What happened?

[jonnybass]

I still have my first bass...well its a bit of a 'triggers broom' its  an 84 Japanese precision i picked up in 1990...its now got a new neck, pickup, an added jazz pickup, new wiring, a new bridge, tuners, strap buttons and a neck plate...covered  in stickers.  

 

I love it.  Had one of those H&H Bass Baby amps in 1991 too, what a sound lovely. But heavy, didnt learn though and replaced it with a Trace Elliot amp.

 

Jonny

[jackreacher193]

Very first bass 90s curtain haircuts and garage band.

 

Was a Hohner "The Jack" Headless Bass. Bought off some fella in a pub carpark for £100 in 1997 I think!

 

Sold it a few years later for £100. Should have kept it!!

[Rich]

On 28/07/2021 at 09:24, EssentialTension said:

I had a Hofner 185 Artist, for which I paid £30 in 1973,

Yup, my first bass was one of those too. I paid £20 for mine in 1982, off my school metalwork teacher. I still have it, although it's borderline unplayable these days. Looks good on the wall though.

[Skybone]

My first bass was a Kay P copy. Frankly, I don't care what happened to it, and thankfully I managed to sell it on.

[grenadillabama]

On 15/01/2022 at 10:19, KingBollock said:

Cash Converters…

 

We got into serious money trouble, through no fault of mine and it’s something I am still bitter about. I loved that bass more than I can express, for more reasons than I want to go into…

 

it was a Westone Raider I in the silver/grey colour scheme.

 

This isn’t mine, I have no photos of mine (and my ex kept the photos of my 18th birthday cake that was made in it’s image). Annoyingly, I just found this photo while Googling, and found it on BassChat from a year ago, where it was pointed out that it hadn’t sold on eBay. If only I had come back to BassChat a year earlier!

That body shape is like my Jackson Kelly bass . John Entwistle might like it . I wish my Kelly sounded better...

[SteveXFR]

My first bass was an incredibly ugly Peavey International IV. Bought from BreadBin, some previous owner had brush painted it in cream gloss and splattered in in red, blue and green. I played it for 6 months before getting a replacement. I then stripped it back to bare wood, resprayed it in surf green, replaced all the electrics and gave it to my daughter who absolutely loves it and plays better than me.

Edited February 12, 2022 by SteveXFR

[Pea Turgh]

Oddly (and I am odd), I think the splatterpaint job looked alright!

However, that blue looks awesome!  Spray can job?  Is the neck painted too?

[Boodang]

34 minutes ago, Pea Turgh said:

Oddly (and I am odd), I think the splatterpaint job looked alright!

However, that blue looks awesome!  Spray can job?  Is the neck painted too?

It's very Pollock... I love the splatter look.

[smarthound]

Mine was a '60s WEM Sapphire. It had a white body, black scratchplate and plenty of chrome. I used it in my first studio recording and when my band supported the Clash at the Manchester Apollo ('79 I think) - so it had some sentimental value to me. I gave the body and neck to a mate to get them refinished and they were stolen (although I still had all the hardware). Years later I found a sunburst Sapphire on fleaBay and transplanted my old pickups, pickup plate, scratchplate, bridge etc etc. So I still have the heart of my first bass in this one, although I suppose it's a bit like Trigger's broom. Wish I could find a white body for it!

 

[Stub Mandrel]

1 hour ago, smarthound said:

Mine was a '60s WEM Sapphire. It had a white body, black scratchplate and plenty of chrome. I used it in my first studio recording and when my band supported the Clash at the Manchester Apollo ('79 I think) - so it had some sentimental value to me. I gave the body and neck to a mate to get them refinished and they were stolen (although I still had all the hardware). Years later I found a sunburst Sapphire on fleaBay and transplanted my old pickups, pickup plate, scratchplate, bridge etc etc. So I still have the heart of my first bass in this one, although I suppose it's a bit like Trigger's broom. Wish I could find a white body for it!

 

I came within an inch of buying a similar pale blue one a few weeks ago. It was gorgeous. Sounded really vintage. Branded Watkins on the headstock, not WEM.

[Twincam]

On 10/02/2022 at 19:26, SteveXFR said:

My first bass was an incredibly ugly Peavey International IV. Bought from BreadBin, some previous owner had brush painted it in cream gloss and splattered in in red, blue and green. I played it for 6 months before getting a replacement. I then stripped it back to bare wood, resprayed it in surf green, replaced all the electrics and gave it to my daughter who absolutely loves it and plays better than me.

 

What have you done! Isn't that a late Jackson Pollock special? Probably worth millions. 

😄 

 

Dare I say I quite like its splatter design. 

[smarthound]

9 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

I came within an inch of buying a similar pale blue one a few weeks ago. It was gorgeous. Sounded really vintage. Branded Watkins on the headstock, not WEM.

That'll be an earlier model than mine. If it had a plain wood headstock it's a Rapier. if it's black it's a Sapphire. WEM stands for Watkins Electric Music.

 

[Stub Mandrel]

13 minutes ago, smarthound said:

That'll be an earlier model than mine. If it had a plain wood headstock it's a Rapier. if it's black it's a Sapphire. WEM stands for Watkins Electric Music.

 

 

A rapier, then I think, although the shop had a different name for it I haven't found anywhere else. Yes I know when=Watkins 😁 someone tried to flog me an ancient copykat last year

[EssentialTension]

2 hours ago, smarthound said:

That'll be an earlier model than mine. If it had a plain wood headstock it's a Rapier. if it's black it's a Sapphire. WEM stands for Watkins Electric Music.

 

 

Some time in the late 1960s, the guitars were re-labelled Wilson rather than Watkins.

[Bassfinger]

Still got my first, a used Ibanez.  Its sprouted Wilkinson tuners, Entwistle pups and a Gotoh bridge, the total of which cost me more than the bass itself.

 

It get used quite a bit and is now my main live tool because the boys in the band love the sound. I couldn't disagree with that, and its pleasant enough to play so it still earns its place on the fleet.

[Thump]

This is my first bass, its in the cupboard next to me. Its been neglected for a couple of years and guess who left a battery in it... 

[theyellowcar]

4 minutes ago, Thump said:

This is my first bass, its in the cupboard next to me. Its been neglected for a couple of years and guess who left a battery in it... 

That’s cool! Kind of Gibson RD-like?

[Thump]

Just now, theyellowcar said:

That’s cool! Kind of Gibson RD-like?

I had to google that model, but it would seem so yes!  Its an Ltd phoenix 204 with severely corroded battery terminals

[moley6knipe]

Great thread. My first was some no name precision c. 25 years ago. Natural, maple neck, black guard. Buzzed like an angry wasp. Went out of the window at a party (I’d leant it to a “friend”) and into a pond. Started refinishing it and bought new bits. Got bored with that and took it to the tip. Kept the parts in a box for another 15 years then sold them!

Edited February 19, 2022 by moley6knipe

[justgone1]

I remember my father buying what was to be my first ever forray into bass guitar playing. 

He came home one day with a CBS Arbiter bass guitar, white/cream with the black coated strings. Together with a Carlsbro Hornet combo. This would be around 1974.

Looking back it was a great bass even though it wasn't  particularly expensive at that time. 

I was hooked! I'd started learning the guitar, then played around on this bass and switched! 

The rest, as they say, is historectomy. Lol

In 1979 I purchased a brand new Fender Precision from Harker & Howarth. This P-bass was amazing now I look back. It was a curious colour of what I called PLUM, rosewood FB etc.  I regret selling it, but I was skint at the time. 

As for the Arbiter, I lent it to a "mate" and never saw it again!! 

Much to my father's displeasure. 

Probably worth a bit now? At least 20 quid lol. 

The Carlsbro Hornet combo was px'd quite rapidly for a Marshall rig on the never never. Those were the days. 

The music shop I purchased the Fender from were fantastic. I got that on a HP agreement, and when I stopped payments following a serious motorcycle accident (hospitalised for 5mths) they wrote the debt off immediately. 

So thankfull to them

That wouldn't happen today eh peeps? 

Edited February 21, 2022 by justgone1

[NT1991]

Love this topic!

My first bass was a Vintage (can't remember what model) it cost about £120 back in 2007. My bass tutor at college set it up perfectly, it was such a joy to play I do miss it sometimes. Alas when my little cousin started learning himself I gave it him as a present.

The bass I replaced it with was a Cort GB35a which was a terrific bass... until it got stolen... still annoyed about that one!

[Simon C]

I'm late to this one.  It is a cool thread though. 

 

The first bass I had wasn't mine.  It was a black Encore P Bass that I had on a permanent loan (for about 10 years) from an ex bandmate, who also happens to be Mrs. C's uncle.  Once I bought my G&L L2000 the P-bass didn't get played.  So I asked my ex-bandmate if he wanted it back.  He said he fancied the neck for a fretless build and asked how much I wanted for it - he'd forgotten it was his.  You'll be pleased to know that my conscience kicked in and no money changed hands 😊.  He made the fretless out of it with 2 pieces of an old door used for the body.  The burnt effect you see on the bass body is a technique called Shu Sugi Ban (burning) - it's cool.  I've no idea what happened to the P Bass body. I haven't played the fretless yet, but will do at some point.

 

The Encore bass is the black one over the piano.  The other 2 are the completed fretless project.

Edited February 1 by Simon C

[NancyJohnson]

My first bass was one of these beauties, an Arbiter shortscale SG/EB3 style thing in creme.  40+ years ago.  I have no pictorial evidence, I'm afraid, and I have no memory of where it came from.

 

Distinct memory of it having shiny flatwound strings until the G-string went and I bought a roundwound for it - I didn't know better.  That string was so zingy I played it exclusively for a while.  [It] got sold to a hippie guy I was at school with; I remember he came to our house with an older brother, who noodled on it while sitting on the stairs without plugging it into anything.  £35.00 changed hands and off it went.  I did see it occasionally after this.  Beyond that, I have no idea where it went.

 

Interestingly, I remember picks being in short supply and the guy who bought it used to use a green figure of 8 toy-soldier base as a plectrum.  Odd what you remember.

 

[TrevorR]

Mine’s upstairs right now. It’s a lovely Aria SB700 which I got new in 1982. Still gets played. Some chums and I did a fun 80s set for a fundraiser back in November so, of course, it was my weapon of choice!

 

 

 

Edited February 1 by TrevorR

[AndyTravis]

My mate has it - post my horrible modifications…😬