Who plays guitar as well?

[TheBassmaster27]

Started on guitar, sucked at it, switched to bass, learned how notes worked, picked the guitar back up, now i'm half decent at both. Now I take parts doing either; i get more jobs that way lol.

 

[dr doofie]

OMG one of the greatest guitar makers in north american history, and that is one of his most beautiful models!

J, those inlays...wow. I would hang just the fretboard up as a showpiece

 

[dbsfgyd1]

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.

I started on guitar about 3-4 years before playing bass. I had taught myself a picking technique for playing folk music using my thumb to play the bass notes. It was a very easy transition. One of my first gigs playing bass, I developed a rather large blister on my right thumb, so to relieve the pain I found the joys of a two finger plucking style and for the last 50 some years, I’ve been off and running. I still play a little guitar in recording session or if I’m bored.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

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.

Me, but I'm a much better drummer.

 

[Tommy V]

I started on bass, and it remains my instrument of choice... that said, I also play guitar, banjo, ukulele, mandolin, dulcimer, lap steel, harmonica, tin whistle, keyboard, and I’m currently learning fiddle. Music is life.

 

[BwanaDust]

I own fifteen stringed instruments. 3 of them are basses.

 

[petch]

I can't play a lick of guitar. My brain only works in bass language!

 

[GLEN18INCHSPICA]

I just turned 50 in April, been playing bass since I was 15. I just started playing some guitar out of necessity for home recording on a little Boss multi track recorder I received from my friends on my birthday. I still write most songs on bass. On guitar I fake it till I make it.

 

[klejst]

Me. Started playing guitar back in 1997 when I was in the fifth grade, picked up bass as well a couple years later.

 

[B.C.]

I've been playing both equally for about 20 years or so now. Mostly I play in pop funk bands (Stevie wonder, Bruno Mars, Chicago, like groups) and jazz combos. Both scratch a very different itch for me. I don't think technique honestly translates between the two, as my approaches are very different. What it has done is make me a much better musician and listener in understanding each role, what to cue on, and most importantly, choosing what most serves the song I'm playing. When I'm playing guitar in a band, I better understand the bassists role in the song and vice versa. I love both instruments equally!

 

[cbnutt]

99 % of the time guitar , just do a couple fill ins on bass a month , old country .

 

[Rogatien]

Played and gigged on guitar for a good while. Started with guitar some 35 yrs ago, bought a cheap bass for my own pleasure in my early 20s, even played in a band as a bassist. Band did not make it very far, went back to guitar. Then in my early 40s, it was difficult to find good bassists for the projects I was working on, and I got fed up with auditions and/or flaky bassists, so I took the job I left in my 20s. I love both instruments but I think I can assume I'm at the right spot being a bassist. Different duties/tasks, but as much fun as playing guitar. Also, no volume wars: I'm the only bassist in my bands

 

[socialleper]

I play a little guitar to help me write. For heavier music there are just certain things that sound better when written on a guitar. My chord theory is rubbish so I can't do a lot of the neat fretting stuff that could make things interesting.
Definitely not good enough to play out. Just record basic ideas.

 

[Mvilmany]

Started on guitar and played in bands for years. In the mid-90’s switched to bass as my main, because of a group I started playing in had 2 guitarists. Originally, one of the other guitarists was switching to bass, so I sold him my main P Bass that is still my main today. But he didn’t click with bass, so I bought back my P Bass from him, and became the bassist of the band. I fell in love with the bass at this point. Then, I realized I needed a rig. I was broke at the time, and scraped together $300 to buy a Peavey Combo 300, which became my gigging amp for the next 3 years.

 

[RustyAxe]

I started on guitar and bass in 1967, and had been playing piano and accordion for about 7 years before that. My guitar playing for the past 40 years has been 100% acoustic, although I do have a Telecaster around here ... somewhere. Playing piano is what I would say was the most beneficial. I learned melody, harmony, chords, theory, rhythm, reading treble and bass clef, and much more. These days I play solo acoustic guitar and sing (Americana, blues, country, bluegrass, jazz), while my bass playing lately is with a country band (also sing lead and harmony). I don't have a preference as to which I play, and I've played both on the same night. I'm happy as long I can SING, and happier still when we lay down the three and four part harmony.

 

[marcwhy]

Well, I'm a guitarist who enjoys playing bass, and out of total respect for you guys/gals, I do not call myself a bassist! These are completely different instruments/monsters!

 

[Pings Bass]

I play alto sax and clarinet as well or better. I can comp ok on guitar, but I can't solo for the life of me. The tuning is too whack between the G and B strings. It's truly an odd-ball instrument in the string family because of the way they it short circuits the circle of fifths to get back to the E (all the orchestral strings are tuned in perfect 5ths except the bass, which is in 4ths so you can reach the notes across strings).

 

[Kipp Harrington]

Played the guitar for 30+ years. Mostly classic rock stuff and blues. I think I became pretty accomplished at it. Enjoyed it for a long time. But I know I was always meant to be a bass player. My wife got me a bass for Christmas about 20 months ago. Ever since then I’ve been addicted. I cannot put it down. Such a great instrument!

 

[lermgalieu]

Now, if the thread title was “Who plays guitar well," I bet a lot fewer of us would be chiming in.

 

[pbass2]

I started playing guitar after many years of bass. It's kinda funny actually--there's some very basic guitar things that I don't do, or at least not in the normal way. I didn't grow up learning blues-based riffs on guitar for example. I still find barre chords uncomfortable/awkward. I can do my weird version of those basic figures and they sound right, but the execution might look a little odd. But I play more guitar than bass now as a composer, including lots of experimental stuff with a microtonal guitar, alt tunings, etc. Anyhow, I could never walk into a session as a guitarist ready to whip out anything thrown at me like I can on bass. But for something more...idiosyncratic, I'm all in--I love it.