In the "Doghouse"

gottawalk · #1 02-25-2006, 10:42 AM

I'm probably missing something in my search here, but I can't find a history for the term "doghouse" as it applys to the upright bass. Anyone know where the term originated?

Thanks!

reedo35 · #2 02-25-2006, 01:02 PM

Good Question! The earliest reference I can find is 1916, when baseball was all the rage, and some of the baseball terminology found its way into Jazz Slang.
_Baseball Magazine_, October, 1916, No. 6, p. 26
"Fiddle means to steal a base. Big doghouse fiddle means to work the double steal."

gottawalk · #3 02-26-2006, 09:51 AM

Well, THAT's intersting! Thanks! The only reference so far that I've found say the the jazz community referred to it as a "doghouse" because of it having a big box shape. (lame!)

I like yours much better!

Thanks again.

KSB - Ken Smith · #4 02-26-2006, 03:42 PM

"In the" DogHouse is when your Wife throws you out and you have to sleep with the Dog.

"The" DogHouse is a Slang term for the Bass from I don't know where, nor do I care to learn..

Mike Goodbar · #5 02-26-2006, 09:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by reedo35

Good Question! The earliest reference I can find is 1916, when baseball was all the rage, and some of the baseball terminology found its way into Jazz Slang.
_Baseball Magazine_, October, 1916, No. 6, p. 26
"Fiddle means to steal a base. Big doghouse fiddle means to work the double steal."

So, is this where the term "double base" comes from?

gottawalk · #6 02-26-2006, 10:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KSB - Ken Smith

"In the" DogHouse is when your Wife throws you out and you have to sleep with the Dog.

"The" DogHouse is a Slang term for the Bass from I don't know where, nor do I care to learn..

So you wasted your time even replying to this, ...why???...

KSB - Ken Smith · #7 02-27-2006, 05:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gottawalk

So you wasted your time even replying to this, ...why???...

No, I answered your original question. Now you have to start a new Post about the Bass. Your first one was about the Wife!

Bruce Lindfield · #8 02-27-2006, 06:03 AM

It's funny - I never heard it called that in Britain and have only seen the term used on TalkBass!!

Although we do have the term Ken mentions about being in trouble!

Bruce Lindfield · #9 02-27-2006, 06:08 AM

I looked on Google and found people calling "TeaChest" bass "the DogHouse" - so that's like where somebody sticks a broom handle into a large empty tea chest and ties a string on the end to make a one string primitive bass sound - used in "skiffle"....

I imagine you could do the same thing with a wooden dog kennel - turn it so the entrance is on the ground, make a hole for a broom handle, get some string and hey presto!!

Randy Ward · #10 02-27-2006, 07:37 AM

The first time I ever heard the term 'Dog House' was when I was young and proudly was rolling my first carved bass down Wabash Avenue in Chicago after buying it from Kagen & Gains. I was beaming! An old man yelled at me "Hey kid where ya going with that DOGHOUSE"
I didn't know WHAT to think and explained that it was a musical instrument. He said, "I know what it is and you look stupid, get yourself a Fender." I asked my dad about and he said the guy was probably a bass player worried about competition or maybe he worked at a music store wanted to sell me a bass guitar. When I asked him about the term 'Dog house' he said it probably came from the shoulders looking like the slopes of a roof on a dog house. I do think it is a uniquely American slang term. Wasn't there post somewhere here where somebody complied all the names for a double bass. (my favorite: Old Thumper)

gottawalk · #11 02-27-2006, 07:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KSB - Ken Smith

No, I answered your original question. Now you have to start a new Post about the Bass. Your first one was about the Wife!

Good god!

I'm that transparent??? Sorry...

I knew as soon as I hit that button to post it that I'd get crap for this. Must have been a Freudian thing.

Thanks for playing! 100 points to KSB!

P.S. Checked out your site and love your style!

**Chris Fitzgerald** · #12 02-27-2006, 08:25 PM

I always figured the term simply appiled to the only instrument big enough that a good sized dog could sleep in it.

gottawalk · #13 02-27-2006, 08:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Fitzgerald

I always figured the term simply appiled to the only instrument big enough that a good sized dog could sleep in it.

Who knows... could be one of the many reasons.