Why did you start this?

[Rayman]

This journey, into bass playing? What made you pick up that first bass at the start of this long and winding road?

 

Do you still have the same fire and enthusiasm? Do you still love it?

 

What has changed along the way? Your taste in music, taste in basses?

 

What was the first bass? And what’s the latest? 
 

No answers are wrong as long as they’re honest.

[tauzero]

I started out as a guitarist, in my teens. Played in a school Glenn Miller tribute band but wanted to be the next Hendrix. Went to university and met up with another guitarist, a drummer, and a keyboard/guitar/vocalist. When it became evident that I was the worst guitarist in the band (demonstrating an uncharacteristic self-awareness), and we didn't have a bassist, I decided to change roles. The Fender Soundhouse just down the road had had a fire, and Hayman had gone out of business, and the combination of the two things meant that bits of Hayman were being sold relatively cheaply. So I put together a Hayman 40/40 and went from there.

 

I still love playing, 50 years on. My taste in music has remained with rock - melodic, prog, and glam, although not everything in those genres. And when I was young I aspired to a Fender, which I eventually bought, then I played a Warwick and the P went in part-exchange for it. Then, twenty years later, I moved over to 5 strings - the Warwick is still here though. Most recent couple of basses were a Barcus 6-string fretless and an OLP Tony Levin.

[Lozz196]

First memory of bass is hearing it in Seasons in The Sun by Terry Jacks - though I didn’t know it was bass at that time, just knew I liked the sound so from then on kept an ear open for it. 

 

Fast forward to punk and all the coolest looking members in the bands, such as Vicious, Simenon & Burnell played bass, so now I both liked it visually and audibly. I also liked that the bassist often seemed “mysterious”. Also, bass in the late 70s & early 80s was quite prominent in the mix, which increased my love of it.

 

Still love bass, still love punk (currently in 2 punk bands tho am giving them up due to back issues). 
 

First bass was a Kay EB-0 copy, bought in 1980 at the age of 15, not great but I learned to play on it so it did its job. The bass I always loved & wanted was a Fender Precision, pretty much still the case though weight means I can’t play them in a band setting much now.
 

Last bass I bought was a Sandberg Superlight TT, and have a Sandberg Superlight Lionel on order.

Edited 9 hours ago by Lozz196

[Rodders]

I wanted to be a guitarist when I was 13/14 after watching my Uncle's (he's a drummer) cover band play, my Dad managed to put me onto bass knowing that with hands like mine (large) and reduced dexterity in my right hand the chances of me being able to play more than a few open chords was very slim. 

So Christmas came and there was Peavey Milestone III waiting for me, not long after that I was unable to walk for 6 weeks following surgery, so what else was there to do than learn to play.

Since then music has been my life and my life line where other things and people have come and gone and many a dark moment has come my way, I made the decision to play every style possible that was available to me - I've gigged everything from music for amateur panto, music hall on an EUB, right through to classic heavy metal and everything in between. 
My favourite bass has always been a P (I have 4) but with the current collection standing at 10, the latest being a Rick 4001V63 I'm very fortunate to have such a variety of sounds available. 

 

The one thing I have never gotten on with is a fretted jazz bass, fretless jazz bass I love to play but a fretted just sounds wrong when I play it, oh and there was the one time I (unknowingly) said that Musicman basses are too aggressive sounding for me, in front of the UK Rep sponsoring a competition in which I'd gotten down to the final five...

[Rayman]

I started in 1980 at 15 I think. I was learning guitar, but then I heard the Stranglers and everything changed. I just wanted to be the guy that made that bass sound. I was into heavy rock at the time, the NWOBHM was in full swing, but after I’d heard the Stranglers I started to diversify, and soon after heard Tina Weymouth on Once In A Lifetime…. and I was hooked.

 

My musical tastes have always been diverse since then, and playing bass has opened up many doors with regards to that. I basically love pretty much all genres….. but rock is still primary in terms of playing live.

 

I’ve had every bass…… like ALL of them over the last 40yrs! So it I guess my taste in basses has also been pretty diverse, and I never get attached to them, they’re tools to me, nothing more really, although, I do love my Thunderbirds these days.

 

First bass was a Columbus Jazz and this morning an old, tired and very dirty Yamaha RBX A2 5 string arrived via crack converters as my next project. I absolutely love “doing up” old basses. 

[ProjeKtWEREWOLF]

I wanted to play drums when I was 12 or 13. Mum said no, so a guitar playing friend of mine suggested bass. I saved my pocket money and did some jobs for neighbours for a few quid; I went to my local small guitar shop (Sam's Guitars in Bangor, North Wales ) and bought a black Charvette bass (budget charvel). I was gifted an old 50w combo by a family friend.  

My guitarist friend (a year or so ahead of me in learning) taught me the basics, then I was largely self taught until lessons for a year or so later in school. 

 

From then on I was obsessed. My life was almost entirely music.  

 

Then at age 20 I got my first drum kit, and was obsessed with that for several years.

 

I came back to playing bass  (casually) 3-4 years ago. We moved house and drums were not practical.

 

 

 

 

[NancyJohnson]

[Mahoosive Edit]

This journey, into bass playing? What made you pick up that first bass at the start of this long and winding road?

I had mates (very good 14/15 year old drummer and a fast learning guitarist) who wanted to start a band, and I had access to a bass.

 

Do you still have the same fire and enthusiasm? Do you still love it?

I have love for the instrument and the collection as it stands, but do I have the fire?  In all honesty, that ship sailed a while ago.  I just tend to pick up a bass and noodle for ten minutes.  I have little desire to do band stuff right now, it's just too exhausting, frustrating and stressful.  Musicians, by and large, are lazy and need pushing to do stuff and most suffer from allusions of 'what's in it' for them.  I can't deal with this, or pander to their whims, any more.

 

What has changed along the way?  Your taste in music, taste in basses?

I'd been playing for about ten years when Polydor came knocking.  That was a major knock to my confidence.  The anticipation and then the news they were only interested in our vocalist.  That rejection hardened me a bit.  Musical taste hasn't really moved much, I still get turned on by the same genres/bands.  Taste in basses changed largely due to cost/availability.  I've got cheap kit and I've got expensive kit.  They all sound more or less the same.

 

What was the first bass? And what’s the latest? 

I had an Arbiter, or CBS/Arbiter SG thing.  White.  £35.00.  My last one was the Spector Euro-X.  Black.  £2,500.00

 

 

 

 

 

Edited 4 hours ago by NancyJohnson

[Dan Dare]

Started out playing the fiddle. When I got into my teens and wanted to play music with friends in the late 1960s/early 1970s, a fiddle was not cool or desirable. Everyone wanted to play guitar, so I figured playing bass was more likely to get me into bands, which proved to be right. I'd always had a decent ear and was able to pick out bass parts. I loved Motown/Stax and soul, so that was my homework in early days and got me off to a good start.

 

I kept up the fiddle and later learned to play mandolin and guitar, but the bass has stayed with me and is virtually all I play these days. I've even had brief periods of playing it for a (sort of) living.

[Stub Mandrel]

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.

[Newfoundfreedom]

I never had any desire to be a bass player, or musician of 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 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. 

Edited 7 hours ago by Newfoundfreedom

[Jackroadkill]

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.....

[Rosie C]

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". 

 

 

[neepheid]

What made you pick up that first bass at the start of this long and winding road?

 

I started bass comparatively late - in my very late 20s.  A potent combination of Jack Bruce and Steve Harris made me do it.  I had owned a guitar before that but never really got into it or stuck at it.  I still had that guitar when I started bass though (an Epiphone Les Paul "Special" II) because one day I just thought to myself "eff it, I'm going to get a bass" and proceeded to learn "Peaches" by The Stranglers on the lower 4 strings of that guitar, then headed to my local music shop (Bruce Millers on Union Street in Aberdeen - sadly no longer open) and bought my first bass - a cherry red Epiphone EB-3, because it was (kinda, very kinda) what Jack Bruce played, along with a Laney 30W amp (which I still have and still works).

 

I piddled about for a few years, honestly tinkering with basses more than actually playing them.  Then in 2008, my wife (fiancee at the time) basically dared me on stage as she put together a ska/2 tone covers band to play at a birthday party and nominated me on bass.  In 2009, I joined my first band - an originals band called Panda Eyes where I met my drummer who I've been playing in bands with ever since.

 

Do you still have the same fire and enthusiasm? Do you still love it?

 

Yes, more so now than ever.  It's when fun neep gets to come out and play.  I love playing live, so much so that I really don't care for playing at home very much - because it's boring.  I do it when I have to (composing or learning songs at home) but all things being equal, I'd rather be in a room or on a stage with others.

 

What has changed along the way? Your taste in music, taste in basses?

 

What changed?  I'd like to think I got good(ish).  As I've got older, I find myself listening to music a lot less.  As far as basses are concerned, I've maintained a healthy distrust of the mainstream (ie. a Fender P) and I have learned to recognise the things I do not like or care for, like Jazz basses, short scales, more than 4 strings (and yes, I've owned all of those so it's not an irrational dislike!).  Even when I did own some of the Big F's products, I couldn't be trusted to do it right - a Cabronita P here, a Starcaster there, a Squier Jag H.

 

What was the first bass? And what’s the latest? 

 

As mentioned in the first answer, my first bass was a cherry red 2003 Epiphone EB-3 which I must have bought new in 2003 or 2004.  No, I don't still have it.
The latest bass to arrive chez neepheid is a Fazley Hot Rod.  The 72nd bass to pass through the revolving doors inwards.

[Owen]

Dad sang the bass lines in Chapel. I wanted to be able to do what dad did. The chapel also had a full pipe organ with organists who could play the low notes. So I could really hear that LF in all it's glory. I just like low notes. 

 

Changes? Not really, I still really like low notes.

 

First bass? Columbus Jazz. Every time I see people waxing about those mid 70's Columbuses I die a little inside. Too horrible for words. 

[Wombat]

At 16 I got asked by a (then) girlfriend’s brother if I knew any bass players. My brother had a P he didn’t use so said ‘me’ (I’d been noodling on a guitar for a bit) and just joined in with them playing root notes.

As a group we used to regularly see a band in a local pub that had John Currie playing bass who was amazing. He agreed to teach me (after much begging (and if he’s on here please do get in touch!)) and this fired me to learn (reasonably) ‘properly’.

Moved on to other basses and the P went into my brothers cupboard for over 30 years.

Recently he needed to sell it and I couldn’t let it go so bought it off him. It’s a poorly made boat anchor of a late 70s P. But two drummers (yes drummers!) have told me it sounds like the dogs doo dahs so that’s what you usually see round my neck. With my 2017 Status S3 as spare (😂).

Had a few years over on the ‘dark side’ playing guitar in a couple of bands but actually sold two guitars recently - the only instruments I’ve ever sold…

[snorkie635]

What made you pick up that first bass at the start of this long and winding road?

 

A bunch of mates decided to form a band in 4th year at school. Usual collection of folk - some had no instruments; someone a broken-down drumkit, etc. Mucho racket later, those who were only there for the 'pose factor' dropped out or were kicked out. I had bought an Avon EB0 copy, was paying it up at the time, so was determined I'd learn to play the damned thing.

 

Do you still have the same fire and enthusiasm? Do you still love it?

 

Definitely not - never really 'loved' being in a band and to this day, hate gigging. Enjoy buying and trading bass gear though. Few believe me when I say I don't like live music, but it's true. Don't go to concerts and most likely never will.

 

 

What has changed along the way? Your taste in music, taste in basses?

 

My taste in music is eclectic but certain styles I refuse to have anything to do with are hippity-hoppity, metal, punk, heavy rock and disco. I've always enjoyed jazz to listen to, not play; some country, and blues if not featuring Bonamassa, Walter Trout and other racket-makers.

Taste in basses is also varied, but if pushed, I'd pick a fiver over a four. Like Gibsons and Ricks and Overwaters. Also a fan of Fender, MM and G&L.

 

 

 

What was the first bass? And what’s the latest? 

 

First was the Avon and the latest, a Precision 4 American Vintage, as recommended by @Stub Mandrel (cheers Stubs - a fine call on your part).

 

OP @Rayman asked for honesty here, so although some comments made by me may seem 'odd', all are my true reactions to the set questions.

 

 

[Skybone]

This journey, into bass playing? What made you pick up that first bass at the start of this long and winding road?

 

There seemed to be a lot of bass driven music around, growing up in the late '70's and early '80's, no matter the genre, though thanks to an older brother, I heard a lot of hard rock & metal, Sabbath, Hawkwind, Purple, etc. Hawkwind's "Space Ritual" stands out as the "wow" moment, then discovering Rush and others. Tried convincing my parents i needed a bass, but it wasn't til I was 16 that I got a Kay P bass and dodgy amp from a bloke that worked with my Dad...

 

Do you still have the same fire and enthusiasm? Do you still love it?

 

Fits and starts. Still love to play when I get around to it, but getting around to it takes a bit more these days, as I'm not in a band at the moment.

 

What has changed along the way? Your taste in music, taste in basses?

 

Taste in music has waxed & waned, visiting numerous rabbit holes, but still mainly hard rock & metal.

 

What was the first bass? And what’s the latest? 

 

First: Kay P bass.

Current: 4003

 

Always lusted after a Ric, took me 20 years before I finally bought one, but it was like coming home. Love them.

Edited 5 hours ago by Skybone

[BlueMoon]

I got into classical music with my school orchestra playing double (contra)bass. The school music teacher was a closet jazz fan who encouraged me to explore improvisation techniques. This was great for my musical development, but didn’t help my street cred one bit. Most of my mates at school were into rock music………and I wanted to be in a band. So, I acquired a beaten up Burns Jazz bass and began playing it in various local rock bands. Most weren't that good and folded through common adolescent hot headedness. Feeling a bit disillusioned, I auditioned for a cruise ship touring big band on double bass. Dang me if I didn’t get the role and then scared myself xxitless when I realised what journey I was on (literally and metaphorically). I have to say that playing three sets a day and reading the dots was a great leveller for a naïve gap year student. Interestingly, my dear parents were diametrically opposed to my activity at the time. I was pursuing a dream, playing bass with serious musicians. I guess that I quickly learned that living the dream was hard work and not all I had imagined. Went back to serious studies (not music), family, and life in general with little time for bass. 
 

I never lost the passion for performance based music and began again playing bass in my 50’s. I had kept a 70’s P bass and thrashed that in various cover bands over the years. I still get a huge buzz from playing bass, especially gigs, festivals etc.

 

My musical tastes have certainly evolved, and being able to sight-read has certainly helped me explore different types of styles. I am still poor at slap though….and proud of it. As far as basses, I’ve been through a passive-active-passive journey and up a 4-5-6-4 string cul-de-sac. The first serious electric bass was the Burns; the latest was a Yamaha BB1200. I guess there have been about a hundred instruments in between. Some are still with me………as well as the passion.

 

 

[Mediocre Polymath]

There isn't really a clear "I want to play bass" moment for me. It was an impulse that just bubbled up to the surface from the teenage primordial soup of dumb ideas, anxieties and dreams.

 

When I was 14 or 15, a few of my friends at school started to play the guitar, as did my older brother. I thought they seemed really cool and wanted to join in. My dad would probably let me play his old bass, I knew that, but I was ultimately too chicken to try. 

 

At the time, I thought of myself as unteachably inept at any sort of physical skill – I was crap at sports, a risk to myself and others in a workshop and had displayed a spectacular lack of musical ability throughout my childhood. I figured trying to play an instrument again would just be setting myself up for embarrassing failure. 

 

At around the same time, oddly, I also developed a sort of nagging and largely irrational anxiety about the prospect of learning to drive. Like, I was aware that this was a thing – a physical skill – I'd need to do, and I was concerned that I would turn out to be just as bad at that as I had been at everything else. I started thinking that perhaps I should try to learn to do something (play an instrument? juggle? knit?) to reassure myself that I was capable of learning something new.

 

The final piece of the puzzle came on a day when I was off school and bored. I was playing 1080 Snowboarding for the N64, and set a time on the "Crystal Lake" run that was genuinely world-beating. Well, perhaps not world-beating, but definitely fast enough that I could write into the magazine if I wanted, get my name in print. 

 

I sat there, looking at my character celebrating on the screen, looking out of the window at the sunny summer's day I was avoiding, and had a sudden urge to do something – anything – more productive than this. Something that might make people think I was cool, something that girls might think was cool.  

 

I went upstairs and pulled my dad's old bass out of a cupboard. I downloaded the tab for "Dammit" by Blink-182 and started awkwardly plucking the notes. With help from my brother and my dad, I beat my expectations and got surprisingly good surprisingly fast. Haven't stopped playing since. 

 

It never did help me get any girls though, and I never did learn to drive. 

 

 

 

Edited 5 hours ago by Mediocre Polymath

[BigRedX]

Having had zero interest in any kind of music for the first 11 years of my life I went Scout camp where Radio 1 was on all day every day and was completely taken by the sounds of the emerging glam rock bands - T. Rex, Slade, The Sweet. My parents were horrified as pop music was not considered to be real music and did every thing they could to dissuade me from listening to it. I finally managed to persuade them to let me go to folk guitar evening classes when I was 13 and then to buy me decent (read playable) acoustic guitar for my 14th birthday. That was the end of their support though. The following year I formed a band with three other like-minded friends from school, writing and recording our own weird compositions. We were very much a DIY band, I even built my first solid electric guitar at school while I should have been studying for my "A" levels. None of us owned a bass but a couple of people in our year at school did and we would borrow one for a few days during the holidays when we were recording. I finally bought my first bass - a heavily modified second hand Burns Sonic - while I was at university in 1981. 

 

In many ways the disapproval of my parents only made me more eager to play, write and record music. On top of that there were two pivotal points in my musical career that pretty much set me on the route I'm still following today.

 

During my first year at university which I was not really enjoying. I spotted a news article in the NME which mentioned a band called The Instant Automantons and the fact that their second album was available for free to anyone who sent them a blank C90 cassette and a stamped, addressed envelope. Intrigued, I sent off my cassette and a few weeks later got it back with the album recored on to it along with a printed A4 sheet folded to form a cover. I found the music variable, some I liked and some I didn't. What did impress me was the fact that if The Instant Automatons could do this why couldn't my band? We already had several hours worth of music recorded that had mostly been done for our own enjoyment, so during the Christmas holiday we assembled a C60's worth of recordings and I sent off press releases to all the weekly music papers. I didn't really know what to expect, but both NME and Sounds featured our news article and over the next few months I received a steady stream of blank cassettes which I only just managed to keep up with. By the end of the university year I had received over 100 requests for our album, which isn't bad for a band no-one had heard of and that didn't even gig. Not only that but people seemed to like our music, and as a result The Instant Automatons asked us to appear on a vinyl compilation they were putting out. A proper record, how could we say no? We even got played on John Peel's Radio 1 programme.

 

We made another 3 cassette albums and contributed a track to another vinyl compilation. However with all of us being at different universities and only getting together during the holidays to record, it was getting difficult to keep the band together. Myself and the percussionist moved to Nottingham where we started a new band with the express purpose of playing some gigs. Again people seemed to like what we were doing and we were building up a decent local following. By being in the right place at the right time we got our newly recorded demo track included on a sampler that BBC Radio Nottingham was putting out to showcase local bands to record labels. Then out of the blue CBS records got in touch and seemed to be very interested in signing us. This was just the push I needed to drop out of university (to my parents on-going horror) and try and make a go of being a musician and songwriter. Eventually the band was passed over in favour of a much more commercial proposition - Wham! and as a result we folded. 

 

There is a good chance that without those two opportunities I would have at some point knuckled down and got on with my university course and gradually stopped writing and playing music. However I'd had a glimpse of what was possible and that set me on the course that I'm still following today. 70s glam rock got me into music, but it was the post-punk and electronic bands of the late 70s and early 80s that have really shaped the musical path I've followed when it comes to writing and playing and the sorts of bands I've been in over the past 45 years. If I didn't still love what I am doing musically I wouldn't be doing it. I no longer expect to be rich or famous out of it, but it's been a fun ride and I'm still having a blast gigging and recording with my current band. I even owe my current day job in graphic design to being in bands and needing to produce posters for gigs and cassette covers for our demos.

 

My taste in musical instruments has been eclectic from the start. With glam rock I would see bands with outrageously shaped guitars every week on Top Of The Pops, and that's what I wanted. The bass players in my favourite bands all seemed to be Rickenbacker and Gibson players, or they had something custom made by John Birch. Fender was never really on my radar. When I made my guitar in the late 70s it was unconventional in both shape and electronics. Even when I was playing keytar in a synth-pop band in the 80s it sported a number of different custom paint jobs to fit the changing image of the band. When I saw the first Gus prototype guitar in a musical instrument magazine in the 80s I thought that if I ever had the money I'd have one. And now I have the money I have 3 (a guitar and two basses). My latest bass acquisition is an Eastwood Hooky 6-string bass which was bought specifically for the band I currently play with. When the guitarist left early in the band's development I suggested that instead of immediately advertising for a replacement that we see what it would be like with me play Bass VI instead. It appears to work fine. Six years later we still haven't felt the need to add a guitarist to the line up.

 

And that's probably way more information than you wanted...

 

[ian61]

Best friend and I, guess we were around 15, both loved music so thght we'd have a go at playing it so got a couple of guitars ...Within a few months it became very clear he had a real talent for guitar.. plus he was tall and lean with long hair. I mean he looked like a rock God from the outset, meanwhile myself? Lets just say I didn't.

So, I got an old bass but then equally realised that I could make it sing, or sound funky I suppose. Shortly afterwards we went our separate ways and never did play together in a band as such, and as great as he was he never did really take it much further than playing at home, whereas I've enjoyed a lifetime of playing bass in all sorts of situations.   

[SteveXFR]

I'd always wanted to learn to play something so I could play heavy music. I bought a guitar but due to various old hand injuries, I struggled to make some chord shapes then a work mate and member of this forum loaned me a Peavey International bass. I got on much better with the bass. 

I played in a metal band but that was killed by my own issues and I left the band and deeply regret it. I now play in an alt rock band which is ok but not really hitting the spot. 

I really want to play in a metal band again. 

[Dad3353]

I've been here a while; those who know me have already read the story, not really worth repeating, in my opinion. Of course, if there's a general clamour, I could relent, but it would be on your heads. 

[lozkerr]

I'd played several different instruments in the past - piano, violin, marching drums, bugle, trumpet. If it hadn't been for a particularly vicious dental abscess, I might now be quite a reasonable trad jazz musician. But pain of that nature put me off in a big way.

 

I tried guitar when I was a student, but found it really difficult to play chords as my thick stubby fingers kept getting tangled up with each other. I should really have gone for an acoustic, but I wanted an electric because, y'know, guitar. I suppose some lessons would have helped, but the grant (it was that long ago) wouldn't stretch to that.

 

At the time, I was knocking about with the original bassist from the Dogs D'Amour. He tried to get me to take up bass, but me being me and Knowing It All, decided I was meant to be a guitard. Which it turned out I wasn't.

 

I think a seed might have been planted, though. Fast-forward a few years and I was chatting to a friend on Facebook. She was making noises about learning some Thin Lizzy songs and I said I'd be up for learning bass. Don't ask me why - it just seemed a logical step, albeit one fuelled by rather a lot of home-brewed wine.

 

The next day, I wandered into Dawson's Music and mumbled something about bass guitars. Shortly afterwards, I left with my first bass - an Ibanez GSR200. It just felt like it dropped into my hands and it instinctively felt right; I knew there and then that I'd discovered 'my' instrument.

 

The Ibanez has since moved on - it went back in its case when I switched to a five-string Fender Jazz Deluxe. I still have it, although a five-string Sterling Stingray is my weapon of choice at the moment.

 

I wish I'd listened to my friend's advice years ago. And I'm still rubbish on the guitar.

[Jackroadkill]

31 minutes ago, Dad3353 said:

I've been here a while; those who know me have already read the story, not really worth repeating, in my opinion. Of course, if there's a general clamour, I could relent, but it would be on your heads. 

 

Relent!