The Steel Guitar Forum

I purchased my first one a couple years ago and use it all the time now for my recordings. I love it!

Terry Wood

I finally got it. I LOVE IT!

I have an early '60s Kay that I used to play quite a bit.
Here's a pic from about 25-26 years ago:

Nice. Are our basses both 3/4 size?

Make sure ya build up the calouses. Can be bloody.

Back before the electric Fender Basses most all Bands had the old dog house upright Bass. Periodically the Bass player would get so carried away that the "Sound Post" inside the Bass would give way and it would make a tremendous "Bang" and make us all jump. Does this still happen with upright Bass Players ?

Dave Zirbel wrote:... Where are the good bass forums on the net?

Dave

http://www.talkbass.com/

There's a forum section specific to upright. A wealth of information there.

I sold my upright several years ago; the second stupidest thing I ever did. Still have my '74 J-bass, tho.

I have been gripping, complaining and vowing "never again" over and over, but I still haul my upright to gigs and have been doing it for about forty-five years. I use my electric bass mostly now; however, people still like to see the old school instruments at many gigs.

Back in the 60s our band used to travel in and old Volkswagen bus and of course you know who the most popular guy was.

On the other hand, packing up a stairs an 80 lb amp and 75lb guitar isn't much better

I play doghouse in Rockabilly, country and jazz bands! I have two a beautiful 1954 Kay and a beautiful custom made purple & black King. I love them both!!! I play several other instruments too. I love all of them!!!

Hey Dave Zirbel, what kind did you buy?

I don't really know. It's pretty new, not an old German made bass. I didn't really buy it either. I traded for gigs on steel!

I have a '37 Kay that I bought for $200 back in the late seventies, and it's paid for itself dozens, maybe even hundreds of times over since then. I've probably played more gigs on that bass (mostly jazz) than any other instrument, although I don't consider the bass my primary or even my second instrument. That old Kay is very playable, with a slender neck and fairly low action, and has lots of growl on sustained low notes. Here's an audio clip of me from a few years ago with a local jazz trio, pretending I could play like Scott LaFaro (as if...).

I don't really like to carry it around much anymore, so these days I play my bass ukulele instead of the upright whenever I can.

I believe that 3/4 size basses are far more common that full-size ones; am I correct here?

On the last two pit-jobs I've done ('Cabaret'/'Fiddler On The Roof') the bass player - and her sub - used 5/8th basses.

It's easy to see how the Fender bass became so popular, but there's no substitute the sound of a 'real' one!

Jerry....my brother!
Man you sounded great on the clip!!!

Thanks, Rick. I've always had this love / hate relationship with the bass. I don't consider myself a "real" bassist. I try to be a guitar / steel player, and I almost never practice the bass, but it sure has provided me with a lot of gigs over the years.

I try! Love the sound of a well played upright. Playing one IS tough on the hands,but I've found a "trick" that helps. Hemp oil !! No,you can't smoke it. Just a little bit on the fingertips of both hands at the beginning of a set. An old jazz player in Ft. Worth told me about it years ago. I'm surprised it's not more well known. You can find it at health food stores & those little hemp clothing stores you see now & then. Expensive,but a little bottle lasts a long time. It works for electric bass,too. If you try it put some cotton in the mouth of the bottle so when you knock it over (and you WILL) you won't lose much of it.