ian61

Well Ive had just about all of the Fender style P basses over the years and I'll end my days with my current CV 70 in walnut. Incredible build quality and playability and as with just about all of them, would benefit from a PU upgrade tho it doesn't bother me at all, but thats it.

Early Mex RW P basses. Superb things, wish Id got one now.

If we're talking bout the very first time with a rock instrument, barring the ubiquitous class Recorder etc. It's middle school and the last day of the summer term and the school wanted to quickly put on a little show. "If anyone can do anything, sign this form"! was the carrion cry from Birch the head. So for a laugh myself and my mates cut out some cardboard guitars, got up there and mimed to 'Get It On' only there wasn't enough cardboard so I grabbed a snare drum, sticks and two chairs and proceeded to bash along to perplexing gasps from around the hall....I was actually playing a pretty groovy backbeat to everyones amazement ( I did bash some biscuit tins at home so had an inkling) Not sure I fully realised what an important moment it was but it probably cemented my need to take the electric instrument thing seriously.

Best friend and I, guess we were around 15, both loved music so thght we'd have a go at playing it so got a couple of guitars ...Within a few months it became very clear he had a real talent for guitar.. plus he was tall and lean with long hair. I mean he looked like a rock God from the outset, meanwhile myself? Lets just say I didn't. So, I got an old bass but then equally realised that I could make it sing, or sound funky I suppose. Shortly afterwards we went our separate ways and never did play together in a band as such, and as great as he was he never did really take it much further than playing at home, whereas I've enjoyed a lifetime of playing bass in all sorts of situations.

And they weren't all great either. I bought a 77 Ray in 1980 and it was a bit below par really. Heavy with the black finish coming off in sheets and never seemed to have a lot of output.

A fool and his money. So your basically paying say, 4.0K for the re-machined maple part of the neck and tuners? The rest could all be penny h'penny anything. Incredible.

I think bk to how I played when I first started as an 18 yr old sprog and its makes me cringe. Always the performer with way too much over playing, whacking the strings without any finness. Jumping about like an idiot missing notes etc. About as rookie a collection of errors as it's possible to get. Probably took me a good couple of yrs to cool it and start to play.... 'properly'. Been re-fining it ever since.

Never understood the stress around tuning. I just wait till someone hits any old note or chord and go from there.. My bass is always more less in tune so only ever needs a cent either way.

Things do seem to hv changed somewhat . I played in a pretty good 6 piece prog rock outfit years ago with an old school JBL, ATC, EV pa and you cld talk to each other on stage with raised voices . Sound guy was strict as hell and would just press ur mute button if you started messing with the onstage.

Id only been playing a couple yrs but decided i just had to have a dirty grt Ampeg V4B amp ( or so I thght). Trapesed all over the country, found one, and shipped it back to the south coast at stupid expense. A few weeks later popped into my local store and to my horror plugged into a used but superb Peavey 150 BW combo with DI out the works, for a fraction of what I paid for the V4. Took me ages to move the Ampeg before I could find another Peavey. The exuberance of youth really is wasted on the young.

Nothing, packed it in 8 yrs ago, my ears just couldn't take it anymore....even wearing plugs. And to be honest, there's very little 'modern' music that inspires me to want to play anyway.

My favourite beef with the whole flippin scene.. Im totally with you. My 2nd to ever last gig was a dep with a Sixties tribute type thing.. Beatles, CSN, etc etc. I had my suspicions about the volume so took my purple -30 industrial plugs but it was borderline... "Im outta here" I stuck it out and then told them, 'no thanks'. Pity cause they were very good, but two guitars and keys blasting out of a trio of 100w Twin Reverbs with five part harmonies? One of the loudest gigs Ive ever done. Awful.

I'm from the isle of Wight with a big holiday season, pubs, bars, beach side cafes etc, so we had a couple nice shops. Tom Taylors in Sandown. Remember an Orange 120 bass bin rig in the window, crazy and so 70's. In Ryde there was 'Guitar Centre' which was actually the converted lower half of a two up two down house, but full of stuff. Saturday afternoons were always fun as the local heroes would drift in.... And Teagues the sprawling classical instrument store which had a tentative go at the 'pop' stuff. Saw my very first bass amp ever in there, an HH 15" combo... I was only 13 and totally hooked.

Ive just finished doing up a Squire VM P/J bass which suffered some damage. Have to say its probably the best bass Ive owned and in 3 decades Ive had them all. SD PU, light and resonant with a very good neck. Had a couple of vintage P basses which were dogs in comparison.