Bought a Guitar

[Pipingntrucking]

Trying to pick up bass guitar myself. I have a hard road ahead of me. I am a do it learner and Youtube makes things difficult and all the instructors in my area either only teach kids, or decide they want to show you what they can do rather than teach you on how to do it.

 

[AcesAndEights]

I played in a traveling band for about 10 years back in the day. Once the band thing fizzled out, and marriage and kids came into the picture, I completely stopped playing. It’s probably been 10 years since I’ve even taken one of my guitars out of its case now! I’m gonna be a later-in-life re-learner! Eventually…. Still up to my eyeballs in that whole marriage and kids thing!

 

[mikethompson]

Welp...turning 50 later this year I thought "now or never" and decided I'm going to learn to play the guitar. I was a percussionist growing up but have gotten the itch to learn some music theory and wanting to get back into playing music, but sticking with percussion and putting a drum set in my basement isn't really my vibe.

I'm starting with an acoustic guitar, hoping to move into a jazzy hollow body eclectic in the future if I stick with this. Anyway, I picked up a Martin D10e...inexpensive for a Martin.

I'm starting out with the JustinGuitar courses and have learned my first three chords so far; D, A, and E. Still spending my time just trying to get them to ring out cleanly and speeding up changes between them.

Anyone else into guitar? Any other later-in-life adult learners/beginners out there?

I bought a decent Yamaha acoustic a few years ago to serenade my wife, and have recently picked it up again.

I'm teaching myself with YouTube videos, and just practicing.

It's fulfilling when you make music that wasn't there before

 

[UB 40]

I played in a traveling band for about 10 years back in the day. Once the band thing fizzled out, and marriage and kids came into the picture, I completely stopped playing. It’s probably been 10 years since I’ve even taken one of my guitars out of its case now! I’m gonna be a later-in-life re-learner! Eventually…. Still up to my eyeballs in that whole marriage and kids thing!

Sad to hear that you forget about your own cares since you got married and having kids. But it’s your decision, so no one to blame.

 

[AcesAndEights]

Sad to hear that you forget about your own cares since you got married and having kids. But it’s your decision, so no one to blame.

Nothing to be sad about. I’d choose my family man life over my wanna-be rock star party life 100 of 100 times.

 

[The Amish Tyrant]

I play bass. Badly.

But it's fun playing with others.

Also "I don't need instructions to know how to rock!"

 

[crusader]

My Strat and Tele which i made.

 

[crusader]

My youngest's Ibanez.....we jam!

 

[renfield]

Surgery on my left index finger a year ago has pretty much killed my playing. I still love looking at them and setting them up for others.

I always tell people it’s never too late to start learning. If you keep at it you will improve.

 

[skydog]

Seems like a lot of other folks have already given you a lot of great advice. I'm primarily a guitar player but have a piano, mandolin, banjo, drum kit, and other random instruments to mess around with.

The great thing about no longer being in a band and just playing at home for myself is that I don't have to worry about any strict practice regiment or achieving a certain goal within a time frame. I play because I enjoy it and it is a good release for me.

It's hard to see minor improvements when you hear yourself playing every day but eventually you can look back and see how much you've improved. Once you get a few chords under your fingers and you start singing along then you'll be hooked.

 

[georged]

I took up bass playing at 38, after a lifetime of jazz and fingerstyle/bluegrass guitar.

LOVED bass playing. It was a whole new world. Finally everything felt right. Wish I'd done it since day one.

Played in two good bands as a bassist. One was three members of the U.S. Air Force Band of Flight at Wright-Patterson who wanted to play the music they personally liked when not doing daytime/official stuff. They were scary-good. National class musicians.

I was in WAY over my head, but since what they wanted to play those nights and weekends was hard swinging rockin' blues and jump blues, where feel matters more than anything else, I got by.

My gear also sounded damn good. [evil grin] Moved mondo air in a bedrock solid way that EVERY crowd and soundman commented on.

The band was named Atomic Annie after the Army's 1950's artillery piece.

 

[sasquatch]

Dear George, basses have 4 strings. What the hell kind of cockamamie story are you telling now?

 

[georged]

Dear George, basses have 4 strings. What the hell kind of cockamamie story are you telling now?

That's a Ken Smith Thunderbass. The low string is tuned to B. (If you've got a rack of QSC commercial grade power amps and the cone area to move enough air, 5 strings will change your view of the world.)

Home - Ken Smith Basses

www.kensmithbasses.com

Still have all that stuff, plus several 4-strings: a 34" scale Kubicki Factor, a Rickenbacker 4003, and an Ernie Ball Stingray. Also an Essex-era Trace-Elliot AH400 and stage stack.

The frontman & guitarist for Atomic Annie was this guy:

Timberwolf Guitars Dave Cousino

Further cockamamie-ness? I once sat in for this guy's bass player when his own got suddenly sick (Atomic Annie had opened for him):

Lonnie Mack - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[john19]

Well done. Hope you have a good time with your new hobby.

 

[Snook]

Good for you, John! It's going to be a great endeavor, and so rewarding too. I've done a few lessons from JustinGuitar and think that it's an excellent program. Work your way through the whole thing, and you'll have a great foundation for playing any style and writing your own songs, too. That Martin is a good guitar, all that you need really. In my experience, once you start spending over $1,000, you start running into diminishing returns as far as sound goes. My $1,000 Eastman E8 sounds better than any $3,000 acoustic I've played in a shop (but maybe I'm biased).

Really happy for you to be starting this hobby. Be sure to learn Smoke On The Water before anything else!

 

[Sam Gamgee]

My Strat and Tele which i made.View attachment 214853

Cool guitars. I really like Strats with double humbuckers. Back in the late 90s/early 2000s Fender made one called (I think) the Big Apple Strat with two humbuckers. I always like them. I had a Tele for a while but felt like a poser while playing it. It just never felt, looked, or sounded right in my hands.

 

[Sam Gamgee]

I took up bass playing at 38, after a lifetime of jazz and fingerstyle/bluegrass guitar.

LOVED bass playing. It was a whole new world. Finally everything felt right. Wish I'd done it since day one.

Played in two good bands as a bassist. One was three members of the U.S. Air Force Band of Flight at Wright-Patterson who wanted to play the music they personally liked when not doing daytime/official stuff. They were scary-good. National class musicians.

I was in WAY over my head, but since what they wanted to play those nights and weekends was hard swinging rockin' blues and jump blues, where feel matters more than anything else, I got by.

My gear also sounded damn good. [evil grin] Moved mondo air in a bedrock solid way that EVERY crowd and soundman commented on.

The band was named Atomic Annie after the Army's 1950's artillery piece.



View attachment 214884
View attachment 214885

I've always loved rock and roll songs where the bass isn't buried so far underneath everything that you can still hear it. I also like it when it's played with a pick and the player really digs in. I've often thought it would be fun to try it, but I have too many hobbies and don't need another.

 

[Sam Gamgee]

Saturday (aka Shredderday) AM vibes at my house...