What happened to your first bass?

[RhythmJunky]

3 hours ago, BigRedX said:

The drum synths and the Wasp were particularly unreliable, but not in any predicable way. At one gig the Wasp played random notes all by itself during the first song and then remained stubbornly silent for the rest of the set. Back at the rehearsal room the following day it was perfectly fine.

 

 

 

Am I the only person who so wanted that paragraph to end slightly differently?

 

....the following day it was perfectly fine, but later decided to go solo and was offered a contract with CBS......?

Edited January 16, 2022 by RhythmJunky
Grammar

[grenadillabama]

My first bass was a '68 Jazz Bass. I traded it after a year for a Hofner. I could have kept it and bought the Hofner . If I had only seen a photo of Macca playing a Fender ... That Jazz was later painted white . It giged more  than me with local bands. 

[mike 110]

Still got it ...

[Boodang]

Westone Thunder 1a fretless.

 

My best mate at school was a great guitarist, so I thought rather than compete with him I'd play bass instead. At the time, thinking it was a step down from guitar (I was young!) I thought, how can I make playing bass sexier?! Walked into my local shop and there was an unlined Westone fretless and I thought, that'll do the job. That was early 80s, didn't own a fretted bass until a few years ago, and definitely don't think it's a step down from guitar now.

Sold the original bass but a few years ago a friend bought the exact model I first had. When he found out it was the same, he gave it to me. Plays really well, love the neck which has a flattened U shape to it. Weighs a ton tho! Like the neck so much I might transplant it onto a lighter body.

Edited January 16, 2022 by Boodang

[fleabag]

 

I chucked my first in a skip.  It was a nasty Satellite neck through P bass.  The nastiness was the banana neck that many of these Satellite neck through P's  had.  Not all, obviously but enough to get a reputation. 

I sadly had one of the bananas.

 

@Bassassin made a post about these being FCN's budget planks, and being made in Korea at a time when quality was missing

 

 

 

 

Edited January 16, 2022 by fleabag

[NikNik]

5 hours ago, BigRedX said:

 

I assume you mean what are all those weird people doing on "stage"?

 

The gig was at The Hearty Goodfellow in Nottingham, a pub that has since been demolished and replaced by a new building for the up-market Indian Restaurant "4500 Miles to Delhi" Back in the 70s and 80s The Hearty Goodfellow was one of the few places that originals bands could get a gig, either on a Monday or Wednesday night, or supporting avant-garde jazzers  Pinski Zoo who had a Friday night residency (and which was the only "weekend" gig available if your weren't playing rock covers).

 

The band was called "The Perfect Party" and was a post-punk/synth pop amalgam, and in true post-punk style featured "unconventional" instruments and playing ability/technique. It was formed by the percussionist and myself who'd been together in a previous band, and various weirdos we'd picked up from ads in the local record shop. The band lasted just a year of which only the last 6 months was spent gigging, but in that time we managed to rack up on average ay least one gig every week, record two demos, get a track on a local compilation produced by BBC Radio Nottingham and build up a decent reputation and following, all of which got CBS records interested in signing us. Eventually they decided to go with Wham! instead, and that pretty much resulted in the break up of the band.

 

 

On stage from left to right the "musicians" are: Percussion (bongos and home-made drum synths plus drum machine - Boss Doctor Rhythm - programming). With his back to the audience our guitarist whose unique approach to the instrument meant that we couldn't write anything with conventional guitar parts. He went on to be half of Diskonexion who had a couple of critically acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful house records released on Graeme Park's Submission Records label in the late 80s. Next, our singer who also played recorder on a couple of songs in true post-punk style. Two synth players one playing an Octave Kitten and the other an EDP Wasp (which belonged to me). The girl used to go out with Stevo (of Some Bizzare Records fame) which we though might help raise the profile of the band when we asked her to join. It didn't. She also did backing vocals on a couple of songs. Finally there's me on bass guitar and in control of the drum machine.

 

Musically we fell somewhere between early ACR and a low budget version of New Order. The songs were all written by myself (music) and the percussionist (lyrics). For the time (1981/2) we were pushing the envelope of what could be done with technology if you didn't have record company backing to be able to get professional quality gear. The drum synths and the Wasp were particularly unreliable, but not in any predicable way. At one gig the Wasp played random notes all by itself during the first song and then remained stubbornly silent for the rest of the set. Back at the rehearsal room the following day it was perfectly fine.

 

The photo comes from one of our later gigs when we had properly found our musical direction and had learnt how to write to the various members musical strengths and weaknesses. It was taken by a friend of mine who would go on to be a synth player in my next musical venture. Somewhere there is a mixing desk recording of the gig which sounded pretty impressive at the time, but I suspect hasn't aged as well as I would like to remember.

 

So there you go, with probably way more detail than you would care for...

No, all details  appreciated! Tx for the back-story.

 

ACR, yeh? I liked them.

 

Pinski Zoo rings a bell.

 

[NikNik]

10 minutes ago, fleabag said:

 

I chucked my first in a skip.  It was a nasty Satellite neck through P bass.  The nastiness was the banana neck that many of these Satellite neck through P's  had.  Not all, obviously but enough to get a reputation. 

I sadly had one of the bananas.

 

@Bassassin made a post about these being FCN's budget planks, and being made in Korea at a time when quality was missing

 

 

 

 

There was a guy in Edinburgh who ran a recording studio and he had one of them in the late '90s. Strung with flats, it was great for Reggae.

[KingBollock]

15 minutes ago, fleabag said:

 

I chucked my first in a skip.  It was a nasty Satellite neck through P bass. 

 

 

 

 

My second bass was a Satellite P Bass, though I don’t remember if it was a neck-through or not. I was given it for free. I really liked it, but I didn’t really understand why anyone would need more than one bass… so I sold it.

 

I loved my first bass so much that I believe, had I been able to keep it, I would still own just one bass.

[fleabag]

38 minutes ago, NikNik said:

There was a guy in Edinburgh who ran a recording studio and he had one of them in the late '90s. Strung with flats, it was great for Reggae.

 

Bassassin said some were actually playable.  The woods were nice, not a lot wrong with the pickup and pots.  Its just those who's necks went warp factor 9 got them a reputation.  I was just unlucky.

[fleabag]

33 minutes ago, KingBollock said:

My second bass was a Satellite P Bass, though I don’t remember if it was a neck-through or not. I was given it for free. I really liked it, but I didn’t really understand why anyone would need more than one bass… so I sold it.

 

 

There was no way i could sell this to a poor unsuspecting bass player, so the skip got it free of charge

[Guest]

My first bass was a Raven EB-0 copy purchased for me by my parents in 1979. I played the heck out of it. It’s only redeeming feature was it really built up my left hand strength because no matter how much you adjusted the neck the action remained very high. I don’t think I ever played past the 7th fret on that bass. I traded it for a Frescher bass that I still own and quickly moved to Yamaha after that. I don’t miss the Raven but it sure ignited my love of bass. 

[lonestar]

My first bass was a Jedson Tele like this:

https://www.camdenguitars.co.uk/shop/jedson-short-scale-bass/
 

It cost me £30 from Wing Music in Bromley, the bloke in the shop told me it was an Arbiter.

I can’t remember what happened to it, possibly traded when I upgraded to a natural finish maple necked Kay Precision, which weighed a ton but sounded alright.

 

Edited January 16, 2022 by lonestar

[Reggaebass]

10 minutes ago, Moving Pictures said:

I don’t think I ever played past the 7th fret on that bass

 I don’t think I’ve ever done that on any bass 😁

[Reggaebass]

8 minutes ago, lonestar said:

My first bass was a Jedson Tele like this:

https://www.camdenguitars.co.uk/shop/jedson-short-scale-bass/

That was mine too, it served me well and I’ve still got it and it still works, it hangs on my summerhouse wall now 

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, Reggaebass said:

 I don’t think I’ve ever done that on any bass 😁

When I started with that bass I played in the school jazz band and it was primarily swing music so the first 7 frets were all you needed. Then I got into Yes and Rush and my music world dramatically changed 🙂

[theyellowcar]

My first bass was a boot sale find from my uncle. He paid £30 for a Hondo II Professional bass, like the one below. It weighed a tonne, and the bridge saddles were sharp enough to sever a few E strings. I had it for about a year, before getting *my* first proper bass, a Yamaha RBX170 from Academy of Sound in Stoke (same uncle had driven me up there to do a tour of all the shops to find a bass, and my folks bought it for me for Christmas)

 

 

 

The Hondo was then passed around the family, first to my brother to get him started (he now plays guitar in a decent band, and has a music degree), then to my cousin. The Yamaha lives with my best mate in Manchester - he was the guitarist in my “main” high school band, and I have his teenage years Telecaster at my house. 

 

After the Yamaha, I got my first Fender, bought used, completely blind on eBay without any pictures, which on reflection was a rookie move, which luckily paid off. I still have this one 17 years later. 
 

[PaulWarning]

27 minutes ago, theyellowcar said:

My first bass was a boot sale find from my uncle. He paid £30 for a Hondo II Professional bass, like the one below. It weighed a tonne, and the bridge saddles were sharp enough to sever a few E strings. I had it for about a year, before getting *my* first proper bass, a Yamaha RBX170 from Academy of Sound in Stoke (same uncle had driven me up there to do a tour of all the shops to find a bass, and my folks bought it for me for Christmas)

 

 

 

The Hondo was then passed around the family, first to my brother to get him started (he now plays guitar in a decent band, and has a music degree), then to my cousin. The Yamaha lives with my best mate in Manchester - he was the guitarist in my “main” high school band, and I have his teenage years Telecaster at my house. 

 

After the Yamaha, I got my first Fender, bought used, completely blind on eBay without any pictures, which on reflection was a rookie move, which luckily paid off. I still have this one 17 years later. 
 

just goes to show, one mans meat etc, I rate my Hondo, same model, see bottom of the previous page, I certainly wouldn't say it isn't a proper bass, I'm reasonable sure it was made at the Matsumoku  factory and fitted with DiMarzio pick ups

[theyellowcar]

8 minutes ago, PaulWarning said:

just goes to show, one mans meat etc, I rate my Hondo, same model, see bottom of the previous page, I certainly wouldn't say it isn't a proper bass, I'm reasonable sure it was made at the Matsumoku  factory and fitted with DiMarzio pick ups

I meant proper more in the sense that it belonged to me rather than being a loaner. I loved the Hondo at the time, it got me playing, and that convinced my parents that I was serious enough for them to chip in for the Yamaha. I didn’t know what I had at the time though, that much is for sure - with a bit of work and the knowledge I have now it would be killer…may have to give my cousin a call 😄

[TheLowDown]

It's upstairs in the loft, a bit knackered now but still plays last time I played it.

Edited January 16, 2022 by TheLowDown

[Boodang]

 

7 hours ago, Reggaebass said:

That was mine too, it served me well and I’ve still got it and it still works, it hangs on my summerhouse wall now 

Jedson tele bass..  probably the worse bass in the world, bar none... I should know, I have 2 of them! A 24 inch scale is not a bass, it's just a guitar with thick strings!

[Reggaebass]

6 hours ago, Boodang said:

Jedson tele bass..  probably the worse bass in the world, bar none

Mine did well back in the day, I was in 2 reggae bands with it, I think I paid £30 at the time as it was all I could afford then, I played it through a HH ic 100s amp and 2x15 cabs , sounded good from what I can remember 

[NikNik]

29 minutes ago, Reggaebass said:

Mine did well back in the day, I was in 2 reggae bands with it, I think I paid £30 at the time as it was all I could afford then, I played it through a HH ic 100s amp and 2x15 cabs , sounded good from what I can remember 

I sold a perfectly good WEM Dominator Mk2 for one of those things. Then I had to buy the 2 x 15" cab to go with it! I wanted the cab with the lock-on protective cover but it was discontinued and I got the newer cab. The wheels got shunted to the side and it became a trolley for load-ins.

[lowregisterhead]

My first bass was a second-hand Baldwin 704 bought for me by my Dad for £30 in 1975. It was identical to the one in the pic below (not mine, I don't go in for quilt-making) but a previous owner had fitted a Gibson mud-bucker in the neck position, presumably hoping it might look/sound like an Epiphone Rivoli. After a while I realised that I looked incredibly unhip attempting to play Thin Lizzy and Deep Purple covers on a semi-acoustic, so I part-exchanged it for a new Antoria Jazz. I saw one of these for sale in a shop in Ladbroke Grove about 15 years ago, and they were asking £750 for it!

 

 

[Reggaebass]

26 minutes ago, NikNik said:

I had to buy the 2 x 15" cab to go with it! I wanted the cab with the lock-on protective cover

Yeah, mine didn’t have the cover, this was the cab I had, it was quite a beast back in the day , and fairly heavy 

[Boodang]

1 hour ago, Reggaebass said:

Mine did well back in the day, I was in 2 reggae bands with it, I think I paid £30 at the time as it was all I could afford then, I played it through a HH ic 100s amp and 2x15 cabs , sounded good from what I can remember 

Good old HH! I inherited a 8 x 10 HH cab from a previous bass player when I joined a band. Thought it strange I got it for free but then after a few gigs I realised what a pain it was to move. I used to slide it into my hatch back car,  after a while it deformed the back so much the door wouldn't shut. I gave it away to a bass player at a gig just so i didn't have to take it home at the end of the night. Knowing HH reputation for being indestructible it's probably still doing the rounds and ruining people's cars today.