1976; I was 14 years old and used my savings to buy a dreadful Kay bass with flatwounds from a mate (drummer) for £25, a Sound City 120 (much better than I appreciated at the time) from Rockbottom in Croydon (can't remember how much but probably the cheapest amp they had) plus an 18" folded horn cab that probably came from a larger theatre/PA system. Crap tone with no definition at all but could be heard half a mile away from the school music room where my first band practiced in our lunch hour. Soon after got a Shergold Marathon and Carslbro Stingray head; still s#@t!! but I was hooked by the low end.