Staggering on

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.

This is me but I've never been able to put it into words. Thank you and I am going to try to use it to make 2020 a very good year, or at least a more satisfying year...so many things to do and at 73 I need to get going.

Afternoon NYE gig for the jazz standards quartet at a nursing home. We have done this several years now and start at 1:30PM after the residents/patients make their way to the big recreation room. With staff and family members at least 120 people and some are able to dance, some are in wheelchairs and some are brought in right in their beds. It's a bit bizarre but we are used to it now and have a good time as the audience sings, taps, claps ,nods or dances(even in wheelchairs!) as we move through our carefully chosen two sets. We play less than an hour and a half and then the balloons come down and they break out some bubbly and we launch into Auld Lang Syne and then munch on cookies and other treats as we socialize with the staff and residents and pack up. It's a bit sad since some are in very poor health but everyone enjoys it and it has become a tradition to have us on NYE and it makes us realize how lucky we are to be healthy enough to be able to play the gig and bring some fun into the day. We also are paid so that makes the hour drive better but I know we would do this one for free. Count your blessings folks and have a great 2020.

It was on TV over here a month or two ago and I watched the whole series. I also saw the segment that showed how the film was made and also watched the concert at the Ryman Auditorium that was shown here before the actual series started.Excellent material and well done, typical Ken Burns work. Not as long or as in as much depth as his earlier Jazz production but I learned a lot and was well entertained.

Our jazz standards quartet played a gig yesterday providing background music from 8:30 to 11:30 for an investment company's annual Christmas party and meal for staff and clients and families, a gig we've played at least five times now. About 300 attendees and lots of nice comments and kids seeing live music for a change and the venue staff doing some nice moves to our music as they went about their work. It's a nice venue, we get well paid, easy load in/out and a nice meal as well.We had a relaxed time playing some of our "wallpaper" music with a couple of dozen Christmas/seasonal tunes mixed in, all in all a good gig. About the only drawback is that it is 8:30 to 11:30 AM, a Christmas breakfast party which means leave home at 6:30AM, set up and sound check at 7:30. You gotta love it!

I started with a Stagg but when I found a used Yamaha SLB 200 at a great price I grabbed it fast. It is much better(IMO) than the Stagg and I gigged with it until I bought a DB for gigs although in cramped quarters I still use the Yamaha.As said above, try as many as you can but as you will find, not many stores have them in stock. There are some good suggestions in the earlier posts. As with many other instrument purchases if you get a very basic cheaper model you may get serious GAS for something better so it might be a good idea to get the best you can afford. Check out the for sale listings on this site, you might get lucky. What type of music are you going to use it for? Will you use just an amp or DI into a PA? Check out reviews of the various brands of EUB and you may get an idea of what's available and which ones are best for you. Good luck! Edit: I just looked and there are several EUB's listed in the for sale listings.

How about this? Something to throw back at them!

5'7" ...and at 73 getting shorter every year.