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Double Bass joe's house of sandals case
- Thread starter 4bassic
- Start date
- Mar 19, 2002
- 800
- 130
- 53
- Disclosures
- President: Upton Bass String Instrument Co.
Jim Ham's wife Mirriam owns the Joe's leather cover that used to belong to me. I walked into his shop around 1975 looking to have a cover made for my 3/4 sloped-shoulder Pollmann bass. Joe took a look at my bass and got really excited. He had made an all-leather cover for a guy, but it turned out too tight in the shoulders. Joe showed me the cover hanging on the wall, and told me that if it fit my bass, I could have it for the price of a regular nylon cover with leather trim. Sure enough it fit like a glove, and I went home with it. 30 years later I see this exact cover in Jim Ham's booth at the ISB convention. Mirriam had bought it from a guy who bought it from a guy who...etc. And now it resides in Vancouver.
Those things were amazing.
First time I played in NYC we went into a bass shop....I don't remember the name, but I think it was down in the Battery....Arnold? There were about 20 of Joe's used cases hanging on a wall. Charlie Haden always used one. I wouldn't be suprised if he still did. Those things were indestructable. I always wanted to get one because they looked cool and all the guys in NYC had one, but my late wife finally put her foot down after I spent some pretty big bucks on a bass.
First time I played in NYC we went into a bass shop....I don't remember the name, but I think it was down in the Battery....Arnold? There were about 20 of Joe's used cases hanging on a wall. Charlie Haden always used one. I wouldn't be suprised if he still did. Those things were indestructable. I always wanted to get one because they looked cool and all the guys in NYC had one, but my late wife finally put her foot down after I spent some pretty big bucks on a bass.
When I was a kid I wanted one of these so bad. A few years ago Marco Panascia sold me this one on TB/DB. I had the zipper replaced at a tent & awning shop.
Like many bassists at age thirty-five the Sandal Shop bag is medium-padded and heavy. At the time it was the height of protection: 3/4" of foam and built to outlast by decades the Pinto wagon you used to carry it to the gig.
The thing that knocks me out is not just the work reinforcing the exterior (check the stitching on those handles), not just the work refining the interior (smooth nylon and kid leather), but work no-one will ever see: The pouches have a thick leather liner on the bottom of the inside. Your bow is never going to fall through a rip in the bottom of the pouch.
Ah well. Next topic . . .
Like many bassists at age thirty-five the Sandal Shop bag is medium-padded and heavy. At the time it was the height of protection: 3/4" of foam and built to outlast by decades the Pinto wagon you used to carry it to the gig.
The thing that knocks me out is not just the work reinforcing the exterior (check the stitching on those handles), not just the work refining the interior (smooth nylon and kid leather), but work no-one will ever see: The pouches have a thick leather liner on the bottom of the inside. Your bow is never going to fall through a rip in the bottom of the pouch.
Ah well. Next topic . . .
Keith --
Although I am nobody special, it's my pleasure to bid you welcome to TalkBass and to TB / DB. It's great to have you and that bag looks tasty!
TB has been an online resource for a long, long time. It's great to see somebody with something new to contribute to an old thread. Please poke around and make yourself at home!
Although I am nobody special, it's my pleasure to bid you welcome to TalkBass and to TB / DB. It's great to have you and that bag looks tasty!
TB has been an online resource for a long, long time. It's great to see somebody with something new to contribute to an old thread. Please poke around and make yourself at home!
Mingus had one.
It's only indirectly related, but if everybody will permit me, I'll share a story ..
The reason I know Mingus used one (at least back in the mid 70's) was because he played at my college. A friend of mine was the head of the student concert agency that year and he figured what the heck, I'm going to get some of my favorite people. So he organized a 2 day concert which featured Mingus, The Revolutionary Ensemble, Betty Carter and another artist, who I can't remember.
Anyway, because I owned a station wagon (bass player vehicle!), my friend tapped me and another buddy with a car to take Mingus and the band to the airport on the morning after the concert. When I arrived at the hotel, Mingus was standing in the middle of the lobby, completely surrounded by the band's gear & luggage. I told him why I was here, and also that the other car hadn't arrived yet. With that, Mingus erupted. So I told him I'll just go call and see where the other guy was.
So I walked down the hall to the payphone, all the while Mingus is shouting at the top of his lungs "Airplanes don't wait!" "Airplanes don't wait!" over and over. I get to the phone and it was then I realized that I had no change. What to do? I had to go back to Mingus and ask him for a dime! "Whaddaya want, a #@$#%$ing dime?" Which he half threw at me along with some other coins.
But I was saved because at that moment the other car appeared out front, the gear started to get moved out, the other members (Walrath, Neloms, Ricky Ford and Danny Richmond) appeared.
So I picked up Mingus' bass (in the Joe's House of Sandals case - his bass was a REAL tight fit) and carried it out to the wagon with Mingus following. As I'm loading it into the car, Mingus says, "Bass player, right? I can tell by how you carried the bass."
He did a complete 180. He just became all gentle, asking me how long I had playing, who I was studying with, French or German, how much he hated playing thru amplifiers, etc.
Thanks for allowing me to indulge in the memory.
It's only indirectly related, but if everybody will permit me, I'll share a story ..
The reason I know Mingus used one (at least back in the mid 70's) was because he played at my college. A friend of mine was the head of the student concert agency that year and he figured what the heck, I'm going to get some of my favorite people. So he organized a 2 day concert which featured Mingus, The Revolutionary Ensemble, Betty Carter and another artist, who I can't remember.
Anyway, because I owned a station wagon (bass player vehicle!), my friend tapped me and another buddy with a car to take Mingus and the band to the airport on the morning after the concert. When I arrived at the hotel, Mingus was standing in the middle of the lobby, completely surrounded by the band's gear & luggage. I told him why I was here, and also that the other car hadn't arrived yet. With that, Mingus erupted. So I told him I'll just go call and see where the other guy was.
So I walked down the hall to the payphone, all the while Mingus is shouting at the top of his lungs "Airplanes don't wait!" "Airplanes don't wait!" over and over. I get to the phone and it was then I realized that I had no change. What to do? I had to go back to Mingus and ask him for a dime! "Whaddaya want, a #@$#%$ing dime?" Which he half threw at me along with some other coins.
But I was saved because at that moment the other car appeared out front, the gear started to get moved out, the other members (Walrath, Neloms, Ricky Ford and Danny Richmond) appeared.
So I picked up Mingus' bass (in the Joe's House of Sandals case - his bass was a REAL tight fit) and carried it out to the wagon with Mingus following. As I'm loading it into the car, Mingus says, "Bass player, right? I can tell by how you carried the bass."
He did a complete 180. He just became all gentle, asking me how long I had playing, who I was studying with, French or German, how much he hated playing thru amplifiers, etc.
Thanks for allowing me to indulge in the memory.
The way I understand it, Mingus had a temper and he used it in quite a calculated manner. I have read a number of stories similar to yours.
I also watched a video where the band are working on a piece - kind of a last minute run-through, just before a concert - but the run-through and the concert were both videotaped. The guys weren't doing something right and it apparently had to do with not listening properly to what was going on. You could see Mingus getting angrier and angrier - and just before he erupts, he realizes it's all on tape - whereupon he takes a deep breath, and says in a quiet gentle tone of voice "OK, guys, let's try this again, and do x and y.." - with apparent calm. I think he could turn it on and off at will - though the anecdotes also may indicate that sometimes he could not turn it off - or was it just that he didn't choose to?
Anyway, a fascinating scary person, but I don't think you could ever question his musical integrity.
I also watched a video where the band are working on a piece - kind of a last minute run-through, just before a concert - but the run-through and the concert were both videotaped. The guys weren't doing something right and it apparently had to do with not listening properly to what was going on. You could see Mingus getting angrier and angrier - and just before he erupts, he realizes it's all on tape - whereupon he takes a deep breath, and says in a quiet gentle tone of voice "OK, guys, let's try this again, and do x and y.." - with apparent calm. I think he could turn it on and off at will - though the anecdotes also may indicate that sometimes he could not turn it off - or was it just that he didn't choose to?
Anyway, a fascinating scary person, but I don't think you could ever question his musical integrity.
This thread is lovely. But I wonder if it belongs in the Basses subforum.
