bassace

The DJ hasn’t arrived yet so the stage is clear for you to set up on.

Wow!! Something I never achieved. But wanted to.

Amazing!

Jazz musicians never play the same phrase once.

Hi Nick Thanks for asking. I just got old and it’s about time I stopped. I’m 82 now and nobody has got any business inflicting themselves on an audience at that age. Mind you, I’ve still got a bit of gear and a nice double bass.

The difference between a jazz guitarist and a 12” pizza? The latter will feed a family of four.

Just as a heads up, I have a Genz Benz 3.0 Shuttle Combo advertised in Amps and Cabs for Sale. It has a 10” cab and weighs in at 18 lbs and is perfect for in an out DB gigs. I’m only getting rid of it because I’m not playing anymore. Heres a pic of the controls, including the versatile eq section.

Yes, I’ve still got BA55 ACE but it’s on retention as I don’t play anymore. I run around on my wife’s number. Which is BA55 MRS - no, only kidding.

I started out in the fifties. Money was still tight post war so we didn’t have anything like the goodies we take for granted today. We all still owe a lot to Lonnie Donegan who kicked off the skiffle movement and with it the ability to play music on the most rudimentary materials, such as tea chest bass and washboard which was my starter instrument. It wasn’t long before I graduated to double bass which I bought new for £45. Recording was single track, unsophisticated, but we had a very nice reel to reel Ferrograph. I met up with Guy and Ted Fletcher and recording time was curtailed because we had plenty of gigs coming in. But I remember Ted made me a simple compressor - the first TFPro model? - soldered together which didn’t seem to have many components apart from a 2v light bulb that glowed dimly or brightly according to the strength of my amped signal. Amp was a 50 watt Leak with KT 88 outputs. At the same time my younger brother cobbled a bass guitar together, with a body made from two sheets of blockboard glued together and a hand crafted fretless neck - a very early fretless indeed - because he didn’t have the skills to put the frets in. The pickup was canibalised from a moving coil headphone earpiece. The Fletchers went on to do very well in the business but I kept music as a hobby. Happy days

Those were the days, and I also had a laminate in the garage. But I’ve only got one bass now.

Great, inspiring story. Congrats!

I’ve always thought that slapping the bass is like the guy who plays the spoons. Or the female contortionist. Doesn’t add much to the whole scheme of things.

This is what I do if I need to slacken strings or take the bridge off. You can see the spacer I made to go between the end of the fingerboard and the top of the bass. It keeps the pressure on the soundpost. Blue towel optional (!).

I’ve done a few gigs in my time - maybe a few thousand even - and have mostly used my best bass, even in pubs. As I’ve previously said I’d hate my gravestone to say ‘he had a better bass at home’. The main exception has been outdoor gigs when I’ve always taken a laminate, just in case it rains or the sun is too strong. I’ve found the bass to be a resilient instrument, the main weakness in my experience being the tail wire. I’ve had three go over the years, once while I was playing, with dramatic results, and the other two while tuning up before the gig. My advice is if you find that your tail wire is solid, like a piece of welding rod, replace it as soon as with a length of multi- strand rigging cable. I’ve never taken any back up bass with me, just a set of strings, duplicate leads and a spare amp top.

Heard of ‘cutting’?

Oh, that is worrying. I hope he’s OK, he did a great job of work on my Bryant.

We obviously need another DB Bash. But where?

Thumb for show, nut for dough.

Must be the curse of Symphony Hall. I went to see Tony Bennett a couple of years ago and he sang the same song twice. Otherwise great though.

Could it be a dry joint in a valve base? It happened to me with a home built preamp - there weren’t too many bass specific in those days. I was working behind a very highly regarded female sax player - OK, it was Kathy Stobart - who turned round to me in frustration and asked ‘What do you think you’re playing, a Geiger counter?’

That’s a beautiful tune. I’ve been playing it with soloists, vocalists and within quartets for over fifty years. It’s a staple of jazzers and any group should be able to play it if called. it was written by Jimmy Van Heusen. Born Chester Babcock he changed his name after seeing a shirt advert. He was a prolific composer of great standards and a keen flyer with his own plane. He did test pilot duties for Lockheed in WW2. His tunes moved the American songbook repertoire along a bit from the output of George Gershwin, Cole Porter et al whose tunes sound a bit pedestrian in comparison. Check out JvH’s extensive output on Wiki. Also Harry Warren’s while you’re about it.