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

[Bilbo]

No individual - I had a busted up old guitar and just naturally gravated towards bass parts without even knowing that was what they were at that stage.

[pst62]

[b]These lads![/b]
[attachment=110137:JD 3.jpg]
[b]John Deacon[/b]
[attachment=110138:Pete Way 1979 B&W.jpg]
[b]Pete Way[/b]
[attachment=110140:Dee Dee 05.jpg]
[b]Dee Dee Ramone[/b]
[attachment=110142:Paul Gray.jpg]
[b]Paul Gray[/b]

[johnbassdoherty]

For me it was Phil Lynott, John Deacon,Bruce Foxton, Sting in the early days and then James Jamerson, loved the whole slap bass thing, i'm just crap at it.

Edited June 11, 2012 by johnbassdoherty

[Mr Fretbuzz]

That's 2 of us then so far John :-)

[louisthebass]

I'd say Bruce Foxton & Donald "Duck" Dunn.

[Cameronj279]

[quote name='Mr Fretbuzz' timestamp='1339417559' post='1688068']
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 :-)
[/quote]

Good to see someone who's not decided it's "too late to learn"!!

[Mr Fretbuzz]

Yep I'll be good when I'm 85 but too old to gig :-(

[Cameronj279]

[quote name='Mr Fretbuzz' timestamp='1339435502' post='1688443']
Yep I'll be good when I'm 85 but too old to gig :-(
[/quote]

At this rate, me too! Just sit down on stage...it's the music that counts

[bass24]

For me it was no particular player or group, it was the bass lines in the range of music I listened to that always caught my ear though.
I dabbled in guitar but never really got anywhere then one day I got a bass just on a whim & never looked back.
Like Mr Fretbuzz I spend all my spare time "reading, listening, learning & playing bass."

Edited June 11, 2012 by bass24

[thunderider]

mine was harvey bainbridge of hawkwind i heard him as the bass kicked in on shot down in the night off live 79 and thought i wanna sound like that...also jj burnell no more heros.....then heard chris squire on roundabout...iv always watched bass players wen i go see bands and love basslines....but a member on here,andy marsham,was the first one to thrust a bass guitar in my hand and showed me bass line...but i taught my self master of the universe on a 3 quarter accoustic,but my bass heros today......alan davey and lemmy.....

[johnbassdoherty]

[quote name='Mr Fretbuzz' timestamp='1339435502' post='1688443']
Yep I'll be good when I'm 85 but too old to gig :-(
[/quote] Your never to old to gig, I learnt a small bit of bass when i was a kid, met the now wife , stopped playing for a decade while we raised the kids and the usual, and had to re learn from scratch, kept pluging away and now i play in a functions band, and a bit of free lance jamming, and i'm still learning, got to play a theatre gig with a top class Neil Diamond act last week, my wife calls it my therapy, if you could bottle the rush you get from a good gig and sell it you would make a fortune, so Mr fretbuzz keep on playing and listen to everything and style you can, I'm 48 and on fri i played Neil Diamond & on sat I played everything from 60 70 80 even killers, kings of leon,train, even lady gaga, if you ever need help this is the place to ask

[theheed]

JJ Burnel, Mark King, Bernard Edwards, Pino with Paul Young, James Jameson, Stuart Zender, Flea, Jaco to name but a few.

Wanted to be a drummer, throughout the punk days of the late 70s. Sister lived in London and bought a bass with the intention of joining a band. I came to visit, and in the first 5 minutes of holding her bass, worked out Babylon's Burning by the Ruts - which she still couldn't play.

Then I was at art college in the 80s, and jamming with in a couple of mates at lunchtime in a basement. I had a cheap Gibson SG copy and had learned a bit of guitar but my mate already played guitar, so I picked up the Fender Musicmaster Short scale that was lying around.

Then I heard Mark King's bassline on Living It Up and saw the Ace Brixton gig on BBC Sight and Sound in Concert. I bought the Fender, and cut my teeth on The Early Tapes before buying a Westone Thunder 1A.

Aged 17, through a complete fluke, I got to play with Mark King at the Capital Radio Rock Masterclass at the Duke of Yorks Theatre on St Martin's Lane. I was bricking it but got paid a much-needed £50 for the pleasure of meeting my hero. I know people make funny noises when you mention Mark King, but he first opened my eyes to the fact that bass doesn't need to be boring and static - something which a great many bands could do to remember. I still love to watch him and still think he's impressive.

Edited June 12, 2012 by theheed

[Lewmorg]

For me it was really a huge Lack of Bass players about!
But, huge fan of Phil Lynott just for being cool as hell! But then you got all your usual like Flea, Wooten, Miller, etcc

[sticker]

For me it was the Bass player in my band ... He got seriously ill and had to quit playing live , the options were to fold the band , get a new bassist or for me to switch from guitar to bass ... I started filling in on bass for rehearsals until we decided what we were going to do and just stuck at it .

[samzemuel]

I was talking to a mate about starting guitar he showed me some bits and i didn't get on with it. We wanted to start a band had no bassist so there we are, didn't really know much about it prior to that!!