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Why did you start playing bass?


Naetharu
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I think it suits my character. I'm not a 'look at me' type at all and would rather lurk at the back but make a valid contribution. The others are more than welcome to show off and strut about but it's not for me. I remember hearing basslines like Leland Sklar on Stratus by Billy Cobham and thinking it was the absolute essence of a powerful piece of music and wanting to be able to play it.

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I was supposed to be the keyboard player in my first school band having learnt piano. I'd also done a lot of stuff on bass trombone. I didn't have a keyboard, the band didn't have a bass player and was considered more important than keys. A bass was easily available (another Kay SG plank of crap) from my then music teacher for a couple of quid and a bassist was born

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Played guitar in a school beat group with three guitarists in the early 1960s.
Nobody wanted to play bass so I took 2 strings off my Framus and tuned down a bit to fill the bottom end.
Went back to guitar for a couple of years and then somehow was asked to play bass at a mates band rehearsal whilst he went downstairs to get the drinks.
He came back up and said the band sounded great.
The guitarist/singer and he had a conflab outside then asked if I wanted to play in this blues band on bass instead of my mate.
My mate graciously sold me his Hofner bass for a fiver and I was away.
What a guy...

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@Naetharu

It was some Japanese semi hollow with 3 rusty strings,the controls were mounted on a plywood plate nailed to the body (big hole where they were originally)
pickup was held in by nails too.The tuner pegs were missing so I used pliers to tune it.

For £1 it was a bargain. Played it through the music centre. Downgraded to the tulip shaped Kay, was a mistake that :lol:

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I went to see Megadeth as an impressionable youth in 1988. They used to do a cover of These Boots Are Made For Walking and, live, played it with an extended bass intro. I had never really considered playing an instrument up to that point, but right then I knew I was going to be a bass player. A few years after that I taught myself guitar and drums too, they're handy to be able to play, but bass was first and still is the instrument I identify with.

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Crazy Little thing Called Love by Queen. I used to love that little run down when everything stops dead and the bass is the only instrument playing. I always thought it was just a regular guitar.
A few months later I heard Pretty Green by The Jam and I had to do a bit of research on this low guitar. :happy:

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It was the usual 'bunch of mates' thing with me.
Everyone wanted to play guitar so I chose bass, primarily as there were no arguments attached. :lol:

When the fascination died off, as it often inevitably does at that age when the realisation finally hits home that there's more to being a succesful musician than just preening, posturing and self promotion, they all stopped playing and... I just never got around to it.

That was 35+ years ago and I've been lucky enough to have filled those years playing with some fabulous musicians and loved every day of it. :)

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I played guitar and keyboards in my teens, but couldn't figure out what was missing from the music I was playing and writing. Then, on the recommendation of a friend I bought [i]A Show of Hands[/i] by Rush and heard the bass break on the final track (side 4 if, like me, you had it on vinyl) - Closer to the heart.

BOOM

A week later I bought a bass and have played it ever since.

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I class myself as a musician as I don't just play bass. I started on keys (still love synth tweaking), took up tenor horn, then guitar & then bass. Basslines are my favourite part of the music, so it made sense to be a bassist, but I've been a guitarist & keys player probably as much as a bassist.

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I was kind of a late bloomer, started off making hiphop beats when i was 17 but i never could find samples to fit the bass sounds i was hearing in my head. Bought a bass when i was about 20. In time i traded all of the samples for genuine instruments, buying drums, saxophones, flutes etc but the bass came first.

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In my teens, I started out as a drummer. As a kid I'd been in the school orchestra on violin. I then picked up guitar in my late 20's and in my 30's, the usual thing happened when mates decided to form a band and no-one else wanted to play bass so I thought I'd have a go. Still play gigs on the other instruments but generally call myself a bass player these days as it's my first choice.

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