Staggering on

Hmmmmm... I think I meant younger than some of you with a few approaching me, I'll be 79 in a couple of weeks! 😊

A bit of an odd one last Friday for the seven piece swing/jazz standards band. ! 100 years ago North Bay was incorporated as a city and there are many events going on to mark this and we played at the Italian club's old style dinner dance at their hall. An hour of cocktail music and then they fed us and the 160 guests and at about 8:30 we started our dance sets that included some Italian songs. The crowd was older and although we had a few dancers and others who sat around to listen to us we knew it was going to be a earlier night than they planned. We played two sets and finished not long after 10:30. Great food(prime rib) and I had chats with some of the attendees so all in all not bad and the ten or so Italian tunes we learned went over OK and we had some compliments on our music. As usual my weapon of choice was my Shen SB100 straight into our Bose PA. We were set up in a corner in a fairly large hall so we had no idea how it actually sounded. Downside is that after 7 years as a band the drummer decided to quit the next day after enduring a lot of hassles and criticism from the trumpet player. I am also a target but so far I can handle it, she is a music teacher and sometimes likes to treat us like one of her school students. She is often right but her attitude is the problem and no one ever calls her on her mistakes, very frustrating but I like the rest of the band and the music so I am hanging in. We have a good dep drummer for the next couple of gigs in May and June and BL is starting a search for another drummer, the one who quit is very good and was an asset to the band. Life goes on.

Good gig Saturday night with the seven piece swing/Dixie band and we had our guest vocalist with us again. BL rented a small hall where we have played before and we had around 50+ that included a number of folks who had never seen us and a bunch of our regulars. We also had about six musicians in the audience that most of us had played with in the past or present in other bands, that was a bit different but they all seemed to enjoy the show. I was particularly pleased at the end when the best jazz guitarist in our area and his wife who plays bass complimented me on my playing and especially the sound of my bass. They both wanted to try the bass and checked out my pickup and we had a really nice chat. I have met both of them several times and they have seen me play but I must have been doing something right for them to spend so much time with me after the show. We did our usual three sets, two of swing/jazz and a shorter set of trad/Dixie where I switch to tenor banjo and the sax players go to clarinet and bari sax to play a bass line. The Dixie set was a bit rough with two new songs that we had only played once in rehearsal but all in all a good night. No photos but I was using my Shen SB 100 straight into the Bose PA and the banjo was acoustic, the horns aren't mic'd so I could hold my own in a room that size.

I finally pushed a bit at our seven piece swing band rehearsal last night. One of our members is a music teacher and we can use the music room in her school for rehearsals for free but we almost always leave things where they are in the room to avoid moving the drums. Lately that has had me (DB with my own amp) and the keys at the front of the room and the drummer about 30 feet away at the back of the room with the horns set up between us. It is a terrible way to set up and means that the rhythm section can't hear each other but last night I strongly suggested ( not normal for me) that we should make the effort to move things and it made a huge difference. We have been gigging for about 8 years together and this was the best rehearsal in a long time, when we gig we set up like this so it makes sense to rehearse that way. Glad I raised the issue and so was our guest vocalist who really liked that she could hear the band the way it would sound on a gig. I used to dread these rehearsals but I'm looking forward to next week and will make sure we will set up the same way. 😊

Definite no for me. I have never been in that exact situation but I went to a few rehearsals of a jazz quintet where the very good keys player played a bass line that left no place for me and when I said this to him he changed it a bit but not much so I told the band they didn't need a bass player and walked.

I sometimes practice DB by 'air bowing' and while the left hand fingering exercise helps, the real improvement is the right hand where I can practice up and down bowing as I read the music and also string choice and string crossings, it really helps me a lot and all I need is the music.

Living in the future! That 2034 Dacia must be quite a car.😀

That would have been the case in the past perhaps but it is a very different world now with a mad man running loose and many people in his country condoning his actions or ignoring things and carrying on the "mom and apple pie and Friday night high school sports" life that many of them have enjoyed for decades. Very scary.

Yeah, let's move that up about 85 years. He's planning to get Canada first, things are tense here these days with the new tariffs announced yesterday. Can you say "loose cannon"? Very scary. For the last few weeks a number of groups here have started "Buy Canadian" campaigns, not sure how much good it will do but at least it feels good to NOT buy products from the USA. Many Canadians who spend the winter in the southern part of the USA are rethinking their plans, partly due to the tariffs and politics and made more serious by a very weak Canadian dollar compared to the American dollar. 😟

I have two DB's and a Yamaha SLB 200 and although I rarely play it at home I often use it for rehearsals and gigs where space is limited and also for informal jams with friends. It's easy to haul around and I have a small combo amp to use with it or at a gig I go into the PA. I have used it for rehearsals and gigs with jazz bands and also a bluegrass band, EUB's are being used by more bluegrass/roots bands over here although DB is what I use for most gigs. I would have to admit that it stays in its case at home most of the time, I much prefer to practice on DB but is a useful instrument to have and on some gigs where I am playing DB I will take the Yamaha as a backup just in case I have a problem with the DB, they are rather fragile beasts. I guess the only downside is that if you get an EUB it may lead you into the crazy world of upright basses and soon you will lusting after "the real thing" and you might go to a BC DB bash like I did in 2018 and end up with two DB's and bows and all the fun stuff that having a DB leads to. My lesson is this afternoon so it's time to practice, on a DB of course.😊 Edit: Another issue is cost, the Yamaha is more than twice the price of my laminate DB's.🙄

Laminated is the way to go I think. I have a '70's Czech laminated bass that is loud acoustically with Spiros and amplifies well too and has been played inside and out in all kinds of weather with no problems. Some bluegrass bassists play carved basses but they are more fragile and more sensitive to heat and humidity. On this side of the Atlantic old Kays and other US made ply basses are the most common for bluegrass/roots music. Set up and strings are important especially if you plan to play some slap and as usual with anything DB related there are many opinions on what is best and you will have to find what works for your bass and your style of playing. Good luck, upright will change your life...in a good way.😊

My teacher uses one on his lovely carved bass and once it has been adjusted and in the right position with the right pressure it sounds great. He also used it on another carved bass with good results. He tried my Acoustic Image Coda amp and it sounded amazing but also sounded good through my Traynor SB112 and that combo was used in a concert. I think it is like a lot of pickups, some work better on certain basses than others and most piezo pickups need adjusting to get the best sound. The Band probably sounds best with a carved or hybrid bass.

I built this a few years ago and still use it. I forged the metal part but you could use other metal pieces or more wood to make the receiver for the neck. It is a snug fit with foam rubber for the neck and a velcro strap to hold the neck in place. I also used a piece of wood and steel on the floor to guide the end pin so it is always the right distance from the wall and the bass has a slight lean to the wall. Finally I put a small cushion on the wall the keep the bass from moving once it is standing in place and then cover the whole thing with an old sheet to keep dust off. I have used it with two different basses with no problems. Not sure how it would stand up to a toddler or a cat but it works for me.

I believe there is some question as to whether Kolstein's is still in business. they have had some serious financial issues and the New York store is closed and empty. There was/is another branch in Florida I think run by the person who bought the business a couple(?) of years ago. Lots of stories on TB and questions re availability of their basses, strings and rosin. Lots of rumours, not sure where to get the truth about all this.

Looks like a lot of fun, I'd love a gig like that.😊👏