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What inspired you to...?

Mantaray

Mantaray

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 27, 2004
Messages
369
Location
London, UK
What inspired you to begin playing bass and what drew your attention to the StingRay?

The guy that inspired me in to advanced bass playing AND the StingRay is a Swedish bassist, Mats Hagervik. He has a well known web page www.basslobster.com
 
What inspired me to learn bass was playing a washtub over at my bluegrass picking friend's house.

I own a Bongo, not a Stingray so N/A on the 2nd half of your Q for me.
 
Mantaray said:
What inspired you to begin playing bass and what drew your attention to the StingRay?

The guy that inspired me in to advanced bass playing AND the StingRay is a Swedish bassist, Mats Hagervik. He has a well known web page www.basslobster.com
Click to expand...

I got a Cream compilation album when I was a kid... that inspired me to get my first guitar (a black strat copy, just like Eric's)

About three months later I bought my first bass, a red Westone Spectrum II for £85, after realising it was Jack Bruce's basslines I really liked.

I got the Stingray because it was the best instrument I played. I was after a Fender Precision and none did it for me, but every MM did (a Cutlass II, Sterling and a few Stingrays)
 
1. I saw Paul McCartney on the Ed Sullivan show.

2. A friend of mine insisted (circa 78) that I would like the Stingray and dropped one off at my house. He turned out to be fairly correct.
 
Inspiration

I don't know exactly what inspired me to play bass but I'm pretty sure that the intro of My Friend of Misery had something to do with it... And as far as using Stingray's well I tried one out based on it's already highly decorated reputation and fell in love with the feel and the tone.
 
I had always liked bass lines. I played piano at 5, then trumpet at 12 and then drums at 14. Started to college as a Music Major. Quit playing anything when I dropped out of college in '74. In 1980, my dad was playing mandolin in a country band that didn't have a bass player but had a bass. He asked me to come with him to a rehearsal and try to play bass. I went and they had this big, heavy Gibson something or another. The next week I came in with a brand new Fender Bullet Bass and a Yamaha amp. As for the Stingray, I had always mostly played Fender and didn't like the looks of the 'Ray. I finally picked one up and tried it last month. Bought one the next day. It will now become my primary bass because I just love the way it plays and sounds. I've played country, jazz, blues and lots of good ol' rock and roll and I believe that this bass is versatile enough to play with any of those styles.

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!
 
1- Gene Simmons/KISS; in 5th grade, I associatred bass playing with spitting fire & blood. I could play Rock n Roll all night w/all open notes:)

2- Initially, Flea & that funky slap sound - couldn't get that from my Spector or Jazz bass. Then I played one through an SWR rig & was sold - finger, pick, or slap, it all sounded great!
 
I was encourage to play by Les Claypool (join the club....), i was amazed by his basslines and the way he just stomped around while playing.

The straw that broke the camels back was probably the Too Many Puppies video.

As far as the stingray, i never knew i wanted one until i won a warwick in a contest, and i didn't want it..so i traded it for a stingray. Purely based on my testing, never really sought opinions except from guitar player friends who all had the same response: "which sounds better?"


joel D.
 
My first recollections of music was hearing my older brother's copy of Love Gun by Kiss when I was three and immediately loved Gene Simmons (just like Moondog) then when my brother introduced me to Eddie VanHalen I knew that there was a higher level of musicianship to obtain regardless of what instrument so i really started to listen to a ton of different bassists (Muzz Skillings being a huge influence). As for the Sting Ray..... what can I say but Flea and that old issue of Bass Player magazine that had a review of a trans. teal StingRay I was hooked until I got my first then traded it for a long many years of sucky basses and then finally got back on board with my SR5 last summer!
 
Mantaray said:
What inspired you to begin playing bass and what drew your attention to the StingRay?

The guy that inspired me in to advanced bass playing AND the StingRay is a Swedish bassist, Mats Hagervik. He has a well known web page www.basslobster.com
Click to expand...
I cut off a finger and broke two others on the left hand, could no longer play guitar so picked up bass still had a hard time but I am making it. I own a SUB and have another on the way???, so * on last part of question
blessings
gh
 
:p My Dad was a band director so I got to try basically every instrument. Started on trumpet in 5th grade, picked up bass in high school. First bass was a red Fender MusicMaster. The school didn't have an amp at first so I plugged into a reel-to-reel deck that had a 1/4" input and hit record and pause. Then the sound (much like an old AM radio) came thru the tiny speaker. First songs I learned to play were Somebody To Love by Jefferson Airplane and Slow Ride by Foghat.:p

Re: Music Man; I had tried several fretless basses and given them up 'cause I was like Hoover. Then I wanted to try a lined fretless (Cheater Bass as my wifey says) and Music Man got high reviews. And am I glad I did!:p
 
i pretty much started playing bass because my 5th grade band teacher said i should. I was already playing guitar at the time.
I have sterling, but I have always loved the Musicman sound. I don't think it was any one musician that made me want a musicman, but I remember seeing lots of bands who's bass player played musicman. I think (not sure) that the bass player of blink 182 used to play one, MxPx, Squad 5-0, Ghoti Hook, Less Than Jake, and many others i can't think of. I was really into "punk" back in the day.
 
ahhh
blink 182 was my real reason for playing
once i started playing i realized that was really sad
he is a guitar bass player in his defense
and no mark has been with fender forever
once that came around flea inspired me to look into music man

now 2 years later i baught my first sterling about 2 weeks ago
 
John Paul was my first inspiration then a friend of mine gave me my first rush cd and when I heard "the trees" that turned my world upside down!!
 
the bass player at church got fired for messing with one of the married women in the church - i offered to replace him - I was 11 yrs old - then I discovered Jazz................ been going hot and heavy at it ever since!!!!!!
 
johans said:
who's this tony levin?
Click to expand...

:confused: :confused: :confused:
Hello, McFly --- Peter Gabriel --- King Crimson --- Chapman Stick ---

Just kidding!:p Check out Peter Gabriel's Growing Up Live" DVD. Tony Levin has so many different sounds it's amazing. Plays a Stick, StingRay 5 and an NS upright bass. He's just cool.:cool:
 
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