I think I'm a closet bass player...

[sbpark]

Yes, I've finally come to terms and am ready to come out of the closet. I am a bass player! I've been playing guitar since I was 15, and it took me 22 years to admit that I'm a bass player and not a guitar player. Don't get me wrong, I can find my way around a 6-string alright, but never really loved it. I got away from playing for a few years and in the last few years got back into it, picking up a few different instruments to see what I liked. I now own a 1930's solid Mahogany Favilla soprano ukulele and a gorgeous Recording Kink RK87 5-string banjo in addition to a couple acoustic guitars. I sold my electric guitar to buy a couple basses and an amp recently.

I've always pondered the idea of getting a bass and using it as a way to learn how to read music and learn a new instrument, as I thought it would translate well to being able to understand music theory.

I currently have a '76 P that I found for next to nothing and restored her back to (almost) original condition with a vintage bridge, original case, original covers and a '62 RI pup) and a Classic 50's P. I was a Tele guy with guitars, so it only makes sense to stick with it's close relative the P-bass since I like no frills, simplicity and something that's proven to work.

So anyone else make the switch and not looked back? I'm worried because I am even considering getting rid of my banjo to get yet another bass!

[michael_t]

When I was younger, I always thought it was a cool thing to be one of those "multi-instrumentalists". Then I realized I was pretty mediocre at all of them...you know...that old proverbial "jack of all trades, master of none".

Then after a 20-yr musical hiatus, I discovered the bass a few years ago. I think I will stick with one instrument and try to get really good at it this time around.

[VanillaThundah]

Congratulations on coming out of the closet

[sbpark]

Originally Posted by michael_t

When I was younger, I always thought it was a cool thing to be one of those "multi-instrumentalists". Then I realized I was pretty mediocre at all of them...you know...that old proverbial "jack of all trades, master of none".

Then after a 20-yr musical hiatus, I discovered the bass a few years ago. I think I will stick with one instrument and try to get really good at it this time around.

That's kind of what I'm thinking a well. Just pick one and stick with it rather than bouncing from instrument to instrument. Plus, I like so many different kinds of music from old school, post punk hardcore to bluegrass ad everything in between. The bass is and instrument that I can play in any of those types of bands. Can't really do that with a ukulele or banjo for the most part!

[corndog]

I've played guitar on and off for 30 years. I was an ok player, but never really had the passion. Looking back I realize I'd watch the bass players more than the guitarists of the bands I went to see and pick out the bass grooves of songs (shouldn't I be listening to the guitar work??).

Anyway, I picked up a bass last year and haven't looked back. I feel a little guilty because the beautiful Fender acoustic guitar my wife bought me for my 30th birthday sits in its case. I haven't played it in two years.

[avvie]

I too have only fairly recently decided that I am a bass player. Until then I have always considered myself to be a rhythm guitarist who only plays bass live. My guitars have hung unplayed for many moons and TalkBass has become my primary time vampire when on teh internetz.

[michael_t]

Originally Posted by sbpark

The bass is and instrument that I can play in any of those types of bands. Can't really do that with a ukulele or banjo for the most part!

You've got that right! The more I get to know the bass, the more I get excited about all the possibilities of what I can do with it.

So let's go for it and stay out of that closet!

[bassbully]

I started on guitar then quit for over 20 years. When I came back to music I wanted to play bass since I always thought they looked and sounded so cool. I used to play my friends back then when he had it laying aroung and loved it.

I have been playing bass for a bit over 10 years now and got back to guitar about 3 years ago. Funny, today I play way more guitar than bass at home.. bass in the bands...weird?

[TolerancEJ]

I started with guitar. I took music in high school. First semester was fine. For the second semester, it was a requirement to learn a different instrument that read a different music clef. Therefore, I chose bass for the 2nd semester. I fell in love with the sound & haven't looked back. I still have a few guitars, but firstly the bass is in my heart.

[TBird1958]

I'm always happy that I'm out of the closet


I like playing bass too!

[superiorpine]

Lots of us started out on guitar. They're more available. That said, bass is my instrument of passion. Nothing carries or drives a band like bass. The audience may not know the difference, but they definitely feel it.

[Saxn]

Hi. My name is Greg, and I play bass.

It all started innocently enough... I bought all the required hair band albums, classic rock, fusion... anything with screaming guitar solos played by really skinny dudes with contorted faces. My musical journey had begun, and in fine fashion, too.

I first noticed something was wrong with me after hearing a song called "Stratus". My friend told me there was "the most radical" guitar solo in there, and I was eager to add more licks to my ever-growing arsenal of techniques, thus assuring I could carve out my own little plot of land in the kingdom of musical badassery.

Well he played it for me, and I listened. I listened for 6 minutes and 40 seconds to the most killer piece of music that had yet been exposed to my nubile, impressionable ears. When it was all done my friend asked me what I thought of the soloing on that piece. To my horror, I realized that I had missed it! I had MISSED "the most radical" guitar solo... but it gets worse.

After much self-reflection, I realized that I had passed on hearing ear-piercing, effects-laden, lightning-fast weedly wee action to listen to the bass line. The BASS LINE!!

I was mortified. The bass line that had suckered me into this sordid realm (I would later find out this was known as the "pocket groove") consisted almost entirely of three notes played in a repeating pattern. OMGWTF, man?!? I decided I was probably just in a funk (hehehe... *ahem*...sorry.) and needed to clear my head. I listened again. The feeling returned, only with more intensity. I immediately wanted more. It was THAT powerful - one exposure and I was hooked. Helpless.

Oh, I kept up appearances, don't get me wrong. I played a very convincing air guitar while listening to Page, Beck, Vaughan... but I was dead inside. While outwardly I was nodding my head and praising all the flash and technical prowess of my (now former) idols, I was secretly waiting for the end of the album party so I could go home and break into my ever-growing stash of "simpleton music". Lee Sklar's gateway exposure had started an irreversible trend. Before long I was listening to all of the biggest offenders... Duck Dunn. James Jamerson... even ADAM CLAYTON I found it hard to concentrate. I heard bass lines in my head continuously. I told nobody.

I finally hit rock bottom when I bought my first bass a couple of years ago. It was a Yamaha RBX 4 stringer that I still play today. I ordered it online and then nervously awaited its arrival. It arrived several days later, and although it was discreetly packaged in a plain brown box I was afraid that one of my guitarist friends would see its immense, guitar-shaped container and immediately realize what had happened to me. I hurried inside, locked my doors, and immediately plugged it into my mixer board and donned a pair of headphones so that nobody could hear. I still remember the feeling as I plucked that first low E... it sent groovalicious waves of pure joy through my whole body!! Wait, no... what I meant to say was that it was a sad, sad day. Within a few minutes I was belting out a fret-buzzing, poorly-intonated version of U2's "Even Better Than the Real Thing". It wasn't long before I had moved on to others, and before I knew it I was playing anything my amateurish hands were capable of... "Melting Pot." "Mustang Sally." "Too Rolling Stoned." And of course, the one that started it all, "Stratus".

Now you see me as I am today. My once razor-sharp soloist-critiquing skills have atrophied as I continue to concentrate on the Rhythm... the Groove... (shudder) the Pocket. I now pointlessly aspire to maintain time... sometimes I lock in with my metronome for hours on end, playing a multitude of rhythmic variations on a theme. I have fallen a long, long way.

sbpark, hear my words now. You don't have to do this. Don't listen to those here that will tell you there is NOTHING WRONG with the feelings you are having - it's a ploy to sucker you into this abysmal scene of being happy in The Pocket... this endless pursuit of more and more groove. It is too late for me, my son. I have already succumbed to the seductive allure of the Cult of Bass, but you can still fight it. GO NOW, and play five zillion notes before the next sundown... you may yet escape the darkness that will surely befall you if you keep walking this path.

I wish you the best of luck.

[sbpark]

Originally Posted by Saxn

Hi. My name is Greg, and I play bass.

It all started innocently enough... I bought all the required hair band albums, classic rock, fusion... anything with screaming guitar solos played by really skinny dudes with contorted faces. My musical journey had begun, and in fine fashion, too.

I first noticed something was wrong with me after hearing a song called "Stratus". My friend told me there was "the most radical" guitar solo in there, and I was eager to add more licks to my ever-growing arsenal of techniques, thus assuring I could carve out my own little plot of land in the kingdom of musical badassery.

Well he played it for me, and I listened. I listened for 6 minutes and 40 seconds to the most killer piece of music that had yet been exposed to my nubile, impressionable ears. When it was all done my friend asked me what I thought of the soloing on that piece. To my horror, I realized that I had missed it! I had MISSED "the most radical" guitar solo... but it gets worse.

After much self-reflection, I realized that I had passed on hearing ear-piercing, effects-laden, lightning-fast weedly wee action to listen to the bass line. The BASS LINE!!

I was mortified. The bass line that had suckered me into this sordid realm (I would later find out this was known as the "pocket groove") consisted almost entirely of three notes played in a repeating pattern. OMGWTF, man?!? I decided I was probably just in a funk (hehehe... *ahem*...sorry.) and needed to clear my head. I listened again. The feeling returned, only with more intensity. I immediately wanted more. It was THAT powerful - one exposure and I was hooked. Helpless.

Oh, I kept up appearances, don't get me wrong. I played a very convincing air guitar while listening to Page, Beck, Vaughan... but I was dead inside. While outwardly I was nodding my head and praising all the flash and technical prowess of my (now former) idols, I was secretly waiting for the end of the album party so I could go home and break into my ever-growing stash of "simpleton music". Lee Sklar's gateway exposure had started an irreversible trend. Before long I was listening to all of the biggest offenders... Duck Dunn. James Jamerson... even ADAM CLAYTON I found it hard to concentrate. I heard bass lines in my head continuously. I told nobody.

I finally hit rock bottom when I bought my first bass a couple of years ago. It was a Yamaha RBX 4 stringer that I still play today. I ordered it online and then nervously awaited its arrival. It arrived several days later, and although it was discreetly packaged in a plain brown box I was afraid that one of my guitarist friends would see its immense, guitar-shaped container and immediately realize what had happened to me. I hurried inside, locked my doors, and immediately plugged it into my mixer board and donned a pair of headphones so that nobody could hear. I still remember the feeling as I plucked that first low E... it sent groovalicious waves of pure joy through my whole body!! Wait, no... what I meant to say was that it was a sad, sad day. Within a few minutes I was belting out a fret-buzzing, poorly-intonated version of U2's "Even Better Than the Real Thing". It wasn't long before I had moved on to others, and before I knew it I was playing anything my amateurish hands were capable of... "Melting Pot." "Mustang Sally." "Too Rolling Stoned." And of course, the one that started it all, "Stratus".

Now you see me as I am today. My once razor-sharp soloist-critiquing skills have atrophied as I continue to concentrate on the Rhythm... the Groove... (shudder) the Pocket. I now pointlessly aspire to maintain time... sometimes I lock in with my metronome for hours on end, playing a multitude of rhythmic variations on a theme. I have fallen a long, long way.

sbpark, hear my words now. You don't have to do this. Don't listen to those here that will tell you there is NOTHING WRONG with the feelings you are having - it's a ploy to sucker you into this abysmal scene of being happy in The Pocket... this endless pursuit of more and more groove. It is too late for me, my son. I have already succumbed to the seductive allure of the Cult of Bass, but you can still fight it. GO NOW, and play five zillion notes before the next sundown... you may yet escape the darkness that will surely befall you if you keep walking this path.

I wish you the best of luck.

Hahahaha!!!

[Ash Jazz]

I play guitar and bass.

At the moment I'm actually doing a lot more on guitar than bass which is strange. usually there is a greater demand for bass. I dabble in many instruments. I'm pretty good at Harmonica, can hold a steady beat on drums although drummers probably think I'm a joke. Play some keys, mandolyn, banjo, aux perc, etc. Whatever I can get my hands on.

I consider myself a musician and the instrument is the vehicle although I will admit my primary focus has always been guitar and bass. I am just as happy playing either one and can hold my own in most situations on either.

My bass rig is every bit as nice as my guitar rig and I have acoustic, electric, and fretless basses.

I call myself a bassist when I'm holding a bass and a guitarist when I'm holding a guitar.

[Swakey]

Good for you man! I came out of the closet a couple of months ago myself and i couldnt be happier
I even studied music, finished with guitar as my main instrument but i started playing a little bass in jazz ensembles towards the end of my studies and i then i knew.. i haven't picked up a guitar since. Well that's a lie i still do but the bass is my love now