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What inspired you to take up the bass?


jfk36

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My friend Nick Anderson, a fine bass player I haven't seen in decades, was my original inspiration. About 14 years ago I was sent off to get an amp at the guitar center because one was needed, and I fell in love with the bass I was handed to try the amp out with. It's a Peavey T-40, I adore it, and have never even considered getting another. I'm glad to say that recently I've been playing it more than ever.

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I have four friends who play guitar, so I wanted to do something different. I eventually narrowed it down to drums and bass, and I sure didn't want to have to set up a whole drum kit every time I felt like practicing. I like the sort of invisible feel the bass guitar has; you don't consciously notice it's there, but if it's not... you'll hear it.

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I started guitar at 16, and when I move to London, I wanted some low end for my compos.

Then when I started looking for a band, there were more "jobs" as bassist... So I started playing in bands as bassist, and never looked back. I now consider myself more as a bassist than a guitarist. I almost do not play guitar at all.

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Bit late to the party but I think I was like 11 and my dad showed me Jaco Pastorius. I was like shiiiit that's so cool! I wanna be like him!! My dad being a professional guitarist was like ugh why do you have to pick the bass and not guitar but I was a stubborn child and got my first bass when I was 12. Been playing since. Jaco, Jaco, Jaco!

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6 hours ago, chiquitabatman said:

Bit late to the party but I think I was like 11 and my dad showed me Jaco Pastorius. I was like shiiiit that's so cool! I wanna be like him!! My dad being a professional guitarist was like ugh why do you have to pick the bass and not guitar but I was a stubborn child and got my first bass when I was 12. Been playing since. Jaco, Jaco, Jaco!

How long have you played the bass?

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Believe it or not, Sting. I'm a big fan of the Police and I always liked what Sting could do on a bass guitar, so the first songs I learned how to play were all Police songs when I was around 13.

I never got that good because I lack the patience to sit down and really practice, but when I can figure a song out and play along to it, I have a great time. Usually I do not play much metal on my bass, I play a lot of stuff like Sublime, 311, etc because it's challenging and fun compared to playing black metal on a bass, which is usually pretty easy because you're really just playing a faster version of what I like to call "Misfits bass" (playing the same three notes over and over again).

Some Nokturnal Mortum stuff is fun to play though, like "Death Damnation" and "...And Winter Becomes" but a lot of black metal is not very good for bass.

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