I am turning 17 at the end of the month and i have been playing for about 3 or 4 years, my first bass was my dads bass which he virtually never played as he is a guitarist, it was a Vintage (make).
I then got my first amp as a birthday present which was an ashdown mini rig 2x10 and i loved it.
I got annoyed with the vintage's bland tone and dead frets so when on my work experience 2 years ago in a local music shop i bought the blue washburn XB-120 you can see in the picture which was a surprisingly good bass, it seemed to help me become a lot better on bass.
I then had my ashdown mini rig at a proper venue for our bands first gig and it simply wasn't loud enough. So my dad secretly bought a peavey tnt 150 combo off ebay for £40 knowing that it was faulty, but that was no problem as we knew a amp repairer who repaired it for £40 and then my dads friend (a sound engineer) who owed my dad a favour gave us a new neodymium magnet bass speaker. It now sounds incredible and has served me well in my many gigs in the last 6 months.
A few months ago i decided i needed a change from it as it sounded either insanely trebley or insanely bassey, and it sounded naf at gigs i discovered.
I then bought a Fender Jazz Bass 70's Reissue MIJ from www.fareastguitars.com which is an outstanding sight dealing in second hand japanese guitars and basses, funding the bass meant selling my old ashdown mini rig, my boss rc-2 looper and various other things. It was second hand and 5 years old but as you can see from the photos it was in pristine condition and it still is.
I have a MXR super comp which i think i may sell to get a EHX big muff and an octave pedal.
Finally i use Elixir lights on my bass as i hated having to pay £15 - £20 for a set of strings every two months at least (i hate dead strings) so elixirs saved me money and keep a brilliant tone for at least a year!
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I'm now looking into buying a Fretless bass and a double bass but i need the money for driving lessons :|