bassace

PJB Earbox

I used to play in a band that had ‘I get the blues when it rains’ in its repertoire. And whenever we played at a wedding we always insisted on playing ‘Who’s sorry now’. No point in raising expectations unduly.

Perhaps it’s because the bass prefers jazz over rock.

Great stuff Michael. All us bass players stuck in the corner deserve a ‘good stage’ now and again.

Just photos. And memories.

Blimey, they’re clapping on two and four!

I’ve been wedded to the DB for 50 years but before that it was the most uncool thing when BGs showed up. So I went up to a shop in London to buy a Jazz. But fell for an EBO because it was so damn easy to play. Both were priced at £100 and I took the Gibson and used it for a number of years. Finally sold it for £1,000 but I rather wish I had bought the Fender.

Post Office?

No low cut/hi pass, or do I get it another way?

We had a half decent trad band in Cheltenham in the sixties. It wasn’t really our thing but it was commercial. We organised a tour of Cornwall in 63: RN Culdrose, Newlyn Fishmarket, that sort of thing. Our final gig was at the Flamingo Ballroom at Redruth. When we arrived we were met by the owner, Joy Hone, who told us that Georgie Fame was staying at her adjoining hotel recovering from sunburn. As we were setting up he came up on the stage, sat at the piano and played Dat Dere with me on bass and our alto sax player. Not many trad bands would play that. We returned the compliment by booking him and the Blue Flames into Cheltenham a few weeks later. For £50, as I recall. Happy days.

Dear Paul did the same with me. Going out his front door it was a case of ‘Don’t you want my address?’ ‘Oh I suppose so’. Lovely bass.

It’s called the green room from the mould on the wall.

Just settling down after coming in from the wind and rain may I be permitted to hijack this? In my younger days there was a group on tv a lot called the Hedley Ward Trio. The DB player played a shortened double bass looking a bit like a CzechEase but a long time before David Gage, on a long stick. He explained that it was a Bassette known among musos at the time as a little bastard. I’ve never found any reference since until only recently I saw an ad for an old instrument with a 97cm scale length called a Bassetto. Anyone?

How do you get that under your chin? By keeping my f**king mouth shut!

When I was ‘very busy’ playing with a seven piece I used a Clarus on top of a 10” EA Wizzy on top of a 12” EA Wizzy. It’s not always a good idea to mix disparate cabs; more a suck it and see exercise. But this worked very well with the 10” somehow putting a firmer bottom into the combination. For smaller gigs I could get away with using just the 12”. Recently I’ve tended to use a Tecamp Puma on a Genzler array but my smaller Wizzy is definitely a keeper, especially with a trio or quartet on a carpeted stage.

I hope this has come across from the tube. Quite good I thought. https://youtu.be/g0OgxixunK4?feature=shared

Dave, It’s a Broughton HPF-DI with variable HPF, variable impedance, switchable phase and DI (which I don’t use). I went from FDeck to Grace, back to FDeck and finally to Broughton which is my preferred option. Broughton come up with short runs of high quality gizmos from time but you’ve got to catch them.