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The Bass Centre, Birmingham circa 1997. The story: Been learning a few months on a cheap Ibanez, still pretty crap & no amp - practicing through my cheap midi hifi. Amazing talented bass player in my best mates band takes too many psychedelics at the time and takes a trip to jam with Buddah and disappears for many years to come. I have his bass for a few months and get asked to join my best mates band. Little did I know at the time was that this heavy bitch of a bass I borrowed of the first bassist was a Jaydee. Meanwhile Buddha bass get his bass returned to his parents and then loses the Jaydee, or gave it away I believe, on a pilgrimage in India. Anyhow, the bass centre - plans to buy a Squire and used Peavy TNT amp (super heavyweight), saved the money - on budget. Travel from Shropshire to Birmingham with the vocalist in his 76 bay window VW Camper and it sort of turns into a bit of a Cheech & Chong journey…smoke everywhere and not just from the VW. Anyway, arriving somewhat spiraled eyed I end up stoned beyond all comprehension and sign my first ever loan…Stingray & Trace Elliot combo…bloody skint, great times, great shop - long live listening to Funkadelic! 🤩

I drove past Bell's yesterday. It's now a Hairdressers!!

It was after about 20 or 30 mins - it wasn’t helped by the fact it was snowing outside so the customers were all outside playing snowballs. New guy just wanted to close up as only people left inside was us.

Lovely, really! 😍

I'd have thought he'd have already done it 5 years ago! 😂

Wow! That sounds gorgeous

I have one of these amps, and I've had the cover off a few times to replace failed/crackly pots in the preamp board. I'll pop the cover off and take some pictures when I get a moment. These would be the big electrolytic, yes?

After how long? I played a pub in Worthing where, after figuring we needed to watch our volume, we were asked to turn down after the first number. When they made the same request after the second number, we were asked to stop playing and got the full fee.

I would love this bass for the sound alone.

Waltzing Back - Stranglers (Keith Floyd)

Luscious. May I suggest 2 bottom strap buttons so that you can lean it against something and it does not tip over? I cannot count how many times I have put my Tele down in the house and loved that aspect of it.

maybe you can list 5 that you had that was "Cream of the Crop" of your bass load ?

Oh yes. Way better than any glimpse at a Health and Efficiency. Proper smut for the aspiring and skint adolescent musician.

Ainsley Harriet advises you to give your meat a good old rub - Raised By Owls

Is that a young Jez Woodroffe (wearing glasses)?

I do. Don’t like it, tho.

I bought my very first bass guitar from Deans just along from the Stage Door in 1982. It was a Kay "Les Paul sort of shaped" thing! 😁 It was awful but got me started. About a year later I part exed it for a Hondo II at Bulmers in York. Bulmers wasnt a music shop as such but sold second hand goods. As they stocked a lot of used music gear and PA it was a haven for us skint kids. Before venturing into proper music shops like Deans the closest I came to a shop was receiving the Bells Music catalogue which I obsessed over, probably driving my parents mad. 🙄 It was a sad day when I found out that a big part of my adolescent life had ceased. Another shop I miss is Mars Music in Houston. I moved to the States for a few years with work and obviously checked out the local shops. This particular one just blew my mind when I first visited it. It was huge and seemed to stock everything. Penny whistle? Certainly Sir. Double bass? Check out our selection in the string department. Bass guitars? Sorry Sir our stock is quite depleted at the moment were down to the couple of hundred on display! 😲 It even had a full stage, lighting and PA set up permanently in the middle of the shop which they put on gear demonstrations and clinics. The whole place could have been an aircraft hanger. As with many places now long gone.

Have you still got the BWB, as it really ties in the blocks

Bought a Spectracomp from Simon,rapidly despatch and well packaged. Many thanks!