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Who plays guitar as well?

#21
I started on guitar in high school. A friend of mine and I had a band but could never find a bass player. One night, my friend commented that when I did fills on the guitar, it sounded like a bass line and suggested I switch to bass. He mentioned it a few more times before I decided to make the switch. I found that bass came very natural to me and bass has been my primary instrument ever since. I play guitar and keys and recently started learning harmonica. I do music for several television shows and play the guitar and bass parts. My business partner does keys and horns. In addition to my basses, I also have a Martin 12 string acoustic guitar, an MIA Limited Edition Deluxe Strat and Gretsch hollow body guitar that is kind of a green/blue color. After I purchased it I found out it was actually a prototype. It doesn't have a serial number and according to Gretsch is extremely rare because it's the only one ever made in this color.
 
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#22
The Bass Abides said:
So the title says it all. I’m curious what your experience with guitar might be? Did you start on guitar and switch over? Have you played bass from the get go and never picked up a guitar? Did playing guitar help you as a bass payer? I’d love to hear you experience with the guitar.

Me? I tinkered with the guitar, but never got very serious. I’ve really only gotten more serious about the bass over the past year or so...and I feel more at home.
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That sounds like what happened with me.
I played rhythm many years ago. Couldn't quite handle lead and never stuck with it long enough.
Started playing bass six years ago.
I didn't take it seriously the first two or three years, but changed my attitude and everything fell into place.
After trying/owning 30 basses, I've found what's right for me.
 
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#23
I started messing around with guitar in 1964. Bought my first one in 1965 and learned open and barre chords in 1965. Then I discovered bass. Played bass until all my bass gear was stolen in 1976. Wife bought me my next door neighbor's 12-string for Christmas. I had been using it when we played songs together. I used it to play at family and friends weddings, birthdays, etc.

Found a good replacement for my stolen 1965 Jazz Bass in 1985 and that's the bass I still play. I didn't have an amp though, so still played guitar a lot for the next 10-years or so. By 1997 I was primarily playing bass and gigging again.

So yeah, I play guitar well enough to play rhythm guitar and can do some fingerpicking songs. I can tell you it was much easier to play bass while following the guitarist's hands before the use of "power chords" became a thing.

I also play piano. Don't ask me to do anything except play chords though...Took lessons when I was about 8 or so and again in college as a music major. I can play Light My Fire on keyboards because I played in a band where no one else could do it and I could at least read music. My sight reading isn't great, but didn't take long to follow the notes to see how it was played...do NOT ask me to play any kind of a lead on keys except for the lead on the Doors, "Break on Through (to the other side)" - very simple keys lead. And yes I do still have a Yamaha DX7s synth. Still my first love is playing bass and singing.
 
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#24
The Bass Abides said:
So the title says it all. I’m curious what your experience with guitar might be? Did you start on guitar and switch over? Have you played bass from the get go and never picked up a guitar? Did playing guitar help you as a bass payer? I’d love to hear you experience with the guitar.

Me? I tinkered with the guitar, but never got very serious. I’ve really only gotten more serious about the bass over the past year or so...and I feel more at home.
Click to expand...

I played bass and Chapman Stick for years. Put the stick down for a while, recently bought an 8 string guitar and I'm migrating my Stick and guitar stuff to that. It's been a lot of fun. And very inspiring.
 
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#26
I started on guitar, I didn’t realize it at the time but all the things I enjoyed playing were very rhythmic in nature. Took me a while to figure out I was playing the wrong instrument!

Familiarity with holding the guitar as well as playing with thumb and pick definitely helped in the beginning, though ironically focusing on bass has made me a better guitar player. Taught me the importance of space and letting things breathe. Now I mostly use open tunings there, which help me get in a different frame of mind find useful.

Of course guitars feel like toy instruments to me now, so I use way thicker gauges than most guitar players I know (and flats to boot)!
 
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#27
I've played guitar almost as long as I've played bass. I'm better on bass, but can handle guitar as well. I am fairly serious about nylon-string Brazilian bossa nova/jazz style guitar. I prefer playing bass in a band situation though. It's just more fun. I think much more like a bassist than a guitarist even when I play guitar.
 
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#28
Been playing both since 1980. Equally as incompetent on both. Also been playing pedal steel guitar for the last 5 years or so. Family pic from a few years ago...

F1D0EAB1-836A-4C66-A83E-B3079DEDFEC7.jpeg
 
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#29
Been playing bass for 28 years and Chapman Stick for about 20.

I finally started studying guitar seriously in 2017. Got a Memphis Gibson 335 and put flatwound 15s on it for that Wes Montgomery Sound. Just recently got a classical guitar too.

I always had an aversion to the guitar because it was the popular and “common” choice. Now I’m at the age where it’s become another tool in the arsenal and being familiar with it allows me to be more aware of what’s going on in the music I play.
 
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#30
mcnach said:
Yeah, I know it's silly, but a couple of times I've encountered a guitarist with a bad attitude and it was fun to casually grab his guitar and show off a little, then return it "man, that's a nice guitar" knowing that the guy feels a little silly for trying to belittle someone else. ;)
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We got a second guitarist in one band, at the first rehearsal he was playing a riff wrong. It was like nails on a chalk board to me, something had to be done.

I tried to be diplomatic about it but got the "what do you know, you're only the bass player" response so picked up my acoustic guitar (we were rehearsing at my house) and showed him how to play it.

I could see our original guitarist smiling because he knew I would nail it, and I did. He explained to the new guy that if there was ever any riffs he couldn't work out he would ask me. We got on fine after that and he explained that every other bass player he had known had been a root/five player and would ask him what they should be playing.

I still play with the original guitarist and he still occasionally asks for assistance. He readily admits that he is a reluctant lead player and prefers his fancy chords, I was more a power chord and riff man myself.
 
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#34
I transitioned from trombone to bass at the age of 12 because it was an option in my school orchestra. Bought my first guitar two or three years later. Have always loved bass more than anything and consider myself a bassist first and foremost, but I have had an original solo project that I've been working on for about 15 years, where I mostly play and write on guitar. It's nice to be able to play both. I have a Fender Telecaster, a Danelectro DC-12, The Loar archtop, and an old Yamaha classical... and then of course, THE BASS COLLECTION! But I Love em all.
 
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#35
Started on Piano, then Euphonium, then Guitar. Learned the bass lines by ear first which helped me work out the guitar chords. (I thought bass was Double Bass). Natural progression to Bass Guitar soon after.

Played acoustic guitar heaps, also Jazz Guitar in High School Jazz Band. Competent guitarist but waaay better bassist.
 
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#36
The Bass Abides said:
So the title says it all. I’m curious what your experience with guitar might be? Did you start on guitar and switch over? Have you played bass from the get go and never picked up a guitar? Did playing guitar help you as a bass payer? I’d love to hear you experience with the guitar.

Me? I tinkered with the guitar, but never got very serious. I’ve really only gotten more serious about the bass over the past year or so...and I feel more at home.
Click to expand...
For me trumpet was my first instrument, bass came second. But bass has been my main instrument for so long now that I’m far better on bass than anything else. Over the years I’ve owned several guitars and keyboards I can play basic stuff on both but I prefer keys over guitar. I have big hands/fingers and the string spacing feels super cramped when it comes to playing lead/melodic stuff. I recommend all bass players own a decent but affordable guitar. If nothing else it’s a good songwriting tool. In some situations if you’re dealing with a snobby guitarist, which I delt with at one point many years ago, if they see that you can also play guitar you can gain some respect from them also.
 
#38
I started on guitar but I feel like the guitar fights me. I don’t feel like the bass does. I’m a good cowboy chord guitar player, but not much on lead work. Could be better if I practiced at it. But, there are lots of guitar players and not many bass players. I’m happy to play the bass.
 
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#40
I'm a way better bassist than guitarist but on guitar I stuck to what I was good at (better to be a first rate "me" than a third rate (insert famous guitarist here)). Consequently I fooled a lot of people into thinking I was way better than I actually was.

I don't play electric guitar anymore (still have a couple of SGs and a Strat) but do play a lot on acoustic at home, I have a nylon strung classical, and 6 and 12 string acoustics (nothing special).

My guitar passion is slide delta blues where I hit the occasional open mic night and play my renditions of Sun House and Robert Johnson etc. songs. I think that I am boring everyone senseless but I have noticed a few good (some very good) guitarists studying what I am doing intently.

As regular guitarists are ten a penny I'm going to carry on playing slide, even if I am boring most people senseless! :laugh:
 
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