Greetings

Greetings, my name is John Ogden. I am 45 years old and been playing bass as mostly a hobby and an outlet for art. At the tender young age of 11 I was taken to my first concert (My older brother could only go if he too me to his chagrin). That concert was Metallica 2nd row left side of the stage 4th seat from the isle…this means, yeppers you guessed it, I was almost face to face with Cliff Burton. I did’nt even know who Metallica was as i listened to the stuff my mom deemed okay …Bee Gees, Carpenters, etc. Needless to say I was absolutely taken in and bitten by the bass bug and the metal bug. Right then I knew what I wanted to do, BUT it wasnt the responsible thing so naturally I did it all in secret…mowed lawns for almost 2 years and got my first bass and amp at 13. A Charvel Jackson bass and a Peavy 80W amp combo. It took me 2 months at a minimum of 6 hours a day, but my first song I learned was Anasthesia (Pulling Teeth) and Orion. I then started researching Cliffs enfluences and thats when i got into many many other bands most notably, Black Sabbath, Danzig, Megadeth, Iron Maiden, Faith No More, and as my playing got better i delved into other bands and bass techniques. Thes bands being Primus, Korn, Red Hot Chilli Peppers…Over the years I kinda just played my bass as a hobby while studying avionics and later elevator engineering and unfortunately my bass playing took a back seat to my morals that were fiendishly instilled in me and lost the passion for playing music. At roughly the age of 40 I was stricken down by a diagnosis of Diabetes (type 2) and Congestive Heart disease, and then later Diabetic Retinopophy and kidney disease. Needless to say i could’nt really do much physically so I picked up the bass again and well here i am…A broken down young-old man trying to rekindle a passion I never had the chance to fully explore.

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Welcome aboard, @John_Ogden

We hope you enjoy your time with us . . . :slight_smile:

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Welcome to the community @John_Ogden!

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Welcome! It’s a friendly place. Pop by the introduce yourself thread, you’ll get a lot more people saying hi.

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welcome @John_Ogden!

Fellow Cliff and metal fan here!
And, in case you didn’t know it was out there, Captain Josh made this killer homage to the grand master:

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Welcome @John_Ogden

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Welcome aboard @John_Ogden,
Enjoy rekindling yourself with your bass,
Enjoy the ride and have fun.
Cheers Brian

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Welcome @John_Ogden

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