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For me it started at about age 14. A friend was front man boy in a high school band and they were short of a bass player. I played keys at the time, but he lent me his bass, and overnight I learned "Teenage Kicks". We rehearsed the next day and I was in. I still have the enthusiasm. It waxes and wanes though. I sing and play a bunch of other instruments. But it seems there's a shortage of bass players, especially upright players, so bands tend to want me to play bass. Also, since picking up the microphone I'm not content being in the shadows at the back, I like being up front. Lately I've had my own home studio though, so I multi track more than play in bands these days. My musical tastes moved away from pop/rock into classical then jazz then country, early music and most recently folk. I've no idea what that very first bass I played was. It was a four string, black gloss body with white scratch plate. My main bass now is an unbranded laminate upright that's had a fair bit of work done, and set up "just so".

I just wanted to be cool. I wish I had a better reason like most of the ones given above, but 15 year old me just wanted to be cool; my mates had a fledgeling band with three guitarists and a drummer, and I figured that the way in was to play (read "buy a ") bass and learn on the job. In reality I didn't know what a bass was for or how it was used, so I found it all a bit unfulfilling and changed to rhythm guitar by the time I was 20. Fast forward to a couple of years back when I decided that I wanted to play bass again, had a bit more experience and was more willing to learn my place, and the circle was complete. I'm much more at home on a bass now that I was as a teenager, and I'd say that although it's not a high bar I'm better on bass than I ever was on six strings. Whether I made it to being cool, though.....

I bought some cheap PARs from Amazon. Aside from cheap plugs they are great, sound to light, dmx and everything. I ordered two more and they were basically remote control light bulbs. They must have sent the wrong model the first time. I have a few other bits and keep meaning to get a decent Derby. I also bought two tiny USB 'R2D2' lights from Temu for about a fiver each. I got the idea after seeing similar ones at a club. Sat at the back they cover a huge area of ceiling and back wall with gently moving patterns of rgb dots that chase through the combinations. Take 2 minutes to set up and add a lot to gigs in little venues where there's no room for proper lighting.

You can glue nearly anything to a graphite if the epoxy/glue is right. MG has used Chakte kok, our dear @Kiwi uses PEEK, phenolic resin is fine etc.

I never had and desire to be a bass player, or musician if any kind. When I first picked up the bass I was 15 and I wasn't even really interested in music. My sole reason for for starting to play was because my mates were in a band and I wanted to hang around with my mates. 35 years later and it's still my sole reason for playing bass. No desire to be famous. Not even really interested in gigging. But making a noise in a room with my mates is where I'm happiest.

The rickenbacker gang love keeping stickers on pickguards… knocks me sick.

You are not alone. I can only keep things tidy if they have a place.

I've just been triggered by seeing a six year old bass with a manufacturer's sticker still on the scratchplate 😱

Failed at violin lessons. Chucked out of the choir audition. Found school music lessons grim. Discovered TOTP. Got into ELO and part of that was the realisation that each instrument and voice had a different rhythm and melody. Used to listen to those albums over and over focusing on different parts - so I was aware of bass. I had a 'classical' guitar I fitted bronze strings to... then a Kay 'sg copy' (I still have it) and made a couple of deadly amps from old valve record players. Went to uni and got better - used to vamp chords along to a copy of "The Beatles Compleat" as folks sang along. Got a gorgeous mid-70s Epiphone Jumbo and became moderately competent as a rhythm player on it. My best mate had a Precision that fascinated me - I had to play it whenever I saw it. In the end he leant it to me for a month on the condition I learned one finger per fret. Ended up buying a new Hohner Jazz and getting into a cover band at my second audition. then my brother gave me a B2. Then I got a Maya fretless P, followed by almost accidentally getting a Fender Performer. Two originals bands brought me to 1996 - I lived for music and mountain biking. <over 20 years of non-musicalness due to work but mostly a tough marriage> Towards the end of this I was self-employed and started playing bass to break up the monotony of working on my own - discovered I was good at playing by ear to the radio. Then I started finding my own way again (divorce incoming). Did a weekend warrior event and led to a band, Ialso did some random stuff with a local singer songwriter. Starter buying basses... Then covid... Once vaxed, moved out to look after my dad. As soon as I could, joined two bands. Met my new partner through gigging. One band never gigged so left and started another. Started going to jams and open mics, got confidence and did some depping. Got asked to join two more bands. So now I have too many basses, four bands and I do the odd dep and have an incredibly supportive partner who lives for live music. Yes I'm burning the candle at both ends but I have a lot to catch up on. And it's f£%@ing awesome to rediscover myself.

Yet another painless transaction - trusted Basschatter, deal with confidence!

On this day in 1949 Phil Lynott came into the world....the rest is history..

With two sugars?

I had a combo which had a speaker capable of taking more power, so I took it to a gig to use as a second speaker connected to the head and main speaker. Connecting them up in a hurry on a dark stage, I managed to connect the main amp output to the combo amp output. The bigger amp fried the smaller one, and I ended up playing through another bassist's rig because I could not work out where the burning electronics smell was coming from. David

Mine came with the light and are shaped to fit just that light. You can buy acrylic sheet cut to size but I've no idea if this would be suitable https://www.cutmy.co.uk/plastic/acrylic-perspex-sheets/frosted/translucent/3mm/L1020-W80/

More of the standard ones and one of the limited edition example too