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Where did you start? When and on What?

I'd played the cello for 12 years and decided I wanted something more versatile.

It was the summer of 2002. I was 18.

The bass was a Westone Concorde Bass II and the amp was a Fender Bassman 60. I still have both, They both still rock out.
 
I started playing bass when the people leading worship for the youth group I was in need a bass player for the worship services. I had been playing guitar since I was thirteen and new a bit of theory as it was applied to guitar, I thought it would translate over to bass fairly easily. Ha. They are two completely involved but completely different monsters. Anyway that was in Jan 2006. I played a bass someone loaned me (couldn't even tell you the brand) through a direct box until we decided to start playing at places other than our church. I bought a mexican p-bass deluxe, a gk 800rb, and an avatar 210 neo. Not a bad set up to have only been playing a year. This little worship group ended up growing into a full fledged band. *Shameless Plug Warning* Go check us out at Link Removed :) . I am still playing the same set up, but plan on making upgrades as the money becomes available. I am buying an Ampeg 8x10 that I will pick up next week, this will be great for the bigger shows that we have been booking. I fell in love with Bass and will continue to play it until I die.
 
I bought my first bass in 1981, but I'd been playing guitar since 1974 and had borrowed various PoS basses from classmates before.

I bass I got was a heavily modified Burns Sonic Bass from the early 60s - so much modified and de-branded that until I saw The Burns Book by Paul Day I has a sneaking suspicion that it might have been a reasonably good home-build with Burns pickups on it. The affordable alternatives at the time were horrible Fender copies with Colubus or Grant on the headstock. What I really wanted was an Aria ProII SB.

The band I was in at the time didn't do any gigs just recording so I either used my 10watt guitar amp or went direct into the mixer. The first bass rig I got a couple of years later was a typical 70s no-name 100w transistor top with a 2x12 home made cab and a 1x18 ex reggae sound-system box.
 
I started in 96, I was 16.
I bought a crappy jazz copy and a crappy small amp from a friend who had 3 or 4 basses and several amps... I don't remember the brands of this "setup".
One year later, I bought an ibanez bass (SR series) and a fender amp.
I used this for a few years. Almost stopped playing bass for a few years and last year I finally bought what I'm using now: Fender jaguar bass with Markbass amp and cab
 
i actually started around this time last year At age 15..... got a black squire P and a 15 watt amp.... was techniqually for my b-day but i got it 2 months early cos i payed for most of it.... now i bought a stingray with credit help from my dad...... ya.... i hope to gig soon but its hard at my age...
 
I started to play in the first year of High school which was 2005 and i am now in Year 12. I started renting with a Samick P-bass and a little shabby practice amp. My first bass that i purchased was a Washburn Lyon Bass that you get from Walmart which i tore apart at band when i got my Ltd(i think my old drummer still has a video of it :P)
Influences back then were Cliff Burton, a little bit of John Myung(i thought that Panic Attack was the coolest thing) and Steve Harris.
Now they are John Myung in a BIG way, Victa, Billy Sheehan and Stu Hamm
 
I had a Hondo II bolt-neck Explorer bass and began playing it in the middle '80's in a bunch of party bands with friends. I didn't have a proper bass amp and used a vintage '60's Kustom 100 guitar rig, 100W solid state head and matching 1x15 tuck-and-roll cab. Fortunately it was loaded with a J.B. Lansing speaker that I managed not to asplode.

By around 1990 I'd bought a MIJ Squier P-bass for a hundred bucks or so and only used the Hondo as a back-up. The Hondo was subsequently stolen. Sometime in the early 90's I obtained an old '70's Woodson 250 bass head and matching 1x15 cab from a friend who abandoned it at my place and told me to just keep it.
 
7 yrs ago (at age 39) I was watching my 5 yr old daughter practice piano and said to myself: Self, you've been a music nut all your life, playing the Lemon Song on air bass in the shower; you can do this and the time is now because life gets shorter every day! I asked for advice on what to get. I got great advice from an old college buddy who plays guitar. He said "get a Fender Jazz and you're good". So, arrogant putz that I am, I went out and bought a Takemine ABG figuring I could spend all of my budget in the bass and not need an amp:rollno: Started taking lessons with the local bar band bassist and swapped my ABG for a Korean Spector and a BA50 combo which I kept for 3 yrs. Stopped the poor quality lessons a year later. Never thought I'd ever play out (it is, after all, just a hobby) and for 5 years I could only jam with others 1-2 times per year, as there are not many middle-aged beginners in my little town. Loved it, even practicing scales and learning basic theory. Then 2 yrs ago I fell into a cover band with some guys at work. What a blast. Beats the *&@% out of golf, LOL. Recently found a great teacher through TB and am still moving forward.
 
1985. High school. The band director asked me to play low brass in the jazz band. I said no way. About a month later he called me into his office. There was a brand new Fender P (candy apple, white guard, rosewood board) and a Peavey TNT combo. He told me to go home and learn how to play it QUICKLY! I said "Now THAT, I can do." My older brother found a guy at college with a Steinberger (sp) and a Peavey TKO that I bought. There were no bass players in my area back then. A neighbor was a drummer in a band. Their bassist quit. He came over and BEGGED my mother to let me "fill in for a few weeks". I joined that band and was playing clubs all over NC and VA. They were all in their 30's. I was 15 at the time. "Good times. Damn good times." - Van Halen....... The rest is history.
 
For me it was the Thursday before Memorial Day Weekend 2007.

I was 50 at the time and on an impulse stopped at Motor City Guitar on my way home from work. I went home and told my wife I thought I wanted to study Music with Bass Guitar as my voice.

The next day I again stopped at Motor City Guitar on my way home from work. Only this time it wasn't on impulse.

That day I came home with a brand new shiny "Rock-Star-In-A-Box" Squier Affinity P-Bass starter kit. Complete with a Fender Rumble 15, tuner, and a strap.

The following Wednesday I had my first lesson......