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Get off my LAWN! "Grumpy Old Farts"

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#3,181
Hey.. as it is said almost always.. it is all about the tone!
spankdaplank said:
So I'm getting packed and ready for our trip to the good ol' USA to stay with my friend and bandmate of 45 years. I recently came across some cassette tapes of some gigs we did together 40 years ago. As a "house warming" gift I was able to copy the tapes to digital format. Listening to my bass playing I could hear that really cool tone I had during that era. I was using a fretless Gibson Ripper with a '70's SVT and an Ampeg V4B folded horn bottom. Yeah, there was a cutoff on the high end with that cab, but the low end punch and grunt was to die for. And, the HF cutoff worked well in the ensemble as it left sonic room for the guitar and keyboards.
Here's the cool part that I had forgotten about; when I would really dig in on the strings I would get an envelope follower effect mixed in the straight tone. But I had no pedals, just straight to the SVT. Got a lot of compliments on my bass sound back then, not so much on my playing. LOL
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#3,182
Very cool! That stuff is still around.. however if it's been 40 years since you last hauled that equipment... well... might want to look for something lighter?

I'm happy you have a chance to play with your old bandmate. Enjoy your visit!
 
#3,183
Here's another funny(?) aspect of our trip: When I moved here 5 years ago I brought two nice basses (Carvin SB5000 and Dingwall ABII) on the plane with me. I had purchased really good but USED flight cases for them. When I got here both cases were damaged - the latches on one and the liner on the other. But the basses were fine.
Okay, now I'm getting ready to fly with one bass in the SKB flight case and I'm thinking about the damage (loose liner). That's when it dawned on me - I'll bet that when these cases went through screening at the airport when we arrived here the drug sniffing dog probably started barking and the agents went nuts thinking that they caught a drug mule. Now I don't partake any more, but I'm willing to bet that these cases had been around some weed or even carried a little with their previous owner(s).
Oh boy, now I'm under suspicion of international drug smuggling. Or it's just my over active imagination and some hamfisted TSA inspectors.

At least, I hope the dog gets an extra biscuit.
 
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#3,185
spankdaplank said:
Here's another funny(?) aspect of our trip: When I moved here 5 years ago I brought two nice basses (Carvin SB5000 and Dingwall ABII) on the plane with me. I had purchased really good but USED flight cases for them. When I got here both cases were damaged - the latches on one and the liner on the other. But the basses were fine.
Okay, now I'm getting ready to fly with one bass in the SKB flight case and I'm thinking about the damage (loose liner). That's when it dawned on me - I'll bet that when these cases went through screening at the airport when we arrived here the drug sniffing dog probably started barking and the agents went nuts thinking that they caught a drug mule. Now I don't partake any more, but I'm willing to bet that these cases had been around some weed or even carried a little with their previous owner(s).
Oh boy, now I'm under suspicion of international drug smuggling. Or it's just my over active imagination and some hamfisted TSA inspectors.

At least, I hope the dog gets an extra biscuit.
Click to expand...

You will know when the TSA agent snaps his rubber glove and says "you might feel a little pressure..." ;)
 
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#3,197
I did a gig at a prison about 30 years ago, providing sound for Bonnie Raitt as part of a Bread & Roses tour. Not a place I would want to stay for one second more than I had to.
 
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#3,198
I had a musician friend (really) who did some time. There was some musical instruments in their rec room - medium security joint, I think. Anyway he started a prison band. Which of course begs the question - Did they play JAILHOUSE ROCK? I actually asked that question while talking to him on the telephone handset through the glass.

Well... Yes! Of course.
Epilogue: He's on the straight and narrow now and has been for 10 years.
 
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#3,199
agedhorse said:
I did a gig at a prison about 30 years ago, providing sound for Bonnie Raitt as part of a Bread & Roses tour. Not a place I would want to stay for one second more than I had to.
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My cousin's been working at B&R for a few decades now, great organization.

I did a few service calls many many years ago at a county lockup in CT for their intercom system, it did make me really want to get my work done extra fast, for sure.
 
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