- Joined
- Aug 18, 2007
- Messages
- 554
- Reaction score
- 3
There's probably a thread about this somewhere but I couldn't find it.
Anyway... your first ever bass. What was it? Do you still own it? Why did you get it?
I still own and regularly use my very first bass:
Slammer by Hamer, got it for 100 pounds in 1997. I got it because it was the cheapest one at the store and looked like Steve Harris' bass (who is the reason I started playing bass in the first place). It was boring, so I decided to start decorating it as you can see. I got some tipp-ex and started writing stuff on it as well - it's all faded off now but I wrote out 'Every breath leaves me one less to my last' on alternate frets because I was going through a Dream Theater phase. The only real negative about it was the poor pickup which had a weak sound and low output and which would feedback like crazy, so I later on installed a Steve Harris SD Quarterpounder pickup which cost more than the bass because obviously this is something a clever person would do.
It doesn't sit in the closet - it's an active gigging bass that I use for my two punk bands - the Warwick would look really out of place for those.
The sound is punchy and clear and the neck is quite comfy to play. I have no idea if these are even produced anymore - my friend got a similar one around the same time and the neck warped really badly, and I heard other horror stories with quality control, but mine has been a tank. It's suffered immense abuse over the years, fallen out of the backs of cars, down the stairs, out of windows, and any dents and scratches would just get covered with more stickers. The only kinda crappy thing about it now are the pots, but I'll swap those out soon.
I could never get rid of it. It's part of me, and everything I play now I initially started learning how to do on my first bass. If the neck ever starts to go, I'll buy a used Fender neck and put it on so people will think it's a Fender. Also, nobody would buy it, because I mean come on... look at it. Would you buy that thing?
I'm curious to see everyone else's!
Anyway... your first ever bass. What was it? Do you still own it? Why did you get it?
I still own and regularly use my very first bass:
Slammer by Hamer, got it for 100 pounds in 1997. I got it because it was the cheapest one at the store and looked like Steve Harris' bass (who is the reason I started playing bass in the first place). It was boring, so I decided to start decorating it as you can see. I got some tipp-ex and started writing stuff on it as well - it's all faded off now but I wrote out 'Every breath leaves me one less to my last' on alternate frets because I was going through a Dream Theater phase. The only real negative about it was the poor pickup which had a weak sound and low output and which would feedback like crazy, so I later on installed a Steve Harris SD Quarterpounder pickup which cost more than the bass because obviously this is something a clever person would do.
It doesn't sit in the closet - it's an active gigging bass that I use for my two punk bands - the Warwick would look really out of place for those.
The sound is punchy and clear and the neck is quite comfy to play. I have no idea if these are even produced anymore - my friend got a similar one around the same time and the neck warped really badly, and I heard other horror stories with quality control, but mine has been a tank. It's suffered immense abuse over the years, fallen out of the backs of cars, down the stairs, out of windows, and any dents and scratches would just get covered with more stickers. The only kinda crappy thing about it now are the pots, but I'll swap those out soon.
I could never get rid of it. It's part of me, and everything I play now I initially started learning how to do on my first bass. If the neck ever starts to go, I'll buy a used Fender neck and put it on so people will think it's a Fender. Also, nobody would buy it, because I mean come on... look at it. Would you buy that thing?
I'm curious to see everyone else's!
