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why did you choose the bass?

#41
in grade 6 we got to choose any "real" (we had been playing recorders) instrument to choose from. it was surreal walking to the cabinet and seeing so much shiny brass, so naturally i picked the most i could find and took up the tuba.

well, that lasted like 5 months, then i played baritone and trombone until grade 9.

in the time between grade 6 and 9 i fell in love with the drums, and begged my parents to let me get a kit. i pleaded and they said i could get one when we moved to our new house, fortunately i started taking pictures and ended up spending the money on a new camera.

then a musical workshop came to town in grade 9 and my mom signed me up, she said i could choose whatever i wanted to take, and for some weird reason i said bass. (i never rly knew what a bass was, i had just seen someone playing a weird lookin guitar one time).

ever since then its bin a downhill slope.

but i guess bass chose me in a way. cuz i coulda ended up as a drummer, brass player, piano player (i had taken lessons) or a guitard like everyone of my friends.

but now i rock the low end:)
 
#42
1963... The Beatles

paulbass.jpg
 
#43
In 1969 I really wanted to play Farfisa Organ, but they were like $400 and my Mom said no way.
Shortly afterwards, I saw a bass player in a C&W band at the State Fair. He was playing a P-Bass covered with gold shag carpet. I knew then I had to have a bass. Never have had a carpeted one, though.
 
#45
I first decided I wanted to play the guitar.

I sing pretty well (country/folks stuff), and thought it’d be nice to write songs, play and sing, just for my own enjoyment.

(I’m leaving a gang of Sound related stuff out just to keep the post short. I’ll also leave out why I put together a nice home studio)

Via a best-buddy who was a lead singer (80s/90s rock) for many years back-in-the-day, I hooked up with some great/experienced musicians just to jam with…

I started writing lyrics to our jams, and it evolved into a new originals Band.

Anyways, since the guitarist was so much better than I, and I had gotten a cheap Bass just to have in the studio, I took up the Bass.

I LOVE playing Bass, got a good Bass rig, and we’re making some good stuff.

Anyways, I still piddle with the guitar and sing my little diddlies on the side, but the Band is taking all my time now, learning new songs and writing/recording originals.

Soon I’ll have four (of many) songs to present… just gotta lay the vocal and Bass track to the last two, get them copywritten, and I’ll post them.

Anyways, that’s my story. :)
 
#46
When I was 16 my best friend got a guitar for christmas, so I bought my first bass in order for us to start a band. I was the proud owner of a fire engine red Westone Dynasty. I then proceeded to learn every song on Social Distortion's self titled album, as well as a bunch of Cure and Dinosaur, Jr. tunes.
20 years later, still playing.
 
#50
Because it chose me. Seriously. I tried guitar but found it awkward, uncomfortable and any guitar just does not feel right in my hands.

When I picked up the very first bass I ever handled it was like the clouds parted, a beam of light came through the clouds and lit up the bass and the angels sang.... well, something like that. It felt like it belonged there, and I instantly started playing (well attempted to play) finger style. It felt like it was to be...

That, and I am not a self absorbed, ego maniacal twit with delusions of grandeur, don't have a mullet and feel the need to be the center of the universe, on stage or off....I mean, I am not a guitar player.....




:hiding:
 
#53
Played Trombone, tuba, and baritone from age nine up through college. Had a friend who played guitar and wanted to start a band, but no one knew a bass player at the time. My friend said I should buy a bass, because he felt my Trombone background would make for an easy transition, so I did.

That was back in 1976, and I've been playing one ever since...
 
#56
I played guitar for a few years, but then after trying my friend's cheap ass bass, I found out I enjoyed it more. I find it more fun to pick using my fingers than a pick, and I love to slap (although I'm still not very good at it...) Also, when I'm with my friends and I have an instrument in my hands while we're just lazing around, I like to practice shredding lol, they find it's less annoying on bass than on guitar. :smug:
 
#57
10th of May, 1988. Megadeth were playing in Dublin on the first night of their tour in support of So Far, So Good... So What album. I was 14 years old and it was my first real gig. About an hour into the show, while the band were taking a breather offstage, David Ellefson was onstage alone playing the descending bass intro to their cover of These Boots Are Made For Walking for a couple of minutes.

"That's the instrument for me" I thought to myself.
 
#58
The bass is my most recent musical obsession. Almost 15 yrs ago, I started w/ electric guitar, hypnotized by the 80's guitar gods a la Malmsteen, Vai, Satriani...etc. Then I started listening to more Fusion and eventually discovered Jazz through the Jazz trio setup. So my musical taste grew into more harmony, and less flashy stuff.

Then I moved to piano and keyboards which I'm still fond of, but I always missed the (I know it sounds embarrassing) "hugging" of a guitar. My biggest gripes w/ electric guitars is that it's so hard to play more than one melodic line w/ a pick. Also, IMO, tapping on elec. guitars needs a hefty dose of distortion to sound good, plus I started to hate distortion.

Then there was Wooten (da! :D), Manring, Avishai Cohen, and it didn't help that I was a huge RUSH fan for all my life, so the bass was very natural for me to pick up next. I loved it! I feel it's a very versatile instrument either solo or in a band, and it sounds amazing, simply put, sublime, goddish...etc. And all this without any distortion or too much effects. Tapping on a bass also sounds light years better than on a guitar IMHO.

I have two ibby basses (EDA 900 & ATK 750KA) and I plan to get a 6 string by the end of this year hopefully.
 
#59
Long story short(ish)
When we were 11, me and my friend were going to start a band, we both wanted to play bass, he won the argument, and got a bass, i was lumbered with guitar. 20 years later, I've been a guitar player, I'm a damn good guitar player (if I do say so myself). I own a bass, I use it for recording.

I get asked to stand in for a band who's bass player has gone away and they need the gig they had booked. So i set up my bass, put on Live and Dangerous and play along with it to practise. Things fall into place, I do the gig, suddenly, rather than playing air guitar when no-ones watching it's air bass.

I've spent the last year and a half ripping my right hand fingers to shreds so's I can use them (pretty good and hard now though) as a pick seems to feel less fun (probably all those years on guitar) I've spent loads of money on new basses and bits, and if I do pick up one of my guitars I get bored really quickly.
It took it's time, but the bass really did call me back, if only I'd won that argument 20 years ago....
 

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