who influnced you the most to ever think about playing bass

[PollyBass]

Originally posted by Wolfehollow
my dad...


and no, I dont have the bass...


...but I do have the acoustic 360!

Dude, if your dad played that bass as cool as he looked, he must have been awesome! I seriously want to look like your dad now.

Who: Myself. My family (all guitarists and such) said that i wouldnt like bass, and i should play guitar, because i had "Real talent"

[Mud Flaps]

At first I thought it was Novoselic who inspired me to play bass at first too. But Kurt actually provided me with more inspiration. So I say today that Kurt Cobain inspired me to play bass.

Floyd the Barber is a great song.

"It is better to burn out than to fade away," Kurt Cobain

[Marty Forrer]

GIRLS!

[burgess]

Rob Wright from NoMeansNo, Rachel Melas from the Animal Slaves (old Vancouver band from the early 80's) and Dave Bacon from SNFU (2nd LP).

[hands5]

I actually played drums at the time.But,1 day in school I got into it with a teacher and basically to him to #%%& off ! So when my parents got of hold to this (and me)I got put on punishment for a month.No t.v.No telephone,No Drums no nothing but I could listen to the radio.Well my dad was in a band and him and the bass player were real tight so he would leave his axe over the house so 1 day(while I was still on punishment) I pick it up and love it from the 1st day so before I knew it I started to pick up tunes on the radio,a month went by(not fast)and I kinda played it every day.20+years later I've been blessed to still be playing and believe it or not the person who influnced me the most to be a bass player wasn't a bass player.He was a keyboard player.My Dad.

[Aristotle]

i would agree on Alec from LOC, its such a messy sound, and a messy band, but his playing just sticks out to me. hes really good.

[Infernal Affair]

I was never really a fond of becoming a guitarist because everyone played guitar. I actually wanted to play drums since I was 8, partly because my dad played drums in his early years, and partly because I thought they were just cool. However, space and noise prevented me from ever getting a set. Then I realized in my later teen years how much I liked the lows of the bass. Strange thing is, I never noticed the bass until early days of high school when someone would point it out in a song. From then on, I knew the instrument that reflected my personality.

There weren't really any people that directly influenced me into learning bass, but Lemmy and Flea made me want to stick with it and keep learning. I come from the younger generation that never experienced Chris Squire and Geddy Lee firsthand. I only started to learn about them and many others like Jamerson and Graham after I started learning bass. That isn't to say that I never listen to them before. It's just now notice how integral their part is in the music that they played.

[Chris Brodowski]

I originally wanted to play guitar, because ever since I liked music I was a guitar fan first. When I first saw a bass, I WAS INSTANTLY HOOKED. It was just SO BADASS; I originally called it, when I was a kid, the "big long guitar with the four fat strings.

And those lows....I just loved that rumble of the B.

From this point on, I looked in some of my favorite bands to see how bass made an impact. I know these guys have much less talents than some jazz and funk players than influenced other people on this board. But these players did it for me.

I didn't think punk had any bass whatsoever (especially the Sex Pistols after Sid Vicious joined), but after listening to Rancid, Matt Freeman (althought I personally didn't like his TONE per se) DROVE VIRTUALLY EVERY Rancid song. He is the definition of cutting through to me, and when I heard his sound, and realized bass players don't have to go virtually unheard, I had made up my mind: I WAS GOING TO PLAY THIS INSTRUMENT, NOT GUITAR. Some of Freeman's lines just ROAR.

The real "tone" epiphany came when I listened to Rage Against the Machine. To this day, I love the sound Timmy C got out of his MIA J's and Musicman Stingrays (he didn't use Stingrays often.) I love his tone; warm, yet it cuts through like crazy and has more than enough attack for me. Since I am not a big fan of the "Buttload of Treble and some Bass" tone of Matt Freeman, Timmy C was the first tone monster.

I also liked Eric Wilson's, formerly of Sublime, tone; but it has more deep bass than I would personally use.

Did I mention Cliff Burton? THE INFLUENCE ON PLAYING METAL BASS. If it wasn't for Burton, I wouldn't even have considered playing bass in a Slayer-type setting. Now, I have my own ideas for a metal bass (Stainless strings, neck through, tuned BEAD).

It's a beautiful instrument, I have never looked back. People often wonder why I switched. I personally think the bass guitar was calling me from the time I was born; I just didn't hear it, and I couldn't answer the call until I knew it was there.

= forever.

[Garrett Mireles]

Originally posted by Chris Brodowski
Did I mention Cliff Burton? THE INFLUENCE ON PLAYING METAL BASS. If it wasn't for Burton, I wouldn't even have considered playing bass in a Slayer-type setting. Now, I have my own ideas for a metal bass (Stainless strings, neck through, tuned BEAD).
= forever.

Amen brother

If it weren't for Cliff...I never would have even CONSIDERED "playing leads on bass".

[rickbass]

I thought I was a "bassist" in the late 60's.

In 1969, I saw Entwistle, live, from the 18th row of seats at the Kiel Concert Hall in St. Louis. After that experience, I knew that I knew nothing.

[bass87]

James Jamerson: I listened to What's Going On by Marvin Gaye, and thought the bass was incredible, and had to try for myself.