DrBike Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 I taught myself to play guitar using the Tune A Day book and my sisters Spanish/Classical acoustic with nylon strings. For my 16th birthday I got a very 2nd hand Vox semi-acoustic and "jammed" with some mates then after working a Saturday job I saved up and bought a shiny new Joodee Les Paul copy (from Minns Music in Nottingham) and a crappy old amp off my mates brother. As a spotty 16/17 year old I played guitar in a band with some mates from school. After that fizzled out the bass player said that he fancied playing guitar and I was interested in playing bass so we just swapped our gear over. I got an unnamed P-Bass copy in a very sparkly metal flake finish and a Laney keyboard amp. That would have been in 1984 and I'm still playing bass (and occasional guitar). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 what brought me to bass? the money, the chicks, the hero-like worship, the money again. Isn't that obvious? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saved Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 I didnt belive i could be a good guitarist,so i could play bass.But the first time i plug the E string..O!MY!GOD!!! Dat phat bass..pfew..i almost pee my self..And there is more..a few months later,i plug this B string..are you kidin me?poeple should not use drugs..they should play bass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkey Steve Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 I'm 18, long hair, leather jacket, spend all my time listening to music, reading about bands, going to gigs. All my mates play guitars (some very well...some less so). If I get a bass I will instantly be able to join a band... That's pretty much how my musical career has developed ever since - "oh yeah, Steve plays bass, let's get him to do it" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spike Vincent Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 School friend said "I'm forming a band get a bass" So I did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tugmonkey Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 I've only been playing Bass since December last year. But before this I'd played guitar for around 10 years. I was in an originals band, and I always tended to play using octaves and fills, which I didn't really think much of, it's just what sounded good to me and made us sound a bit different. anyway, I seen my uncle play bass, he's a big Mark King fan, so he's slapping like crazy and it just spoke to me more. For the next few years I'd dabble here and there whenever I had a chance to pick up a Bass. I left the band I was in and haven't played outside the house in about 4 years. I'd play guitar now and again and mess around, until I got a visit from a mate who's old cover band were starting back up, and he asked me to play bass. Once I started listening properly for the bass, I fell in love with that low end groove, and I've been hooked ever since. I already play bass so much better than I ever played guitar, and apparently blew the rest of the bands mind when I showed up for the first rehearsal, and I've never had that reaction playing a guitar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobthedog Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 Wanting a musical challenge later in life with an instrument that was different to my younger days (drums and trumpet); Cumberland Sausages for fingers and a love of music with a meaningful bass line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leschirons Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 Usual story. Mate calls, wanna form a band? I turn up with Strat and combo... Er no, we need a bassplayer😂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul S Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 I played guitar from mid teens to early 20s, largely jams and bands at school then uni. Left uni, life changed, stopped playing. Fast forward to my late 40s, mid life crisis alert. In the interim I had started to listen to music differently and decided I would learn to play bass guitar. Had my first gig at 50, nearly 10 years ago now, and it felt like a small piece of me that had been missing all those years was finally back in place. I would never have imagined finding myself in two of the most rewarding bands and count my blessings each day. After such a long hiatus I still feel enthusiastic, I still feel the hunger to go out, I still feel it is fresh. Just love it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nightsun Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 Gibbon arms from a young age Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpondonBassed Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 [quote name='Saved' timestamp='1487934424' post='3244267'] I didnt belive i could be a good guitarist,so i could play bass.But the first time i plug the E string..O!MY!GOD!!! Dat phat bass..pfew..i almost pee my self..And there is more..a few months later,i plug this B string..are you kidin me?poeple should not use drugs..they should play bass. [/quote] I like your style. I may quote you on that. It's golden. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IainS Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 I thought it would help me get a girlfriend so I bought a shiny red bass (girls like shiny things, right?) and a few months later I got my first girlfriend. Coincidence??!!! Probably. But she stayed with me for three years and that was enough to convince me that bass was cool and sexy. 27 years later and I'm still convinced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skybone Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 Me? I was a big Rush, Sabbath Purple & Hawkwind/Motorhead fan (driving bass lines). Spent many years playing bass, took some time out, took up playing guitar (wanted to form a band, met a bass player who had better gear, so took up guitar - it made sense at the time, and it was good fun, but was much more of a rhythm player than lead). Always kept a bass in. Now back playing bass, and loving it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 Seeing The Beatles on US TV February 9th 1964, The Ed Sullivan Show along with millions of other soon to be bass players. Blue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digestive10 Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 massive Pat Jennings sized hands and the bass popping out from the 'Are You Being Served' theme tune Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The-Ox Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 John Entwistle without a doubt. I didn't even play any instrument before I took up bass, so feels strange when I play guitar now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Dare Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 I originally played the fiddle, which was not cool 50 odd years ago. I wanted to play in a band with my pals, who played guitars, so bass was the obvious choice. I did find that I tended to gravitate to the bass parts on a lot of the records I listened to. The first one to really knock me out was Bob Babbitt's mighty playing on Smokey Robinson's 'Tears of a Clown' (although I didn't know it was Bob, or who he was at the time). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mykesbass Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 What brought me to the bass? A guitarist - Freddie Green. I played in a big band for years, and to me, this style of playing is very similar in philosophy to bass playing - serve the song. Be a rock solid foundation for others to do their theatrics and glory seeking over the top! Here's a small group example of his work: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzNNYw9AsOM"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzNNYw9AsOM[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Painy Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 It's all my childhood best friend's fault. He got a drum kit for Christmas (which he picked up and got very good at very quickly indeed) and wanted someone to jam with. I'd had piano lessons so assumed he'd want me to play keys which didn't really appeal to me but he was really into Nirvana at the time so was thinking more of guitar. He lent me an old steel strung acoustic that only had the low E and A strings on it and gave me a copied cassette of Nirvana Unplugged I've always had a good ear for music and within a week I'd learnt to play every song on that album well enough to at least play along. Turns out though that I'd actually learnt the bass lines. I'd been listening to Quadraphenia a lot and it was the bass in it that I was drawn to (even though I didn't even know it was a bass) so it made sense to me to learn that same part of these songs. Fortunately my mate was just as happy to jam with a bass player as a guitarist and actually lent me the money to buy my first bass (a Hohner B2a). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nash Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 Well for me. I was learning drums at about 12 yo. Then my little sister came along and they were just too noisy for a new born. My dad played bass and he just started teaching me Motown lines and I sold my drums and bought a Fender cowpoke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simes Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 Some bigger boys made me do it....previously a guitar player we needed a bass player in an acoustic trio formed with a couple of mates....I was it and I've never looked back. So no bass inspiration but I should have done looooong before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted February 26, 2017 Share Posted February 26, 2017 [quote name='IainS' timestamp='1487955865' post='3244597'] I thought it would help me get a girlfriend so I bought a shiny red bass (girls like shiny things, right?) and a few months later I got my first girlfriend. Coincidence??!!! Probably. But she stayed with me for three years and that was enough to convince me that bass was cool and sexy. 27 years later and I'm still convinced. [/quote] Not bass, but I started on guitar because of a girl largely. I was 17. My friend got an electric guitar and a bunch of us would go to his place to watch him wrestle with this thing. He was a beginner but it was amazing to hear riffs of well known songs on that guitar. I had a crush on one of the girls in the group, and she loved the guitar. As a result my friend also got attention... and when I got home I grabbed one of my dad's classical guitars and started trying to get a tune out of it. Soon I had nearly forgotten the girl but I was hooked on guitar That girl and I became good friends over time, and eventually we did get together. I told her she was the cause I took up guitar and she laughed. It only lasted about 6 months... we weren't well matched anymore, and living in different countries didn't allow for a lot of what's needed. But to this day she's one of my very best friends and I'm grateful that in a roundabaout way she brought me to guitars. The bass came later. Jam session with work... only one person available for bass and he ran away with a pint after 10 minutes. I grabbed the bass and I could not stop smiling. A couple of months later I bought a Jazz bass copy and joined a terrible terrible start up metal band, where I changed from using a pick to fingerstyle and a couple of months later I left to find something more suitable... The bass was now deeply ingrained in me, and from the 15-16 electric guitars I used to have I'm down to three and I use them little. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spectoremg Posted February 26, 2017 Share Posted February 26, 2017 [quote name='dood' timestamp='1487886701' post='3243985'] Queen. I grew up being totally engrossed by Brian May's guitar playing. I suppose that was the band I heard the most despite being exposed to such a wide range of music as a kid. Everything from The Everly Brothers to Iron Maiden, The Damned, Glen Cambell to Jeff Wayne. Then there was that other guy playing an instrument that looked like it'd far better fit me..and it sounded cool... really cool.. When humming a tune, it was always the Bass line I gravitated to. I'd never remember lyrics but I could easily pick out a Bass line when others couldn't. This is certainly the video that changed it for me: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjsTwqPW-p0[/media] I recorded the televised version and as a teen proceeded to learn every note of the gig, even the wrong ones. [/quote]I remember at the beginning of the Bohemian Rhapsody video John's Precision was in shot behind Freddie which left an impression. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spectoremg Posted February 26, 2017 Share Posted February 26, 2017 I wanted to be a drummer. First non mainstream album I liked was Made in Japan and I was in awe of Ian Paice. Then I borrowed Fragile by Yes. Total game changer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat Burrito Posted February 26, 2017 Share Posted February 26, 2017 My interest probably started with something like this.... [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bii-PIGprv8[/media] ...before developing more into me playing through watching stuff like this... [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ra503BrlR44[/media] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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