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Used to be a guitar player?

Used to be a guitar player?

  • used to be guitar

    Votes: 61 25.4%

  • started on bass

    Votes: 73 30.4%

  • started on other instrument

    Votes: 50 20.8%

  • still play multiple instruments

    Votes: 113 47.1%
  • Total voters
    240
#22
I started on guitar mainly because when I was 13 it was easier to get my parents to buy me an acoustic guitar than a bass and amp. However I've always been interested in playing multiple instruments - the more I could play the more versatile I'd be as a musician and the more understanding I'd have as to how all the instruments fitted together when writing and arranging songs.

My first band was a typical post-punk DIY where everyone played everything, but by the end we had gravitated towards more defined instrumental roles, mine being bass and synthesiser.

Since then I've played, bass, guitar and synthesiser in various bands at various times. Interestingly every time I've ended up playing guitar or synthesiser in a band I originally auditioned as the bass player. The last time this happened was actually the bassist in the band for several years until the original guitarist left and then switched to guitar because we found it easier to get another bass player than a guitarist.
 
#24
Hi everyone,
I actually started on classical guitar.
Then went on on electric guitar for awhile.
I happened to play the lead singer on some bands and the drummer (!) on some other.

Then, it's been almost 20 years now, I switched to bass guitar

My main act is playin' the bass and singin' backin' vocals

But I still play electric guitar for just my wife or myself...

Cheers,
Wallace
 
#25
Started on trombone around age 11/12. Made the move to bass around age 14/15. Looking back, it seams more a lateral move than a change of gears. Probably should have kept up with the trombone as a second instrument. I do own an Acoustic guitar and mess with every once in a blue moon. When people ask me why I play bass my response is "I did not choose the bass, it chose me." I stand by the statement to this day.
 
#26
I've been playing drums since i was 8 years old (I'm 16 now) and guitar since i was about 13. I've played bass now for about 18 months and i try to keep the drumming/bassing equal and guitar is more of a hobbie (i only have an acoustic). I don;t prefer drums or bass, i love them equally but i get wayyyy more work playing bass
 
#27
Started on piano as a kid in the '50s. Then, learned clarinet in the middle school band. Then, came guitar in '63. I was obsessed with it and got good fast. Had a band by '65 with me as the guitarist. Played my first bass just before that at a friend's house, but also swapped back and forth between guitar and bass in our band. Went to college and studied upright while majoring in music (they didn't have a big guitar program at the time). Played in the Columbia Philharmonic for six years. Also played guitar professionally full-time for a few years prior to that. Then, came a break in music for several years. In '88 I heard about a local band looking for a bass player. I didn't have an electric, so I went and bought my '87 Jazz Bass Special to take to the audition. Got the gig and have been gigging on bass ever since. I never knew til then that it is what I love to do most, all this time. I still play keys and guitar, though. But, bass has become ME.
 
#28
I taught myself how to play harmonica in 8th grade. Took a few months of piano when I was 15 until we moved and sold the piano. My senior year of high school I joined the school band as a percussionist (bass drum, cymbals, congas). I started playing guitar when I was 19 but was unfocused and sporadic in my practice habits. I'm okay but not great. I moved back to the area I grew up in about 6 months ago and was invited to jam with a group of old high school/elementary school friends on the condition that I play bass. I'm loving it and wondering why I didn't buy a bass 15 years ago instead of that guitar.
 
#29
I started playing guitar at age 12. Played for 3 years and got into a family band. We needed a bass player more than a rhythm guitar player and ,as now, bassists were impossible to find and guitar players were a dime a dozen. Bought my first bass, found out how much I loved playing it and have been very happy playing bass in bands ever since. Don't get me wrong, I still play guitar, for me mainly, sometimes in the band I'm in now, but bass is the one love. I also went the way of most musicians and slowed down a lot while raising my family but after the kids were out and a brand new divorce went right back into playing out, with some of the same guys from high school and have not looked back. Still play guitar, but still learning and enjoying bass.
 
#30
Started on piano when I was young, got my first guitar when I was 12, took guitar and piano lessons for a few years, and then finally got a bass. I had a grand total of one bass lesson and then proceeded to teach myself. I still play a bit of guitar, but I haven't touched a piano in years. Bass is my main instrument.
 
#31
I started on guitar at age 13. Played a lot until I went to college then put it aside. Started up again in mid 20's. When I was 30 I was playing at my church. Music director asked if one of us would play bass instead so I volunteered. I took to it immediately! I still play guitar occasionally, but every band I have been in the last 16 years has been as the bass player.
 
#32
I had started playing guitar in junior high. I actually originally wanted to be a bassist, but since my brother wanted to take guitar lessons and my parents would only sponsor one instrument, I also took guitar lessons. I played through high school and into college, when some friends of mine were putting together a band and needed a bassist. I volunteered and got the job. I had to borrow other friends' basses, until I bought a $75 ebay special Hondo bass. I've been playing with the same group of friends, and recently joined my wife's uncles' family band on bass. I have been playing both guitar and bass since then, but have primarily played bass in each band.
 
#33
My first instrument was a clarinet, then baritone, then piano. Then I tried acoustic guitar, but quit due to difficulty with chords. Then I bought my first electric instrument, an Ibanez P Bass copy, and began to learn basslines. After doing this for a while I picked up a guitar again and found that the fretting skills and hand strength I built playing bass made it a lot easier, so I started playing guitar again. Currently I play bass primarily, but still move to rhythm guitar or keys when needed.
 
#34
I played guitar for about 4 years and never felt like I was getting good. One day I tried a Bass and played to a backing track. I instantly felt comfortable and was having so much fun. For a week after that it is all I could think of. I wanted a bass.
I then bought a squire p-bass and Ampeg amp and now have sold all my guitar equipment except my acoustical guitar. I consider myself a bass player now.
 
#35
I started on guitar, switched to bass, and focused on bass as my primary instrument. However I always kept on learning and playing guitar on the side as well. In fact I own more guitars than I do basses. I'm weird I guess, because I really do like being the bass player in a band situation.
 
#39
Started on the trombone, which helped my reading skills a bunch, recently dropped that, and now I just play bass, and am slowly trying to get the hang of a piano.

If someone handed me a guitar and told me to play.... I would give them a funny look, and then only be able to play the bottom 4 strings ( aren't the last two tuned differently?).
 

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