my first good electric bass
One for the musos, here: I was about 20, living in South Africa at the time, and finally earning some decent money. I'd learned a bit of bass on a really crappy Fender P-bass knockoff which I had already demolished in frustration. So I went to speak to my local friendly dealer and told him what I wanted:
- get me a Steinberger XL-2 please,
- but make it a 5-string (instead of the usual 4)
- and I want it cheap
He couldn't get me the real thing, but he could get me a Made-in-Japan copy by a company called Hohner, so I went for it.

Anyway, I had only two complaints with the Hohner, one of which I eventually resolved by changing the tuning. For the other: after I returned to the UK in 1991, I took it to the Bass Centre in Wapping and told them to upgrade the pickups. They gave me weird looks, since the EMG pickups were probably worth more than the rest of the bass then, and definitely are by now, but I didn't care.

I now have a newer, more fashionable instrument, but the old bass isn't going anywhere. The new one is still in its teething phase, while the old one is "sorted". I have had it for almost exactly 20 years, and that bass has survived heat, cold, wars, being mistaken for a gun at Heathrow, and the fickle fortunes of fashion. OK, scratch the last one: Steinberger instruments are so far behind fashion that they're ahead, and I expect they will be making a comeback in the next few years, just as Rickenbackers did. Just try and find a Steinberger XL-2 on FleaBay these days, for human-level dosh. (If you have one lying around... can I have it? 8)
( bnt what, me worry?, Fri 9 May 2008, 20:14, 4 replies)

well
What prompted the choice of that over a more traditional style bass?
Most people generally just upgrade their first bass with a proper one that's similar in style. The Steinberger is a fairly unique 80's classic design.
(buzzmong procrastinating since 1987, Fri 9 May 2008, 22:00, closed)

portability
+ I knew Geddy Lee was playing one on Rush's Grace Under Pressure, and it sounded awesome. Reggae players love them because they can get really deep, UB40's Red Red Wine is a great example, or a lot of Sly & Robbie's 80s work.
( bnt what, me worry?, Sun 11 May 2008, 0:50, closed)

Am I...
The only person that saw the potential pun in a bass story with FleaBay in the last sentence?

Wank cookies.
(I R Tomsk pyromaniacs will only inflame the situation, Sun 11 May 2008, 20:23, closed)

Yes
Unless you like Fenders, in which case it's either P-bay or J-bay...
( bnt what, me worry?, Sun 11 May 2008, 23:31, closed)