Low End Bee Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 Satellite weren't highly regarded at all in the late 70s. The guitarist in my first band had a Satellite Les Paul Custom. It was terrible. He upgraded to a Columbus. That was slightly less terrible. The cheapest copies knocking around today will be miles better than this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 Satellite , hon do , Columbus. The memories are flooding back Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_bass5 Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 Dont forget Craftsman. my first "real" guitar was a Craftsman Less Paul. All this also bring back memories, all those great shops in Denmark st and Shaftesbury Avenue. The good old days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slipperydick Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 [quote name='dave_bass5' timestamp='1318422282' post='1401892'] Dont forget Craftsman. my first "real" guitar was a Craftsman Less Paul. All this also bring back memories, all those great shops in Denmark st and Shaftesbury Avenue. The good old days. [/quote] If we're really scraping the barrel, my first one ( other than the Hofner which I swapped for an air rifle) was a Top Twenty. real class. I took the logo off cos Top Twenty sounded naff ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xilddx Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 [quote name='paul h' timestamp='1318407573' post='1401606'] My first bass was a Satellite. £25 from the local second hand shop. I want to say it was a P bass but I have a sneaking suspicion it was a short scale ric-a-like. Can't remember. [/quote] My first guitar was a s/h Satellite, 3T sunburst. £25, back in 1978. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xilddx Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 [quote name='Johnston' timestamp='1318425787' post='1401982'] I'm going to annoy you and tell you. You got your first git before I was born [/quote] Jesus, I always imagined you to be older than me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BottomE Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 Ahhh thats my first ever bass! Not that exact one but that make and model. It was horrible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 Yep, that was my first 34" scale bass, too - second bass overall, first was a short-scale - Satellite, too. It was OK at the time - certainly better than I was in 1978... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassmachine2112 Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 I was hoping to never see one of these again. The nightmares are starting again. Cack is not the word for these.It surprises me that it hasn,t been used for kindling yet. Avon was another name that hasn,t been mentioned ,how does columbus,shaftesbury and the ilk grab you.They sound like cheap cigarette brands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ancient Mariner Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 Generally satellite were just about level with Kay in terms of quality in the 70s - i.e. bottom of the pile. At some stage I acquired a Satellite Les Paul (should that be Less Paul) which I gave away: plywood semi-hollow body, single coil pickups in humbucker size shells and everything done as cheap as possible while keeping the outline vaguely recognisable. By comparison I also owned a Columbus Les Paul (much earlier) and that was quite a decent instrument with Dimarzio pickups. Hondo and Westone instruments from the same period were better, as was Avon and Shaftesbury. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_bass5 Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 Aren't these basses my by Sue Ryder now......................... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 [quote name='bassmachine2112' timestamp='1318434562' post='1402122'] Cack is not the word for these.It surprises me that it hasn,t been used for kindling yet. [/quote] You're not allowed to burn them as they release too many toxic fumes... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassmachine2112 Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 I do realise that in the modern world there are considerations on air pollution to be considered but surely the human rights of individuals on noise pollution have to be respected as well as people with almost all their sight left not to be offended by the optical pollution that these lumps of henious creation being unleashed on the public. These abhoritions should be held in the musical equivelent of a war crimes museum. In reality some of the copies of this era were on par with some of the american creations that were around and in some cases were of a quality they could only dream of. These cack copies are still cack and haven,t realised any mojo over the years. I,m off to lie down in a darkened room with some light sedation after the shock of all this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leon Transaxle Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 (edited) I'd like to resurrect this thread to say that my first bass was the short scale Satellite as well, probably from late '80 (The first thing I learnt to play was Enola Gay). And our guitarist had a Kay Black Les Paul, which he later [i]upgraded [/i]to a Hondo II Strat. Haven't managed to find a picture of the bass but it was effectively the bass version of this (minus the whammy arm). Above all I remember the slidey pickup selectors which a) got turned off bloody hurt when hit during periods of inexpert and over enthusiastic pick action. Edited February 11, 2012 by Leon Transaxle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaggy Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Not all were firewood - although my memory is that they were - see my thread: http://basschat.co.uk/topic/166437-satellite-back-in-orbit/ At least the bass in the OP is reasonably solid wood - my first bass (Kalamazoo KB) may have been US made but had an MDF body made by a toilet-seat manufacturer, and my second (Columbus Jazz copy) was of a particularly nasty grade of plywood.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lettsguitars Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Lovely bit o pine that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pastor Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 My first bass was a Satellite, bought it new in 76 for £30, two tone sunburst, sounded sh*te but I didn't know at the time but I learned to play on it. 77 I bough a new fender jazz for 10 times the price and couldn't believe the difference in quality and sound Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertbass Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 (edited) My first bass was a Vox Clubman only a single pickup though and that had been changed to a Burns Trisonic pickup. Trouble was that the Burns was deeper than the Vox pickup and it passed right through the body so the previous owner had glued a bowl of wood on the back to cover up the hole. [url="http://www.vintageguitarandbass.com/vox/bass/Clubman.php"]http://www.vintagegu...ass/Clubman.php [/url] The bass, a Linear 30 and a 2 x 12 home made cab with only one speaker working cost me £5 in 1964. Edited February 10, 2012 by bertbass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4-string-thing Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 [quote name='Slipperydick' timestamp='1318424948' post='1401959'] If we're really scraping the barrel, my first one ( other than the Hofner which I swapped for an air rifle) was a Top Twenty. real class. I took the logo off cos Top Twenty sounded naff ! [/quote] My first bass was a Top Twenty, short scale, P shape, tele head, rubbish pickup that I replaced with an Ibanez, awful piece of junk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.