A friend of mine down the hall when I was 15 had a p-bass. I loved that thing and bought my own after he let me borrow evil empire.
Bulls on Parade is the reason why I play.
Bulls on Parade is the reason why I play.
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Why did you pick up the bass?
- Thread starter bassgod76
- Start date
I was a guitarist, but switched to bass, because I liked it better.
I had no interest in bass until I saw someone make it shine.
i answered both of these. as a kid i really thought i wanted to play guitar because i couldnt tell the difference. so i started at age 11 and got pissed when no matter what gear i owned i couldnt get it low eonugh and deep enough and rumbly enough. i had less pauls with piano wire strings and the trebble cut off on anything and it always was too thin..then i started playing with bands and everyone played guitar but i was always mad at the bass player for just following me note for note . so one day i grabbed a bass from my buddy and started playing it because he was tiny with a huge bass and i was huge with a lil les paul.
when i started reflecting on the music i like there were always killer bass lines so i wanted to make that sound..bought a huge peavey combo amp and a peavey foundation s just to jam along but i never did get the satisfaction i was looking for and i went back to guitar because i thought the bass was dull to play..thats because i did what i saw everyone else do..i followed the guitar.
when i started getting my own musical preferences and started noticing that most of the bass players i loved were not following the guitar i tried it from a different approach and i found out fast, BASS IS HARD and only as boring as you make it. i will never look back.
big ups to Larry Graham and geezer butler for breaking the cycle
I had no interest in bass until I saw someone make it shine.
i answered both of these. as a kid i really thought i wanted to play guitar because i couldnt tell the difference. so i started at age 11 and got pissed when no matter what gear i owned i couldnt get it low eonugh and deep enough and rumbly enough. i had less pauls with piano wire strings and the trebble cut off on anything and it always was too thin..then i started playing with bands and everyone played guitar but i was always mad at the bass player for just following me note for note . so one day i grabbed a bass from my buddy and started playing it because he was tiny with a huge bass and i was huge with a lil les paul.
when i started reflecting on the music i like there were always killer bass lines so i wanted to make that sound..bought a huge peavey combo amp and a peavey foundation s just to jam along but i never did get the satisfaction i was looking for and i went back to guitar because i thought the bass was dull to play..thats because i did what i saw everyone else do..i followed the guitar.
when i started getting my own musical preferences and started noticing that most of the bass players i loved were not following the guitar i tried it from a different approach and i found out fast, BASS IS HARD and only as boring as you make it. i will never look back.
big ups to Larry Graham and geezer butler for breaking the cycle
Well if you want to shred and do some wankery get a 6 string and play billy sheehan style..
but anyway i htink someone rocking the bass looks much more badass and is able to move around more IMO.
I think it just looks so much cooler when somebody is headbanging playing with his fingers full blast while the lefthand moves like crazy
Anyway i picked the bass up because i loved how it looked, loved how it felt, and i loved the sound of it.. AND because Bass players are just COOL
Well, I first started listening to rock music when I was only 9. Dad introduced me to a little band called U2 and from there I fell in love with the sound. I watched one of their concerts on video with my pop and I noticed that one guitar had less strings. Dad told me it was a bass and I was simply amazed. Later on I had a choice of playing in the middle school band or joining choir so reluctantly I was willing to pick up a *shudder* woodwind instrument.....until I noticed that there was an option for Bass Guitar. I was hooked from that day on. 
I was hooked from that day on. 
You can do that all the same on a bass as well. I should know, I do it every night!
You know,as long as I can remember the only part of any song I have ever heard was the bass line,no matter what genre. I wish I could have had one much earlier in life. Compared to alot of people I feel like Im playing cacth up. No matter. I have never enjoyed anything so much.
It started when a guitarist friend read some lyrics I had written. Shortly after, we started a band. Eventually we stopped. Thats when I decided that I wanted to play an instrument, and not a guitar, I mean, literally everyone had a guitar. I wanted to play something different and my parents wouldnt let me get drums... bass it is then!
After learning to play the accordion, I HAD to learn to play bass! (I'd play bass lines with the "bass buttons" on the accordion & thought "why not just play a real bass?")
When I was a teenager, my mom had an accoustic guitar, at the time (And still to this day.) I was in love with Type O Negative. The first thing I learned was the bass line for Black No 1. I worked and worked on the guitar until my sister swiped it. I also noticed I just didn't have the dexterity to play guitar, and really, I wanted to do something different. I have this theory that girls are just drawn to the bass for some reason. My mom's good friend Roscoe Beck is an amazing bass player. Also a good friend of mine and my husband Josh plays bass in a local metal band we love. (His name is also Josh. lol.) It was just a gradual falling in love with the sound. I bought one about two years back and got to play it for about 3 months before we fell on hard times and I sold it to pay the bills. In between then and now, I played on all of our friend's basses, and then for Christmas, my amazing husband bought me an Ibanez that I swear was made for me. I found a bad@$$ teacher because I wanted to lay a more solid foundation than the one I had of just learning songs. I haven't put my bass down since.
Black No 1 is still one of my favorites to play..super basic but it flows well.
i think more people would jump on bass and stick with it if they did EXACTLY what you said that i have highlighted
Two things happened simultaneously--I got really into The Who and I had a friend who encouraged me to do something different. Everyone I knew played guitar or drums and I knew I could be myself on bass guitar.
Didn't think the bass was all that awesome until I saw Wooten play it a couple of years ago, lol.
I know it kind of pokes fun of the bass, but that movie, "I Love You, Man" had me rolling! It reminded me of my earlier years with the bass.
"Slappin' the bass!"
"Slappin' the bass!"
I remember seeing a video of Tina Weymouth from the Talking Heads going crazy on stage while playing bass and thought, "Hey if she can do that imagine what I could do". So I was a nine year old kid telling my dad I wanted to play bass. I remember him asking "Are you sure you don't want to play guitar?"
Unrepresented
Something Borderline Offensive
I started on guitar until a guitarist friend needed a bassist for his band. I could translate enough of my guitar knowledge over, and in hindsight even though I was pretty lousy, the experience did give me a chance to learn some basics.
After that band, I took some musical time off, went into songwriting mode and felt I needed a bass to properly organize my ideas, so I purchased an old Fender JP90 off eBay. Once I had a bass in my hands again it felt really right, and it's become my main musical outlet since.
After that band, I took some musical time off, went into songwriting mode and felt I needed a bass to properly organize my ideas, so I purchased an old Fender JP90 off eBay. Once I had a bass in my hands again it felt really right, and it's become my main musical outlet since.
I never intended to ever play bass. I was a vocal and brass instrument major in college. After I left college, I went into the Navy. I was married with three kids when my Ex decided that she wanted a divorce (my kids came to live with me after I got out of the Navy). I took a second job working at a local computer store ( was a computer tech in the Navy) when a regular customer came in down on his luck. He had a late 70's Squire Bullet bass and a Peavey Session 500 Amp (I didn't know it was for a Steel Guitar) and wanted $375. I know that I probably got took, but I bought it anyway. I practiced it for a few weeks then I started playing in the band at the church that I went to.
That was back in 1996, now I have three basses
Late 70's Squire Bullet Bass (made in Japan)
2008 Squire Infinity Jazz Bass (going to be rebuilt)
Squire MB-5 5 String
I don't play as much as I would like to. I let my sons do all of the playing. They have 2 electric and 2 acoustic guitars, a keyboard, various hand percussion and a full PA system.
That was back in 1996, now I have three basses
Late 70's Squire Bullet Bass (made in Japan)
2008 Squire Infinity Jazz Bass (going to be rebuilt)
Squire MB-5 5 String
I don't play as much as I would like to. I let my sons do all of the playing. They have 2 electric and 2 acoustic guitars, a keyboard, various hand percussion and a full PA system.
i starting playing because the other guy at my church picked up the guitar. we didnt have a bass player so i started on bass. been hooked ever since
However your Dad read parenting 101 and in my opinion his response was spot on.
The things I valued most in life were funded by my paper route or summer manual labor jobs or co-funded by my parents. Granted there are still some extremely talented folks who were provided everything by their parents and still excelled in their chosen field. I however like the came up the hardway stories like Jamerson's etc. Bet you would have had to go some to take his P bass away from him.
