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Did you try to be a guitarist?

#41
I started on guitar back when I was about 19-20 (now 35) stopped for a great while and recently (maybe 3 years ago) picked up the bass. I was never really all that good on guitar tryed classical but my hands hate chords.
I still own a few guitars, and I do play them, but only to mess around on, I take bass far more seriously.

Playing the bass feels more comfortable to me and it feels more natural....actually I think Ill play one now.
 
#42
Yes I tried...started off in the late 70's as a lefty playing a righty guitar upside down. Made some progress but overall found it more frustrating than not, plus there were plenty of guitarists around but very few bassists, so I switched over to bass, still as a lefty playing a righty upside down.

Fast forward to the late 90's...had switched to true left-handed bass in the meantime, and also had a lefty acoustic guitar gathering dust in the closet. Took it out one day to try to play some songs my kids liked, and quickly caught the guitar bug again...which quickly spread to two of my brothers-in-law.

These days bass is still my main instrument, but I sometimes play human jukebox on a Fender Tele at home for fun. Interesting to me how much of my bass style actually translates to lead guitar...makes me wonder how things could've been had I stuck with guitar and switched to true lefty sooner?
 
#43
I actually started out playing piano at around 8 years old. From there I learned acoustic guitar and drums. When I was 12 I started playing bass in a small church where my father was the pastor and I've never looked back since.
I still play piano, guitar, drums and a little saxophone once in awhile, but bass is my one true musical calling so I can't imagine going to guitar full time.
 
#45
I would say I am almost as proficient on guitar as I am on the bass.

I started playing both at the same time and kind of stuck with it.

I taught myself guitar while I took lessons and was taught bass. I tend to have an odd approach to playing guitar.
 
#46
I started playing jazz guitar about 13 years ago and still play rhythm pretty regularly. I've never been the go-to guy for solos but I can comp some pretty mean changes. I also do almost all of my songwriting on an acoustic guitar that must seem surgically attached to me. I've always felt like a bassist though, even before I bought my first bass about 4 years ago.
 
#47
I started on guitar at 27 (folk music scene) but my love was, and is, bluegrass and country. Picked up chords and progressions fairly quickly, but my aspirations of becoming a real good bluegrass rythym player never materailized...I could never develop that supple right wrist action needed, so I started thinking bass. Guitar showed me chords, bass runs, how I would play up the neck on the bass ( by using capo on guitar), and progressions. I all but gave up guitar, and the rest is history....or lack therof. But guitar did give me a great stepping stone into the bass world..without that knowledge, I doubt seriously I would have been into bass.
 
#50
Started on guitar, but the guitar was a horrible Domino solid body with terrible action, medium guage jazz strings, (this thing hurt to play) and a break at the back of the headstock just behind the nut, held in with two wood screws it had a sharp edge that jutted out about 1 1/16 of an inch, and cut into my hand at the webbed area between the thumb and forefinger. Learned a few chords, then gave up.The guitar was just too dificult to play, and it was very frustrating. Saw someone playing a bass on TV fingerstyle, thought it looked cool and that it might be easier to play because it only had 4 strings and I didn't need to learn chords (!) Fortunately, the bass I got (a Univox) was decent enough that i was encouraged to stay with it. These days , I have a MIM Strat and a Fender SCXD amp, and I'm making a rather half hearted attempt to learn to play blues guitar. I can't help but think what might have happened had I gotten this gear I have now way back then.
Probably not much ....:hmm:
 
#51
I've played guitar for about 10 years and I am just now switching to bass. I found myself listening to the bass on tracks far more then guitar. I decided to play bass for a jazz ensemble at my college and I loved it. Bass fit my concept of music and I enjoy it way more. Something about making the rest of the band sound better clicks more then being the guy out front taking solo's all the time. I will always play guitar, but I feel like thats mostly because people ask me to.
 
#52
I started playing guitar in my teens ( the eighties!), I bought a bass ( acoustic) on a whim ten or so years ago. A few years back I'm at work talking with my friends when we discover we all play guitar. One guy played drums also, we decided to play together in the shop at night. I went home and got on ebay, started bidding on basses and bass amps.As the saying goes, the rest is history......:bassist:
 
#53
I would say that I succeed in bringing guitar to bass. I started out on guitar and cello then string bass; still better than average guitar player so yes a lot of that creeps into my bass playing.
I'd likely still play primarily guitar but I remember seeing a couple of 'local' players at the time that buried me as a player:
Stevie Ray Vaughan and Eric Johnson.
 
#54
Tried and succeeded. Took me the better part of a year to get enough money for a bass and amp so I taught myself to play my dad's acoustic guitar in the meantime. Reasoned each fret was a half step and learned to play a few melodies on just one string. He showed me a few chords and I got most the rest from a Beatles fakebook. After I got my bass I kept playing guitar 'cause it was fun and now I've got my own style that's a mix of Buddy Guy, Robben Ford, and Jerry Garcia :).
 
#55
Dabbled many times... still have an acoustic I noodle on. I've recorded some experimental stuff for friends (effects laden masturbatory riffing, bass doubling, and even country-ish stuff).

I have never tempted it in a band situation, though. I hate doing chords, I never owned a good guitar amp, and I have the bassist personality (aka, I'm not an ego-maniacal douche :smug:).

That said, if I had the cash to do it, I'd buy myself a VHT Pittbull combo, a PRS Custom 22, and a Line 6 DM4 and start wailing.
 
#57
I started on guitar and play much more guitar at home. I gig and practice WAY more on bass. I used to say "guitar is my first love but bass is my wife" but now that I'm married I know that's a crock.
I have more guitars than basses but the guitars are all pretty low end (except for my Les Paul).
Funny enough I also build guitar amps.... maybe I'm on the wrong forum!

The thing I always tell people is it's harder to learn guitar but much harder to be good at bass.
 
#58
I started on the guitar ~ 40-ish years ago, but thanks to a crappy setup/too high action, it was too difficult to play. Frustration set in & I gave it up shortly thereafter. At 10 years old or so, I was too young & stupid to know any better.

During the 80's, some of my friends would do basement jams. No audience; just us and a few sixpacks ... and a cassette recorder (remember those?). I had the same guitar, but tried to simulate the part of the bassist by cranking the bass knob to max. Yeah, the sound sucked, as to be expected.

Sometime during those jams 25 years ago, the seed must've been planted for me wanting to become a "real" bassist (or, at least playing on a real bass guitar).
 
#60
Got a guitar at age 13. By age 15 I still sucked horribly. Met some guys at school that had a 3 piece going but no bass player. Since I sucked so bad at guitar, I figured I had nothing to loose to try the bass. Instantly fell in love with it. 13 years later I still have that love and excitment to play it. learning bass was a lot easier for me and I took to it naturally. Guess it was fate...
 

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