Staggering on

I always thought "Hello in there" (released in 1971) was a fine song but over the years my feelings about the song have changed. I was a young guitar player folk music guy when I first heard it and as the song and I get older it touches me in different ways. I'll be 74 in May, and somehow that young guitar player has disappeared and now there is an old guy who might very well be the subject of the song. I still think it is a wonderful song though...

Thank you, I'll pass that comment on to the seamstress, she took on the job as an interesting challenge complete with making a pattern and a fabric prototype before actually sewing up the final version. 😊

I downloaded some ABBA bass transcriptions just before this thread started and dug out my electric bass(I usually play DB these days) and have had a ball playing the lines with the CD blasting away. Some interesting and tricky licks and many of them are in keys that challenge my reading skills. Lots of fun and good energy for these difficult times.😊

I'm up for another trip to England, I guess we have to wait for a while though...😟

Would your 150 year old bass be the one I saw and photographed at the Double Bass Bash near Bicester in April 2018? That day sealed my fate as a bass player and within two months I bought the upright you see in the photo to go along with the Yamaha SLB 200 that I had been using and that is rarely played now that I have a "real" bass.

Yup, it's an Engle and it works for me.😊

I noticed that I was getting a few marks on Marilyn (my blonde beauty) from belts, jean rivets and other bits of clothing so I asked a friend who is a very creative seamstress if she could make a bib for the bass. After some searching on the net we decided that the bib that Christian McBride sometimes uses would be a good one to copy. Mine is made of two layers of black velveteen and was custom made to fit my bass snugly, the two ties hold it securely in place. So far I have been using it daily for a week or so and it hasn't moved or wrinkled at all and it does its job perfectly. I use it at home and band rehearsals and may use it when we ever get back to playing gigs.☹️ Now if only I could find something that makes my playing sound like Christian McBride...😉

I have had a Fusion case for close to ten years and it is holding up well and is light and easy to carry and pack in a vehicle.

Wonderful!

Twenty-three years as a high school teacher (geography, English, music) and loved every minute of it. I was very involved in everything from outdoor education to drama and music productions but after one of my best years I left because I was worried about becoming one of those teachers who hated the job and the kids. Friends, colleagues, family and students were surprised and many to this day can't believe I would leave a very secure job that I loved and was good at part way through my career. I took a farrier course and for the next twenty-seven years I worked on horses in a large area of Northern Ontario. It meant a lot of driving but I loved the work had a successful career working on horses every day and seeing some interesting places and meeting some great people. Unfortunately I had to retire from that business a year ago at age 72 when I developed some serious wrist/hand/finger problems and was advised to quit before it got worse. So now I play in two bands with stiff and sore hands and play in the occasional theatre pit band(Cabaret coming up in May) and try to stay busy and in shape while enjoying life in the country in a house I built 40 years ago when I moved here from Toronto. I have been gigging since I was 16 and hope to continue for as long as possible.

Good song, good musicians, good video...I loved that, makes me feel good! 😊 ....nice bass too...👍

My car (Hyundai Elantra GT Hatchback) has plenty of room for my bass but it is awkward to load and unload due to the drop from the lip of the hatch opening to the floor. In the past I loaded the bass flat on its back onto some pillows and then turned it so it was on its side with the neck stuck through between the front seats. To make things easier I put together a frame from 11/2" PVC pipe that is level with the hatch opening and I slide the bass in on the "rails" and can guide the neck so the scroll goes between the seats easily without any contact. I put a strap over the bass and a pillow at the back where the endpin is so it can't move back and is held snugly in place when I close the hatch. Two things to note: 1)the bass is a ply bass and heavy but very strongly built 2) I checked with my luthier and he felt this would be fine for this bass, in fact that's how I took it to his shop and back home again. I have used this system a number of times now for rehearsals and gigs and it makes the loading/unloading part of the trip much easier. For clarity I did not show the quilt that I put over the frame when I actually use it. You might not want to use this system for your expensive carved bass but it works for me.

It seems they like to work on bass players, look what happened to my head!

Jazz quartet gig last night in a small club that was packed with a mixture of our regulars and a lot of folks who hadn't heard us before. I had been in a bit of a blue funk for a few days about life in general but that crowd and the way our band played lifted me up as soon as we started the first song, it was one of those nights where we played really well and the audience appreciated it, one to remember. We've been together for over eight years and played a lot of gigs and every once in a while it all comes together perfectly and makes for a memorable evening. We gained some new followers as well and that is always a good thing. I was especially happy because it was the first gig since I had my DB set up a couple of weeks ago and it sounded totally different and much better than a cheap ply bass should and I got a lot of positive comments from band members and others. Money well spent. Hard to get to sleep after that gig, a great night.😊

Actually a "washtub" bass and I made one in the 70's and had a lot of fun with it. In the US and Canada these things were/are the equivalent to the tea chest basses that developed in the UK,there is a shortage of tea chests on this side of the Atlantic. I can't wait to see how this build goes, and of course we will expect to hear it! 😊

Yup, those are the ones, and they are surprisingly cheap and come in a pack of 10. For a long cable I sometimes use two of them at opposite sides of the cable loop to keep things nice and neat. They look quite flimsy but have held up well for me.

For my bass cables (from 6' to 30') and the band mic cables we use the D'Addario PW-ECT-10 elastic cable ties. They clip to the cable and stretch to fit the coil. I've been using these for several years with no problems and no fails. They fit most cables except for very thick ones and they stay on the cable well.

Definite improvement in sound and volume, mostly due to getting the sound post back to where it belongs. There was some damage about ten years ago when the original owner had it and I believe the sound post fell and was put in the the wrong place by the person who did the repairs, almost two inches from where it is now. The bridge feet were also contoured for a better fit to the top and that may have affected the sound too. The new adjusters work well and the top profile of the bridge was reworked for better bowing although I only bow while practicing at home, I can't inflict my poor technique and scratchy sound on anyone yet. The volume and tone from string to string are more uniform now and the E and A sound "like a real bass" instead of a dull thud, especially when played without the amp, while the D and G sound clearer than they did, particularly at the G to B on the D string and C to F on the G, not the dull "woody" way they sounded before the work was done. Although no work was done on the nut and the bridge height is about the same it just feels better to play, more sensitive and easier on my left hand. Perhaps not quite "like butter" but I can still make some adjustments with the bridge now and find the perfect height for me. He did some sanding on the fingerboard and that may be why it feels different. It also sounds better through my amp as I had hoped, cleaner and clearer than it was. All in all a good investment, now I know why so many on here have urged us to have a good luthier do a set up based on how we as individuals play so we can get the most out of our instruments. One very important thing is that Paul, the luthier, treated me and my cheap ply bass with respect and didn't trash talk my bass and try to sell me one of the Shens or other basses that I tried in his shop, although he was certainly aware there was a strong aura of GAS around me. So two trips of 780km each and $320CD and I am a happy old guy, now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to play my "new" bass. 😊

Not going to happen, that band was so long ago('70's) there was no way to video, probably a good thing actually.🙂

Love it, reminds me of a band I was in where the vocalist played a snare with brushes and a hi hat, and we were also a Canadian band! 👏🇨🇦

Just got the word my Engelhardt Swingmaster ES 9 will be ready for me to bring home from the luthier tomorrow. Among other things the bridge has been fitted with adjusters, the sound post has been moved quite a distance, and some work was done on the fingerboard. I have had it for over a year and a half now and have used it on a lot of gigs and decided it was time for someone to do some work on it. Unfortunately there is no one near me so I took it to Stand Up Guy Bass, a one man operation in Toronto which is a 4.5 hour trip each way from here. He sells and repairs basses only and seems to be reasonable person and didn't make any of the usual comments when I told him what kind of bass I had, saying if it works for me that's all that matters. So I'll be on the road early tomorrow and be back tomorrow evening to give it a workout and see what it sounds like through my own amp...pretty exciting stuff for an old guy.😊

The phrase "contrary bugger" in the previous post pretty much fits me I think, and of course the fact that bass is 'different'. Edit: The "contrary" part also applies to my choice of instruments I guess. Engelhardt DB(one of those love it or loathe it things), a Yamaha SLB 200 EUB( "you paid how much for that thing?"), Yamaha RBX750A EB( anyone ever even heard of these?) AND(wait for it!) I play tenor banjo in one band I'm in.

Steady now, there are a few banjo players on here, well at least there's one...me.😉

Good one, but does anyone know what language the writing is? Surely that would be a guide to the origins of the bass...or am I missing something here.

That looks like a good idea. I love the Planet waves micro and have several and use them on my EB,EUB,DB, guitar, banjo and mandolin and have never had a problem. I occasionally use a pedal tuner but most of the time I prefer the D'Addario which is almost invisible to everyone but me, I don't like big things stuck on my instruments and I find them distracting when I see people using them at gigs, but that's just me. Another good thing is that I can leave them on the instruments when I put them in their cases or gig bags.