Bassassin Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 First bass was a nasty little shortscale J-ish thing branded Grant, exactly like this: Didn't have a proper amp for a couple of years, for bedroom practice I rigged up a cable to connect the bass to the aux input in my little stereo. First amp came from a local charity shop, cost me £30, I think. One of these: Which regrettably, I don't have any more - in fact I don't know what happened to it. The band I was in split, the amp was in the drummer's mum's basement, which flooded before I got around to collecting it. It probably ended up in a skip - which is a shame, because I could probably pay off the mortgage with it now... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spongebob Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 1993, Sunn Mustang P-bass copy. Used a small Marshall for a while, but my first 'big' amp was a Trace 715 SMC. Time I got the amp, I'd 'upgraded' to a Squier Jazz bass copy! Both came from Flying Pig. Think they've long gone - always had good deals and prices at the time, IIRC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ped Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 About 2000 I bought a Squire Affinity P bass in blue. It was from PMT in Oxford and I carried it home in a plastic bag! I played it through a fender 15w guitar amp which sounded ok actually if you say right in front of it. Mostly I played through a mixing desk and used headphones which I still mainly do today. I remember when I first put a new string on it (somehow I broke the G string) and couldn't believe how good it sounded; I had no idea what effect new strings could have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stub Mandrel Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 41 minutes ago, Bassassin said: Didn't have a proper amp for a couple of years, for bedroom practice I rigged up a cable to connect the bass to the aux input in my little stereo. My first guitar amp was a repurposed Dansette auto-changer with a new speaker built into the box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pea Turgh Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 49 minutes ago, ped said: (somehow I broke the G string) Hehe! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ped Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 6 minutes ago, Pea Turgh said: Hehe! Oh to be young again 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrevorR Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 4 hours ago, Defo said: Wow, you were lucky!! The bass choice in the shop came down to the Aria and an Overwater Classic Bass. In those circumstances I couldn’t have lost! A win whichever way I’d plumped (the Overwater was sparkly pink so Aria it was). And yes, I count myself as super-lucky! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casapete Posted September 6, 2019 Share Posted September 6, 2019 (edited) Reading some of the replies on here makes me realise how lucky I was starting out on bass. Having played guitar for years, I finally saw the light after a brief lay off from gigging when my daughter was born. Someone rang me to ask if I would dep on bass with their band, and so I thought I’d better get something that would do the job. Bought a s/h black Squier 57JV Precision and ran it into an Acoustic 120 head with a Leech cab containing 2x15 HH pro speakers. Sounded pretty good as I remember, wish I still had that bass now! Stupidly traded it in Leeds at Alpha Music for a late 70s sunburst USA Precision which was dreadful - heavy, badly made and just dead sounding.Then some EV speakers replaced the HH ones and I used that cab for years. (Pics show the Leech with EV's and internet pic of Acoustic 120) Edited September 6, 2019 by casapete 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nige1968 Posted September 6, 2019 Share Posted September 6, 2019 (edited) £75 new from a music shop in Blackpool. Travesty of a bass. I got a mate at school to put a “preamp” in it, because he knew some electronics. When engaged, this made it squeal like a dying robot. Replaced with a £199 JV Squier, at which point its shortcomings became clear. No idea what happened to this, presumably sold it to buy food like everything else from that era. I don’t actually remember it being that bad, but I wasn’t really qualified to judge. (All tinternet pics — like I could afford a camera back then) Edited September 6, 2019 by nige1968 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Low End Bee Posted September 6, 2019 Share Posted September 6, 2019 First 'rig' in 1977 Avon EBO copy through a WEM Westminster 15W bass combo. Truly dreadful bass but the WEM was quite decent and pretty loud for 15W. First gig rig 1979. I had got myself a part time job in a music/hire shop when I should really have been at school. Bass was a black Shergold Marathon which I'd bought and a rig which the manager let me borrow. The guitarist also worked there with me and played his Satellite Les Paul through a shop rig too. We were support and offered the headline band backline share but they declined thinking we would have Woolworths practice amps. We played through a Marshall half stack and an Ampeg SVT with an 8x10. It was hilarious. After that was a bit of a come down. I part exchanged the Shergold for a 1968 P bass that wasn't a good one frankly and played through an HH100 VS bass head paired with a hugely woofy 1x18 ex sound system cab. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HazBeen Posted September 6, 2019 Share Posted September 6, 2019 Circa 1989 Squier Katana (the only bass in the store I could afford). Bass in pic is not mine, but it was same colour and just so beautifully ugly I wanted to share. Amp I believe was a 15w Park (jr. Marshall) bass amp, later in the year replaced by a Peavey TNT with Black Widow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casapete Posted September 6, 2019 Share Posted September 6, 2019 6 minutes ago, HazBeen said: Circa 1989 Squier Katana (the only bass in the store I could afford). Bass in pic is not mine, but it was same colour and just so beautifully ugly I wanted to share. Amp I believe was a 15w Park (jr. Marshall) bass amp, later in the year replaced by a Peavey TNT with Black Widow I had the exact model - weird thing IIRC! My cat thought so too I think... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HazBeen Posted September 6, 2019 Share Posted September 6, 2019 1 minute ago, casapete said: I had the exact model - weird thing IIRC! My cat thought so too I think... It didn't sound particularly good and the 32"scale was a bit odd, but I very much regret selling it. It is just so Miami Vice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete.young Posted September 6, 2019 Share Posted September 6, 2019 A Hofner Senator bass, £15 quid from Bell Music in Surbiton, and a Watkins Westminster 10W guitar amp from the late '50s that my old man had lying around from his failed attempt at electric mandolin. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigwan Posted September 6, 2019 Share Posted September 6, 2019 No pics, but mine was a red Sunn Mustang (newer style, no scratchplate, Yamaha RBX-esque headstock) and a 30w Vantage fire-breathing-turd of an amp. The bass lasted a whole 10 weeks until I upgraded to an Aria MAB 20/5 (that I still own and love). The amp may have lasted another year until I bought a Torque 100w. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted September 6, 2019 Share Posted September 6, 2019 Small body Framus Star bass. 60 watt Nashville valve bass amp. 412 Crook bass cab. All pretty good gear for a learner and the aim from day 1 was to go gigging. I worked all summer to buy the bass and amp, then worked all the next summer to buy the cab. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Low End Bee Posted September 6, 2019 Share Posted September 6, 2019 17 minutes ago, chris_b said: Small body Framus Star bass. 60 watt Nashville valve bass amp. 412 Crook bass cab. All pretty good gear for a learner and the aim from day 1 was to go gigging. I worked all summer to buy the bass and amp, then worked all the next summer to buy the cab. Intrigued by the Nashville amp. Never hear of that brand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted September 6, 2019 Share Posted September 6, 2019 Just now, Low End Bee said: Intrigued by the Nashville amp. Never hear of that brand. It was a pretty cheap valve amp. I knew a couple of local bands who used them and my second band had the PA. I think we all got them from the same shop in Acton. I can't find anything about them on the internet. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacko Posted September 6, 2019 Share Posted September 6, 2019 In around 1975/6 my first bass was a homemade effort loosely based on a rick that had a bow in the neck that would have made robin hood jealous. Initially played through a 15 watt WEm dominator that blew up fairly quickly. This 'rig' was followed by a King amp (similar to orange/green) and a 2x15 cab that my dad refused to let into the house. The homemade bendy bass was followed in 1978 by another homemade fretless Gibson RD artist copy that I still have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stub Mandrel Posted September 6, 2019 Share Posted September 6, 2019 2 hours ago, HazBeen said: It didn't sound particularly good and the 32"scale was a bit odd, but I very much regret selling it. It is just so Miami Vice. My brother had a Squier Katana six-string. They inherited a headstock design and logo style from the performer(see sig) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparky Mark Posted September 7, 2019 Share Posted September 7, 2019 (edited) 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. Edited September 8, 2019 by Sparky Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casapete Posted September 7, 2019 Share Posted September 7, 2019 25 minutes ago, Sparky Mark said: 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 to the low end. Nah - a mate wouldn’t have sold you a Kay bass.....🤣 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparky Mark Posted September 7, 2019 Share Posted September 7, 2019 20 minutes ago, casapete said: Nah - a mate wouldn’t have sold you a Kay bass.....🤣 True, but it was a weird 60s looking thing that seem to sell for a small fortune in Denmark Street nowadays. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassbora Posted September 7, 2019 Share Posted September 7, 2019 22 hours ago, HazBeen said: It didn't sound particularly good and the 32"scale was a bit odd, but I very much regret selling it. It is just so Miami Vice. Love that Miami Vice mention. If Don J would have been a bass player he would have played this https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5CR4lSORZ_Q Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jock Posted September 7, 2019 Share Posted September 7, 2019 My first bass and rig---Marlin Sidewinder and Torque 50 combo plus distortion and chorus pedals that came free from a mate. The pics are not mine just ones I found on line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.