Other instruments

[xilddx]

I am mostly bass these days but have a pro gig on guitar with a sitarist. I still have much love for guitar and have got so much more 'me' on it since switching to bass. I play a bit of drums and percussion too, but not at gig level. Always wish I'd learned piano though, it's the perfect instrument, especially for bassists.

[LukeFRC]

[quote name='leftybassman392' timestamp='1325806551' post='1488257']
Yeah, one of the guitar players in the band used to go down to see him every week (Thursday nights IIRC). His brother (whose name escapes me right now I'm ashamed to say), is an awesome bass player in his own right. Doesn't he have Dave Kilminster in his band these days?

As for the EN10, I've had one for years and it's an amazing instrument, just seems to deal with everything you throw at it. I love mine (battered as it is from use) to bits. When I bought it (£765), I chose it over a £1200 Fylde. Remarkable instrument and a real steal for what I paid for it.
[/quote]

I can't remember his name, the music was jaw dropping.
I got mine, well used and gigged of a nice fella of the forum here for a steal of a price. It's one of those things, if I sold it (back to him) I would never own an acoustic as nice in my life. And plugged in mmmm, so warm sounding. I looked up the price of the equivalent new one and it's daftly high, and my one i think has wood that would be an upgrade or something now

[Mog]

Started out on flamenco when I was 15. Moved into classical soon after.
Took up bass about a year later after hearing my brother jamming along to Pantera in his room and have considered myself a bassist ever since.
I dabble a bit on bouzouki (Irish) and Mandolin.
I also have a limited ability on keys,cello,drums,banjo and harmonica.
Thinking about harp next.

[janmaat]

Diatonic squeezebox: family tradition (Plattdeutsch shanties & stuff)
Started on guitar, then switched to sitar after a longer stay and studies in India,
which I used in various Berlin based modal jazz setups, while jamming
the folk circuit on the squeezebox whenever somebody played Eflat and Bflat
Then busking the UK with squeezebox and wash tub bass, started gigging regularly
Then double bass and now bass guitars.
I really love using all available instruments though my skills vary.
Can't play any wind instruments, don't know why really.
Now playing fretted in a rock band and fretless with a Danish folk singer.

[paul_5]

Guitar, keys, drums, mandolin and I'm pretty handy on recorders; I've got a soprano and an alto and would like a bass one (obviously) but they're a bit too pricey for a hobby instrument. I also dabble with pitched percussion, stylophone and the one-string banjo.

[markstuk]

I play bass in two bands and keyboards in two more.. Currently gigging with a Roland VR700 and Yamaha ES8... And I also play flute... :-)

[Earbrass]

[quote name='janmaat' timestamp='1325837332' post='1488408']
Diatonic squeezebox: family tradition (Plattdeutsch shanties & stuff)
[/quote]

Wow - another one! What box(es) do you play, and what keys? Have you checked out [url="http://forum.melodeon.net/index.php"]melodeon.net[/url] - (there's plenty of interest there in continental music) ?
I have a (Chinese) Hohner pokerwork in D/G that I play for morris. [url="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrmarksteele/6163445607/in/photostream/"]That's me on the left.[/url]

Other instruments I play:
Piano - from early childhood - I did Grade VI, and O and A level music, but I'm mostly a blues / jazz player.
Guitar - from age 12, but I never really mastered it - still can't do barre chords!
Bass - from age 17, but with a big gap (about 20 years) - started again about 6 or 7 years ago
Piano accordion - got this a few years ago, but it doesn't get much use now as I'm much more focused on the melodeon.

Piano, bass and melodeon are the only instruments I've gigged in public.

Edited January 6, 2012 by Earbrass

[Fat Rich]

Started to learn keyboards as a kid but didn't stick with it, but hoping to get back into it again this year and take some lessons.
Can bash out a few chords on guitar and a few riffs, again hoping to improve and take some lessons.
Making progress with the drums, need to work on my rudiments to make everything flow a bit better.
I own a saxophone but soon after I got it I moved to a terraced house and couldn't practice it without disturbing the neighbours. Hope to get back into that again this year too now I've moved house.

I have this stupid urge to buy a cheap trumpet and trombone, would love to be able to record my own little brass section. But I think I'd better focus on keys and guitar first.

[mike257]

Great to see all the diverse interests everyone has! When I'm cheating on my four strings, it's usually with the guitar - I've spent more and more time on it as a songwriting tool over the years, although in the last couple of years I've got a fair amount of band hours under my belt on guitar which has done wonders for my playing (and confidence!).

Drumming is my secret love - I rarely get the chance to have some time on the kit, but love it when I do. I'm always driving the missus nuts drumming along to things on my legs/table/steering wheel, keeps me thinking about rhythm all the time which is great. It also makes me unbeatable on the Guitar Hero drumkit

Also play a bit of keys, and have done programming and samples for a few bands in the past. Haven't done it for a while, but would like to get back into it, even if I do just fall into my old habits of poorly impersonating Trent Reznor.

I think banjo might be my next new one, had a quick go recently and loved it!

[Dave Vader]

I started as a piano player when I was just a nipper, but gave it up. Then I started playing guitar when I was about 10 or 11, have done ever since, I have a couple of gigs on guitar still. Also play mandolin and banjo when I get the chance, still mess about on keys and pianos, but wouldn't dare gig them again. I probably have other things I think I can play, but probably can't.

Bass was always just a bit of a sideline for recording, bit of fun, helping out mates bands that needed a stand in guy when the bass player was sick. Til I started enjoying it more than all that widdly guitar stuff (it is a bad sign when the solo comes round and your guitar player (me) can't be arsed to do one, and half-heartedly knocks out some hammer-onish thing for 8 bars and looks longingly at the bass).

[mart]

A bit of rhythm guitar here, almost as much as bass these days. And I do a tiny bit of mandolin or mandola - basically Losing my Religion and no more!

[EssentialTension]

I've always been a bassist but I have played guitar in a band and odd times played mandolin and glockenspiel. I still play some guitar and mandolin at home. I can't remember what happened to the glockenspiel.

[muttley]

Violin - classically trained to grade 8. I still play.
This got me into guitar in my teens and I dabbled a bit on bass but although I played in a couple of bands I was never serious in either.

Fast forward 20+ years and I'm playing bass again. However, I still find these fret things a bit alien to me

[LiamPodmore]

Bass is my main instrument, but i also dabble often in acoustic guitar and occasionally drums. I'm starting up a porject or two where i play acoustic, and i'm also considering buying and learning to play Violin, for something quite different.

Liam

[shizznit]

I also play guitar, but I found that bass playing improved my guitar playing. I learnt theory on the bass and it helped me become a better guitar player. I understood modes and shapes a lot better on the guitar after a few years of bass playing.

[leschirons]

[quote name='leftybassman392' timestamp='1325806551' post='1488257']
Yeah, one of the guitar players in the band used to go down to see him every week (Thursday nights IIRC). His brother (whose name escapes me right now I'm ashamed to say), is an awesome bass player in his own right. Doesn't he have Dave Kilminster in his band these days?

As for the EN10, I've had one for years and it's an amazing instrument, just seems to deal with everything you throw at it. I love mine (battered as it is from use) to bits. When I bought it (£765), I chose it over a £1200 Fylde. Remarkable instrument and a real steal for what I paid for it.
[/quote]

Guthrie's brother is Seth, and yes, he's brilliant. Used to go down to Romford and see the band. At that time Guthrie was playing with Sam on keys, Zak on sax, Pete Riley on drums and sometimes, my old bass teacher Andy Staples.

[leschirons]

Started at age 7 with violin (in 1959) at 15 with drums, moved to guitar at age 25, then to bass at 35 keys at about 45 and more recently Banjo, Uke & Mandolin. Just need an upright now to finish off my days with.

[Tom Brookes]

I'm a guitarist first and foremost Classicaly trained with a degree in music and I'm a full time guitar/bass teacher. Jazz/Blues is more my thing on electric guitar nowadays though. I've been playing bass for around 4 years and am currently the bassist in one band and working on an Electronica/Dubstep project as a bassist too. I also play Mandolin, Bouzouki and a little bit of Drums. I really wish that I'd have taken bass seriously as a youngster, as I feel that is the instrument that I am most natural on.

[goblin]

[quote name='Earbrass' timestamp='1325841494' post='1488465']
Wow - another one! What box(es) do you play, and what keys? Have you checked out [url="http://forum.melodeon.net/index.php"]melodeon.net[/url] - (there's plenty of interest there in continental music) ?
I have a (Chinese) Hohner pokerwork in D/G that I play for morris. [url="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrmarksteele/6163445607/in/photostream/"]That's me on the left.[/url]

[/quote]

Slightly small world My dad's a Melodeon player (amongst mandola, mandolin, banjo, guitar, bass). He's on there as falseknight. His boxes are a Delicia D/G and a Hohner C/F. Frets...well the Wal's his, mandola and mandolin are Fyldes, guitars are Martin and Hullah. All very nice!

[machinehead]

I also started on guitar (in the late 60s) but switched to bass in the mid 80s when we were left without a bass player and I gave it a try.

Still play acoustic and electric guitars at home but I've only ever gigged on bass for the past 25 years or so. I much prefer bass.

Frank.

[EdwardHimself]

I started playing the guitar, I got my first electric guitar at age 13, christmas 2004. Then I got my first bass and started playing with the money from my 15th birthday in summer 2005, then (pretty much) got my first drumkit in christmas 2007, although I was "playing" the drums for a few months before using bits and pieces! I also can sing and I do a (very) small amount of keyboards. I've also been recording and producing songs since the end of 2005, does that count?

Edited January 6, 2012 by EdwardHimself

[Bassman Sam]

I started out on piano at 8 years old and gave up then I was 14. At this time I started on DB in the school band and guitar. Moved to bass guitar at 15. During the '80's, I played synth for a few years then went back to bass. I still have an electro acoustic guitar that I noodle on now and again, RA allowing.

[Count Bassy]

Started playing melodeon (Button accordion) when I was about 20 , then took up Anglo concertina as well when I could afford one. Only seriously started bass about 5 years ago (and still crap).

Oh - and I took (and passed) trumpet grade 3 when I was about 47, but have barely picked it up since.

Edited January 7, 2012 by Count Bassy

[alanbass1]

Yep, another guitarist although I'm a little partial to the Uke......

[IMG]http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m187/alanbass1/Ukes/I%20iwi/Iiwi1.jpg[/IMG]

Now, just to play it like........

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puSkP3uym5k"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puSkP3uym5k[/url]

[pete.young]

I started on violin at 4 (family tradition), negotiated a switch to piano at 9, piano accordion and double bass not long after, bass guitar at 12. At the time my folks ran a folk dance band so I filled in on whatever instrument there was a shortage of. At 16 I was inspired by Ali Anderson to take up English concertina, not long after that started going to Dukes Folk in Whitstable and met some interesting and talented people, some of whom eventually turned into Oysterband.

I studied folk music for 3 years and got a degree in Engineering. During this time I started playing guitar, bouzouki, tenor banjo and 5-string old-time banjo. Also started playing fiddle again and began to wish I'd stuck at it when I was little.

Was persuaded to take up tuba in the late '90s and enjoyed it immensely. Haven't played regularly with a brass band now for about 3 years and miss having the Eb bass around.

I got seriously interested in playing bass again a few years ago when my son took up the guitar and was getting into bands. 2 years ago I joined a pogues covers band and acquired several mandolins and a 10-string bouzouki tuned like a cittern.

Current stock list is 1 piano, 1 double bass, 7 bass guitars, 2 electric guitars, 1 acoustic, 2 bouzoukis, 3 mandolins, 2 fiddles, 3 banjos, 2 accordions, 3 concertinas and one columbian tiple. And unfortunately no tubas.