At what age have you started playing bass?

[Matopotato]

Acoustic guitar at 15. Electric at 58. Bass at 59, but just learning

 

[Don Sanders]

Hello mates!!

First vote, and then tell us specifically at what age ( if you remember ) started playing and studying bass as instrument.

Thanks!!

14

 

[Pursizzhun]

13 for me. I joined an existing 4 piece as a rhythm guitarist in the 8th grade. In our 2nd rehearsal, the bass player got pissed at the drummer and walked out. I got promoted to bass and never looked back! I'm 66 now and still gigging.

I still play standard guitar quite a bit, but I'm a bassist at heart.

 

[TRBman]

24. too late to be a good bassist and didn't enough worked so i'm pretty mediocre

 

[DJ Dru]

54

 

[Louis J]

Nine years old. Started in grade school orchestra.

 

[Mike Lock]

I had just turned thirteen. I'd briefly mentioned something to my dad about wanting to play bass and on Christmas day he came home from work at about eight in the evening. He said there was one more present waiting in the garage and when I went through, it was my first bass and amp.

I will always be grateful to him for that gift.

Cool dad

 

[kre84u]

I actually played a six-string guitar with treble rolled down & bass turned up in my first band at 11. Borrowed a hollow body Epiphone from a band mate when I was 17. Bought a Precision in 76 for recording, then got serious about playing in bands at 25. Had about an 8 year career on the road. Damn! I wish I'd taken lessons!

 

[james58]

~15 in ~'74. After 5 years of 1st chair violin in school, tried guitar by the book, but couldn't get it. (those aren't the chords on the record!). Tried playing with some friends in the garage, but the other two guitar players were better, so guess who got to play the bass? Been at it on and off since then. Trying to get re-inspired. Just got two new Stiletto studios (4 & 8) and love them!

 

[Fuzzbass]

Age 15, 1975

My brother and I wanted to start playing around ages 9-10, but my dad wasn't convinced we were serious so he bought us extremely low-end guitars from Sears, and imports were total crap back then so they were unplayable. We didn't know better, I thought it was my fault that I couldn't play simple open chords.

 

[Chopper47]

15....in 1963

 

[ad9000]

I got a guitar at age 7 and had the usual kid lessons, but my dad, who was a professional musician (woodwinds) noticed that I was picking out bass lines from records. Partly because of that, and also because he had an interest in learning bass and probably wanted to live that vicariously through me, I received a shiny, crappy Teisco Silvertone bass for my 9th birthday. I got into in a garage band almost immediately and really never looked back. Saxophone, clarinet and flute were the focus through my college years, but I always got more satisfaction out of playing bass, which I did more or less on a parallel track. By about age 19 I was 100% in on bass and also started in on upright around that time.

 

[DCCat]

63 (4+ years now). After retirement, with no prior musical training, I took on bass to challenge my brain in different ways. And so it has. In addition to the playing, which has been challenging, yes, but also great fun, I've really enjoyed the assembly, modification, setup, and maintenance of my now 6 bass flock.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

I was ~24. I played/sang in a duo. Mainly guitar, but I played bass 2-3 songs out of a 10-12 song set. But after maybe 6 months the duo broke up and I didn't play it for a long time. I was around 55 when I picked it back up and it became my main instrument.

 

[NZBassman]

I started about 16.... was playing cello at school and in the school orchestra, but really wanted to learn the drums.... my parents weren't as enthusiastic about me learning the drums as I was, so seeing as I could read music I grabbed the only bass they had at school - it was RH and I'm a leftie... and taught myself to play RH
Got first bass when I was 17, first amp about 6 months later....

 

[etrs]

Piano at 6, drums at 11. Played in a couple kiddie bands and at 14 realized that you couldn't swing a dead cat around our area without hitting a drummer but there were no bass players in the area to speak of. Went to Monkey Wards and picked up an Airline bass and Amp. Started playing and within a few months had my pick of what I wanted to play and with whom. That would have been 1970. It's been a long, strange road.

 

[LongHairFreak]

I believe 13yo, but I suppose it could've been 14.

 

[BDLNKYL]

15

Just cannot get used to that 5th string so my Fender V is gathering "Dust"

 

[BDLNKYL]

25 y.o.
Started at 15, now 76 and still playing strong but my B15N seems a lot heavier now

you'll get some feedback (the poll), but i'm curious: tell us why do you ask?. TIA

Hello mates!!

First vote, and then tell us specifically at what age ( if you remember ) started playing and studying bass as instrument.

Thanks!!

 

[Malak the Mad]

I bought my first-ever bass as a 40th birthday present to myself. The urge to try out bass as a hobby had been gaining strength for years, so when I was about to hit that milestone, I thought, "Eff it!" and started hunting for a particular bass...specifically, a Satin Pewter Metallic Squier P-Bass Special. As it turns out, it'd been discontinued for two or three years by then. However, during my nearly exhaustive searching, I found a great deal on a used Fender Aerodyne and the rest was history.

Funny thing, though...I almost started when I was about 12-years-old. At that time, my mom was a drummer in an all-female rock band. She'd taught me some basic chop, rudiments that became a big part of my life when I was in high school. But rather than pursuing percussion, I told my mom I wanted to learn guitar. What she suggested was that I learn bass instead because...

1. There are less strings and they're bigger, thus easier to get a hold of.
2. You don't have to learn chords at first.
3. The strings are tuned to the first four strings on a guitar, so if I decided to learn that later, I'd have a good foundation to start with.
4. And most importantly, guitarists are a dime a dozen. Everyone wants to learn guitar, but there's always a demand for a good bassist.

But, since I was 12 and I obviously knew better , I stuck to my guns. Months later, I realized I couldn't wrap my head around the damn thing, gave up on it and my mom had to sell the gear back to the music store she bought it from.

I often wonder how things would've turned out for me if I had taken her advice.