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Was Electric Bass Your First Instrument?

Was Electric Bass Your First Instrument

  • Yes, I Started Out With It And Nothing Else

    Votes: 80 27.5%

  • No, I Started Out With Another Instument

    Votes: 206 70.8%

  • Um, I Started Out With Bass And Another Instument At The Same Time

    Votes: 5 1.7%
  • Total voters
    291
#121
before i played bass I was a hippie
I was a burnout
I was a dropout I was out of my head
I was a surfer
I had a skateboard
I was so heavy man, I lived on the strand
I was so wasted

I was so ****ed up
I was so messed up
I was so screwed up I was out of my head
I was so jacked up
I was so drunk up
I was so knocked out, I was out of my head
I was so wasted
 
#125
I wanted to be a bassists first...

My school didn't offer strings so I started on sax in 4th grade... continued it through High School. Finally convinced the folks I was serious about wanting the bass and started up a couple years after the sax. Took guitar lessons for a while a few years after starting bass... still play bass and guitar. More recently I started goofing around on piano and Upright bass... I need to get more serious on both.
 
#127
I don't think that it counts... I started with voice technically but it was more because of my school then anything. Bass was the only instrument that I'd ever gotten serious about, and the only one before that was only put in consideration, I never got one (a sitar) Odd first choice, sure, but it made a cool sound :D
 
#129
I wanted to play guitar sooooooo bad.
Never did.
Got married.
Job - career.
Kids.
Bought my son a guitar and he went wild! Great 15 year-old guitarist.
He and wife wanted to get me a guitar (finally!!).
I was messing with son's Strat and was having difficulties with me somewhat short and stubby fingers.
They changed their minds and bought me a bass - and then I went wild!
...in gear that is :)
Now I'm having a blast learning and researching and modding and learning and learning - and loving every minute of it!
After a couple of years now - which one is this 'E' string you guys keep speaking of? ;)
 
#130
I started playing guitar in high school. Our band director was an ex session guitarist in Nashville, and started a guitar class. I took guitar class for 2 years from him. I thought it would be an easy class to get credits. A couple of my friends started a garage band and I was the only one interested in playing bass. 28 years later and I still love the bass. I have a couple of accoustic guitars that I play on occasion, but bass is my thing.
 
#132
My parents had a baby grand piano, I started plunking around on that as soon as I could climb onto the stool. Mom saw that & decided I should have lessons, but I was not so good at practicing. So I was off and on with lessons for several years.
I played the recorder in elementary school, as most everybody did then. Had a year of clarinet as well.
I was 9 when the Beatles became Supreme Rulers of Earth, and everybody under the age of 40 got a guitar, including me. It spent most of its time under my bed for about 5 years, but I finally got going on it around 14.
Took a year of flute in high school.
I switched over to bass at 16. Finally! :bassist:
 
#134
My grandmother had an upright piano that I would pound on continuously every summer (to her dismay). My dad had a drum kit and a guitar I would pound on. I bought a $25 guitar in high school but wanted to be the bass player for a band that never formed. Had a recorder and an mbira.
No lessons on anything. Lessons were an unaffordable big money investment. More focused on art.
Dragged the $25 guitar out again and realized I was playing bass lines on it. Bought a bass and loved it. That's 26 years ago. Focusing now on fretless and EUB. I'd take up piano and cello if I had the time and money to do 'em -- but Bass is THE ONE.
 
#135
I think I was always a bassist in my head. All the songs I dug when I was a kid were bass-driven: Bernadette, most of the Beatles work, Sam the Sham, etc. When I was 9 or 10 I got bitched out by a family friend because I'd cranked up the bass on his high-end stereo.:hyper:

I started playing guitar, but at 13 I picked up my friend's 60's C-neck P-Bass, and that was all she wrote. I still own a guitar, but I haven't touched it years.:hiding:
 
#136
I am approaching 50 yrs. old in a few weeks. At age 9, I started music on alto sax, which I continue to play till this day. At 13, I learned to play drums, my dad was a jazz drummer, and I still play to this day. At 15, I added tenor sax, (still play), At 21, I began guitar lessons on acoustic and electric, can still hack out some rythm or finger-picking. Didnt start bass till about 25 yrs. old, but thats my main inst. . I sang in swing/jazz choir all thru high school, and I sing about 1/3 of the lead vocals in my band now(classic rock). And alot of harmony, when not singing lead. Playing bass and singing harmonies can be tougher than most people realize. It made me realize that the Eagles would be far less w/o Timothy B. Schmidt. Some lead vocals can be tough playing bass too. Try playing "Start Me Up" and singing the the lead vocal at the same time. (w/o butchering it up)
 
#138
KrisH said:
Trombone in school. Then guitar to be cool. But in 9th grade a band of classmates played at a school rally (like they were Grand Funk Jr.) and I fell in love with that bass sound. So I bought a used Hagstrom. When my family moved that summer, I knew no one in my new town, so I just sat in my room and played it all summer long, and got halfways good.
Click to expand...

Same thing with the trombone. I felt it really helped hear the low end (something most of my non-bass friends can have trouble doing. Every loves treble :hmm:)
 
#139
Im sure some will not think this is an instrument but my first paycheck from my first job I bought my self 2 turntables and a mixer and learned how to scratch records. That was my first role in my first band as well back when nu-metal was huge. I still do it some in our new stuff but that was my first instrument.

Mooch
 

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