Who made you decide "I'm going to play bass!"

[Lozz196]

Kinda threefold really, but the first part I only realised a few years ago, so in the order of my realisation:

1. Seeing the video to Bohemian Rhapsody - I knew then I wanted to be a musician.
2. Hearing Pretty Vacant - I then knew the style of music I wanted to play.
3. Ever since I was a kid, since hearing one specific song, I`d listened out for a certain part of the music, the bass, as it was so prevalent in the song in question. Took a good few years to realise that was the bass though, as was only about 6 when it came out. So it was inevitable I would choose the bass. Plus, the bassists in the punk era, in which I was 11 - 15 looked cool as well. The song in question - Seasons in The Sun, by Terry Jacks. Not so punk rock after all

[Delberthot]

I began playing accidentally.

Me and a mate were entering a "talent show" at primary school. I was in P7 at the time. Our thing was singing (and dancing) along to Dancing In the Dark by Bruce Springsteen. Mate of mine had the idea of me using an acoustic guitar as a prop.

Anyway I started mucking around on it and ended up buying it and an Ernie Ball guitar book off him for £5 (this was 1987). The talent show came and went (we never won surprisingly enough) and on my birthday I was given a brand new student size acoustic as I had tried to fit steel strings onto it where it had previously had nylon and the neck turned into a large wooden banana.

At the time I was an enormous Queen fan, having watched Live Magic a gajillion times and slowly bought every album with my pocket money- they were £4 for all the standard LPs at the time and I think £6 for Live Killers.

Fast forward to Christmas and I was given my pick of the guitars in the Littlewoods catalogue but I fell in love with a Marlin Slammer P bass copy in red with white scratchplate and maple neck which looked very similar to the bass John Deacon was using at the time, especially on the One Vision video. So I got that, a yellow curly lead like Brian May uses and a 15w Squier guitar amp.

Short answer is John Deacon

I've been searching for the right Fender P now for nigh on 25 years and I think after tonight's gig, the FSR which I have now fitted with flats is the one

Edited June 10, 2012 by Delberthot

[paul torch]

All the local bands that didn't have anyone to play bass.

I was in instant demand.

[Shambo]

The bass player who was backing BB King on an old cassette I used to listen to on the way to school.
Found out later it was Willie Dixon.

[jacko]

Roger Glover. My Bro took me to see deep purple in 1972. He'd been trying to teach me fingerpicking on the guitar but after that gig all I wanted to do was play bass riffs on the bottom 4 strings. Didn't get an actual bass until after I'd seen chris squire in 1974.

[Thunderpaws]

[quote name='Cameronj279' timestamp='1339255667' post='1685979']
Just curious as to who every bodies main 'idols' would be. For me it was Les Claypool and Ryan Martinie. Just after a while of listening I decided "I want to be able to do that"

So yeah, who inspires you!?
[/quote]

All my friends played guitar and I had big hands so got a bass for Christmas one year. I honestly sucked for the first 5 years, then got a new bass and didn't suck any more.......if only I had had a different first bass!

[12stringbassist]

Jim Lea

[Immo]

[center][/center]
[center]Flea and Dee Dee Ramone.[/center]

[4 Strings]

Singer/bass player in school band wanted to just sing. Rhythm guitarist ended up with his (horrible Avon EBO) bass. Rhythm guitarist still playing bass 30 odd years later.

First inspiration was John Entwhistle.

[gt4ever]

For me it was a mixture of adam yauch RIP, Timmy C and Flea.

[crez5150]

[bremen]

Live at Leeds. and Dave and Ansel Collins' Double Barrel.

[Muzz]

[quote name='kevin_lindsay' timestamp='1339255815' post='1685985']
Jean-Jacques Burnel from The Stranglers!!!!!

I heard that fabulously grungy bass sound and thought "I want to do THAT"!!!
[/quote]

This, plus a little while earlier me and my mate (we were 13) decided we wanted to form a band, and he said "I want to play guitar, how about you be the bassist?".

Yes folks, I was [i]that[/i] close to becoming a guitard...

[Schnozzalee]

It was a combination of Phil Lynott & Steve Harris, I thought I was too late to learn the guitar at 16 but whenever I play in a band I want to be the bassist - i've got a backline mentality

[BassTractor]

Idols are many known names, like Chris Squire, Jaco Pastorius, Stanley Clarke, JJ Burnell and whatshisname.


But the guys who really started me were:

- a buddy I lived with during my music studies. He bought a bass. I used it more than he did.

- another buddy and my best man, whom I taught how to play "Games Without Frontiers" on above mentioned bass, so as to start him on an instrument. He'd always been sorry that he never learned to play an instrument - starting being sorry when he was eleven years old.
I finally got fed up with this, invited him for a beer or two, and just forced that bass into his arms, telling him he wouldn't leave the room before he could play that song.

Long story short, he became a bass player, whilst in my case, life took over until last autumn.

[Fionn]

When I was 16 my best freind bought an electric guitar so I bought a bass for jamming purposes. it was an easy choice to make as I was big into the Red hot Chilli Peppers, and loving the sound of the newly breaking Jamiroquai. Flea and Stuart Zender were the first bassists to put the spark in my head and inspire funk in my fingers.

[lurksalot]

Graham Tristram

I have no idea of his competence as a musician , but I bought his guitar from his mum , and it only had 4 strings , so I learned to play it , ipso facto ergo historantum












Ed to add , I just googled him and found him straight off , first result, I think I shall say hello

Edited June 10, 2012 by lurksalot

[pnefc42]

John Richard Deacon

[Highfox]

Paul simonon and Jah Wobble Think 1978.

[4000]

I actually wanted to be a guitarist after seeing Thin Lizzy on Whistle Test. Formed a band at school but the kid lined up to play bass bailed, so I said I'd do it; I guess it was simply him bailing made me say "I'm going to play bass", no great inspiration from anywhere.

The first guys I got into prior to actually getting my first bass several months later were Lemmy and Phil Lynott, though at the time I was probably more into Lemmy's sound and playing; with Phil it was more a case of how cool he was.

[achknalligewelt]

Mike Mills. I was playing the guitar along to What's The Frequency, Kenneth off of Monster with the help of a transcription in an American guitar magazone, and noticed that there was this other tab line below it. I listened a bit more closely and noticed this really, really cool melody under everything else that I'd not noticed before. The bass. I played the line on my guitar and was hooked immediately. I bought my first bass about a fortnight later.

I still love Mike Mills' playing to this day, and finding out that he played just about everything else and sang at the same time meant I'd found a new hero.

[Jellyfish]

It was a choice between bass and piano for me. So I picked one.

[Wil]

Stuart Zender. Still impressed by his soulful playing on the first 3 Jamiroquai records, cant say I followed him much after that.

[LiamPodmore]

Told my dad i wanted a guitar, 2 weeks later he came home with a bass (I really wish it had been in good condition, it was a '94 Squier Jazz) anda 40w Peavey keyboard amp, and from there i started getting lessons at school, and my music taste at the time was anything from Green Day to Metallica, so naturally i learnt American Idiot and the first minute of Anesthesia, i couldn't play any more of it than that unfortunately.

Liam

[Mr Fretbuzz]

I've always fancied playing double bass in a rockabilly band so I thought maybe a good way to do that would be to learn the Bass :-) I doubt if I'll ever get to it now as there is so much to learn with the Bass. Always wanted to play an instrument and it's been my biggest regret. I'm 54 next week. My 10 year old is a drummer and I saw a kid playing the Bass. I thought, that's it, I'm going to give it a try...2 weeks later a Bass arrived from Germany. :-) been at it now since January. All my spare time is spent reading, listening, learning and playing Bass :-)