active 9volt preamp even though it would be considered tame by today's standards.

 

[Paulabass]

My first three basses were dreadful- An EKO copy of a mustang, with sharp frets, no tone, and a bad action. Next I got a Hofner Beatle bass. To this day I think they are the worst basses ever made. After that I thought I was getting smart, and bought a Gibson EB3L. The long scale (good) thing with the slotted headstock (neck dive anyone?) It had a bridge p/u so trebly that small birds fell out of trees, and a mudbucker ten inches from the bridge (You can guess!).
I struck gold with my next bass. An Ibanez (circa '76) Jazz bass. It did everything right. Tonal bliss, playability, and smokin' hot looks. My first love. I honestly think if I had not bought it, I would have given up bass.

 

[LadyLoveStingRay5]

A late 90’s wine red Mexican Fender Precision. Everyone kept telling me that active Jazz basses were in and P basses were out. Foolishly sold it after a year and spent several years going through active 35 scale latest fad super jazz modern tone basses.

Thank goodness I came to my senses and realized that I like passive 34 scale basses with precision style pickups .

 

[ELG60]

This is the '69 Jazz Bass which I bought from Ed's Guitars on Bird RD in Miami back in '79 after playing a relatively dreadful Hagstrom bass for about a year or so, as related previously. I think that I paid $450 for it. Might have been less. Of all my basses, this is still the one I reach for more than any other.

Btw, I have a vague memory that the price tag may be somewhere in the case. I'll try to remember to check when I get home.

 

[Mantis Tobaggan]

I wanted a Stingray real bad. It was the nineties and Blood Sugar Sex Magic was playing at all the parties. Also, my bass teacher had a Stingray. I was playing an $85 generic bass. I saved for a Stingray but at the last minute I bought a Sterling because I liked how it sounded more. I played just that bass for twenty years. I eventually joined talkbass and bought five more basses soon after. Coincidence?

 

[Pirate Captain]

Jackie Fox

 

[overit]

My first love was an orange Hondo II Precision style bass with matching headstock and creme covers much like this jazz. I never owned it but saw it every week I went to the music store for my guitar then bass lesson from 1987-1990.