Back where we started?

[broj15]

First gear I had was a mim strat I got for Christmas (dad found it for next to nothing at a pawn shop while he was on a business trip. Had to take the neck off so it'd fit in his carry on lol). First amp was a crate flexwave 15 (gross). I miss the guitar just for sentimental reasons (never cared for the feel & single coils don't suit my style) but I absolutely do not miss the amp.

I've flipped a lot of gear over the years and the one thing I really wish I held onto was my Bassman 300 pro (all tube 300 watt bass amp with blendable channels, 10 band EQ, and built in compressor). Had to sell it because money was tight due to covid related unemployment. I bought it before gear prices started going crazy and now they're so expensive that getting another is basically out of the question for me. Plus it was a beast weighing just over 100lbs. I feel like my Earth super bass (SF Bassman 100 copy) and my newly acquired fender super twin (180 watt ultra linear twin reverb sans reverb circuit and add in a tube driven 5 band active EQ) are more than enough as a clean pedal platform, but still, having 300 watts coming from 6 kt88's and massive transformers was just too much fun. Used to get complements on my "bass tone" from everyone who had a practice space on the same floor as us. I got even more enjoyment when I told them I was actually just playing guitar tuned down to B standard and their jaws would almost hit the floor lol.

 

[budda]

I dont miss much of what i have owned, and im not sure how much my tone choice has changed. High gain british flavor amp, med/low output pickups 9.9/10 times (had emgs once and it was great) and a decent cab and Im generally good to go.

 

[Yul Brynner]

I started with a 1985 Bently Series 10 black and red burst Flying boat anchor and a crate of dog shit.

 

[Kyle Jordan]

First actual gear? No

First Pro/Giggable/"good" gear? Still no.

There was about a 5 year period from when I was 16-21 that I found most of what I would love gear wise and tone wise in some form, but I was always trying to get the last pieces of the puzzle to fit together, never quite getting there.

Got the guitar tone portion down fairly early, but the amps were always elusive. Didn't help myself by ignoring a major part of tone I love and want for a long time. Started getting there about 15 years ago and finally nailed it when I got my Axe Fx a few years ago.

So yeah, I'm actually finally very happy, and in a quite different place from where I started.

 

[John]

Very first stuff? Not really.

First legit stuff? Pretty much. Mark IV and a JP were my first full sized tube head and first USA made guitar. I have more stuff now, but still have a Mark IV and JP.

Similar experiences, here. The first 'good' guitar I have is still a keeper regarding playability that I continue to use, even though I've sometimes messed with or added other equipment along the way.

 

[Harry]

My first amp, a 6.5" speaker from memory. Had a fair amount of gain (only a boost pedal away from genuine high gain if you had moderately hot pickups).
As with just about any SS amp with a tiny speaker, it was fizzy, flat and tinny sounding.
Then a Samick Strat-type that taught me that I hate low frets, small/round fretboard radius and no noiseless pickup in the bridge.
I then got a Brian Moore Guitars I12000 series as my first good guitar about 2 years into my journey which had 6105 fretwire, 15" radius and neck through design which was a huge playability upgrade over the Samick, which I still have to this day albeit now with Jescar 58118 SS fretwire as I wore the OG frets down.
I also had (or have, somewhere at my folk's place) a Behringer V-Amp 2 that I could plug into these cheapish stereo home hi-fi speakers my parent's had laying around and that sounded massively much better than the Rok Axe for playing around at home. Obviously not 'accurate' compared to today's modelers, but suddenly I could get a sound that had some actual bottom end for chugging and way less fizzy.
Still okay for a practice rig to this day if I had too, if perhaps not a great recording solution by the standard's of today's digital options.

 

[Emperoff]

Starting with an Ltd 400 series and a 5150 is like playing a videogame with paid bonuses

 

[Concerto412]

Can’t say I have much nostalgia for my first rig - a plywood-bodied Strat knockoff (“St Laurent Etude”) and single channel Ross 1x10 combo, although I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to occasionally searching for that amp to convert into a minihead just because.
Along the way I went through a ‘Gibson-esque’ phase with a few LP-types, Vees and a Mockingbird, then swayed pretty hard over to superstrats, and that’s the lane where I live mostly.
A 5150 as a starting point is brilliant. Your choices as a youth were on-point!

 

[Carrion Rocket]

Ew. No. That was the cheapest stuff my mother was willing to buy. A Regal(?) strat copy and a Rocktron practice amp.

 

[Musiscience]

First gear was MIM strat with a 15 watts Fender solid state amp (8 inch speaker). The guitar was decent, but the amp is (was) abysmal, so I'd say a definite no to back to starting gear.

 

[Turd Ferguson]

This is the gear I started on, so yeah, hard pass. That was the late 80s. I'm amazed at how much better "starter" gear has gotten. And envious, TBH. This garbage below didn't exactly inspire one to play.

 

[TheWarAgainstTime]

My first guitar was an Ibanez RG5EX1, which was a pretty solid starting point. I still have it, but I don't play it very often since I'm more used to thicker/rounder necks and fixed bridges now. It's sentimental and handy to have around for alternate tunings, though.

My first amp was a little Fender Frontman combo with built-in effects, so I'm not really pining to get back to those tones I let my old band's singer borrow it 10+ years ago and haven't thought much of it since. We're still friendly, so maybe I'll ask for it back one of these days just for the nostalgia factor

 

[Bearitone]

I've found that the gear I like the sound of the most is more or less the first stuff I bought when I started playing. Both my first guitar and my first tube amp are still here and they sound fucking awesome. (An LTD 400 series guitar and a 5150.)

So either A) I got so used to this gear that everything else sounds wrong in comparison, or B) I fucking nailed it when buying gear as a teenager.

Do you guys have the same feeling, like it's hard to improve on the stuff you started out with? And if yes, why do you think that is?

Agree 100%
I was more happy with a used 6505 and an Agile than almost anything I’ve had since. There’s just so much other stuff I want to try that I haven’t returned yet. Maybe I will some day

 

[Mathemagician]

Harmony strat knockoff and crate bass amp. Then Ltd and line 6 spider forever. However now my gear is basically “good guitar with EMG’s and 5150/variant”. It’s sounds how I like, lol.

 

[Sir_Shreddington]

No, considering I just got a jel-20 today, and my very first amp had a belt buckle strap, so I could use it "on the go." I also jammed with my LP custom, and Charvel Dk24 for my maiden voyage on the beast. For my first guitar, I sold my Super Nintendo and game collection to afford an Aspen Strat that broke the bank by about $120.

 

[Spinedriver]

I've found that the gear I like the sound of the most is more or less the first stuff I bought when I started playing. Both my first guitar and my first tube amp are still here and they sound fucking awesome. (An LTD 400 series guitar and a 5150.)

So either A) I got so used to this gear that everything else sounds wrong in comparison, or B) I fucking nailed it when buying gear as a teenager.

Do you guys have the same feeling, like it's hard to improve on the stuff you started out with? And if yes, why do you think that is?

Yeah... I started with a 'no name' (Atak 10 by Quest) strat style body guitar w/ 2 humbuckers and a trem that would put it out of tune if you used it. As for an amp, I had a Peavey Companion 15 that could also be powered by C cell batteries in a pinch. DEFINITELY not in the top 5 of amp/guitar combinations I've owned over the years for sure.
Hell, even people I went to high school with who were in bands couldn't afford something like an LTD 400 series guitar let alone an amp head & cab. You were very fortunate indeed to have that kind of gear when you were first learning how to play.

 

[Spinedriver]

This is the gear I started on, so yeah, hard pass. That was the late 80s. I'm amazed at how much better "starter" gear has gotten. And envious, TBH. This garbage below didn't exactly inspire one to play.

Dude, you are NOT wrong. I knew a guy who had one of those Gorilla amps and the Peavey Companion 15 I had sounded like a Mesa Mk IV compared to that thing... LOL

 

[Marked Man]

First tube amp I ever owned (after three CRAP SS amps) was a Marshall JCM800 + EQ boost, which was extremely popular at the time and an all-time classic tone. But it was limited for my tastes for anything other than full tilt hi-gain, hi-volume stuff.

Years later when I entered the Mesa Mark arena, there was no turning back. I still love the hotrod Marshall sound, but if I picked up something along those lines today, it would be a Soldano or a Marshall Kerry King 800,

 

[CanserDYI]

Yeah, a knock off strat into a late 90s Zoom distortion pedal into the front end of a Peavey Bandit was my first "rig". It was not good. I'm just playing into a helix now, but infinitely better.

 

[DarrellM5]

You bought some great stuff to start with so it's easily understandable how you ended up there. As for me, my 1st guitar was fine but the amp wasn't a good match for the rock and '80's metal I wanted to play.