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Your first bass vs. what you play now

#421
My first bass-shaped object was a Mako Traditional. A plywood P-bass without a pickguard that weighed about 17 pounds. My first actual bass was a white Washburn B-2 with a J-type neck IIRC, but a P pickup. Right now my main bass is a 80s Fender MIJ Jazz Bass, plus my Tobias Toby 5 stringer.
 
#423
My first bass was an Epiphone Expert 6 string, however I learned on a Peavey Cirrus 6 string. I've owned nearly 20 different basses ranging from entry-level Ibanez to mid-ranged Warwick , and still the feel of the Cirrus just feels right to me. I even went as far as trading straight-up my Warwick Corvette FNA Jazzman for the Cirrus I have now on comfort alone.
 
#425
My first bass was a Thunderbird and I have to say I really love the sounds it makes the only other bass I own is the blackbird but that's the same bass just Nikki sixx version and that's a great bass as well all I need now is a white Thunderbird and I will be happy
 
#426
My first bass was a Daion Power Mk. XX-B (gotta love the name, eh?):

daion_fullfront.jpg


Now, I'm playing a fretless Skjold 6:

DSC_5910.jpg
 
#427
I was 11 when I started out on a cheap short-scale copy of a Guild Starfire, made by Hagstrom. Light as a feather, with a pencil neck and thin-sounding pickups, strung with Pyramid flats.

Not exactly a tone monster, and the only time it had any sustain was when it was feeding back...

Now I play a heavy neck-through 35" 5-string, with figured maple body wings, gold hardware, a wide/fat neck and EMG's running at 18V. Over-compensation for the shortcomings of that first bass?
 
#428
My first bass was a Japanese made Conrad Beatle bass I bought from a guy for $75 back in 1968 . It had a small neck and played well enough but had a thud type tone . The other guys are right about Japanese basses and guitars not being very good back then .

Today I play a pair of SX Jazz 5 strings made in China that I bought for $129 apeice . They are way better built than the beginer basses from the mid sixties as are all the Asian basses . Strange that after 40 years I'm playing an inexpensive import bass and loving it . It's a good time to be a bass player .
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#432
My first bass was a Legacy PB400. I got this in a pack with my first amp by the same company, along with a load of cheap **** I never used like a random DVD, picks that snapped after about 6 strikes and a strap that had less grip than water.

The bass itself wasn't too bad for what it was (a Chinese made P-bass copy). Problem was that I only had it for 6 months and it got pretty abused in that time I had it, without me doing much to it.

Always issues, whether that be the pickup sinking, or actually detatching from it's casing (I remedied this by sticking it back in the case with chewing gum, high school tables teach you much), bridge saddles rusting up, paint scraping off from the back, pickguard screws popping out, tuners, inputs jack and nut coming loose. The neck was pretty ****ing wide as well, and the sound wasn't much to write home about as well, all too often it'd get too muddy, and the single tone knob didn't do much to bring more treble into it.

All in all, it was a good learning experience to appreciate higher end stuff, and gave me a good idea of what I wanted in a bass (Slim neck profile, lighter, smaller and more comfortable style, mids and treble based sound) and I'm now using my Spectors Legend 4 Classic and Rebop 5 DLX FM. Both basses I'm incredibly satisfied with, and will probably have for a long time to come, whilst adding to the collection with more Spectors.
 
#433
I started with a used late-'60s Ric 4001 Fireglo with a toaster pickup and checkerboard binding in 1970. The ergos sucked, but I liked the looks and loved the tone.

I also bought a minty used mid-'60s Fender Jazz shortly thereafter, but sold it within six months. The tone was so-so, but I hated the looks, it was a back-breaking 14 lbs., and it had terrible balance, so I stuck with the Ric for almost a decade.

I wasted my money on several more overweight and poorly designed mass-produced disappointments from Fender, G&L and Musicman, etc., before wising-up and going with no-compromise handmade instruments in the mid-'80s, and I've never looked back.

My main squeeze now is a Jerzy Drozd Legend VI fretless, but I also play an old fretless F-Bass V, and occasionally, a fretted pre-Gibson Tobias Classic V.
 
#435
Since posting this thread, I don't think my tastes have changed much, other than I like to go after lighter gear.

New acquisitions:

zz6-2wf.jpg


I don't normally do exposed pole pieces, but I thought they look sweet with wood covers. I decided to go with a 1/2 ramp to be like a radiused pickup cover, but still have some open space between the pickups to get that kind of tone.

s2-1.jpg
 
#436
My first electric bass was a Peavey International Series Milestone II. It's a great P-bass copy, and, unfortunately, I was stuck playing it through a cheep, 10 watt practice amp.

My only other electric bass is a Czech-made Spector 5 string (like the Spector Euros now, but they were called something different when mine was made). I also have nicer and more powerful amps now.

Honestly though, my ~$100 Peavey gets as much if not more playing time than my $2,000 Spector. I love both basses, but I've just found that the Peavey has the "right" sound for more of my gigs than the Spector. I'm a HUGE fan of really cheap basses that play and sound awesome.
 
#438
My first bass was an ibanez sr-506. A six string bass as my first was ambitious and a little too much to handle actually. That was about 7 years back. Currently I'm using two 5 string warwicks. A 98 corvette bubinga with wenge neck and a 03 dolphin sn 5. Playing in a thrash metal band, the corvette rules big time!
 
#439
My first bass was a Samick bass I bought at a factory location while stationed in South Korea in 1991. Unfortunately, I got rid of it in 2003 because the electronics were shot, and it was a cheap bass. A couple of months later my ex bought me an Ibanez for Christmas, after not having played a bass for several years. It got me back into playing, and have been at it ever since. I've favored Rickenbackers, then Fenders, then Stingrays, and am currently back in Fender camp and currently own 4 Fenders (2 MIA Jazz & 2 MIA P basses).
 

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