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Calling all Geezers...

#102
Very cool stories here, I remember some of it from my dad and his friends but I was still pretty young. Question for you geezers, were there less musicians around back then making you more of a celebrity, or at least a local/neighborhood hero? Or was it like it is today where one out of every four people you meet is a player it seems? I bet it was super easy back then to bag the ladies if you were in a band, more so than today. Not that it matters to me being married and all.
 
#103
JohnMCA72 said:
I ad a Ric & an Acoustic 450/406. I'd KILL to get them back! I probably had US$1500 total into the whole rig!
Click to expand...

Of course you understand that you could probably by a brand new car in '68 for about $1,800?? So, while I can appreciate the idea that $1,500 isn't much in today's crappy economy...$1,500 was a fortune back then...;)

*edit*

On a lark I sort of checked out the deal back in '68.....here is the low down for those who weren't born yet:

Cost Of Living 1968

How Much things cost in 1968
Yearly Inflation Rate USA 4.27%
Yearly Inflation Rate UK 4.7%
Year End Dow Jones Industrial Average 943
Average Cost of new house $14,950.00
Average Income per year $7,850.00
Average Monthly Rent $130.00
Gas per Gallon 34 cents
Average Cost of a new car $2,822.00
Movie Ticket$1.50
The Federal Hourly Minimum Wage is $1.60 an hour


Damn!!
 
#104
bass sic said:
Very cool stories here, I remember some of it from my dad and his friends but I was still pretty young. Question for you geezers, were there less musicians around back then making you more of a celebrity, or at least a local/neighborhood hero? Or was it like it is today where one out of every four people you meet is a player it seems? I bet it was super easy back then to bag the ladies if you were in a band, more so than today. Not that it matters to me being married and all.
Click to expand...

hehe...you are right in the sense that there weren't a whole lot of guys in bands back then - but then again, any town you can name was considerably "smaller" than it is today. So, I guess it more or less, evened itself out...

Bag the ladies? Actually, it was fairly easy....:D

The more you looked like the LAST guy a girl wanted to take home to meet "Mom and Dad"...the more "in demand" you were.....go figure....:p

Oh....the stories I could tell............................
 
#105
Love reading all this, but wanted to share my reality-slaps-me-in-the-face story: My memory was that the bands I played in (Panther organ, run through a Kustom amp with 2 12s, black rolls) always struggled because no one sprung for a PA. (Mic plugged into an amp, as someone mentioned earlier.)

So a year ago when my rock 'n' roller son, who was turning 13 and about to have his bar mitzvah, we pooled our friends' cash contributions to help him pursue his musical ambitions. I did the research and bought him a $500 PA. Within 6 months, he was telling us he didn't need it because all the venues he and his buddies play in already have house PAs. And they did -- mammoth systems, with mics for everything, DI options, etc. Yeah, they played a couple of small gigs where they used the PA, but for the most part it's pretty useless.

On top of that, I did some research on the Kustom amp I had. My fond memories were dashed by a vintage Kustom site that recalled how the model I had was often noisy and not very loud despite its 100-watt rating. And a YouTube video of a guy playing a Panther reminded me that it really sounded like crap.

But hey, it's a new day and I'm lovin' the time I can spend playing bass and learning from everybody on this site. Nostalgia? Eh.
 
#106
it's been interesting reading the memories of folk on this side of the pond. As we are talking 1968, that year was the final of my Liverpool U.K. days. Got married and moved to South Wales.

UK gear:
VOX Clubman II bass, no amp yet. (1962)
Hofner Violin Bass - Got stolen
VOX AC50 Foundation - 50W Tube into an 18" Tannoy. I redesigned and rebuilt the amp with two channels.
Gibson EB0F - stolen, replaced with a Gibson EB2 which also got stolen but recovered
Epiphone Constellation - 40-50W tube into a 1x15 with a Wharfdale 15 driver.
Bought my '63 Precision and sold the EB2
Blonde BF Fender Bassman and 2x12 - Worst amp I ever owned. Lasted one weekend and was returned!
Marshall JTM45 (KT66 model) and 100W 4x12.
Same 4x12 powered by a Leak TL50 power amp and a single tube pre-amp I built.
Same 4x12 powered by a Fender Bassman head

Sold everything to pay for a gearbox repair on the car. Had to get to work y'know.

Used my own designed tube amps and cabinets for a while before coming to Canada in '73.

Here I used my own built amps, both tube and SS, for quite a while then settled on my tube pre with various Mackie and Carvin power amps until finally

Carvin BX1500 driving 2 or 4 Acme B2 cabinets, all 4Ω.
 
#107
I still have my Silvertone Twin Twelve guitar amp (1966) with original tubes that say "Silvertone" on them (yes, they do). It still works and still picks up the radio when turned just right, just like always. Played a '64 Gretsch Tennessean through it back in the day. I still have it, too, but wore it out playing six shows per week full-time in the '70s.
 
#108
Bass amps; 360's were around or just starting, Standell had some decent stuff (Super Imperiel), many bar Gigs, Multiple Ampegs of course, even Magnatone had at at least bar band bass amp, Dual Showmans, Vox if they hung together long enough.Sunn's, lotsa deep thounderouse stuff.
 
#109
Buster Brown said:
Of course you understand that you could probably by a brand new car in '68 for about $1,800?? So, while I can appreciate the idea that $1,500 isn't much in today's crappy economy...$1,500 was a fortune back then...;)

*edit*

On a lark I sort of checked out the deal back in '68.....here is the low down for those who weren't born yet:

Cost Of Living 1968

How Much things cost in 1968
Yearly Inflation Rate USA 4.27%
Yearly Inflation Rate UK 4.7%
Year End Dow Jones Industrial Average 943
Average Cost of new house $14,950.00
Average Income per year $7,850.00
Average Monthly Rent $130.00
Gas per Gallon 34 cents
Average Cost of a new car $2,822.00
Movie Ticket$1.50
The Federal Hourly Minimum Wage is $1.60 an hour


Damn!!
Click to expand...

And... A Sunn 2000S rig cost $1995 (Well, that's from the 1969 price list actually). Kind of makes current handwired tube bass rigs seem like a deal by comparison, and modern day transistor rigs dirt cheap huh? ;)
Who's got other price lists from the era? It might be interesting to see how "serious" you had to be to obtain some of these antiques when they were current.
 
#110
1968 Vox Super Beatle (V1143) listed for $1,348.

With four Altec Lansing 417Bs - $1,588.

With four JBL D120Fs - $1,698. (2010 dollars: $10,521.37) :eek::eek::eek:

l.gif
 
#111
Buster Brown said:
Of course you understand that you could probably by a brand new car in '68 for about $1,800??
Click to expand...
I remember hearing radio ads for the first Datsuns* brought to this country (mid-60's IIRC), and that they were "...$1495..." and thinking that, since I had received $20 for my birthday, even I (a kid who's age was still in single digits) could afford one...until my dad explained that $1495 wasn't $14.95.






* what Nissan used to be called, for the youngsters here
 
#112
(If the photo attachment doesn't work, ghostly-White even.)

10 piece Stax/Volt/Butterfield/Sly wannabes:

Vocals/front man
Bass
Guitar
Drums
Keys (Clavinet/B-3 when we could steal it)
1Tenor
1 Alto
1 Trombone
2 Trumpets

Horns -> Shure mics -> Shure Mixer -> Fender Bandmaster for PA Head(?) -> Kustom PA Speakers (2-15s + ambulance horn)

Red, White and Blue Ford Schoolbus (w/bunks and T-Bird Engine)

Bad hair
 

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#113
My name is Mudd said:
I remember hearing radio ads for the first Datsuns* brought to this country (mid-60's IIRC), and that they were "...$1495..." and thinking that, since I had received $20 for my birthday, even I (a kid who's age was still in single digits) could afford one...until my dad explained that $1495 wasn't $14.95.






* what Nissan used to be called, for the youngsters here
Click to expand...

Hey I remember Datsun! I had a B210 in high school. A few years ago I had a last year (1982) Datsun/Nissan 210. It looks just like an early 80's Sentra.
 
#116
In '68 I was twelve. I didn't get my first bass until '71 - traded a Bundy trombone for it, a home-made case, and a denimn covered strap. I still have the strap. No one has mentioned the headbands to keep that long hair out of your face?! I had one of the black Kustom 100's with 3-15" CTS. The cab would BARELY fit it the back seat of my dad's Plymouth Fury. Tried one of the felt picks and went back to celluloid. Bell-bottom blues a comin' on. Hey, nobody's mentioned the pervasive smell of Patchouli oil...
 
#118
1n3 said:
Liverpool lad with a Beatle bass... how unlikely.



That 3-15 Kustom bass cab looks cool. Bet it was fun to cart around. But it wouldn't have been the worst if you had a B3.
Click to expand...

By God, photographic evidence proving guitar stands hadn't been invented yet or at least not common in 1968. Just about anyone on this tread would have a heart attack if they ran across an old 1968 335 guitar or P bass standing like that these days.
 

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