Choosing bass over guitar

[Nicko]

I played guitar for 30 years and took lessons up to grade 5, but was in all honesty not very good. I was working overseas on a construction camp where there was nothing to do except watch telly, surf the net or go to the bar. When someone told me they were looking for a bass player and I offered to give it a go using borrowed equipment. I played my first gig about 2 weeks later and realised that I was capable of playing bass to a decent standard. I bought my first bass a couple of months after that and haven't looked back.

Interestingly, playing bass in a band has improved my guitar playing massively and desite the fact I dont play it much I'm able to not only compose better but also can play things now that I could never play before starting with bass.

[Japhet]

I've never wanted to be in the spotlight but also love what the bass brings to the sound. Some people realise this and others have no idea what the bass does, which appeals to my mysterious nature.

[lojo]

I always loved bass so brought a starter bass as soon as I started working (I had a homemade before that , 4x2 neck and screws wound for pickups ) , I soon also learned guitar and was playing that in bands for a while , but soon bass duties became my norm , the only thing I offer and the only thing I feel totally confident of playing at the level I pitch myself at

Edited September 7, 2016 by lojo

[jazzyvee]

I started out wanting to play bass but got given a guitar for my birthday as a teenager. Later on i bought a cheap bass that i picked up now and again, did the odd few gigs but nothing serious. However I've always loved the sound of bass especially in reggae and Jazz based music and listened keenly to many of them in the music I grew up with. Rolling forward some decades I had the opportunity to buy my dream bass and after that I blagged my way into doing a gig with a singer at really good club. I just loved the way the bass shaped the music and after that I got asked to do some dep gigs. Then I went off touring as a guitarist for about 4 years and hardly touched the bass. When that tailed off I decided to realise one of my dreams and put a band together to do a one off gig of Stanley Clarke's music. That went down a storm and since then did guitar and bass gigs more or less equally. However in the last 3 years I have joined a reggae band as bass player and kept the jazz funk band going as well. I'd say now I do about 90% bass gigs but working on trying to get a more even balance. I wouldn't say I was choosing bass over guitar more that I get more opportunities to play bass live than guitar.

[JohnR]

I always played bass but have learned to play guitar and keyboards (poorly) to help me become a better player. Knowing and understanding the chords helps in the creation of interesting bass parts.

[Dave Vader]

I've played both bass and guitar (and a bunch of other things) for nearly 30 years now,

Please don't make me choose between them - I love them both equally.

[discreet]

Trumpet > Piano > Organ > Classical Guitar > Electronic Keyboards > Electric Guitar > Bass.
Consider bass to be my main instrument now, but it was very useful to take this unusual path to it.

[Lozz196]

I can play both, started on bass - but this being played on a guitar - bought an actual bass, then went onto guitar and have played both in bands over the years. But if asked, I`m a bassist that can play guitar, that`s how I describe myself.

[guildb30179]

I started on bass when I was 17 because a band needed a bassist and someone needed to sell a bass, so I was basically conned into it, I had no previous musical experience except a year playing clarinet at school and a few weeks as a drum major in the school band (ooh, how middle class). However, I got into it straight away, as it is, to be honest, the easiest of the stringed instruments to get started on, but a lot harder to get really good at.

I then got bit bored so started teaching myself cack handedly to play picky blues/alt county guitar and have been playing that in a band for the last 10 years, and although I don't think I am terrible, I have never felt as confident as I do on the 4 strings. The last 3 years relearning and learning new stuff in the new band I'm in on the bass has been a blast.

Playing both really informs the other, melodically and rhythmically, but at the end of the day, where do you feel most comfortable, leading from the front (in the limelight), or from the back (in the dark)? I personally like the fact that a lot of my friends don't know actually what a bass guitar is!

Keep playing both, but probably concentrate on one you'd be happier playing live. Probably a bit of a cliche, but if you're an extrovert, play the guitar, an introvert, the bass, or a neanderthal, the drums (apologies to all drummers I have worked with - they've all been excellent)

Tata

[discreet]

[quote name='guildb30179' timestamp='1473376838' post='3129718']I started on bass when I was 17 because a band needed a bassist, so I was basically conned into it...
[/quote]

Just like Paul McCartney.

[Bassassin]

Me & a bunch of school mates were inspired to start a band after going to our first-ever gig. I got bass because no-one else was interested, and being a massive Stranglers fan, I couldn't understand why anyone would want to play anything else.

I played bass for two years before I even picked up a guitar - I got a cheap Columbus SG copy mostly because I was interested in starting to compose music & didn't find bass a good vehicle for that. Broadly, I still don't.

I suppose I can play guitar to a reasonably competent level, meaning I can play anything I can think of - after enough takes, anyway. I think as a guitarist I'm massively inconsistent, so there's never been a point where I considered it my main instrument and I'd never atempt to play in front of an audience.

I've variously been told I play bass like a guitarist - which is clearly rubbish - and that I play guitar like a bassist. Not sure exactly what that means, but it is self-evidently true. Because I am one.

[JonesTheCat]

I always wanted to play bass in my early teens, and never quite scraped together the cash to get one (looking back, why I didn't just get a secondhand one off ebay I do not know). Would occasionally pick up an acoustic guitar to try and learn but would just as quickly put it down. Finally got myself a knackered second hand bass in my early 20s and am now also teaching myself (very slowly) some chords on the guitar, helped a lot by the bass playing and understanding what's actually going on a bit better.

Bass in music was and is always the thing that interests me though, much more than some twiddly guitar solo.