Top 10 Bassists Who Were Originally Guitarists
A lot of times, when a band is starting out, one of the trickiest musicians to find is a bass player. Oftentimes, a guitarist in a band will have to learn bass guitar, or a guitarist seeking work will take up the bass to get into a band.
This usually has an effect on the playing style. Guitarists who convert to bass have a tendency to use a pick more often and play more complex bass lines.
Feel free to add to this list.
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Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born June 18, 1942) is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and composer. With John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, he gained worldwide fame as a member of the rock band The Beatles, one of the most popular and influential groups in the history of pop... read more
The Beatles originally had three guitarists, with Stuart Sutcliffe playing bass. After Stuart left the band, they decided that one of them would have to play bass. Reluctantly, Paul did it.
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Lemmy Kilmister
Ian Fraser Kilmister, known as Lemmy, was an English musician, singer, and songwriter who founded and fronted the rock band Motörhead. He was a bassist and singer known for his raspy voice and aggressive playing style. He died in 2015 from prostate cancer, cardiac arrhythmia, and congestive heart failure... read more
Lemmy had never played bass until the members of Hawkwind cajoled him into doing a benefit gig with them, which led to him becoming a full-time member. This explains why his style is so unusual: he treated the bass like a rhythm guitar.
He played bass in a unique way. That's what made him so good.
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Noel Redding
Noel David Redding was an English rock bassist and guitarist. He was best known as the bassist for the Jimi Hendrix Experience, contributing to classic albums such as Are You Experienced and Axis: Bold as Love. Redding later performed with his own band, Fat Mattress, and remained active in music until... read more
Noel had always been a guitarist in his earlier bands. He never played bass until he started working with Jimi Hendrix.
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Geezer Butler
Terence Michael Joseph "Geezer" Butler is an English musician and songwriter. He is best known as the bassist and primary lyricist for the pioneering heavy metal band Black Sabbath. Butler's lyrics often explored themes of religion, politics, and fantasy, helping to define the band's dark and brooding... read more
Originally, Geezer was a rhythm guitarist. But when he and Tony Iommi founded Black Sabbath, Tony did not want another guitarist in the band, so Geezer moved to bass.
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Carol Kaye
Originally a jazz guitarist, she began playing rhythm guitar at rock and roll recording sessions because she needed the money. Then one day, the session bassist failed to show up, and the other musicians drafted her into playing bass. She ended up becoming one of the most prolific session bassists of all time.
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Greg Lake
Gregory Stuart Lake was an English bassist, guitarist, singer, songwriter, and producer. He rose to prominence as a founding member of the progressive rock bands King Crimson and Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Lake was influential in the development of progressive rock during the 1970s.
Originally a guitarist and singer, he was taught to play bass while in King Crimson because Robert Fripp didn't want to have to look for a bass player.
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Rick Danko
Richard Clare "Rick" Danko was a Canadian musician, bassist, singer, and songwriter. He gained fame as a member of The Band, one of the most influential rock groups of the 1960s and 1970s. Danko contributed lead vocals to several of the group's notable songs.
Some time after he joined Ronnie Hawkins' backing band, Ronnie fired his original bassist, Rebel Paine, so he told Rick to learn the bass. He did, and he and the rest of the Hawks eventually became The Band.
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Walter Becker
From Steely Dan, Donald Fagen started to work with Walter after hearing him practice his guitar playing. When they formed Steely Dan, Walter played bass on their first few albums and live shows. He eventually began playing guitar again after meeting session bassist Chuck Rainey, who played on the rest of their work.
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Boz Burrell
Best known for being the bassist for Bad Company (and to a lesser extent, King Crimson). His story is similar to Greg Lake's. He was originally supposed to be the lead singer and rhythm guitarist for King Crimson, but their bassist, Rick Kemp, left the band after only two weeks. The other members taught him how to play bass.
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Mike Dirnt
Michael Ryan Pritchard, known professionally as Mike Dirnt, is an American musician best known for being the co-founder, bassist, backing, and occasional lead vocalist of the American punk rock band Green Day. He formed the band with Billie Joe Armstrong in 1987. Green Day achieved major success with... read more
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Davide Biale
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Dave Farrell
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Andy Bell
From Oasis. Originally the guitarist for the bands Ride and Hurricane #1, he became the replacement for Oasis bassist Paul McGuigan despite never playing bass before. He went back to playing guitar after Oasis disbanded and the remaining members formed the band Beady Eye.
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Shavo Odadjian
Shavo Odajian is an Armenian-American bassist, musician, and composer best known for his work with the band System of a Down. During the band's hiatus, he formed a rap-rock group called North Kingsley, which features Ray Hawthorne as the lead vocalist and primary lyricist. North Kingsley has released... read more
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Chris Hillman
He has said in numerous interviews that his first instrument was acoustic guitar, and he took up mandolin later as his interest in country music was sparked. His third instrument was bass guitar, but he was not a bassist until the inception of The Byrds.