julietgreen Posted June 13, 2020 Share Posted June 13, 2020 Well lockdown has forced me to play my first bass solos - jamming on Jamulus and not having enough soloists to give the keyboard player a break. Hilarious but no pressure. It made me think of the other first times for bass, like the first ever gig. I'd been playing a couple of months when Chris Gibbons (guitar) told me I was going to play with him at a charity gig. Parts of it were ok! I described my first ever sit in on a jazz gig not so long ago. That was kind of breakthrough. One day I'll do my first gig on the DB! That one might be a good while in the future. What about you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicbassman Posted June 13, 2020 Share Posted June 13, 2020 In 1968 the band I played 'rhythm guitar' with (using a Watkins Rapier 33) packed up after its first disastrous gig at a local yoof club, and I then decided to change to bass. My first bass I bought was this Danelectro Longhorn, from a local secondhand shop for £45. By the way, the white toggle switches were made of wood. I bet the later reissues were plastic. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted June 13, 2020 Share Posted June 13, 2020 2 hours ago, musicbassman said: In 1968 the band I played 'rhythm guitar' with (using a Watkins Rapier 33) packed up after its first disastrous gig at a local yoof club, and I then decided to change to bass. My first bass I bought was this Danelectro Longhorn, from a local secondhand shop for £45. By the way, the white toggle switches were made of wood. I bet the later reissues were plastic. At least if you died on stage, you could use this to dig your own grave. 2 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casapete Posted June 13, 2020 Share Posted June 13, 2020 3 hours ago, musicbassman said: In 1968 the band I played 'rhythm guitar' with (using a Watkins Rapier 33) packed up after its first disastrous gig at a local yoof club, and I then decided to change to bass. My first bass I bought was this Danelectro Longhorn, from a local secondhand shop for £45. By the way, the white toggle switches were made of wood. I bet the later reissues were plastic. You still got the Dano? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicbassman Posted June 13, 2020 Share Posted June 13, 2020 1 hour ago, casapete said: You still got the Dano? I very foolishly buggered it up in the early '70's by sending it up to John Birch in Birmingham to have a R... (don't mention that word) pup fitted, to try and beef up the sound. But apart from being a bit louder there was no difference. I didn't understand at the time how important string length was on a bass, so I was really just trying to get the frequencies of a 34" string out of a 30" string. The Danelectro was extremely light and was made of a hardboard face and back with a hollow body. There was no way the poor thing was ever going to produce useful bass frequencies, and really only suited pick playing. So, a stylish and some might say iconic bass ruined through my ignorance. I eventually sold it to a guitarist friend and don't know what happened to it after that. I cannot remember where the R... pup came from, it was one of the early ones with a split magnet shroud. Here I am using the Dan with the pup fitted at some gig around 1973. I changed to a P soon after this.... Yes, and my hair was this long! 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casapete Posted June 13, 2020 Share Posted June 13, 2020 Great pic! Unusual mod on the Dano, John Birch modified so many basses back then. I’ve had a few Longhorns and really like them. Still got one, a late 90’s Korean model and it's one of those basses I can’t see me parting with. Sorry for the thread derail! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maude Posted June 13, 2020 Share Posted June 13, 2020 It looks great with the horseshoe pickup. Has it got standard bass tuners rather than the little guitar ones? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicbassman Posted June 13, 2020 Share Posted June 13, 2020 33 minutes ago, Maude said: Has it got standard bass tuners rather than the little guitar ones? Can't remember - maybe John Birch changed the tuners as well - they don't look like the originals, do they ? I realise the picture was taken at Stockton Fiesta, a big cabaret nightclub there at the time. Long gone, I expect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maude Posted June 13, 2020 Share Posted June 13, 2020 21 minutes ago, musicbassman said: Can't remember - maybe John Birch changed the tuners as well - they don't look like the originals, do they ? I realise the picture was taken at Stockton Fiesta, a big cabaret nightclub there at the time. Long gone, I expect. And a curly lead for added coolness. I spy a thunderbird guitar as well don't I? A very cool picture. 😎 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casapete Posted June 13, 2020 Share Posted June 13, 2020 39 minutes ago, Maude said: And a curly lead for added coolness. I spy a thunderbird guitar as well don't I? A very cool picture. 😎 Gibson Firebird in the background I think. Machine heads on the Dano definitely not original, look like 70’s Schallers maybe? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
machinehead Posted June 13, 2020 Share Posted June 13, 2020 10 hours ago, musicbassman said: In 1968 the band I played 'rhythm guitar' with (using a Watkins Rapier 33) packed up after its first disastrous gig at a local yoof club, and I then decided to change to bass. My first bass I bought was this Danelectro Longhorn, from a local secondhand shop for £45. By the way, the white toggle switches were made of wood. I bet the later reissues were plastic. I've still got my Watkins Rapier 33. I've owned it for almost 50 years. Should I change the strings? Frank. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted June 14, 2020 Share Posted June 14, 2020 1 hour ago, machinehead said: I've still got my Watkins Rapier 33. I've owned it for almost 50 years. Should I change the strings? I had a Rapier 33, picked it up at a local car boot along with a ruined Kay Strat copy, think I paid £12 for the both. The Rapier was a really cool & interesting old guitar, played not bad after a bit of work. Lots of curious details - set neck, no truss rod, and fitted with switches from a Morphy-Richards hairdryer. Can't remember the specifics now but the trem impressed me with its simplicity & compactness. Odd finish, almost like it had been plastic-coated, unfortunately quite badly cracked. Mine dated to '62 as far as I could work out - which, if I got it right, made it the only YOB instrument I've ever owned. Seems they were real garden-shed jobs back in the early days, hand-wound pickups & whatever components could be put to use - hence the switches, I guess. That's one I sort of wish I'd hung onto, doubt I'll run into another. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikel Posted June 14, 2020 Share Posted June 14, 2020 A mate taught me 5 chords at a party. Blues in A and E. We learned half a dozen songs in said keys and played a gig at a CIU club in West Alotment in 1967. I was 15 and also had to sing in public for the first time. I bet the miners and their wives just loved it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SICbass Posted June 14, 2020 Share Posted June 14, 2020 6 hours ago, machinehead said: I've still got my Watkins Rapier 33. I've owned it for almost 50 years. Should I change the strings? Frank. Why the rush? 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicbassman Posted June 14, 2020 Share Posted June 14, 2020 Sorry for completely derailing your thread, Juliet...... 😳 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted June 14, 2020 Share Posted June 14, 2020 13 hours ago, machinehead said: I've still got my Watkins Rapier 33. I've owned it for almost 50 years. Should I change the strings? Frank. If you want to play Metal. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julietgreen Posted June 15, 2020 Author Share Posted June 15, 2020 On 14/06/2020 at 08:35, musicbassman said: Sorry for completely derailing your thread, Juliet...... 😳 😂Is there a thread called 'bass guitars I have owned'? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted June 15, 2020 Share Posted June 15, 2020 26 minutes ago, julietgreen said: 😂Is there a thread called 'bass guitars I have owned'? There's probably a dozen. But we couldn't talk about old 1960s 6-string guitars we've owned there, could we? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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