• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Your first bass love?

#21
My first bass love was a Shergold twin neck i had made around 1980 ish. A 4 & 8 strings. Shergold had never made an 8 string before so they converted their 6 string bass to work. Was bloomin heavy for a wee 9.5 stone youngster and sold it after about 2 yrs. Came across it for sale again few mths back. Did actually consider buying but the seller didn't get back to me.
old photos_0004_NEW (2).jpg
Also in pic was my first real bass a Columbas J bass and a Hondo Les Paul copy.
Aaah to be young again.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Alacajun, Mastermold, saabfender and 1 other person
#22
First bass love was my second bass. I was a guitarist at the time, so bass was sort of a sideline. First was a $12 Dano that was crap. Used that for a few years '75-78 before I got serious as a bassist. In '78 I bought a '76 natural/ maple/ blackguarded P bass for $335. I torted it and replaced the horrible sounding ceramic magnet pickups with some mongrels that sound fantastic. Depending on my mood, it's still my main bass. Call it a co-main, along with 3 or 4 others.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ELG60 and Mastermold
#24
After 40 yrs of playing a variety of basses, none of which I was overly thrilled with I can honestly say that the first real bass l've literally fallen for is my Squier VM P I bought three yrs ago.
Lightweight..punchy, with a slim playable neck that is finished in smooth rock hard Poly. I cant put it down, well worth the wait.
 
#25
The one that got away...

A Nash PB-63 that I was handed in BassNW ~5-6 yrs ago when I went in to look for an affordable practice amp. From the first note it was remarkable, but I couldn't afford it at the time. By the time I had scraped together the $ it was gone.

I then went on a quest to attain *that tone* in the P/J (Modulus BassStar) that I had at the time, and failed (swapped pups/strings/tone caps). I did eventually track down and buy a used Nash from a Seattle-area pro. It's a great bass and tone-wise it's a step closer to my (faulty) memory of the "magic one" from BassNW, but it's not the same.
 
#26
My 1st bass love, my 1st bass, and my daily driver, a ’62 Fender Bass VI bought from roommate for $250 while in college (theory/comp major) in ’75… a nosebleed to learn on from scratch and still my main bass after several decades of epic sessions and great memories. The ‘antique’ is my forearm wearing through the sunburst layers over 40+ years. Original pickups, a drop-in Dan Armstrong hotwire for series/parallel turns it into a big fat 3-bucker, a drop-in Staytrem bridge, had the neck re-planed once and a couple of re-frets.
Link Removed
 
  • Like
Reactions: ELG60, Eon Sky, Mastermold and 3 others
#28
"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."

Me, too!
I was 15 when I bought mine....a 1968 EB-3. Deepest bass I ever played. Dead flatwounds and all. Loved it but stupidly sold it when I HAD to enter military service.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Eon Sky
#30
IamGroot said:
Around 1990, I was a dedicated gui****ist. 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.
Click to expand...
Easy! My 1965 Jazz bass was my first bass love. I bought it in 1966. I had a green crappy "made in Japan" bass at the time and had just been asked to join a much better band than I belonged to. Bass player was becoming the new keyboards player because the original one moved out of town (this is high school). So the old bass player came over to show me the bass parts to some of their songs. Next thing you know he's having me try them on his '65 Jazz Bass. Love at first fret of course! He offers to sell it to me. I say, I'd have to save up for it. He says, "No, you can just make monthly payments on it." Done deal. Loved that bass. It was stolen from me 10-years later when my in-laws house was burglarized. We had just moved to Oregon and were staying with them while we found a place of our own.

My second bass love is the Olympic White MIA Fender Jazz I currently have. It's the only other bass I've found that has the same neck-feel that my '65 did. Best I can figure out it was made in late '82 or early '83. You'll have to pry it from my cold dead hands to get it away from me.

By the way, I have two insurance policies on my white Jazz. One is through my renter's insurance. The other is through my Smith & Wesson insurance policy #357 (sign posted outside says, "Anyone found sneaking around here at night will be found lying around here in the morning!).;)
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: ELG60
#33
My 1975 Gibson L9S The Ripper. The first time I ever saw it was on a stand on stage with Gene Simmons of Kiss, he also was the first time I ever heard the growling tone, that grabbed me and never let go. I knew I wanted one at that point and busted my hump to get it. And I have had it by my side since 1975. Forever my favorite throughout all these years and many, many, many other basses I have played or purchased in my 50 years of banging on 4 strings. RTS.

 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Rip Van Dan
#35
My first bass was an old Vox Beatle bass, and I loved the pencil neck, but the sound left a lot to be desired, however the first bass I really liked was an Ibanez RB630, and today all I use are Ibanez SRs.

There was no internet yet, and the only info you could find was from music stores ... just think - no TB yet.
 
#37
Greg Waldon said:
Mid 80’s Peavey Foundation. Was absolutely one of the best playing basses have have ever played. I kick myself on a daily basis for getting rid of it. I’d buy another one if I could find one exactly like I had if it had a decent price.
Click to expand...

I know exactly what you mean. Love my '89 Foundation so much I had to get a Fury also. Luckily they both are the same color

20161118_195043_zps0chmi1h8.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: RBrownBass and Greg Waldon
#39
Not my first bass, but the one I’ve held the closest to my heart since I’ve bought it. I bought the red MIJ P new in 85 or 87, and have had it ever since. My first bass was a 1981 black/maple Hondo II professional p copy I still have, but the neck was a beast and was never fully comfy on it.

I had a few others in between, but this was the first bass I felt truly at home on. I tortured it with mods but it has one of the most stable necks I’ve ever played. (I’ve tweaked the truss rod probably twice in the last ten years)

I even giggled it last night

81ED45B3-EB0F-4EE3-BE12-BAC3E751D81D.jpeg
 
  • Like
Reactions: ELG60
#40
tgriley62 said:
I know exactly what you mean. Love my '89 Foundation so much I had to get a Fury also. Luckily they both are the same color

View attachment 2903377
Click to expand...

My Foundation was the only one I ever saw like it. It had a natural body with a maple neck. The body had some stain on it but nothing else. I think I had only saw one picture of one like it. Don’t know if they were rare like that or not.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back