What was your first Bass/Rig?

[Stub Mandrel]

Hohner Jazz bass (which was actually quite decent, although the natural colour was a bit meh)  and a Sound City 50W Bass amp (which was not so good...)

I will be briefly reunited with the bass in late October which will be interesting!

[Stylon Pilson]

My first bass was a Jim Harley P-bass copy. Red with white plate. It wasn't awful, I suppose.

First amp was a Stagg 20w bass combo. Now that was dire. For some reason the EQ section was back to front and the power switch was upside down.

I've still got both of them.

S.P.

[Hobbayne]

First bass - Satellite short scale thing. No amp though.

First Proper bass and amp - Westone Thunder 1 and Vox 50 combo from a Littlewoods catalogue circa 1983.

 

Edited September 3, 2019 by Hobbayne

[NancyJohnson]

I used to borrow a Jedson Telecaster shaped bass and a WEM Dominator from a guy who lived round the corner from me, but the first purchased bass was this white CBS/Arbiter SG shaped thing...they come up on eBay periodically. 

First amp/rig?  Well, I'm struggling now.  I owned a 1x15 cabinet of unknown lineage (I recall after money changed hands, I actually got it home using my dad's wheelbarrow) and at the same time I owned a secondhand H/H head that was really nasty (it smelt very electrical when it had been on for a bit, like a Scalextric) and a Carlsboro Stingray combo.

[knirirr]

I had one of these, long since sold (though I should have kept it):

https://www.talkbass.com/threads/nbd-9-thrift-store-fretless-p.1413362/

Until I saw the advert for this model in a magazine c. 1993-94 I wasn't aware that fretless basses existed, but it looked so awesome I had to have one and switch to bass from guitar immediately.
I was also able to get one of these, which I still have and I suspect I will be keeping.

 

[BassAgent]

I started on the perfect starter bass IMO:

Yamaha RBX-270

And a Crate BX-25 amp. I think. I'm sure I started on a Crate but I can't remember the type. This one looks like the one in my memory.

[nilebodgers]

I had a Hayman 40/40 bass, a Marshall 100W Super Bass head and a HH 4x12 Lead/Bass 200W cabinet. That was back in the late 70s.

Not exactly very bassy, but it was loud and that was all I needed in my hard rock band.

 

[paul_5]

Mine was a short scale Hohner with a P pickup:

 

into a Marshall practice amp; neither of which were great.

 

Fortunately we did a lot of gigs with PA support, so the paltry output of the Marshall wasn't an issue.

 

 

[Al Krow]

Aria Pro II - had been hanging around the house not being used for over a decade, previously owned by Mrs Krow who'd had a brief flirtation with bass a long while back.  Into a TC BG250 115 (stock photo). 

Began my love affair with PJ basses long before I knew what a PJ bass was...

[Ed_S]

Think I was quite lucky - I started out on a Yamaha BB N4ii

and a Trace Commando 15 mk2

I don’t have either of them any more, but they were a good place to start. The tone control on the bass did absolutely nothing, and the combo was heavy and awkward to shift, but I still felt like a bit of a boss.

[Defo]

Hondo Deluxe Series 830 - probably a lot better than I gave it credit for

 

Laney Linebacker 30 - about as loud as my radio

[bassbiscuits]

Mine was in 1986 - a terrible short scale Satellite bass, with sky-high action and a twisted neck, and what i remember being a five-watt bass amp called a Badger Piccolo.

The bass was rubbish. The amp i don't remember much about, as it was literally the first year of me learning in my bedroom and it did the job.

Sold them both after I'd paid off the hire purchase for a year, and bought a Westone Spectrum ST and a Ross Fame 15-watt bass amp in 1987.

Edited September 4, 2019 by bassbiscuits

[songofthewind]

In 1983, my first bass rig was a Yamaha B100-115 combo, and a Yamaha BB1000. Switched to a Lane Linebacker head and cab, for some reason. Probably the fact that it had more knobs and mini switches. And a compressor.

[songofthewind]

8 hours ago, Al Krow said:

Aria Pro II - had been hanging around the house not being used for over a decade, previously owned by Mrs Krow who'd had a brief flirtation with bass a long while back.  Into a TC BG250 115 (stock photo). 

Began my love affair with PJ basses long before I knew what a PJ bass was...

Al, that’s my BG250, sitting on my patio! Where’d you find that pic?

[Al Krow]

Just now, songofthewind said:

Al, that’s my BG250, sitting on my patio! Where’d you find that pic?

Good job I 'fessed it being a stock pic, then! It's from Google Images. Your cab is famous!

[Teebs]

4 minutes ago, songofthewind said:

Al, that’s my BG250, sitting on my patio! Where’d you find that pic?

He stole it to add to his 'harem'!

[Al Krow]

Just now, Teebs said:

He stole it to add to his 'harem'!

I'd love to have a harem.

However Mrs Krow isn't that keen, and apparently they don't come cheap...

[BassAgent]

12 hours ago, Ed_S said:

Think I was quite lucky - I started out on a Yamaha BB N4ii

and a Trace Commando 15 mk2

I don’t have either of them any more, but they were a good place to start. The tone control on the bass did absolutely nothing, and the combo was heavy and awkward to shift, but I still felt like a bit of a boss.

That is possibly the perfect beginner rig.

[4000]

1980 Rick 4001 jetglo (stolen from Hendon in ‘86 - serial no TC915 if anyone has it).

First amp was a JHS 50w guitar combo with tremolo. Replaced that with a Custom Sound 100w bass combo with graphic and distortion that was actually a bit of a beast.

[TrevorR]

This Aria Pro II SB700 (still got it, still play it) and a 75W 1x15 Laney Combo. In 1982...

 

 

[TrevorR]

Back in the day...

[Jonse]

A KCC Precision that was my brother's originally and some no-name combo amp that came with it. Both were P.O.S linked together by some garbage cable that never worked properly. 

Ragging aside, they let me start my first punk bands with my friends and, several thousand pounds later, here we are. 

The KCC eventually got a viking funeral and the practice amp ended up in a skip after we decided to spray paint our band name (Hell Tramp) onto the front of it, thinking nothing of the speaker cone 😂

I still remember practising in my best friend's car-port trying to nail Misfits songs. Me and my brother with two tiny practice amps while he pounded the hell out of his drumkit. Good times.

Edit: Bass and amp were off a website called Ebuyer (think it's still going and sells computer parts.) This would have been about 2004/5 when I was 12/13.

Edited September 5, 2019 by Jonse

[mangotango]

On ‎02‎/‎09‎/‎2019 at 14:18, mangotango said:

OK, Serious Nostalgia Time, peeps.

I said in the "Best Beginner's Bass?" thread that, since many of us had a real moan about the first bass that we had, back in the day, it might be interesting to see on exactly what kinds of junk we began our bass-playing odysseys and I would start a thread to that effect....so here we go. Please post details, preferably accompanied by pictures (library pictures will do, though vintage photo's of you with your not-so-prize possession will be welcome) of:-

• Your First Bass
• Your First Amplification set-up  - from back in the days before we called them "rigs"

and the date when you had these beasts in your possession. 

Happy to start the ball rolling. I played my first gig on an Eko violin bass through an Impact 60 amp and two unbranded 2x12" bass cabs (could have been Simms-Watts??) Would have been early to mid-1976 that these came into my possession.

As @Scoop would confirm....the worst bass sound ever known to humankind. Putting it through the very cheapest of fuzzboxes probably didn't help any, if I'm honest.

THIS is a joke, right? I could buy a whole bunch of decent kit for that price...…

https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/293130299202

 

Edited September 5, 2019 by mangotango

[Lfalex v1.1]

1st bass- Westone Raider 1

1st amp- Proamplifiers "Demon" 80w 1x12.

Did my first gig with that bass (And I still have it)

The amp was  too small/ with and replaced by a very skanky 2nd hand Trace 1110 for gig duties.

I was going to remark on the fact that no-one went too mad on their first instrument, but then saw the Thumb 5 and SB700.

I Guess if you're already playing something else to a reasonable standard, then investing in a more expensive bass (in the knowledge that you'll likely stick with it) makes more sense.

Edited September 5, 2019 by Lfalex v1.1

[Defo]

15 hours ago, TrevorR said:

This Aria Pro II SB700 (still got it, still play it) and a 75W 1x15 Laney Combo. In 1982...

 

Wow, you were lucky!!