waynepunkdude Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 Do you still have your first ever bass? What was it ? How much did it cost? How old were you? Pics? I still have mine it's an Encore that i bought from Cash Converters when i was 12 for my birthday i saved up and put all my birthday money towards it, it cost £45 but i got it for £40 because the e string was missing (took me 2 monthsto afford one) it is 3/4 scale i didn't know this at the time and when i got my next bass i was shocked by the size lol i'll put a pic up later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevieC Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 Mine was a sunburst Squier Precision, bought from Paul Garvey Music in Newcastle upon Tyne. I'm sure someone on this forum will be able to tell me what the general build quality of Squiers was like back then. I remember it seemed a bit suspect, with chrome peeling off the knobs etc! Can't remember how much it cost back in 1985, but it served me well in my first band formed with a bunch of school mates. I was 16 when I bought it! Ah, the memories! I'm the only one still playing regularly. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dabootsy Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 (edited) mine was an Eko acoustic which was massive and i used to carry it on my moped to rehearsals i was 16 and i think it was £99 which was a lot 25 years ago and i had to fill it with an old sheet to stop getting feedback which made it heavy Edited June 21, 2008 by dabootsy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayfan Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 Westone Thunder 1-A. Still got it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waynepunkdude Posted June 21, 2008 Author Share Posted June 21, 2008 [quote name='dabootsy' post='223496' date='Jun 21 2008, 11:38 AM']mine was an Eko acoustic which was massive and i used to carry it on my moped to rehearsals i was 16 and i think it was £99 which was a lot 25 years ago and i had to fill it with an old sheet to stop getting feedback which made it heavy[/quote] I bet that was hillarious to watch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 Here's mine: It's a Burns Sonic made sometime between 1960 and 1964 which means that it's almost as old as me! Bought second hand in 1981 for £55 including the original hard case and a Fender strap, when the affordable alternatives were PoS Grant and Columbus P and J copies. For a while I thought it might have been home-made as there was no branding on it except for the pickups, but the construction was just a little too good for that and when Paul Day's "The Burns Book" was publish a few years later that confirmed that it was indeed a Burns. This ended up being my main bass until the early 90s when I bought my Overwater Original - going from 29.5" scale to 36" in a single step! As you can see it's been much mod'd some by previous owner(s) and some by me - mine have been done to keep it in a playable condition - I don't know what a lot of the previous mods were for. Even in its battered state when I first got it there was something that spoke tome and set me off on the quest for the less usual in basses. It still gets occasional use the pickups sound particularly good with both on together connects them up in series for a surprisingly big sound for such a small bass, but the very fat neck (with no truss rod) is a little bit too clumsy for me these days... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dubs Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 i sold mine for 24 carling and a packet of fags. It was a cheap P bass copy but it had a nice sunburst finish. i kind of wish i still had it, oh well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 (edited) Fender Squire standard jazz bass, wasnt bad really, better than the afinity range anwyays think it cost me bout £180, only a couple of years ago, 18 when i started out quickly replaced it with a Musicman SUB though Edited June 21, 2008 by BassManKev Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
backwater Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 Mine was a Peavey Milestone 1 - basically a Jazz Bass copy. Played it for a few years when I was a student before I sold it to a jazz musician who I believe is still using it now (I think I sold it in 1998 - I know I bought a Squier Musicmaster later that year!) Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve-soar Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 Ibanez Blazer, probably late 70's, early 80's. I bought it in 1985 from Fusion Music in Birkenhead for £99. It was natural, maple neck, with a black scratch plate and heart shaped tuners. I resprayed it Sea Foam Green and later got Keith at KGB Music to respray it Pillar Box Red.... he charged me £25. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianrunci Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 Mine was a Fender Precision. Sunburst with a rosewood fingerboard. Citca 1976 ish. I took the frets out in about 1981 and then not long after traded it for a dan armstrong perspex. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mewsie Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 yes i do still have it. its a vintage something-or-other. it cost me £229 i think, from a little shop in chorley, lancs. i'd just been suspended from work for something really, really dumb, totally legal and ethical, totally above board, so i was feeling a thousand and one emotions all at once, generally feeling pretty low. so i decided as i was feeling low i might as well play that way and decided to buy my first bass. i got home all excited and happy, turned on the tv just as the reports were coming in of the first plane having flown into the twin towers. i'll never forget that day! x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dabootsy Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 it was a bit funny but it had its good side too If it was a late rehearsal or gig i had a sheet ready to kip down somewhere Luckily it was a white sheet and not floral pink Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waynepunkdude Posted June 21, 2008 Author Share Posted June 21, 2008 [quote name='mewsie' post='223565' date='Jun 21 2008, 01:08 PM']yes i do still have it. its a vintage something-or-other. it cost me £229 i think, from a little shop in chorley, lancs. i'd just been suspended from work for something really, really dumb, totally legal and ethical, totally above board, so i was feeling a thousand and one emotions all at once, generally feeling pretty low. so i decided as i was feeling low i might as well play that way and decided to buy my first bass. i got home all excited and happy, turned on the tv just as the reports were coming in of the first plane having flown into the twin towers. i'll never forget that day! x[/quote] I don't know wy but 1st basses usually have the most character and also have the best stories behind them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dubs Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 [quote name='waynepunkdude' post='223571' date='Jun 21 2008, 01:14 PM']I don't know wy but 1st basses usually have the most character and also have the best stories behind them.[/quote] I don’t really consider my actual first bass to be my first bass…my first proper bass was a Warwick Streamer Std passive 4 string, and it’s still f***ing great I played it for about 4 hours a day every day for about 2 years. I’ve smashed the headstock on that twice, and its been fixed twice, and it still plays great. I’m never going to get rid of that bass, its true love Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markytbass Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 My first bass was a late 80's Jap Fender P' bass in sunburst with a maple neck and white pick guard. I later had the bass resprayed met blue and then part ex'd it for a Fernandes Jazz. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RussFM Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 An Ibanez Soundgear Fretless (yep, learnt on a fretless!) that I bought in 97/98 for £300. Ended up selling it in 2001 for about £200. Wish I still had it, had a great neck, but I needed two fretted basses for gigging so it had to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJA Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 korean squier precision, £179 by mail order for my 18th birthday. horrible bass- plywood body, muted tone, no sustain, frets wore out quickly, and I smashed it 6 years on out of all the frustration it had caused me, once I'd seen how much better newer squiers were. still, it got me started, and I appreciated decent basses more because of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beefy Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 Mine was an Encore P Bass copy. I think it was £120 and I got it when I was 13. It looked awesome. Natural finish with tort pick guard. It was ok for about a year but I soon got bored of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budget bassist Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 Stagg BC300 i borrowed off a friend, REALLY badly scratched up, but it was ok. Then the pickup stopped working and my friend asked for it back. He started sanding it off for his girlfriend who he was going to give it to. They broke up and he sold me the partly sanded bass for £10. I finished the job, varnished it and put some strings on and sold it to another friend for £40. He's still got it and i doubt he'll sell it, so i could probably have it back if i wanted, but i don't really mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarPig Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 Squire Bronco, about 6 years ago, set me back £90. Still got it, play it every now and then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prosebass Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 [quote name='waynepunkdude' post='223485' date='Jun 21 2008, 11:20 AM']Do you still have your first ever bass? What was it ? How much did it cost? How old were you?[/quote] Mine was a late 60's early 70's Ibanez with about 4 scratch plates a la Burns on it.It was given to me by my brothers friend. I wanted a Gibson Grabber but was only 14 (1976) so I stripped the paint put a Grabber style plate on it and french polished it. It played and sounded wonderful with 2 chrome humbuckers on it. I snapped the neck at the headstock but repaired it, then it broke again and I honestly have no idea what happened to it. No idea what model it was as I cannot find it on the interweb. [attachment=9879:IMG_0581.JPG] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waynepunkdude Posted June 21, 2008 Author Share Posted June 21, 2008 [quote name='eastwind' post='223625' date='Jun 21 2008, 03:26 PM']Mine was a late 60's early 70's Ibanez with about 4 scratch plates a la Burns on it.It was given to me by my brothers friend. I wanted a Gibson Grabber but was only 14 (1976) so I stripped the paint put a Grabber style plate on it and french polished it. It played and sounded wonderful with 2 chrome humbuckers on it. I snapped the neck at the headstock but repaired it, then it broke again and I honestly have no idea what happened to it. No idea what model it was as I cannot find it on the interweb.[/quote] Do you still have it or that rather lovely jumper? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Exile252 Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 My first bass was a Westfield P Bass copy, which, I've stripped the paint off, and made gold. Sooner or later goldleaf will be added. Oh and I defretted it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huge Hands Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 I bought a white short scale Fenix bass (don't know model) from Grott Guitars in Newcastle along with a 15W Solex practice amp, all for about £100. Must have been around 1991 ish. It felt like the body was made of some sort of plastic, or was plastic coated. After some humming and haa-ing, I remember the guy told me if I couldn't get on with it, I could return it within a year and get my money back. So, after about 11 months and 29 days, I took the bass in there and took him up on his word! He wasn't very happy about it, but begrudgingly handed over the notes. I used that to add to my paltry savings to purchase my Squier JV Jazz which I still have. It was a bit of a cheeky thing to do, but I felt he had ripped my unsuspecting folks off a while earlier when purchasing a cymbal I wanted for my birthday (I wanted a crash, he sold them a massive 20" crash ride that had cracked and been repaired). Looking back on it now though, I'm not sure how much of it was his fault or my dad's, for stubbornly wanting a "beautiful piece of engineering". I still have the practice amp, which lives in my folks' loft. If I'm ever up there for a while, I sometimes use it for noodling with my sister-in-law's Westone Thunder 1A that she can't, and never, plays. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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