Knowing what you know now...

[Waddo Soqable]

5 minutes ago, leftybassman392 said:

A Porsche 911 SC with...

Oh wait: wrong thread.

 

As you were.

 

 

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

not something to buy, but I would learn how to set up a bass much sooner. I had owned my precision for 20 years before I was brave enough to adjust the truss rod

[Raymondo]

I had a Laney 100watt Klipp  guitar amp( they had no bass amps in Mum's catalogue!) A Carlsbro 2x15 cab and an Audition p bass copy in 1973.in '74 I  swapped the piece of carp bass for an Arbiter Ric copy. To be honest I would be happy to have kept that set up for ever!

[Woodinblack]

My ric copy was nicked, otherwise I would have been happy to stick with that.

[Jus Lukin]

-

Edited March 15, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[SumOne]

The thing I've learned is that my top priority should have been to get a Bass that is comfortable/light and fun to pick up, and get a home setup that makes that easy to practice - even if just for a few minutes at a time. Getting that practice time in is much more important than obsessing over Alder vs Ash etc. 

 

 

[BigRedX]

Am I 14 again in the mid 70s with the benefit of hindsight, or 14 in 2021 with 45+ years of experience?

It makes a big difference IMO.

[WinterMute]

Buy Apple stock early 80's.

Don't sell the Wal, or the JD or the Warwick...

Practice more.

[LeftyJ]

When I started playing 20 years ago, a lot of stuff I'd love to own now was still much more affordable. The hype around Wal wasn't as crazy as it is now, Warwick was still fairly affordable (a new German Corvette Standard for 600 euros! They charge at least twice that now. I won't even start about used prices), you could still buy a USA Fender under 1000 euros new (almost doubled now), and Fender's shortscale endeavours weren't as hyped up as they are now and therefore very affordable. 

I would have looked for a cool Wal Mk1, a Warwick Streamer Stage 1 5-string and a cheap lefty Fender Musicmaster or (rare as a lefty) Mustang. 

[Rich]

Well I wouldn't be able to afford my Wal, that's for certain.  

It would inevitably be a Jazz of some sort -- a Sire or a Harley Barley maybe, the choice these days is staggering and amazing instruments can be had for peanuts. I'd definitely spend more on the amp than on the bass.

 

[Osiris]

If I could go back in time to the mid 80's and give myself some advice when I first started playing that would be invaluable as a bass player, it would include but not necessarily be limited to;

• Pick up a short scale and stick with it. You're a short arse and 34" scale basses are way to big and cumbersome so don't waste the next 25-30 years fannying about with them. A 30" P or PJ is all you'll ever need. 
• Do not - under any circumstances - buy that Trace Elliot SMX rig in the early 90's. Just don't. It's a gutless, one trick pony that will do your head in for years to come. Stick with the Marshall Jubilee rig instead. Or a Peavey of some sort.
• Learn some theory sooner rather than later. A little goes a long way. 
• Don't play with loads of crap drummers, your timing is bad enough without those idiots hindering you. 
• Learn more covers even if you don't like them. It will push your playing more than doing your own thing ever will. 
• Don't gig on opium. Ever.
• I repeat, DO NOT buy that f@cking Trace rig no matter how cool it looks. 

[Steve Browning]

I don't really think that I could have given a young me any advice. Mainly because, at the time, student gear wasn't that great. Had there been a Squier I'd have bought that. Apart from a Fender from the outset (5 times the cost of my s/h Columbus) I didn't have any other option.

Knowing now, I would have jotted down Merry Christmas and Bohemian Rhapsody before Nod and Freddy!!

[Al Krow]

It would be:

You're going to absolutely love bass, so don't leave it till your late 40s before you start playing;

A Yammy BB will be just as good as a swanky Sandberg;

Buy quality used from folk you can trust on BC and you won't lose a fortune when you come to sell;

Those same lovely folk on BC will, however, give you GAS so you'll end up buying a ton of kit you don't really need. But as it won't cost you much more than postage to move it on, you'll have a lot of fun along the way;

Avoid compressor threads.

Oh and wot @Osiris said...apart from the bit about short scale and the bit about opium as that's never really been my scene 😁

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

Fingerboard oil

[TheGreek]

36 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

Those same lovely folk on BC will, however, give you GAS so you'll end up buying a ton of kit you don't really need. But as it won't cost you much more than postage to move it on, you'll have a lot of fun along the way;

The epitaph for all members here.

[Dan Dare]

Would probably do much the same as I did, bearing in mind that there wasn't the choice of stuff available back in the 1970s/80s. I've never been one for chopping and changing a lot, don't buy things on impulse or whim and always try things out pretty thoroughly before taking the plunge.

I played a borrowed cheapie when I started dabbling with bass. Having decided I wanted to take it more seriously and being keen on J basses (because many of the people I admired played them), I looked for one and found a 1972 in a hock shop in 1982 (you could do that back then). Bought it for not a huge amount and it was my only bass until around 10 years ago, when I started trying and buying the odd additional instrument. Still have the 72, of course.

Rig wise, it was an Ohm combo when starting out, then a Bassman 135 with matching 2x15, then a Trace AH350 plus Ampeg 2x10 and 1x15, then a BBE pre plus power amp with the same cabs. When I decided to go compact/lightweight, I discovered PJB cabs and now run them with an AG700. I guess that, knowing what I know now and assuming I was starting out now, I'd go straight to my present set up (assuming I could afford it, of course), which I'm very happy with.

[thodrik]

Don't stick with the same Trace combo for 10 years just because 'it hasn't broke yet' and the rat fur makes an ideal scratching post for your cat.

Don't wait 12 years to buy a five string. 

Elixir strings save you money in the long term. 

Wals only ever go up in price. 

Buy a Les Paul, not a Fender Toronado. 

Being 'signed' is not the same as 'getting paid'. 
 

[Ed_S]

My first setup was a Yamaha BB-N4 and a Trace Commando 15, so if I could nip back and offer my younger self some advice it would be to acknowledge my luck and keep hold of those, buy that BB-G5 that I always fancied, and then just use the hell out of what I’d got whilst waiting for a company called Markbass to emerge on the scene and sort me out with a lighter amp.

If I was starting out these days, I’d like somebody to tell me to get a Fender Player Precision, an Ibanez SR-505 and a Markbass CMD121P or a Fender Rumble 500. Fresh strings, decent cables, good bags and cases, wide straps with locks, and a SansAmp are always good advice as well.

[DiMarco]

I wouldn't be able to afford it. Besides it's about the journey not the destination.

 

[FinnDave]

I'd have kept my first decent bass, a Framus jazz bass, until I could have afforded a jen-you-wine Fender and definitely would not have bought that Guild 301. I did keep my first decent amp (Selmer T&B 50) and cab (homemade 2x15) for quite a while.

If had all the money I've wasted on unsuitable basses over the last 45+ years I'd probably spend it on unsuitable basses - I'd need a personality transplant to behave any differently.

Edited July 20, 2021 by FinnDave
typos

[nekomatic]

11 hours ago, WinterMute said:

Buy Apple stock early 80's.

THIS.

Except in my case the early ‘90s.

I’d still have made a flipping fortune though. 
 

‘Practice more’ also good advice…

[tauzero]

Depends if I also have the funds available.

If I was telling my younger self stuff: don't chop the Hayman 40/40 in for a Fender P. Get a Laney bass amp and decent cab. Don't buy a f*cking Lotus, they're a complete b'stard to fit a 1x15 bass cab into.

If I was now a callow youth starting out, knowing what I know now but with a reasonable amount of money: I'd be unlikely to get the Sei fretless 5 second-hand again, so maybe an Ibanez EHB1505 as headless basses are so much better than headed, and/or get that HB 5-string fretless that's in the marketplace because fretless is great. Build a Basschat 1x12 and buy a reasonable lightweight amp (class D, ignore any bollocks about heft), or get a good FRFR active speaker. Get a Zoom B3n. Use Schaller straplocks.

[gjones]

On 18/07/2021 at 21:24, stewblack said:

I bought the amp and cab I could afford, and saved for the bass I wanted.

Knowing what I know now? Same bass but I'd leapfrog the carlsboro stuff and go directly to the Trace.

After years struggling with a Carlsbro fart monster, I would probably do the same. 

[itu]

I should have started with 5-string fretted and fretless as well as a double bass right away in my teens. 19 mm string spacing (fits my fingers), less slap, more analyzing, less flashy stuff. Some learning with effects (fuzz, comp, envelope, x-over).

I would have had to learn meat and potatoes so well that everybody would have wanted me to play exactly that.

Amps, a GK micro combo for double bass and a Glockenklang Soul and a lightweight 2 x 12" for electrics.

Listening to Marc Johnson, NHØP, Edgar Meyer, Tom Kennedy, Pekka Pohjola, and Abraham Laboriel for flashy stuff and numerous no named heros for the functional and important meat and potatoes.

Learning from BASSCHAT decades ago! This is so good place, Thank You All! I still try to grab ideas from you, although I learn slowly. It is never too late.

[nekomatic]

Oh and how could I forget:

 Buy a stand. When not playing the bass, put it in the stand.