Right Now,
Love 4-5
You could say I have a love hate relationship with the bass.
I have played bass on and off since I was 15. I am now 54 and just picking it up after not playing for 15 years. I have always been mediocre at best and trust me I am being gifty on that. My speed especially my left is not great. I am taking the B2B to try and improve it.
Wow! That’s a very long time. When you say you play on and off, how long are your on times and your off times on average? Do you lose motivation during the off times or does life get in the way? Glad you are getting back into it.
Life happens. I played in Metal bands in high school and just after until I went in military. Then I started again about a 15 years ago and played in a Texas Country Band, don’t care for the music but I liked the extra money. Did that for a couple of years and Life interfered again. Now doing it again. I don’t really lose motivation I just get busy with other things.
I love it very much, even more as I’m realising more things.
However I’m not 100% into it, cause I just do it as a hobby, and I don’t really wanna go pro route with it. I’m not into that lifestyle, and I don’t think I’d make more than my current occupation as software dev. And it’s also my blow off valve.
I just wanna keep feeling like noob, cause being a noob is when you have the most fun. Still exploring things and feeling progress.
For me bass is one piece of my actual hobby, which is music production. I’ve gotten up to “competent” and for now am happy with being good enough for my own purposes, so I do it entirely for fun and utility. I’m not chasing being a virtuoso. I’ve played relatively little recently while I am focusing on guitar. Bass is my main instrument but not the sole focus, and yeah, it ain’t replacing the day job any time soon.
But I still love it 
Im not as enthused as I once was, but that’s mainly due to the health issues I’ve endured during the past year. Also, I have shifted much of my attention toward upright bass ànd piano.
Oooh, interesting question.
My enthusiasm for bass started in the '90s and has been off-and-on again since then. For most of that time, though, my enthusiasm was high, but my dedication was low.
Coming up on two years ago, I made the decision to devote myself to bass. Since that point, I’d rate myself a constant 4 or 5 out of 5. Playing/reading about/looking at pictures of/thinking of bass is a daily thing for me, most of the time more often than anything else.
exactly this! 
This was what I was doing back in the days where digital recording were Uber expensive(digidesign session 8) I wish I can get back and do the same thing again. I miss laying down tracks and messing around with other instruments.
My love for playing bass guitar has definitely renew and now I wish I’d kept it up instead of refreshing the skills, lol.
You have my full support! 
Hi, I would say 5 out of 5 for the love of bass. Yes my playing habits certainly changed a lot over the years. About 1987 my 2 buddies were jamming and asked me to play bass with them . So the 3 of us played daily back then for about 8 years, not everyday but a lot. Then came marriage and kids and what ever life could throw at us … we 3 drifted apart. I dug the bass rig out again March of 2020. And I now play every day again, it’s like meditation as when I am playing now I think of nothing but the music. I have also went to a 30 inch scale bass since
I was watching an episode of The Crown last season and there was a scene where this Duke was slicing golf balls left and right, not good at all. He was asked why he even plays, said " I have a passion for the game, but I have no talent" or words to that effect, and that’s where I feel I’m at with bass and guitar.
I’m in my mid 60’s and have been screwing with guitar for 30 years and bass for the last 12, and even taking in person lessons for both and using online tools,(like Josh’s free ones on YT) I do ok, but I just can’t find my way over to being “that” much better despite still playing daily even for a few minutes.
My son and his friend , who both play guitars and bass, once told me, “You’re not there yet, you’re kinda in the gray area” and Ive been in the gray for a very long time, but, I’m ok with that.
I’m firmly at 5/5. Going on 6 months since I picked it up again. Play daily at least an hour or so. I have a demanding stressful job that’s fairly physical (which I love for the most part) and it unwinds me after each work day. Weekends I get up early for workouts and usually play for 1-2 hours prior. Music theory is also very interesting to me and being able to use what I’m learning and know on the bass is fulfilling. Love playing songs too.
Mmm, difficult one.
I still love it when it all clicks and works, but things have definitely changed over the years. I’ve been in a band for about 3 years now and it’s only in the last year or two that we’ve started doing some gigs (up to 6), and that definitely makes me think differently now than before.
When I play bass now, it’s generally part of the band - so I have to associate my bass with the band. But because keeping a band going is a lot of work, sometimes I look at it and just can’t be arsed.
I think I’m just describing the general malaise you can sometimes get into with a band.
Plus, I’ve started playing more along to anything now. A music loving friend often comes round, we have a few beers and we just get alexa to play whatever it is we want to hear, and 9 times out of 10, I’ll nail the bass each time and we have a right laugh - he likes to sing, and I chug along to the bass. It’s kinda rejuvenated my playing as I’m doing all sorts of stuff instead of just the band stuff.
And I play keys too, so sometimes the bass gives way to the piano/synthesizer which I’m getting into more.
tl:dr; Still love it, but have definitely changed - trying to rejuvenate it all again I guess. Saying that, I still play for a few hours every other day, so shrug!
Sounds familiar.
Been there done that. Several times but not any more.
Now it’s just jamming with others several times a week.
No politics, no arguments, just straight up fun. - Like music should be.
Totally agree with that. I must admit, I’m definitely more into the fun than the seriousness. The Guitarist in the band is very serious, and tbh, I’ll probably make way for someone else to do it at some point, because I want to do exactly what you’ve just described.
Still, you’ve got to try it to see if you like it in the first place, haven’t you.
It’s a tricky one though, because that’s how we all started in the band, but because we’ve played loads and loads and loads, it’s now got to the gigging stage, and once you’re at that stage, I’m not sure if the rest of the band will be happy just simply playing stuff and not gigging.
Yes you do but just don’t let it spoil the fun. If it does just move on.
Every once in a while a few of us will get together outside the jam groups and play a gig at a Royal Canadian Legion Branch (American Legion Post) or a Retirement home. We do it for free and you would be surprised how appreciative the audience is. Of course this type of music is not to everybody’s liking, what is 
, but it is still music and works for us. 
I’m sure it’ll all just naturally work out. These things often do.
Those gigs you do sound really good! Sounds like fun.
I’m still not cut out for gigging though / playing live. I just cannot relax the same way I can when not playing live.
Getting old
I just don’t want to deal with it. It is fun and a rush but I don’t really miss the whole band drama thing. And the three of us were best friends when we did it; I can’t imagine doing it now with people I barely knew.
Same goes for jamming with strangers. It can be fun but these days I just have no desire to do it.
I like our setup now; my bandmate and I just work on stuff on our own time, and sent it to each other. Eventually I mix and master it. A bit slow but works great and is very, very chill.
He might be able to visit this year for a few weeks, would be awesome to jam then.
That’s kind of the setup I want to do. Well, it actually is the setup I do - but it’s mainly just me, and then occasionally (completely ad hoc, not planned at all) a mate might come round and contribute bits and then I mess about with it all later. All separate from the band.
I dunno, maybe the band is just experiencing growing pains.