Originally I bought it in Guitar Center in Boston for $150 in late 1998 or '99. I just moved there and I wanted a bass and wasn't picky since I assumed at the time shipping my bass would have been almost as expensive. I eventually got another bass and this one ended up getting loaned to a friend who strung it righty then loaned to another friend and so on. Several years ago after I moved to Japan, some friends visited me and brought it with them. I knew the nut was busted so I just kept saying "I'll get it fixed later."
After years of kind of forgetting about it, I finally decided to pull it out, and despite obvious problems, it plays way better than I remembered.
It's a Charvel bass and I am pretty sure those strings are old enough to go to college.
It plays super smooth and despite the problems, it works pretty well. The biggest problem is at some point, the nut got filed down so it could be strung righty. That piece of paper there keeps the string from popping out and without it, it touches the first fret. I'm also pretty sure it's not supposed to be strung like that, but any other way and the nut comes off, it's not glued in anymore.
Also one of the screws somehow disappeared off the bridge at some point. Instead of getting a new one, I just fixed it for one penny.
I was impressed at my teenage self for fixing these problems with no real knowledge.
But the kicker and reason I can never sell this bass is I got it signed by Dick Dale and his bassist Ron Eglit.
After a show, Dick Dale said he'd sign anything and was very generous with his time. I just happened to have this in my trunk so I pulled it out. He asked me if I made it myself and sadly I said no.
I plugged it in and it sounds great actually! The bridge pickup has this nasty buzz that's probably loose wiring (when I turn it 45 degrees, it goes away) but the neck pickup is great, sounds quite punchy and heavy.
But there it is, my newly re-discovered bass. I want to get it fixed for real this time but I'm enjoying playing it as the mess it is.
