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Your first bass vs. what you play now

The first bass i had was a mid 60's Hoyer SG knockoff, Great bass until the neck fell apart and the cap started De-laminating from the rest of the body ( thing was 25 years old when I bought it , 10 bucks at a garage sale so what can you expect eh) I still have it but the neck is totalled and I cant bring myself to part ways with the guitar, some day I may fix it up if I can find a replacement neck for it , body delamination is easy , glue and clamp but the neck looks like a twizzlers licorice
 
My very first bass was a russian, don´t know the brand, and even if I´d know I would know how to wright it. It was a tank, really. I don´t know if I get to play it 10 min....

But started on a Squier MB4, blue.I didn´t know how to set a bass and I hated it, but actually it was my fault. I´d love to have that bass back.

Now I play an Adamovic Saturn 5.
 
My first bass was a Yamaha RBX360 for £50 from eBay. Passive PJ with VBT controls. I bought it just to have at least a practice bass while I saved up for a 'real' one. In reality it sounded great and I used it live, where I thought I might have had to borrow one from a friend. I was never keen on the body shape and the neck didn't really feel comfortable to me but I loved the sound.

Fast-forward a couple of years... I sold the Yamaha to buy a bass which was different in every way (5-string, 35", active, J-MM pickups), was relatively happy, picked up a bargain Squier P Special off eBay to try and flip for a profit, and remembered how much I loved that passive PJ setup.

So now my main player is an ACG Graft Finn 5, and the Squier P Special as my backup - both are 34" passive PJs, like my Yamaha was. That first bass was actually a lot closer to what I now play than my second bass was. I needed to try something different though to realise that.
 
I was really lucky, I had a Karera P copy my Dad bought for $100. It was a killer bass. After taking a bunch of spills and being in a crappy gig bag, the back of the neck was all chewed up, so I sold it for $50 to a good friend, he still has it. Now I play a warwick star bass pro series that I baby.
 
I started playing (more like noodling) with a bass 2 years ago and bought a Squier Vintage Modified Jazz brand new. Finding a good lefty used bass is hard and the price was right.

I have learned so much from the VM that I will probably never get rid of it. I learned scales on it and thought it sounded great for what it was.

After trying all different strings on it, I now only use flats on it. Since I have had it, I have also modded it with DiMarzio Model J pickups and a Gotoh 201 bridge and shes a keeper. I learned almost all their was to know about the VM here on TB after I bought it.
 
I'll play, with a nice independence day 'aura' going on. ;) I got a brand new red Fender Bullet from my parents for graduating electronics school in 1982. That bass, in the possession of a good friend was destroyed by Hurricane Sandy last October. Over the past 25 years I've favored Musicman basses, Sterlings in particular. Today, my #1 is a 1993 EBMM Sterling 4H.
 
My first bass was a POS Crate electra 4string that I got from my sisters bf when I was 13. Once I actually got into playing I got a Yamaha RBX170 which I still have and is my backup bass. Then I picked up a Dean Edge 4 string that GC had used for $60 but I wasn't a fan of it so it just sits. My latest bass is an Ibanez SR700 and I love it, none of the other basses I've had even compare to the SR.
 
My first bass was a Teisco del Rey that I paid $40+ tax for in about '68. Didn't have much of an amp, but it was good enough that I kept at it until I stopped playing anything from late '69-'72, when I picked up guitar again. I had sold the bass by that point and didn't buy another until about '87, when I got my SD Curlee with a bad truss rod. I played that for quite a while until it affected my hand and I was too annoyed by the bad intonation that couldn't be compensated for, so I put it away and occasionally thought about what could be done for the neck. A couple of years ago, I found an Ibanez SD400FL fretless and have been playing that. I took the Curlee apart and refinished the body, polished the brass and pondered the neck for a while before hearing that Birdsong is making SD Curlee basses again. After several conversations with Scott, he informed me a few weeks ago that he got a heapin' helping of NOS parts and today, I sent payment for a NOS Curlee neck. It's newer than the SD Curlee days, but the upside is that it won't have the truss rod problems. I don't mind that the SD is missing because it's still an original part, even if it's not technically "period correct". Not like it's super collectible, anyway. Still, it'll be a lot better than cobbling some mess together and honestly, it's not really feasible to spend the money for a new, hand-made neck.
 
My first bass was a late-60s/early-70s Japanese plywood POS short-scale with a microphonic neck pickup, exactly like this one:

mayba70.jpg


I found out it was plywood when after 1 year I decided to refinish it and sanded off the original (cheesy) sunburst finish.

But my first bass doesn't exist any more, I sold it to my brother's school friend and later I heard it changed hands once more and the last owner smashed it to pieces, that was about 30 years ago.

My current #1 bass is a '75 P-Bass.
 
Early 1970's 'Pan' P-bass lookalike. Wretched action but I didn't know any better
I went through a few cheapie basses. Then I got a Gibson G-3, which got stolen after a couple years. Replaced it with a Yamaha BB1200 and never looked back.
Now I have Fenders, a Dingwall, a Kinal and an FBass... and the Yamaha!
 
My first and favorite is my Ibanez Ex Series. I played a Squier Vintage Modified Jaguar Bass Special SS for a while, but it's tone isn't right for me. I reasontly picked up an 03 or so Yamaha RBX270 and i love the tone. Over all, the Ibanez just gives a better presence then my other two basses.
 
My first bass was an dpi classic pro thunderbird, which tbh will probably be gone in the not too distant future to make way for an american standard p bass. Anyway, now playing a 4hh stingray. The two don't have much in common - passive vs active, rosewood vs maple, mahogany vs ash, muddy vs bright... the list goes on.
 
I first bass was an early 70's P bass. It was a 3 color sunburst with a maple board. It weighed roughly 22 lbs.

41 years and countless basses of every shape and flavor later I have a 95 MIA P bass. After swapping necks and tuners it weighs a tad over 8.5 lbs. and sounds like heaven.

However, I would trade it tomorrow for a Sadowsky Will lee with soap bars.
 
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