Your first crappy bass

[PhilT]

My first was an 80s Kay, neckthru, made in Korea. The bridge was nasty so I changed that and swapped out the pickups for Dimarzios. After that it was actually not a bad bass.

[Pilgrim]

http://www.univox.org/pics/guitars/ub1_white.jpg

my first was this univox ub-1. paid 65 bucks for it in a pawn shop. thinking back that was probably retail for the thing. mine was white as well.

Very Jag-ish!

[dadagoboi]

My first was an 80s Kay, neckthru, made in Korea. The bridge was nasty so I changed that and swapped out the pickups for Dimarzios. After that it was actually not a bad bass.

That's a nice bass (assuming the neck was straight)!  Especially with your upgrades.

[stiles72]

My first bass was an Epiphone P-bass copy like this one.  It was black with a maple fretboard, Explorer style headstock, and had a thumbrest near the neck.  The build quality was actually not bad. The headstock was angled, and I remember the first time I played a Fender "P"  - I thought the Fender looked odd with it's  flat headstock. The Epi didn't sound bad, but if I had it today I would drop a Fender '62 P-bass pup in it, add a bridge and pup cover,  and put a set of GHS precision flats on it. This bass met it's demise after I bought my first Ibanez Soundgear SR-800 and decided to set the Epi on fire one night at a club we were playing 

[jumbodbassman]

short scale kay les paul looking bass and supro thunderbolt amp.  $75 for both.  about year later bought a brand new SB Fender precison bass for $174 dollars and the case was an extra $41.  Still have most of the fender .  wish I still had the other 2.  Th Kay actually played very well and had one neck Hb looking pup and the thunderbolts though crappy for bass are very sought after guitar amps. 

[clankenstein]

with my first bass, an ibanez eb2 copy(bolt on neck) in 1976-long gone as is the mo.

[chromium]

Love that Ibanez!

This thread got me thinking back to my early days of "gear lust".  I still have a box full of the brochures I used to drool over!  Took a few out for a group photo...





There's a miniature shot of my red Sears p-bass there (sorta) in the middle.


I used to write letters to companies requesting their catalogs, and most responded (not realizing I was only ~12  ). Here's some correspondence from Hofner:

[ilan]

Not my first (Hofner) or even second (Klira), but here's my third crappy bass - a Prima J knockoff. That's me in 1979, aged 17, with bangs...

[Psycho Bass Guy]

My first was an 80s Kay, neckthru, made in Korea. The bridge was nasty so I changed that and swapped out the pickups for Dimarzios. After that it was actually not a bad bass.

Pedulla says "Hi."

[OldManC]

Pedulla says "Hi."

My thought too. You could play bass in an 80's era KISS tribute band with that thing! (Not that you'd want to.  )

[hieronymous]

I used to write letters to companies requesting their catalogs, and most responded (not realizing I was only ~12  ). Here's some correspondence from Hofner:

Wow, they wrote you all the way from Germany! Excellent shots of your catalogs too, I don't have many of mine left, but I think I held on to a few, especially the Japanese ones.

[gweimer]

My first "real" amp was a Carvin.  I was buying their crap when they were just a mail order operation.

[Pilgrim]

My first "real" amp was a Carvin.  I was buying their crap when they were just a mail order operation.

And Proudly, I'm sure!!   

[gweimer]

And Proudly, I'm sure!!   

Hardly.  That amp went back to Escondido no fewer than 5 times in the first year.

[Pilgrim]

Hardly.  That amp went back to Escondido no fewer than 5 times in the first year.

Perhaps the more accurate term would be "educationally", since it was such a learning experience.