Bassees of the Eightees

[Marc S]

Probably a [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Steinberger - although they weren't a particular favourite of mine...
An earlier poster said Westone were everywhere in the late 80's

My Westone Thunder Jet was a lovely bass
My Ibanez Roadster 11 was even better [/font][/color]

[shizznit]

Aria, Alembic, Music Man and Jaydee basses were very popular in the 80's pop movement. I owned a Jaydee Supernatural which was stunning to play (when the electronics were working)

[BassManGraham]

I remember the 80s for 4 trends

Quality British luthiers.
Japanese were better than American.
Headless Basses
Synth Guitars - Roland etc

Top 5 basses of the period IMHO.

Wal Custom
Status
Steinburger
Aria SB1000
Ibanez Musician

[BigRedX]

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1379501655' post='2213349']
For me it was a Fender Precision. Most of the guys around here, playing the pub/club circuit, were using Fenders back then.
[/quote]

Virtually no-one in the circles I moved in, during the 80s was using Fenders. The bands that hadn't replaced the bass guitar with a keyboard/synthesiser were sporting Gibson, Ibanez, Aria Pro II, Guild, and various headless basses.

[ratman]

Ah the 80's. I nearly bought a Wal. I ended up with a Jaydee. Hated the sound of any Status, especially paired up with a TE rig, ugh. But now whenever I see a headless bass I think of the 80's, the headless heyday. Now, I'm off to comb my mullet........

[chriswareham]

The Korg MS-20 was 1970s vintage, and coincidently I swapped a Roland MC-202 for my first bass guitar. By the late 1980s horrible FM synthesis bass sounds were the staple of pop records, but on the plus side analogue synth fans like me could pick up great instruments dirt cheap (Yamaha CS-40m, Korg Mono/Poly and the 202 in my case).

[chris_b]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1379506478' post='2213432']
....Virtually no-one in the circles I moved in, during the 80s was using Fenders. The bands that hadn't replaced the bass guitar with a keyboard/synthesiser were sporting Gibson, Ibanez, Aria Pro II, Guild, and various headless basses....
[/quote]

Whatever turned them on.

Sounds like I was lucky to make it through the 80’s unscathed.

[ratman]

[quote name='iconic' timestamp='1377797731' post='2192043']
What, no mention of Westone Thunder's...everyones first 'proper' bass
[/quote]

Ah ha! Westone Thunder 1, my first 'proper' bass indeed.

[BassTractor]

[quote name='chriswareham' timestamp='1379544024' post='2214145']
The Korg MS-20 was 1970s vintage
[/quote]

Yup, it was, but did have its heydays in the 80s.
Though it was introduced in '78, many countries had to wait until '79 before getting them in stock, and in Holland, the very first one (before main stock) didn't arrive until July or August '79.
Edit: suddenly realise I may be misremembering that last bit about Holland.


[quote name='chriswareham' timestamp='1379544024' post='2214145']
horrible FM synthesis bass sounds were the staple of pop records
[/quote]

OK, but it's not so that FM [b]can't[/b] do good bass sound. It's just that FM needs a better programmer to pull this off, as "amateurs", for lack of a better word, make mistakes early in the process that they never escape from later on.
Me personally, I'm supposed to know my stuff, having taught FM at music college. Still, I'd use three whole working days to program a good bass sound, and must say one doesn't do that very often as it gets very tedious. Better programmers than me did it a lot quicker though.
Sh*t I'm ranting.

Edited September 19, 2013 by BassTractor

[chriswareham]

That was the trouble with FM synthesis - it was so much a science rather than an artistically appealing way of programming sounds. As a result most people used the same handful of presets, and the sample based synths of the late 80s only made it worse (the likes of the Korg M1 for instance). At least nowadays there's plenty of patch libraries out there so even though most DAW users never program a patch, they can at least choose from a wider selection of sounds

[Krysbass]

+1 for the Westone Thunder.

A 1A was my "first proper bass", but I still have my '84 Thunder III which definitely doesn't fall into the category of "first bass". - It'll be 30 years old next year and although it's no longer my main bass was gigged as recently as last night (Absolutely dire gig - but that's another story)

[BigRedX]

[quote name='chriswareham' timestamp='1379544024' post='2214145']
The Korg MS-20 was 1970s vintage, and coincidently I swapped a Roland MC-202 for my first bass guitar. By the late 1980s horrible FM synthesis bass sounds were the staple of pop records, but on the plus side analogue synth fans like me could pick up great instruments dirt cheap (Yamaha CS-40m, Korg Mono/Poly and the 202 in my case).
[/quote]

FM synthesis was great. My band in the 80s had one of the first DX7s in the UK. The programming allowed fantastic opportunities for creating completely different types of sounds that were up to then impossible without a massive modular system. You can't blame FM synthesis because too many musicians were too stupid or lazy to venture past the pre-sets.

[Marc S]

[quote name='ratman' timestamp='1379574996' post='2214256']
Ah ha! Westone Thunder 1, my first 'proper' bass indeed.
[/quote]

Yes, really liked Westone basses
As I said earlier, I had a Westone Thunder Jet

It was a lovely bass
The first time I ever saw a bass neck with so many frets
A nice light, small body, and a fast, thin neck
It produced a great sound too

The only thing I didn't like about it was the bridge
The adjusting grub screws used to protrude up, out of the saddles
They were sharp, and tended to dig into the side of your hand
EDIT: When played with a pick

I really should have replaced the screws with something shorter and it would have fixed it
but I then got keen on another bass and did a swap....

Still, really nice bass for the money at that time

Edited September 25, 2013 by Marc S

[Jupiter]

My opinion doesn't really count as I wasn't even born in the 80s, but as somewhat of a 80s music aficionado, I've always thought this was the ultimate example of what 80s bass overkill sounds like:

[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ju_a2-Pve4g[/url]

Edited September 25, 2013 by Jupiter

[randythoades]

I have just managed to snag another 1980s Aria Pro II. A 1981 Cardinal series CSB450, carved ash body, set neck in a most lurid colour of red. Not quite iconic (I only seem to remember the guys in the Rod Stewart band playing Cardinals - is that a good thing?) but a great medium scale bass none the less. Takes my Cardinal count to 3 now...the wife is beginning to notice...I may have to offer my 1969 Aria violin bass or as a token sacrifice before she puts her foot down!!

Edited September 27, 2013 by randythoades

[LeftyJ]

This should definitely be included in the list:

[elom]

This thread made me go and grab my own basses - I guess they are pretty 80s!

[LeftyJ]

Very! Love the Fender Performer

[Marc S]

[quote name='elom' timestamp='1380234143' post='2222774']
This thread made me go and grab my own basses - I guess they are pretty 80s!


[/quote]

Indeed - very 1980's
I like 'em all

EDIT: Just don't go doing any 1980's hairstyles! lol

Edited September 30, 2013 by Marc S

[bbrich]

80's basses? Well, Status, JayDee, Steinberger, all wondeful. I've never played a Status and the one time that I tried a JayDee I was so depressed 'cos it weighed a ton. I have a Steinberger Spirit but just can't get used to playing it standing up. It sort of falls away from me and I can't see the frets - and I need to see the frets.

For me though you'd have to go a long way to better a Westone Thunder IIIA for the money at that time. I bought mine from the Bass Centre in 1986 and its been my main bass ever since. It just "fits" me. Brilliant neck and tight sound. In the 90's the Bass Centre fitted EMG's for me, along with an EMG BTC split tone control. I asked them to disable the Phase switch since I never used it. The EMGs are actually hidden inside the original Westone p/u covers which also serve as great thumb-rests. The Bass Centre also fitted a Badass III bridge at some point in the 90s. I replaced the machine heads myself more than ten years ago and all the pots, switches and jack socket have been replaced at least once. The jack socket is being replaced again right now.

Mine's a red one by the way and, according to a listing published in Guitarist magazine back in the late 80's, there were only a very limited number (60 I seem to recall) of red ones imported into the UK. I remember seeing its "brother", a red Thunder IIIA Fretless, for sale on Denmark Street years ago and even now I'm kicking myself for not buying it. They were really well-made basses.

[Marc S]

[quote name='bbrich' timestamp='1383254114' post='2262319']

.....For me though you'd have to go a long way to better a Westone Thunder IIIA for the money at that time.......

Mine's a red one by the way and, according to a listing published in Guitarist magazine back in the late 80's, there were only a very limited number (60 I seem to recall) of red ones imported into the UK. I remember seeing its "brother", a red Thunder IIIA Fretless, for sale on Denmark Street years ago and even now I'm kicking myself for not buying it. They were really well-made basses.
[/quote]

Yes, Westone were great for the money at the time
I've posted this comment before, but I had a Westone Thunder Jet
The 1st 24 fret neck I'd seen
A great sounding bass, nice & lightweight too

But the bridge was uncomfortable - the grub screws used to dig into my right hand
Easily fixed though.....

I had the chance to buy a fretless Thunder 1A a couple of years back
And it was cheap - wish I'd bought it now

At the time, I also recall seeing a make of guitar called "Westbury"
They looked very similar to Westone - anyone on here know if they were made in the same factory?