first bass

[Jimryan]

As I'm sat here doing a it of general up keep and a bit of tidying up on my bass. I wondered if anyone out there, started on one of those awful build, dirt cheap beginner basses and not only started with one, but continues to use it, all these years down the line. Some people use them purely for learning with aspirations to move on and actually do.

However, to some (possibly many) these thoughts of moving on do happen, but the original bass turns into "old faithful"

I started about 8 years ago with a Stagg BC300. I saved all my pocket money and got it as soon as I could. Yet, as terrible a bass as it is. I cannot bring myself to part with it and frequently use it. One of its pick-ups died earlier this week so I'll be upgrading the electrics when I can afford to do so, but she's still in use.

How about you guys?

[Dave Vader]

I still gig regularly with a 1989 Sunn Mustang P-bass copy, it is not well regarded, and came out of an Argos catalogue. I have upgraded a few bits on it (mostly cos they broke).
it is very much old faithful. And I love it no matter what they say....

[icastle]

I'm about as sentimental as a plastic bottle but I've got an Aria ProII SB-900 that I bought new back in the 80's.
Still get's used for odd tracks here and there - it has quite a distinctive sound.

[mushers]

up until a few years ago i was full of regret about swapping my first bass for a pair of big speakers 15 years earlier, until i saw one just like it on ebay which i bought !
my god its pants (short scale Kay)
i must be the only person fool enough to buy two lumps of plywood with strings on >.< so old faithfull its certainly wouldnt be might even go on the fire pit this summer

[el borracho]

My first one was an Ibanez Blazer that I got for £120. At the time nobody I played with seemed to rate it much so I didn't think it was very good!! I upgraded it to an Ibanez Roadster which I still have although it is little used these days.

[Bassdriver]

I had a used Satellite Precision copy which I bought for about £50 when I was about 14, yes, sometime ago now. It came fitted with black nylon/tapewound strings. This was before I'd found my calling as a bass player and was still aspiring to be a Garry Moore/JImi Hendrix clone. I traded the Satellite in for a white Hohner Strat.
Later I fell into playing bass in my mates band using a borrowed Westone Thunder 1A played through a Carlsbro Stingray combo. I soon realised I was meant to be a bass player after all and traded the strat for a second hand Kramer Duke, a headless Steinberg inspied creation with an Aluminium neck along with a Peavy MKIII head and 2x15 cab. I later traded the Kramer for a Status 2000 when they became all the rage.

Thinking about it now would be nice to still have them all but at the time it was needs must and they had be sacrificed in the name of progress.

[ratking]

My first (own, before I "adopted" my girlfriend's cheapo) bass was a Warwick Rockbass, one of the very first models ... Actually it was an excellent bass for the price, and one of the few instruments I somewhat regret having sold. But I quite often buy second-hand equipment, if available at a good price, out of sheer interest - and sell it again, if it doesn't turn out to be a keeper ... So I sold all my first equipment, bass or guitar, a long time ago, and only the best instruments, amps, fx etc. are allowed to stay and inhabit my rehearsal or living room

But that's just me - somehow I can't bear things lying around that aren't really necessary So one or two really good basses (and guitars) and of course a solid backup instrument, one good amp rig, only the fx I actually use - that's enough, and everything else has to go

Edited March 12, 2012 by ratking

[mingsta]

Funnily enough I've just flogged my 1st bass to a friend. It was a Fenix Jazz copy. It played lovely, much better than the 90 quid might have indicated. Plugged in, it was rather weak sounding and really needed some better pickups/electronics to do it justice, hence not been played for over a decade.

[fumps]

My first Bass didn't even have a name on it (I think that was due to the fact that no company would own up to making it)

The action was high, it stayed in tune for 10.5 seconds & it's jack plug was really naff. but i played it for 2 years before i upgraded (Amp & other stuff took priority, like girls & erm other items of relaxation)

I still look back at that era with a smile, the endless confidence & the life of just playing that Bass. brilliant times god knows how i got that thing to work lol

[Looper]

My first bass, bought for me at the age of 13, was a secondhand franconia jazz copy, sunburst. Soon joined by a 25w lead amp that somehow didn't tear it's self apart. Total cost, less than a hundred quid. Hours of fun, jamming, letting rip when no-one else was home. Was a really crap set-up though. No wonder I gave up for years.
Anyone even heard of franconia?

[1970]

from what i have gathered, everyone who learnt on a westone in the 80s has bought them all back again

I still have my first guitar - 90s danelectro U2. First bass (squier jazz) is long gone.

[Dandelion]

An Aria pro 2 Cat bass..

Still have it, made of plywood.

Nice neck though.

[GregBass]

Back in the late 60s when I started to play, a plank with strings was the best one could hope for. My first bass was an Egmond Lucky 6 - like a Lucky 7 but with only one pickup! The neck was almost too narrow to fit 4 strings across it, held on with two wood screws to a narrow semi acoustic body. I actually used it for quite a while in a regularly performing band until I upgraded to an Epihpone. The old Egmond is currently in pieces in my loft, and is likely to remain there

[Mog]

Still have my Hohner LX 90B pbass copy. Sounds better than most Mexican Fenders.

[Cosmo Valdemar]

Mine was a copy of a Gibson EB-3 courtesy of Eros, in natural. Sadly I decided to strip it down and repaint in in the style of Clapton's SG for a project in art college. Never finished it. Not actually sure where it is now sadly. I wish I still had it as I can't really remember what it sounded like

Edited March 26, 2012 by Cosmo Valdemar

[Mornats]

Mine was an Aria Pro II ZZB Deluxe that my parents bought me second hand when I was 16. It was an explorer shape and looked awesome. Not quite so awesome when it was being held by a skinny 16 year old with sensible hair and glasses.

[Judo Chop]

A Benson P copy I bought off eBay with an amp the size of a child's shoe box. It was a Decent enough bass to start off on I suppose, but the tone knob didn't work and the tuning pegs were antisocial.
I managed to break Ol' Sh***y's neck by putting a set of gigantic flatwounds on it without knowing any better and ended up with a four-stringed bow, so I took it apart to see how it worked, lost interest in putting it back together and banished it to the top of my wardrobe.