How come playing bass?

[KERMITNT]

[font="Comic Sans MS"]I remember myself like the bass since I was a kid I loved the bottom end from the beginning.
I took a bass when I was 17 and remember playing metal tunes and stuff like that then
I went to study in university and quit playing with the band but always loved the baselines.
Missed my bass those years that was locked in my parents home. When I went back start again playing in my own house and reunion with band again jamming along like school friend we are. Now I practice at home and started lessons with teacher.

Bought a new stingray and markbass combo 121p love the sound of it. Always have GAS problems for bass only of course.


When I listen a song the first thing I concentrate is bass. Nothing more or less.

There always bass to me when I am listening guitar and play it I don’t feel like bass and I stop after 10 minutes, I am a bass player never liked other instruments like bass I don’t know to play other instruments.

I love BASS

So what about you?[/font]

[Hot Tub]

The first gig I went to was Gillan at the Glasgow Apollo. The bassist was John McCoy. I remember looking up at this guy on stage; he looked about ten feet tall and ten feet wide (he's still a big bloke!). And the sound of his bass was utterly thunderous. It totally captivated me, blew my mind, shook my soul, however you want to describe it. I remember thinking, "I have no idea who you are, I have no idea what you're doing, but I'm going to learn to do that."

Two weeks later I use part of (most of!) my college grant to buy my first bass guitar (a 2nd hand short scale tobacco sunburst thingy :wub: ). I borrowed someone else's homemade cabinet, and I modified an old hifi stereo amplifier, and started learning.

Nearly thirty years later I'm not much better :blush: and still learning every day, and still hopelessly in love with the sound and the feel and the "aura" of the bass guitar.

[Dr.Dave]

2 reasons.

I was a couple of years behind most of my mates that were learning guitar and I figured I'd make my own niche rather than try and catch up.

The other was the fantastic noise I was hearing on Slade records - turned out to be Jim Lea's overdriven counter melodys. The guy was Slade's 'lead' player in my opinion - which has got stronger the more I've learned.

They're probably in the wrong order - can't quite decide. I do know I set out to be a musician competent enough to play with his peers in front of an audience - that was my real goal - and bass seemed to present itself as the best medium to allow me to do that at the time. Maybe , with hindsight , the first reason above had something to do with me wanting to be a team player rather than a soloist. Then again , the second reason turns that statement round again to a large extent.

To this day my hero's have been songs rather than instruments.

[Dr.Dave]

[quote name='Hot Tub' post='303786' date='Oct 10 2008, 12:47 PM']The first gig I went to was Gillan at the Glasgow Apollo. The bassist was John McCoy. I remember looking up at this guy on stage; he looked about ten feet tall and ten feet wide (he's still a big bloke!). And the sound of his bass was utterly thunderous. It totally captivated me, blew my mind, shook my soul, however you want to describe it. I remember thinking, "I have no idea who you are, I have no idea what you're doing, but I'm going to learn to do that."

Two weeks later I use part of (most of!) my college grant to buy my first bass guitar (a 2nd hand short scale tobacco sunburst thingy :wub: ). I borrowed someone else's homemade cabinet, and I modified an old hifi stereo amplifier, and started learning.

Nearly thirty years later I'm not much better :blush: and still learning every day, and still hopelessly in love with the sound and the feel and the "aura" of the bass guitar.


[/quote]

Did you see his bass for sale in the Ebay links forum here? Only a week or 2 back. Would it have been the magic tour? That's where I saw him - character and presence , while still a support player to a 'star'. Consumate professional. That was the night I decided I would never - never - stand in the shadows on stage.

[Hot Tub]

Didn't see the bass for sale <sob>

*considers jumping from window in despair, but probably not high enough*

Don't think it was the Magic tour - earlier I guess. [i]Mr Universe [/i]was the new album which they were promoting (McCoy playing basss on [i]Vengeance [/i]just absolutely killed me!)

Aksherly, much as I don't do the star/celeb thang, JMcC is someone I'd really like to have a pint with.

[Dr.Dave]

[quote name='Hot Tub' post='303798' date='Oct 10 2008, 01:07 PM']Aksherly, much as I don't do the star/celeb thang, JMcC is someone I'd really like to have a pint with. [/quote]

You sound like me - my thought exactly.

Here's the bass out of interest.
[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=27892"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=27892[/url]

[thepurpleblob]

I think I've always been a contrary git - if everybody else wanted to play guitar then I'd want to do something different. I actually played orchestral percussion on and off since I was at school until well into my thirties, so I guess that end of the band had been drilled into me. On top of that a couple of mates played, so it just seemed like a logical thing to try. Addiction and massive financial drain swiftly followed±

[mike257]

Bass was actually the last instrument I came to, but the first one that I really felt at home on. I spent my early teens dabbling with drums and guitars, but it never really amounted to anything. One day, jamming in a friend's house, his muso Dad made the canny observation which would soon change my life.

"You lads haven't got a bass player. Mike, you can borrow this - keep it as long as you need it"

With his shocking yellow Hohner Arbor in hand, I set about carving my niche, and never looked back. I've actually learnt to play the guitar and the drums a whole load better since then, more to help with writing than anything else, but bass is where I feel at home.

Brings a tear to my eye!

[Ou7shined]

My step dad was a bassist so obviously I didn't want to be like him. The bass was my first stringed instrument (nicked shots of step dads Ric when he went out - 1st tune ever learned Sade's Smooth Operator :blush: then Specials stuff) but I went on to play guitar for over 15 years with the odd stint on bass when bassist disappeared from the line up. A muso mate of mine however had me pegged as a bass player from the start (either that or he just couldn't find a decent bass player) and admittedly I do tend to listen to the rhythm section more than anything, anyway he kept getting me to join bands on bass and eventually it stuck and I'm bloody glad it did.

[waynepunkdude]

I was 12 and into Punk wanted to be in a band and loved NOFX and Rancid so for me it was the only choice, I was chuffed when I found out it only had 4 strings

[Kev]

i pride myself on ALWAYS wanting to play bass, never even considering another instrument, pity it took me til i was 18 before actually going out and buying a bass, best thing i ever did though

[Wil]

I started on bass when I was 10, and really got into it because of Stuart Zender's playing. I taught myself guitar at around 14 though and since then have flitted between the two. In every band I've been in I've been the bassist, but since the demise of my last band I haven't touched my bass in over 3 months I think. Whenever I reach for an instrument now its my acoustic guitar.

[bigjohn]

I wanted to be in a band. I could "sort of" play drums and "sort of" guitar but knew people that were better then me at both. I bought a bass and we formed a band. That was 17 ago.

Wasn't in another band until 2-3 years ago. I moved to Nottingham and thought it would be a good way to meet good people... How wrong I was

[Protium]

Took up bass coz I didn't have the space for drums. Turns out all my bass gear probably occupies more space than a drum kit now anyway

[johnnylager]

[quote name='Hot Tub' post='303786' date='Oct 10 2008, 12:47 PM']The first gig I went to was Gillan at the Glasgow Apollo. The bassist was John McCoy. I remember looking up at this guy on stage; he looked about ten feet tall and ten feet wide (he's still a big bloke!). And the sound of his bass was utterly thunderous.[/quote]
I f***ing love John McCoy and Gillan were the best thing ever. Every month or so, I email Ian Gillan via his Caramba website and beg for a Gillan reunion. He's never replied in 2 years. Bastard.

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?s=&showtopic=19147&view=findpost&p=196961"]More John McCoy[/url]

Edited October 10, 2008 by johnnylager

[JimBobTTD]

I too started on guitar. Slash had opened my eyes to rock music in 1988 and Metallica had set me on a course to play guitar, which I duly started in 1990. But the more I listened to music, the more I began to appreciate the bass. I started playing the bass in 92 or thereabouts and have played both.

Recently, I had a revelation/epiphany about bass, and now I [b][i]am [/i][/b]a bassist rather than simply being a guy who plays bass, if you know what I mean. I wrote a babbling thread about it. You can dig it out if you want.

[bassbloke]

Hello there,

Whereabouts in Athens do you live? My sister lives in Maroussi. I love the place.

[bnt]

In 1982 I acquired a stepbrother who played guitar, and he said something like "OK, you can play bass". Which I didn't think much of until a cheap P-bass copy went on sale locally, and I bought it. Stuff to learn came from a neighbour's record collection and the tape recorder on his hi-fi. I was blown away by Yes, but it was fortunate that 90125 came out about that time - the most accessible Yes album to a learner bassist by quite a margin. Then I met another bassist, who said "dude, you gotta try some Rush"...

As well as bass, I play keyboards (badly), sing (badly), and learned Highland bagpipes in the early 90s (long story), but I haven't played those since 1991. Once I thought about the instrument in detail, I was horrified by its limitations. Nearly every piece of music in existence can never be played on the bagpipes - it's not chromatic, has a range of about 1 octave, no dynamics, and can only be played legato!

Edited October 10, 2008 by bnt

[Tait]

i started guitar lessons in primary school, my dad plays bass and so i started playing bass after i got fairly good at guitar.

[jerseytrev]

well i started with guitar ,but fancied drums . we did not have a drummer so drums it was for most of my youth playing in various bands then marrage drums stored at parents then divorce had to sell drums . remarried several years later then about five years ago felt the urge to play something again ,drums seemed too bulky so my other underlying fave was bass but in my band playing days my best college mate was the bass player ,he has now got into irish folk . so i bought a bass (cheap and cheerfull )several basses later hooked . wish i had done it years ago.

[markytbass]

I started wanting a bass when I was 11 after seeing John Deacon on some Queen vids. My first bass was a bit of 1x2 inch wood with strings and frets drawn on with a marker pen. When I was 16 my parents bought me a guitar because it was cheaper than the basses they had in the shop and the combos were smaller. when I was 17 I sold the guitar and bought a proper bass. I've always liked bass, its got more balls than a guitar, its bigger, got thicker strings so therefore its better, period. I sometimes play tennor banjo and have learnt blues harmonica as a side line.

[Buzz]

Got one when I was 16, a very good guitarist friend turned me onto the idea, I do like playing it, and also am picking up a bit of guitar, I'm just rubbish at both (lack of natural talent and lack of practice). It's actually a bit poor to be as bad as I am 5 years later.

Played trumpet when I was 9 till 12/13, heart wasn't in it really, actually got the instrument by error as I tried out for Violin (lack of natural talent showing here, I failed on some note distingushing tests, my ear's much better now and I wouldn't mind giving it a go again) then went to see the brass teacher when I meant to see the sax teacher. Ahh well. Still, I do have my Grade 1 in the trumpet somewhere.

Edited October 10, 2008 by Buzz

[MuseMatt]

I have played the piano since i was 7, so it's not my first instrument. However....

My first band asked me to fill in for their bassplayer who left 2 weeks before their first gig... of course I did so on the piano. They asked me to stay and I did, but they had one condition: i had to learn how to play bassguitar.

Never regretted it and I like it more than playing the piano now

[OutToPlayJazz]

I started off as a cellist from the tender age of 7, started some piano at about 12 & was lucky to fall in with the best classical double bass player in the country for a teacher! So the electric bass was a natural progression for me by the age of about 16.

Now also playing/teaching violin, viola, classical guitar & some electric. Bought a 5-string banjo this year as well. Still trying to get my head around the idiotic tuning, though!

My music classes at school think it's really cool that the school's head of music is a professional bass player

Rich.

[MuseMatt]

That's cool! I am currently studying to become a teacher of English, but I do want to get my qualification for teachign music too!