How long have you been playing and who are your main influences?

I started bass In May of 2000 so that's 4 years for me, and my influences are...
Jason Newsted
Jaco Pastorius
Alex Webster
Sting
Victor Wooten
Ryan Martinie
Flea
...just to name a few

only 2 years.. started in february 2002

when i first started i didnt really have any influences..
but what influences me nowadays is...

Victor wooten
Stu Hamm
Jaco Pastorius
Mark King
Les Claypool
Marcus Miller
Flea ( a tad )
James Leech

.. just to name a few

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I started last year in april ... I hadn't any influence and I still haven't any influence! But ... I wish to play like Alex Webster !

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Played for a few months back in '99 and started playing again around 8 months ago.

Jason Newsted
Ryan Martinie
Justin Chancellor
Cliff Burton

Not necessarily in that order.

Since Jan 2002. A bit over two years.

Influences: all music.

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I've been playing for about four years..influences include:

Roger Patterson (rip)
Cliff Burton (rip)
Steve Cloutier
Eric Langlois
Steve Harris
B War
Dave Ellefson
Martin Mendez

i have been playing double bass for 4 years but i have only been playin bass guitar for three or 4 months and my 2 main influences are edgar meyer and les claypool. they are like opposites but i am a well rounded bass player.

thats pretty cool man, u must of got the hang of electric bass pretty quick, i played the cello when i was 8, and gave up after like 3 months... but when i picked up the electric bass when i was 14 it felt right, and i got the hang of it quick..

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I really did start quick. one day i was at my friends house and he couldn't figure out how to play bombtrack by Rage Against The Machine and he had the tabs for it so i just said let me try and i played it for him. it really pissed him off and i have been playing ever since

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I started playing .... *counts fingers* .... about 5 years now.

Influences (I'll try to group them by musical genre; or rather how I see them):

Herbie Hancock
Bootsy Collins
Tower Of Power

Chick Corea
Stanley Clarke
Jaco (This goes without question)
Al Di Meola
Brand X

Charles Mingus along with his time with Duke Ellington
Ray Brown
Fourplay Jazz

Paco De Lucia

Michael Hedges
Don Ross

and my favorite weird sideshow guitarist, Buckethead

I started playing bass in may of 2001, and I've been playing three hours a day since.

Influences:

Cliff Burton
D.D. Verni
Frank Bello
Jason Newstead
Steve DiGorgio
Blacky
Rex Brown
Tom Angelripper
Steve Harris
Lemmy
Shane Embury
Jim Sheppard
Schmier
Geezer Butler
Hal Pattino
Timi Hansen
Jared Anderson

There'a probably more, but as for right now, that's pretty much it.

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i've been playing since 1986 and that's not a mis-print. a long time fairly consistently. more aggressive at times than others but several years non-the-less. i see most of you have very excellent influences. to add to the list the late Cliff Burton, Bob Daisley who played bass on most of Ozzy's material particularly the early stuff. S.A.T.O. kicks ass. Steve Harris of course you can probably tell by now I'm an old schooler. Alex Webster of course is brutally talented. check some of my early stuff out at www.darkreignanthology.com

anubis you should be an awesome bass player by now. you are right? is there anything you have recorded with anyone? i'd like to hear what 3 hrs a day for over 3 years will do to a person! i know when i first started i played every day for several months and got very good very quickly plus the excitement level is pretty high when you first start playing. send a link...

I forgot to add Ryknow (Ryan Martinie) to my list, and he's a huge influence too me, his style and everything about his tone, the band he's in may be considered Nu-metal to a lot of you, but if you listen there is a lot of technicality going on bass wise, harmonics, octave slides, tapping, slapping, etc. but his style is very unique, as is his tone, i recommend ''Everything and Nothing'' by Mudvayne, just listen to the bass.

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Ive been playing guitar for 4 and half years,played bass on and off for a few,and got my own bass a month ago.So im kind of a newbie too bass but its not that hard coming from guitar.my biggest,really only influence has been Stefan Lessard from Dave Mathews Band.no they arent metal,but fuck they are good musicians.

They blues/funk?

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More contemporary,basically they cover all jazz/funk/alternative.Not mainstream,but they fill every one of their concerts.Carter Beauford their drummer is something too,fucking amazing.you should check them out,but lessard definatly is my fav bassist.

I play 1 day.. =))) before I played guitar 2 years... Now I haven't problems on bass guitar... My influences are Cliff Burton, Dave Ellefson... and some others... Cannibal Corpse bass...

It's Alex Webster.

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Ohh yeah!!! I think he very good player... very fast rhythm of all parts!!! Anyone know, he play pickstyle or fingerstyle??? I don't saw live concerts with Cannibals, and I dont know about it...

he plays fingerstyle.

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I have a question... Why he dont use bass distortion every time(Alex Webster)??? It make music hardest...

he plays without any effects because he doesn't like it. He likes the clean sound of a bass.

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Fair play to him

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I dont know bands who use dist every time.... I want to try it... How do u think, it's good or bad idea???

I have an effect pedal for my bass and the distortion really kicks ass! But it depends on your band if u use distortion or clean sound.

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Full on distortion never sounds good on bass, a little overdrive is just about right, but then again its up to you and whether you like it.

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I have ZOOM 506II processor for bass guitar... I can play light dist for hardest my riffs... Today I try it in band...

hey dude ! I have the same ! ZOOM 506II

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I have a Zoom 607, but anyway, back on topic please!

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I've been playing for 2 years.

Main influences:
Sean Malone
John Myung
Jaco Pastorius
Les Claypool
My Dad
My Uncle

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I try, but I have no links. once I record, I'll post something.

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ive been playin bass for 4 months now (and guitar for over a year)
im a finger player though lately since my neck needs adjusting ive been usin a pick

influences include:
carcass (bill steer is a god)
deicide (not to hard to play or figure out by ear but benton is still a decent bassist)
lots of industrial stuff (dunno many industrial bassists but al jorgenson from ministry and people like that)
and other bass players in the whole dm/bm style

looking forward to hearing some stuff Anubis cool man. I'll keep an ear peeled for it. hurry up!!!

Three hours a day ... hmmm
I don't know how you can do that. The past few months I've been playing about 2 a day on average, but lately it's been less because of all this work I'm assigned at university. I also think it is extremely crazy that you played 3hrs a day when you first started. When I first started I sucked so much and was so discouraged that I didn't even play every day! It would really help if I had the internet at home, then I could download powertabs and learn songs easier I think (not to mention all those sites with programmed riffs that you can listen to and play along with)

I'm just about at the three year mark now.
As for the distortion thing I don't like it. Distortion seems to make playing 'easier' because you can't hear your mistakes as well, and then when you take the distortion off and play the same thing, you realize that you could be playing it better. Plus, it only sounds good if you have just a bit of distortion (or overdrive), so I would never waste $100 on a pedal, I'd rather buy a new pair of strings.

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i have my friends custom made distortion sound exactly like dod

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I've been playing for one year and two months now, and my influences are:
Alex webbster (All hail Alex.)
and
Jason Netherton
What'd we do withough CC and DF?

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Well, i got my first bass when i was 6, so ive been playing for about 14-15 years.
My influences are

:my father(hes been playing for 36 years)
:Cliff Burton(God of all bassist)
:Jaco Pastorius
:Gezzer from Black Sabbath
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thats pretty much the ones that influenced me

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I started playing bass in the summer of 1982, so it's going on 24 years now. Although I took a 2 year hiatus from playing in the early 90's, that was more a hiatus from playing in a band, as I still played my bass whenever I could. I usually play for a few hours a day on weekends, but during the week, if I pick it up more than an hour, I've got too much time on my hands, and too many things that I SHOULD be doing. lol

Influences? Well, Steve Harris was the original influence for me to start playing in the first place, and then I jumped into playing a lot of thrash. Bandwise, it would be Slayer, Exodus, Riot, etc. Cliff Burton was a huge influence for me, too. Lately, it's guys like Alex Webster, and Jason Blackowitz.

Later.

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This thread seems interesting...I've been playing for a couple months shy of 5 years...I'd never turn back and will NEVER quit the bass guitar, let alone music.


My influences - Technical Death Metal, Any good Jazz/Funk...haha, broad yet accurate.

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i agree whole heartedly.i think mudvayne is awful, but i have all of their albums because of the rhythm section. i was lucky enough to hang out and burn with ryan on their LD 50 tour in lauderdale. his tone is fantastic, hes very down to earth, and believe me when i say his playing only hints at his vast understanding of music.
personally ive been playing for a little over 10 years, influences include but are not limited to;
cliff burton, james jamerson, john paul jones, ray brown, pastorious, ryan martinie, digiorgio, both the boys from cynic and the guy from the locust( im not sure on his name) have been huge rhythmic influences. steve harris, alex webster, i could go on like this but im sure 99% of these guys have been covered. the most helpful experience in my development has been diversity. not discriminating the styles ive worked with has really opened up my thinking process on bass.

i cant believe i forgot trevor dunn. one of my absolute favorites.

Shit, 10 years experience..when did you start playing?

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10 years ago. haha.

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haha, thats right about 10 years ago. i got my first bass (a gift from my pops) when i was 14. i didnt start to seriously pursue it (theory lessons, jazz study, etc.) until i was about 19 or 20 though, and had to completely relearn the instrument (my fret hand mechanics were awful and i played with a pick only until that point).

Well man..some people never figure that out..lol, at least you did!

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ive been playing for about 2 years now

my influence includes steve digiorgio,sean malone,tony choy,roger patterson,eric langlois,jaco pastorius,bunny brunnel,steve bailey,gary willis etc

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I've been playing for near 2 years. Geddy Lee got me started on bass, with Flea being the #2 inspiration.

And I have to thank Tattered. He's been a great help.

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I have been playing for about 3 and a half/ four.

But , dang Disincarnate basically nailed the list I was gonna write. Cool list

Ahh, no probs dude! thanks!

I'd have to say one of my recent influences has to be Rocco Prestia from funk/soul band Tower Of Power, his fast ghost noting and bass lines are really good, id recommend anyone to try the following songs.

Tower of power:

Soul with a capital S
Funk the dumb stuff
What is hip

Cheers.

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oh hell yeah, i didnt know there was another TOP fan in here.prestias' ghost notes are flawless, i took alot away from listening to him when i was learning funk and have since applied some of his ideas in a metal context. it blew me away how much ghosted notes add to the overall groove and swing of a song. also he really is one of the masters of playing busy in the context of the piece (rather than being busy for the sake of being busy).

hey is it just a coincidence that those three songs are the only ones i could find tabs for on the internet but Rocco is great. He plays almost flawlessly, and I saw a short video of him from bass day 98.. I think. But Good funk bassists ( like Rocco and Jaco) are easily some of the best in the world.

thanx dude

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For a year on christmas.
No one.

someone should make a thread like this on guitar zone

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ive probably been playing for about 1 1/2 years now.

Short list of influences off the top of my head:

Geddy Lee
John Myung (has no one posted this guy yet? you're all crazy )
Les Claypool (somewhat)
Troy Sanders
Cliff Burton

Jonas Hellborg... how the fuck can i forget this guy

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hellborg is awesome what a great slap player, I have seen him on bardcorerecords.com..... wow completely fabulous, dude disincarnate you are 2 for 2 in my book, I will add adrian davison, what a great tapper, he IS the bass yngwie malmsteem.

i got to meet jonas when he came here.was fucking awesome....only thing which i didnt like was he got his acoustic 4 string bass(not the doublebass). i was kinda hoping he would get his 6 string fretless..awesome show that one mithias ia eklundh was also great.but hellborg

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