Calling all Geezers...

[KramerBassFan]

Now that VOX rig really gives me GAS. Twin 18inch (folded horns???) - you'd have to be 30 feet away from that monster for the sound wave to fully develop at which point it would be devastating.

Folded horn? In a VOX in the 60's? No way!

That was two 18's in a simple box with some fancy covering. Think like a Fender 2x12... no real science involved... except making the baffle big enough for two 18's and how much VOX marketing space (their unique tolex) could be used on one speaker.

 

[LakLander]

How about a Tuck and Roll Kustom amp (bonus points if it has a glitter finish).

Pyramid, Fender or Rotosound flats (or Roto steels if you were an Entwistle fan).

I still a Kustom 200 Bass amp in gray metal flake T-n-R.

 

[LakLander]

Thats the spirit!
Always loved the funk of the old Kustom amps with that very dated tuck and roll design. Were they a popular match to a fender P back then?

Good call on the Pyramid flats, forgot about those. I'm a huge Entwistle fan but poor Entwistle player so I'll hold off on the steels.

Keep em comming!

In '65 I had a Kustom 200 amp in sparkle gray T-n-R, '61 Fender P bass, narrow leather strap with a slide on pad, D'Addario half rounds and my amp WAS my stand. Still have the Kustom 200 though I haven't played it in years...original covers, too. Peace...

 

[GBassNorth]

I still a Kustom 200 Bass amp in gray metal flake T-n-R.

Cool! Saw a bluish or purple TnR Kustom head and 3x15 cab at a big box guitar store a few weeks ago. Didn't get a chance to try it out since I was in a hurry at the time. Went back the following weekend and it was gone. Still wonder what these things sound like, but they sure look retro cool.

 

[N.F.A.]

Gotta have a coiled instrument cable too.

 

[My name is Mudd]

More specifically, a white one.

 

[dmrogers]

Man, you really hang on to stuff - whish I had done that with a few things. So, at the time (and in hindsight) which did you like best the Kustom 2x15 or the Bassman 4x12?

Believe me, although I still have a bunch of my old gear (like my Fender Tele) I let way too much gear go. Like:
Fender Duo Sonic
Fender Twin Reverb
Fender Super Reverb
Ampeg 2x12 guitar amp

Way to much stuff to think about. I still have our Wurlitzer though.

To answer your question concerning the Kustom and Fender:
I really loved the Kustom. It was solid! I loved the Fender head, it still rocks. The Fender cab was OK, in fact back then it was pretty cool. But it is heavy and doesn't take long before the speakers start giving up.

I wish I still had that Kustom.......

 

[ScottW]

I remember a popular local group of the time in my world had a white P-Bass with a black pick guard running into either a tuck and roll Kustom tower or a Sunn tower...I eventually wound up playing trombone with them...they covered everything from Chicago to Joe Cocker to Ides of March to Temptations...and did it pretty darn well, for high school kids...lugged that d**ned Hammond B-3 AND the Leslie speaker PLUS that other thing that went with the organ up and down steps...never seemed to get a gig on ground level!

 

[GBassNorth]

I remember a popular local group of the time in my world had a white P-Bass with a black pick guard running into either a tuck and roll Kustom tower or a Sunn tower...I eventually wound up playing trombone with them...they covered everything from Chicago to Joe Cocker to Ides of March to Temptations...and did it pretty darn well, for high school kids...lugged that d**ned Hammond B-3 AND the Leslie speaker PLUS that other thing that went with the organ up and down steps...never seemed to get a gig on ground level!

Loved the sound of those Leslie rotating speakers on guitar and keyboard when I was growing up. To old and too smart to try and carry one of those anchors up a flight of stairs anymore. Now I have a Hughes and Kettner RotoSphere tube pedal that just completely nails the leslie sound and only weighs a couple of pounds. Use it with my guitar rig all the time, tried it on bass and didn't like the effect.
Now you guys got me gassing for a Kustom stack, my wife isn't gonna be happy about this.

 

[BassmanPaul]

You need a Fender Precision -> A Big Solid State VOX into a 1x18 or an open backed 4x12/2x12.

That certainly gives you the look.

On the other side of the pond you'd be going into a VOX AC30B, VOX AC50 Foundation (I had one of those - my first amp) or a VOX T60. Very few US made amps around in those days.

 

[todd 4ta]

I was only 3 back in '68, so I can't speak to what I played through back then.

My band plays instrumental surf rock and we play mostly through vintage era-appropriate gear. I play through a '67 Dual Showman amp and matching Showman 2x15 cab with JBL D140's. Both guitar players usually play through matching rigs (their cabs are 1x15 and they have reverb tanks...).

 

[GBassNorth]

I was only 3 back in '68, so I can't speak to what I played through back then.

My band plays instrumental surf rock and we play mostly through vintage era-appropriate gear. I play through a '67 Dual Showman amp and matching Showman 2x15 cab with JBL D140's. Both guitar players usually play through matching rigs (their cabs are 1x15 and they have reverb tanks...).

Checked out some of your bands Youtube vids - YOU GUYS ROCK! Love the surf sound, never gets old (of course I'm from CA and grew up on the sound).

 

[hexbass]

My band had a couple of Baldwin Exterminators (I think it was about this era) and some of the first in ear monitor systems---pieces of toilet paper stuffed way in the ear so you could hear the bad harmony. ( I was having hearing problems once and an ear doctor pulled about a 2 year old piece of TP out of my head) Paul Revere and the Raiders boots, Farfisas, groovy chicks, less than lethal STDs, banana peel smoking, etc etc.

 

[fjadams]

From 63 to 71ish
Bass: Borrowed Silvertone to Kent Hollowbody to Tele to P Bass to a Guild Starfire I. Also used a few Gibson EB-O, Eko, other P and J's and others I've forgotten.
Amps: Bassman, Bandmaster, Super, 2X12 &/or 2X15 cabinets, Vox Berkeley I, Kustom (blue sparkle), Acoustic, Silvertone, Magnatone M35, Marshall Bass Stack, Traynor, others I've forgotten.
Guitars: Gibson SG, Strat, Tele, Rickenbacker 325 short scale (stolen in 69), Goya acoustic, Ovation acoustic, Ovation hollowbody (335 copy) with tremelo, Magnatone solid body, others also on the forgotten list.
Effects: Fuzz Face, Vox Wah-Wah, both used with guitar and bass.
Drums: first set was a no name Tiger Stripe, Ludwig, Rogers, always used "A" Zildian cymbols, there were nothing better and probably still aren't.

Beatle boots, just loved how they looked and wore. At one point had 5 pair of them so could wear different ones with every clothing change. Blue suede, black suede, dark green suede, black leather, brown leather.

 

[fjadams]

AND! a B-3

Ours used a Farfisa, a Theremin, and later a Moog.

One guitar player had a Fender Vibratone. Cool sounds.

I see somebody referred to stage monitors, damn, the Beatles played stadiums without stage monitors. Most of us were happy if we could almost hear our vocals on stage through the PA.

You knew the band was "making it" when everybody has a Shure SM58.

 

[steelhead2]

funny you should mention those,BSing with a guy(about my long hair and stating i had bangs since the British Invasion),,when i said 'dickies',shirts made from material the color bled when wet, pegged pants and Beatle Boots;

well sir; he got that far away eyes look,,,The British Invasion,,cool time with the Stones Beatles versus the Beach Boys and all the rest of the great music including Mo-Town it was like an explosion from country/elvis to this,,(new?) rock and roll(from what is now called do--wop?) rock and roll yeah i'm jonre confused but i lived it and it was fun,,and by golly i just googled beatle boots they are still availlable

i think bass northwest has a Kustom blue flake 2x15 cab

 

[Edword]

Was only 10 in '68 so I didn't have a YBA-3A rig, but I have one now. Better late than never.

 

[brocco]

In 1968 I was playing a Fender mustang and a powder blue Kalamazoo thru a Fender bassman & then a Sunn Serado with 2x15 cts's.Since I live in Kansas I always wanted a Kustom bass amp.Finally got one 42 years later ! Got this from a guy who had only played it 4 hours and never out of his house

 

[oddio]

Was only 10 in '68 so I didn't have a YBA-3A rig, but I have one now. Better late than never.

I couldn't afford a Traynor Custom Special with twin 8x10 cabinets back in '68, but north of the border many local players relied on this setup. I played my '62 Precision (bought used with money from a paper-route in '67) through a Fender Showman with two cabinets.

Let's see - In those days I was wearing a nehru shirt, purple corduroy bell-bottoms, beads made of painted seeds and so forth.

In 1971 I upgraded my setup to the Traynor. That was the first year of the chrome bumpers (like yours).

 

[Lee Barker]

1965: Rock and roll trio shown here, [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] of the page.

That's a Fender P, purchased new by the previous bassist in the band, played through a blonde Bassman. The guitar player had a Silvertone amp and a separate spring reverb we would lift up and drop to start some surf instrumental cover.

Strap was a stock Fender--narrow except for a shoulder pad maybe 12 inches long. Flats. One guy in the city did play tapewounds and we thought that was cool but who could afford to change strings?

The coiled instrument cord--cool because someone on black and white TV had one.

Beatle boots, narrow ties. In these pix you see two different unis, the silver "iron suits" which we wore forever (hence the name) and then this awful green striped jacket thing with a plunging neckline, worn with tie and black pants.

The guitarist, who once was an instructor at North Texas State, died over 20 years ago; the drummer, last I heard, worked for the Utah State road department.

And this could be added to posts here: What did you haul your stuff in? It all fit, with three guys in the front seat, in my Link Removed
which, in addition to some serious rust, was identical to the second image down--pea soup green. Flathead V8 with overdrive; 31 mpg on the highway and noname gas was 25 cents a gallon.

Thanks for the stroll down memory lane!