Dear All:

I am a fiddler and violinist looking for a bass in SW Florida, DeSoto, Charlotte or Sarasota counties, maybe even Lee County.

If anyone knows of anything - a Cadillac for my VW pocket - let me know. I want to learn and plunk along, nice and easy.

Thank you,
Elisa

Check with the Charlotte County Jazz Society. I can't believe I forgot his name, but there was a bass player there, "Used to call me baby", He sold me his 1950 Kay C-1 a in 2000 before I headed up to UNF. Im sure he has some good bass contacts down there. Wish I could be more help, but I left Englewood a long time ago.

[quote=GatorBass;4718595]Check with the Charlotte County Jazz Society. I can't believe I forgot his name, but there was a bass player there, "Used to call me baby",

That sounds like Paul Milde, he calls everybody baby. Hell of a bass player, and super person, too. If this is the guy you're thinking about, I have his phone number. Elisa, if you PM me, I can e-mail you the number

Right on, thats him. He is such a cool guy. Does he still live down in Cape Coral though?

Yeah, he still lives in Cape Coral. I haven't heard from him in about 4 months. He generally calls me to sub for him several times a year. He's 87 now, starting to slow down a little

Also check the local papers.Several years ago my in-laws lived in Sarasota and were looking for a bass for their son.Just in the week we were visting,I looked at two different basses.One was a woman selling her dead husbands instruments.Got a good solid Kay for my brother in-law cheap and it even included an original Ampeg string bass mic end pin.He ended up selling the end pin to Ampeg for the historical display at the factory.

This same lady had a great Hammond B3 with pedals and a full size Leslie to sell too.Wished we weren't on vacation from MN at the time.

Check around and you might just luck into something.Good luck!!

Elisa,

I don't know if your familiar with the guitar army. It's a jam session at Gilchrist Park in Punta Gorda. It's a huge jam session that happens every Thursday at Gilcrist Park, starting around 6:00 PM year round. You won't find any rockabilly played there, mostly blue grass, old time country western and folk music. They usually have 5 or 6 different venues going on at the same time. There are several double bassists that show up there. If I were you, I would grab my fiddle and head over there, sit in with few groups, and ask around, there are bound to be a few people who know of an old Kay or Englehardt that's looking for a new home. Good luck