Why do you play bass ??

[jimmydean]

Saw Duck Dunn as a little kid and thought he was cool .......and liked what I heard him play .

 

[Ostie]

I play bass cuz I’m not a good lG player or LS. My ego isn’t big enough.

 

[Pocket Dave]

I was the weaker of two guitarists when our bass player quit in the '70s.

I later returned to guitar, but picked up occasional work on bass.

I started back in somewhat earnest 12 years ago and really notched it up after getting clean 4 1/2 years ago and steady-working my program; Bass is more spiritually healthy for me than being out front.

I've rediscovered the useful joy of hanging out in the engine room.

 

[Pacman]

1. I don't have a choice. I can't imagine life not doing it.

2. I'm good at it.

 

[BassGuyFL]

After 40 years on and off, I don’t know anymore.

 

[Bunk McNulty]

I sucked at violin. I sucked at trumpet. And the need for sonic domination is no joke. When the bass stops, everything stops. As Gary Tallent once said, "Nobody knows what I do until I stop doing it."

Time to expand upon this a bit.
Maybe you know what it’s like to do something not directly related to sex or drug abuse that really feels good, like playing bass in a stinky little bar band in front of a hundred or so dancers. An old friend told me I’d gone to the top of Maslow’s hierarchy: Self Actualization. Doing something I’d dreamed as a child of doing. True. Every once in a while, I’d catch myself in the middle of it: People dancing, having a good time. “Look, it’s happening!” And I was mainlining it in 2022: 67 gigs. BL booked everything because she thought weather would cancel at least a few of the outdoors shows. Instead, there was draught. So we worked. Thing about working a lot is you get better without noticing. Lucy had a colleague who was a Vietnam vet, really smart guy, and an inspiration to me with his line “Gettin’ happy is kinda like getting fat. You don’t really notice it until you’re there.”

I quit that band last October; I was just plain tired, not of the music, but of everything around it: Making a gig was a 7-8 hour day between traveling, setup, loadout, traveling some more. And I caught COVID at a gig in the summer of 2021, which made me super-cautious for a while about playing indoors. Bottom line: I thought I'd be less stressed out, but instead I'm stressed out because I'm not up there in front of a dance floor anymore. Yeah, First World Problem. I know.

 

[turf3]

I like low notes!

 

[oldandbold]

As a teenager in the early sixties listening to, and being entranced by Mr. Jamerson. The low end spoke to me. Then a couple of years later Jack Casady opened my third eye to the sheer power and awesomeness of Bass. Lord how I wished I could play like him. Stopped trying to play in my twenties as Life took over, and then picked it up again in my late sixties. Now I'm just a mediocre bedroom hack, but it's the greatest feeling to strap on plug in and thump away for awhile.