Let's see.... plays bass, Lives in Oakland, avatar looks hallucinogenic, born in 1968. Let me guess, parents went to Berkley.
I lived in SF and the south bay area for a number of years, loved it, will return when I retire.
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Calling all Geezers...
- Thread starter GBassNorth
- Start date
Let's see.... plays bass, Lives in Oakland, avatar looks hallucinogenic, born in 1968. Let me guess, parents went to Berkley.
I lived in SF and the south bay area for a number of years, loved it, will return when I retire.
Hey, thanks for thinking of me. I'm not ready to pull the trigger just yet but will be sure to PM you if I do decide to go the Kustom route.
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.......
thanks for the wack to the cranium tho'makes me want to get it on before the ambulance gets here
hey man, if it feels good, do it! (said in my best '68 drug induced slur with eyes half shut and munchin on freetoes corn chips)
Yeah, I hear ya on the Nehru spelling, figured if I could spell it correct someone would accuse me of owning one, cant let that happen.
On the hats, you mean like SRV or Buffalo Springfield Neil Young, Correct?
Gibson bass into a Sunn amp. Talk about thunder. You didn't need to play the right notes cuz you rattled windows 2 blocks away.
Didn't anybody thread their belt so the buckle was on the side? Maybe thats pre '68.
Didn't anybody thread their belt so the buckle was on the side? Maybe thats pre '68.
Back then, and here in the San Joaquin Valley, the offset belt buckle was what the 'tough' guys did; the ones who carried switchblades and wore tight t-shirts and smoked cigarettes in junior high.
Sometimes on the side and sometimes the 3 inch wide watch band was on upside down (with watch on the under side of my wirst). Shirt tails were always out and hiking boots were worn year round.
Ok, so far here's the overall picture based on a number of the responses...
Looking thru a string bead doorway there will be a 1968 Fender P bass with Tapewounds and a Hendrix type print woven strap leaning against a Sunn 200s 2x15 rig and connected with a white coiled cord. Sitting on the rig is a bean bag ashtray a zippo lighter and maybe some incense burning along with a 3 inch wide watch band with a timex wind up watch on it and a pull tab beer can. On the floor is a persian rug and maybe some bean bags and a couple of LP albums (Sgt Pepper, CSNY, ?) strewn about. On the walls are some concert posters and maybe some black light posters, tacked to the celing is a parachute or large tiedyed sheet. A pile of clothes in the corner should include bell bottom jeans, a puffy sleeve shirt, nehru jacket, beatle boots and a wide leather belt.
I might just make it happen - sounds like a neat place to sit and noodle around or bring the band mates to for some practice.
Looking thru a string bead doorway there will be a 1968 Fender P bass with Tapewounds and a Hendrix type print woven strap leaning against a Sunn 200s 2x15 rig and connected with a white coiled cord. Sitting on the rig is a bean bag ashtray a zippo lighter and maybe some incense burning along with a 3 inch wide watch band with a timex wind up watch on it and a pull tab beer can. On the floor is a persian rug and maybe some bean bags and a couple of LP albums (Sgt Pepper, CSNY, ?) strewn about. On the walls are some concert posters and maybe some black light posters, tacked to the celing is a parachute or large tiedyed sheet. A pile of clothes in the corner should include bell bottom jeans, a puffy sleeve shirt, nehru jacket, beatle boots and a wide leather belt.
I might just make it happen - sounds like a neat place to sit and noodle around or bring the band mates to for some practice.
Belt buckle to the side all the way up to '72 here ... I remember one local bass player had a plastic shield that fit the back of his P bass to keep it from scratching .. I see them pop up on Ebay from time to time ... now that I thought of him, he also had a Fender Solid State Bassman in about that time frame too ... it looked like a TV converter box shape ... funny how things keep coming back when someone jogs your memory
While I was only 8 years old in 1968, I spent a significant amount of time in the SF bay area in the late 60's (my dad was a marine biologist who did summer research work for the National Science Foundation from '68 thru '71 and worked out of the UC Berkeley marine labs), and so my recollections of that period are based on the bay area scene. So, with that as my resume here...
You MUST have at least one R. Crumb poster and at least one Stanley Mouse concert poster, preferably either a Grateful Dead or Jefferson Airplane show at the Fillmore West. Required!
In '68 I was 16, playing a '59 sunburst Pbass through a '66 B-15 with matching extension cab "stack". I thought it was a lot better than a Fender Bassman. I had black tapewound strings and coil cords. I remember bass players didn't change strings too often and I played them till they unraveled. Skinny strap but by then I may have had something wider from the leather shop in town. I played with the pickup cover off, but the bridge cover on (did take the mute out). Some guys relocated the "thumbrest" to the bass side, but I just ignored it and hooked my thumb on the pickup...still do. There were starting to be more powerful bass amps, but the SVT didn't come out until '69. I don't think even the B25B was out yet and it was not much more powerful than a Bassman. In 1970 I stripped the sunburst finish off of the '59 and rattle can sprayed it day-glo lime green. Briliant move, but not as dumb as selling it in 1975. Now I have a '69 sunburst Pbass and a '66 B-15 - plus a bunch of other stuff, but those 2 are all I need.
The first Grateful Dead scull and roses poster was produced in 1966, so maybe it can be that one.
Hey, ya might wanna add a Harley-Davidson logo somewhere, or get a poster of a bike rally from back then (you can get 'em). And don't forget a peace symbol. GOTTA have that!! And an American flag.
Speaking of hippies, I still have long hair halfway down my back, long moustache and beard, wear a wide belt, jeans mostly, and still ride my two Harleys.
Speaking of hippies, I still have long hair halfway down my back, long moustache and beard, wear a wide belt, jeans mostly, and still ride my two Harleys.
I started playing in 1968 , a junior in high school . I started with my older brothers Fender Bandmaster but it was a guitar amp . The next year I got a Bruce , that was kind of popular around here . Most of my buddies had Bassmans and they never kept up with the guitar amps back then , they would distort like crazy at any decent volume .
My mentors that were in the local popular bands mostly used Fender Dual Showmans with JBLs and a couple used Bruces with JBLs . There were a lot of Kustom amps around and I think Acoustics were just coming out , maybe that was 1969 . There were Sunns around too but I didn't know anybody playing one back then . Silvertones were everywhere for the guys starting out .
I started on a Conrad Beatle bass and then got a Framus in 1969 . Most guys played Fenders but there were a lot of Gibsons around then too . Coiled cords were standard and most of us didn't know the difference between them and speaker cords , it wasn't uncommon to see a coiled cord used to hook up a head to a cabinet .
There were tons of cheap guitars and basses back then , everybody I knew wanted to play in a band after the Beatles got so popular . Teiscos , Silvertones Harmonys and a million other cheap imports were way more common than the Fenders and Gibsons . Most were absolute garbage unlike the good imports of today . Unplayable , bad sounding and I 'm sure led to many young players to think they would never be able to play back then .
Ah , memories .
My mentors that were in the local popular bands mostly used Fender Dual Showmans with JBLs and a couple used Bruces with JBLs . There were a lot of Kustom amps around and I think Acoustics were just coming out , maybe that was 1969 . There were Sunns around too but I didn't know anybody playing one back then . Silvertones were everywhere for the guys starting out .
I started on a Conrad Beatle bass and then got a Framus in 1969 . Most guys played Fenders but there were a lot of Gibsons around then too . Coiled cords were standard and most of us didn't know the difference between them and speaker cords , it wasn't uncommon to see a coiled cord used to hook up a head to a cabinet .
There were tons of cheap guitars and basses back then , everybody I knew wanted to play in a band after the Beatles got so popular . Teiscos , Silvertones Harmonys and a million other cheap imports were way more common than the Fenders and Gibsons . Most were absolute garbage unlike the good imports of today . Unplayable , bad sounding and I 'm sure led to many young players to think they would never be able to play back then .
Ah , memories .
Yeah, this HAS been a fun trip down "memory lane!"
If I'm not mistaken (and I very well MAY be) Acoustic was just starting up in 68...really hadn't done much in the way of advertising. I think that it was the Doors who (for the most part) got Acoustic to the "public eye" and they sort of took off from there....
Any one remember this?
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I had an English teacher at the time who had that poster up in her classroom....I remember that the big thing for HS students was wondering who would get drafted.....Ah....memores!!
