The first bass I ever played was my friend Jimmy Davidson's 1973/4 Fender Jazz Bass. This was around 1978 or so. I remember thinking that it felt huge to my 14 year old hands. Jimmy had bought the bass in 1975 and it was always his favourite instrument.
When it came time for me to buy my own bass, Jimmy came along with me to the music stores. I ended up getting a Westone Thunder 1A. Great bass to begin on. I then traded that in for an all-black, unlined, fretless Westone Thunder 1A.
5 years ago, my friend Jimmy was feeling a bit under the weather. He saw his doctor, who sent him for tests. The results came back that he had cancer. This was in the December. By the following March he passed away. The family contacted my brother about selling the bass. I called The Bass Gallery to see about sending it to them in order to get the best price.
When I called Jimmy's family to advise them, his daughter said, "we're glad you called us Kevin. My dad always said that if you showed any interest in it, he wanted you to have it". I explained that at the time, I wasn't in a position to afford an instrument of that value. She then replied, "no, you misunderstand, we want you to have it as a gift"!!!
It was an incredibly touching gesture, and I shed a few tears. The strange thing was, that whenever I played it, I always thought "this is Jimmy's bass, not mine", and I couldn't enjoy it for what it was at that time. So, I loaned it to my friend Paul Turner for a few years. He used it on various gigs (Jamiroquai, Shuffler, Take That, etc). I got it back last March to use on a charity gig for the hospice who looked after Jimmy in his final few weeks. I could, at long last, enjoy it. It's a great sounding bass.
So, I now have the very first bass guitar I ever held in my hands.
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