Who started playing bass with no inspiration at all?

[adamg67]

We've had the topics for people who were inspired by the bassists on the tracks of their youth, but who else just didn't really pay much attention to the bass on stuff they were listening to and got into it in other ways?

I didn't play anything until I was 18 or so and then learnt a bit of guitar from a mate and carried that on at uni. I didn't claim to be any good but people said nice enough things about my playing that I kept at it and was in a just for fun bands. After uni I joined a band in Leeds, the other guitarist / singer wrote the songs and I liked them. Put a bit of work in getting the songs together, then was sat down in the pub one evening for a chat about how my playing was a bit clichéd and not what they were after so I was out. Same thing for the bass player. When I thought about it, I reckoned they were probably right, so just to mix things up I went up to Northern Guitars on vicar lane and traded my Fender HM Strat and Orange Amp for a Hohner The Jack headless bass and a Peavey TNT 150. There was really not much thought went into it, it was pretty much on a whim. A month or two later I bumped into the same guy that had sacked me as a guitarist and got chatting. He was still writing the songs but had got a singer in so he could concentrate on guitar. They were stuck for a bass player though. So, I rejoined on bass and it just worked really well, I liked his songs and he liked the basslines I put to them. Did a few pub gigs and the Duchess, and only didn't play the Cockpit because he fell out with the guy who booked bands (which also meant we were well out of the way when Sound City was in Leeds which was a shame). He spent a fair bit of time drunk and fell out with quite a lot of people in fact, and then moved to Australia. But by then I was bass player and no going back... Well, only for a bit, but that's another story.

[Bassassin]

I sometimes wonder if I've been playing bass with no inspiration at all for 40-odd years...

 

[gjones]

My 16 year old friends were starting a band. I had no real desire to be a bass player, I wanted to be the drummer but that position was taken. The position of bass player was also taken, until the guy who had decided he was to be the bass player, changed his mind and sold me his bass so he could buy a guitar.

40 years and at least 1,000 gigs later, I'm still booming away.

 

[Elfrasho]

I started cos my mates band when we were 15 needed a bassist. I can't remember having any interest in it prior to that, although I was playing other instruments. 

 

 

 

[scalpy]

I just wanted to be in a band, this was late 80s early 90s. My parents were musical and musicians were talked about as royalty. I’d fallen in love with my dad’s record collection and he played guitar and bass, but didn’t own a bass at the time. So knowing a bit about musicians I thought 

a) I can’t sing

b) I can’t move my fingers really fast, lead guitar is out (80s remember!)

c) enforced keyboard lessons hadn’t worked.

d) rhythm guitar just says crap lead guitarist 

e) I’m not mental- can’t be the drummer.

So bass it was. I didn’t give any thought about what role the bass plays until my band made a demo, which my dad gave to a friend of his who had worked on the board at Atlantic in the 60s. He gave me a proper slating, clueless was one of the terms, so have spent the rest of my life trying to work out what it is I should be doing!

[alyctes]

In school I played cello.  Stopped that when I was 17 due to other things.

I noticed, in my 40s, I'd spent my entire adult life thinking of myself as "musical" without playing a note.

A friend of mine had guitar, wanted to play with someone.  I knew I wasn't interested in the lead guitar widdling and that I preferred the lower end of the scale.  I might have been a rhythm player if I'd tried to learn on an electric, I suppose.

Edited April 12, 2020 by alyctes

[Sandypjb]

7 minutes ago, scalpy said:

 

e) I’m not mental- can’t be the drummer.

😄

[chris_b]

The action on my Spanish guitar was so bad/high that I couldn't hold down all 6 strings at the same time, to make a chord. A friend had a proper guitar and amp so as I wanted to play with him I decided to just play the bass lines. That worked well enough for me to stick at it.

[gafbass02]

I was on a school choir tour of Germany, when my best mate (guitarist) found out that one of the other tenors players guitar too. 
They then spent the rest of the tour chatting about guitars whilst I sat bored out of my mind on the bus!

Once we got back to the UK I dug my older brother’s old, long abandoned guitar out the attic in a fit of pique, (Kay SG) but straight away I instinctively played what I later found out were called bass lines. 
Hanging out with said friend’s band in the school music room, I caught my first glimpse of a real bass. It was love at first sight. It was just so much cooler than guitars. Bigger and chunkier, with cool open tuning heads and a deep sound. I was hooked! Despite never having heard of one before. 
I had no influences at all, having only just discovered music full stop. Much less rock or instruments or this thing called a bass. 

To my father’s chagrin, I spent my birthday money that year on the only bass for sale in my small town, a Kaman GTX53, and straight away got going on learning Neds Atomic Dustbin, the chilis and RATM.

I had to plug into an old 70’s Hifi at first, using a 3.5mm adapter and jamming the record head in. Much later I got my first amp, a torque 50w. After that, a summer’s work saw my get my first gig worthy rig. A H&H vs100 and Marshall 4x12. 

Less than two weeks after that first bass purchase, I did my first gig - after the bassist in my friend’s band stepped aside, claiming that I’d already overtaken him. 
The next 27 odd years and over 200 basses were a lot of fun! 

Edited April 12, 2020 by gafbass02

[Bigguy2017]

Yes, pretty much.

Big brother was the guitarist and a friend played violin so I got bass...

[joeystrange]

My dad was in a band and I’d always loved music. At 14 I decided I wanted to pick up an instrument. I wanted to play drums but my dad said I just wanted to do it to hide behind the drum kit (I was a shy kid) so to prove him wrong I decided I would play bass instead.

Why bass? All of the guitarists I knew were pricks and I didn’t want to be a prick.

So my dad borrowed (and later bought) a bass from the guitarist in his band and borrowed an old Peavey guitar amp from his apprentice.

Here I am almost 20 years on.

[mep]

Initially I liked the idea of guitar and thought about getting one. One day at school I saw on the notice board the music department was renting a bass and I had my lightbulb moment. I came home with it thst day an never looked back.

[sykilz]

Signed up for music  lessons (free!!!!) at my sixth form college (1985) to learn guitar, but when I turned up there were three of us, one could absolutely shred on guitar and just signed up because they forced you to do something (or sports) , and the other could keep decent time on drums. So I defaulted to bass so we could have a band.

Fast forward to today, played bass for 35 years in bands, retired from live work now, I just got an Epiphone Les Paul to try to eventually learn guitar. ( the strings are SO SMALL😆😆)

[Geek99]

7 minutes ago, sykilz said:

Signed up for music  lessons (free!!!!) at my sixth form college (1985) to learn guitar, but when I turned up there were three of us, one could absolutely shred on guitar and just signed up because they forced you to do something (or sports) , and the other could keep decent time on drums. So I defaulted to bass so we could have a band.

Fast forward to today, played bass for 35 years in bands, retired from live work now, I just got an Epiphone Les Paul to try to eventually learn guitar. ( the strings are SO SMALL😆😆)

And weedy

and pointless ...

[Slick Bass]

My step son is learning the guitar, so I thought I’d do something complimentary so I could help him.  He’s getting good and I’m not learning so quick, but 6 months in and really hooked. I can’t wait for the family to go to bed, so I can noodle around.

I’m also realising why I like some of the music that I’ve listened to for years is around funky bass lines.

 

[Skybone]

The Duchess used to be a fantastic venue, saw many ace gigs there.

[dave moffat]

Have always aspired to either vocals or bass, made a decision just over a year ago to start learning to play bass was making decent progress but it's come to a grinding halt while we pack up and prepare to move house. Instruments will be the last to move, not looking forward to shifting erindors's 'grand' keyboard.

Good thing is the music room will be on the ground floor next to the kitchen so handy for endless coffee 😁

[jezzaboy]

I have always been a big music fan and whilst the idea of playing the guitar seemed tempting, I hadn`t done anything about it. I get to 34 and find out a guy who used to do work for my company played guitar and we got talking and it made me want to learn to play 6 string guitar.

Got an Argos special Encore and amp but found out that due to an old injury when I fractured my left pinky finger, I couldnt form the chord shapes. By now I was keen to learn so the guy suggested getting a bass. I had always loved Pete Way and so I thought I would give it a try.

20 years, a few bands and loads of basses later I`m still trying!

[scalpy]

55 minutes ago, Slick Bass said:

My step son is learning the guitar, so I thought I’d do something complimentary so I could help him.  He’s getting good and I’m not learning so quick, but 6 months in and really hooked. I can’t wait for the family to go to bed, so I can noodle around.

I’m also realising why I like some of the music that I’ve listened to for years is around funky bass lines.

 

Good to hear, enjoy it!

[Slick Bass]

Many thanks 😊 

[CamdenRob]

All the cool instruments were taken when we formed our first band at 13 so I ended up on the bass.

Very glad I did though. I love the role of the bass and even though the music I play has changed over the years I still approach it the same way.

I haven’t heard of most of the players often sited as inspiration here on BC or the bands they play in.

Always preferred to approach music my own way, that’s where the fun lies for me. In all honesty I’ve very little interest in anyone else’s playing 😕

[Mykesbass]

Me I guess. I played guitar first, and then, aged 12 had a year of double bass lessons. Was obvious I was neither going to get a double bass, nor my dad get a car in which he could transport me and it around, so slipped back to guitar for another 28 years. When I opened my short lived guitar shop, despite not stocking a large number of basses I did gravitate towards playing them in quiet moments. A regular customer came in with a drummer and heard me playing and asked if I'd like to be the house bassist at their jam night. Said yes, and been solidly a bass player ever since.

[adamg67]

12 hours ago, Skybone said:

The Duchess used to be a fantastic venue, saw many ace gigs there.

Yeah, we managed to get in there before it shut but not by much. Not an ideal music venue on paper as it was basically L shaped, from the stage the left hand half of the room was really long and the right hand side was not, with a nice flat wall to bounce the sound back at you. I don't think anywhere else ever managed to get the kind of up and coming bands that the Duchess did. We liked Joseph's Well too, but you very much had to take your own crowd for that one.

[bigthumb]

I had no ability or interest in playing a guitar or any other musical instrument when I was young. My parents ran a pub when I was a teenager and a regular customer played in a band and had done for many years. He was pretty much a stereotypical rock 'n roller. Loge hair, leather jacket, big personality and great fun to be around. So probably one day he asked me if I was interested in playing and the answer would have been no. I remember trying to play a few chords on a guitar in a music lesson at school and just thinking 'meh', can't be bothered. So knowing that I couldn't be arsed with these awkward fiddly chords he arrived with this old knocked together bass guitar and handed it to me. Something must have clicked upstairs from having no interest in anything to near obsession with this bass guitar. I could plug it in to my Toshiba hifi and play along to records picking out the bass line. I then borrowed his WEM valve combo, saved enough money to by my first bass (Westone) then my first amp and speaker and after working throughout the summer holiday I earned enough to by my first Fender Precision.

32 Years later....

[Bassfinger]

No inspiration here.  A guitairst of 40 years standing, I broke my elbow badly, suffered nerve damage, lost feeling in 2 fingers and partial loss of feeling in my thumb.  I can still play, but not at the level I used to.

Switched to bass on the basis that it's a third less real estate to cover with a set of digits that don't work as they should, and I do manage better.  As a guitarist and music reader (although not the worlds best reader by any stretch) the change was relatively painless, and I do imdeed manage better on 4 stings than 6 - the disability is less of an impediment.

This has enthused me again, and over the last year I've thrown myself back into practice with gusto.  I still play guitar a little, but I'm simply physically more capable on the bass so that's when most of my interest and practice lies now.