How I learned to love the Musical Wardrobe of Doom!

[The Guitar Weasel]

Through last summer I was giving 'getting a gigging band again' a real serious go. 've been a guitarist for 50 plus years, but the pressure of my (music industry) business had pretty much forced me out of playing live. When I finally popped my head out of my shell and decided I fancied climbing back on the horse ... I discovered that nobody much seems to want a guitarist - however experienced - in his sixties. No matter that apparently I can pass ten years younger - it appeared the boat had sailed on being able to form or get into a worthwhile band ... and I wasn't counting dead end blues jammers etc. 

I'd already made the move away from rock and metal that I'd played for so much of my gigging life - opting to blay rock and roll and rockabilly on my Gretsch - but still I couldn't seem to get anything off the ground. 

 

Then in a fit of absolute madness ... I simply went and bought a double bass. Well to be fair I had a couple of beers and put a bid in on one on eBay - and shocked myself rigid by winning it (a blonde Stentor 1950 for 600 quid on super good nick). 

When we finally collected it the enormity of what I'd done sunk in ... it was fecking enormous, and fitted with steel orchestral strings - or finger destroyers as I prefer to call them.

 

But it was beautiful and I was smitten. 

 

In the picture you see my first attempt to find better strings for the rockabilly I wanted to play ... green Weedwhackers. The G, sounded quiet but great, the D sounded quiet but great, the A sounded a bit muddy but largely good ... and the E ... oh dear. 

I could play a scale up the E string and hardly tell any of the notes apart until I got up as far as A. Awful ... just an amorphous 'bloop'. 

Anyway I could take some of my 'guitarist plays bass' patterns and scales and make them sound halfway okay (to my untutored ear at the time). So I advertised for a rockabilly band who needed a doghouse player. In the meantime I bought a Shadow Rockabilly Pro preamp and made a switch to Rotosound 4000 strings ... and instantly 'hello E' I'd missed you! 

My next shock was getting an audition with a well established rockabilly band who were without a 'slapper of the wardrobe of doom'. 

They gave me a half dozen numbers to learn in advance - and to my shock I was in! 

Then came learning around 40 numbers (standards and originals ... and actually being able to both slap properly and consistently ... and be able to improvise.  On the way I 'bumped' my Rotosounds for an even more supple feel and actually started to feel like a bass player rather than an imposter.

 

So fast forward eight months ... I'm now the bass player in a very tight rockabilly outfit ... I strive to be better, but I can cope with pretty much all that's thrown at me - including the odd bass solo. I own two double basses (one that I'm rebuilding in another thread here) and a halfway reasonable amp rig. 

This isn't through being some hyper gifted musician - it's through me being stubborn and never giving up even when I'm well in over my head.

 

I hope others who maybe don't feel like anyone wants a muso over 60 might take a bit of heart from this ...

it's pushed me on so hard that now I've also started an 'originals' punk band as a guitarist and songwriter (and oldest member) as well as being the 'bottom end for the rockabilly outfit. 

 

When you get older ... just work smarter.