I got my first real bass guitar in my hands when I was 14 - a 1957 Fender Precision, which is still hanging on the wall in my front room. I loved the heaviness of it and the feel of the wood. I still do.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Age isn't a barrier to playing the bass, and I've definitely improved over the years, although maybe I'm not as flash as I once was. But looking back, I can't imagine a life without a guitar.
Guitars have been the obsession of my life. I first picked one up at the age of four and I've been a guitar junkie ever since.
In 1972, I got my first electric bass and started playing the kind of instrument I play now. I found that the majority of musicians couldn't bear that. They are not used to listening to the bass because they think the bass is in the background to support them.
I even played bass for a while. Besides playing electric guitar, I'd also get asked to play some acoustic stuff. But, since I didn't have an acoustic guitar at the time, I used to borrow one from a friend so I could play folk joints.
When I was 14 I would pick up my brother's bass guitar, and I would just pound on it, having no idea how to play it.
Around age 11 or 12, I started playing jazz bass. From there, I went to electric bass and then guitar, which I kept up for a long time.
I got a guitar when I was about 14, for a Christmas present, and went from there.
I wasn't originally a bass player. I just found out I was needed, because everyone wants to play guitar.
I got my first guitar when I was 16. I'd play for my family and friends, but taking that guitar out there into the wide, wide world wasn't something I ever thought about.
I got my first guitar when I was 15, and I just used to fool about with it, more or less, as time went by, though, I got more interested.