If my place was burning down, the first thing I grab, without a doubt, is my 1964 Fender Mustang Bass.
My father bought it brand new in 1965 (when he was 16) and played it in bands throughout his 20s. I discovered it in the back of his closet when I was a teenager. He had packed it away long before I found it, once the pressures and responsibilities of raising a family and running a business had overtaken his desire to play music. I got a few books about playing bass and locked myself in my room and taught myself how to play it behind his back. What I wouldn't have given for YouTube to have existed then! After a few months, he got wise and officially passed the bass down to me.
I then played it in all sorts of bands throughout MY 20s and 30s.
Once, while shooting the breeze with him, the subject of the band I was currently playing with came up. I played him a few recordings we had done, including a cool take on Ring Of Fire, by the late GREAT Johnny Cash. He started digging through his desk and came out with a cassette tape (remember those?) that he played for me. It was a live recording of one of his bands playing a rehearsal, in his living room, in 1971. The first song was Ring Of Fire. There was my dad, playing that red 1964 Fender Baseman on Ring Of Fire, 30 years before me. Goosebumps.
I own lots of basses. They can all go up in the fire. They're replaceable. But not this one.
