[b]Columbus Jazz Bass[/b] copy - it got me into bass playing, so can't be bad. Bought from a Lasky's high-street electrical retailer, if I recall.
[b]Rickenbacker 4001[/b] '64 (earlier s/n than McCartney's and Squire's, according to the Ricky book) - bought from a friend of a friend in my teens in the mid '70s for £220; it had a neck problem and a blown pickup, so I got it fixed and sprayed white. Still got it, still have an intake of breath when I look at it.
[b]Aria Pro II SB700[/b] - the passive version of the SB1000. It was a decent bass and sounded fretless-like even though it was fretted, but I don't recall when I sold it and I've never missed it.
Custom-made "[b]Hooker[/b]" fretless bass - a friend of a friend made it and sold it to me after he made a second one. I lost it in a house move.
[b]Rickenbacker 4001[/b] '73 - bought from a drug dealer friend who decided he wanted to play keyboards instead, cost me £333.33 in the early 80s (with money my grandfather left me when he passed). I've still got it. At one stage I put a Badass II bridge on it, but it never really worked and was finally replaced by a Hipshot one last year. The treble pickup was replaced by a SD humbucker, because the stock one was unusable live; the thing about Rickys, though, is they sound like Rickys even when they're not plugged in, so the humbucker works.
[b]Hohner The Jack[/b] headless - I was playing in a clubs band in the late '80s and we had a change of clothes each set; one was shiny black outfits with red belts (well, it was the 80s!), so I bought a black bass & red strap to match. I never particularly rated it as a stand-out instrument though and sold it some time in the 90s.
[b]Washburn Status[/b] - I wanted a Status, but they are a bit pricey, so I got this. It was OK, but not a real Status. I sold it in the naughties. I'm surprised to see that they are creeping up in value again.
[b]Status S2 headless[/b] graphite through-neck - the real thing. Still got it. Quality! Would prefer a 5-string (nearly went for one on ebay a few months back, but forced myself not to bid!).
[b]Warwick Corvette 5 string[/b] - I decided to finally try out a 5 string a couple of years ago, so I got this on ebay. It was a Chinese one and I never really liked it; the neck was wrong for me and I think I damaged my left index finger on it. I sold it on ebay to someone who reported back that they liked it.
[b]Status 5 string[/b] headed, wooden neck. This is a really nice bass - more organic than the graphite. A keeper!
[b]RPG double-neck[/b] 6/4 - RPG was a guitar shop in Cannock (Staffs), whose owner imported some custom designed guitars (often focusing on left-handed, but also did right-handed). This one came up on ebay last year, so I placed a spotter bid on it and nobody outbid me. I drove up and collected it from a nice bloke. I had to do a bit of setting up, including shimming the neck angle; it plays OK now, but could maybe do with a bit more (or professional) work on it so get it right, or maybe it's as good as it'll get.
An orange[b] Precision partsblaster[/b] - a "job-lot" on ebay, based on a Squier Affinity Precision/P-Bass, which the previous chap had oversprayed orange, in bits and with some extra parts. I've now replaced the neck with a Mighty Mite fretless one acquired from a workmate who had upgraded (the one he upgraded to must be fantastic, because the MM one is bloody good!) and just put a Hipshot Xtender/D-tuner on the bottom E to trick it up a bit. It's got Shadow (German?) Precision pickup, which is quite good, the Badass II bridge I had on my Ricky, my own wiring assembly, Fender flatwounds and Straplocks (may be Schaller or copies). I may replace the body at some point, at which time I'll probably rebuild the original orange Squier and sell it on to the next projecteer...
A Chinese [b]RSL[/b] bass - bought on ebay from a chap (I guess he's RSL!) in the next town; he had some guitars made and decided to make up the numbers with a short run of basses. Again, I put a spotter bid on one and nobody outbid me (they're currently available). The bass is good and bad... It's quite good quality and the neck is very thin and comfortable, but I had to do a lot of setup work and even took an angle off the end of the fretboard overhang to allow my finger to get in for slap (I'm not great at that, but it was actually impossible til I got my hacksaw & file out). The bad is that the final assembly lets it down (in particular the neckplate screws) and the bridge is four individual single-string bridges whose saddles are tiny black squares which fall out when you take the string off (I can just imagine breaking a string and losing one!), so I'll probably replace it with a more robust conventional one (from my box of bits).
A [b]Hohner Rockwood Precision[/b] - another ebay spotter bid which won (I think I maybe need to stop doing that!)... It was an OK bass, bright red, but I got it and decided I didn't really want it. I considered using it for a possible gig with a Pink Floyd tribute band as a kind of nod to how to play crap bass (I'm not a Roger Waters fan), but I decided I was probably better off just not going for it. I sold it last week on ebay (for a profit of £1!).
[b]Fakenbacker[/b] - I've just arranged to buy a Ricky copy project off someone who had put it on ebay, but ebay pulled the auction for fake/replica/copyright infringement. I got in touch with the seller and have arranged to collect it next weekend. I'd like to build it up with quality parts (I've got a spare Hipshot bridge and a genuine Ricky toaster pickup) with a view to eventually getting a real Ricky body and shifting everything onto it. I was hoping to put a Hipshot Xtender on it too, but it looks like they don't do a Ricky one :-( . It came with a non-genuine "Rickenbacker" truss rod cover, but I may replace it with "Frickenbacker" in the appropriate lettering.
So, that's me: some keepers, some hackabouts and some I can take or leave.
(Smiles happily and saunters off to open a can of beer...)
Going ahead, I'd like another 5-string (I'd be up for replacing the Status headless 4-string like-for-like) and will probably noodle around with partsblasters