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Where Did The Good Ole' Days Go?

We used coffee cans flared and screwed to a wood base. Inside the can were two more screws in the base with a cut lamp cord running to a switch mounted to a board (there were several of these). We would wind a strand of thin wire around the screws, then pour a small amount of black powder in a pile over the wire. Flip the switch, the wire burned, and POOOF!!! Flashpots!
We used a light bulb based screwed into the bottom of a coffee can mounted on plywood. Cut out the plastic window on a screw-in household fuse, fill it with black powder, screw it into the base and flip the switch. Boom. :)
 
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Teenager memories:

My father giving us a lift to me and my brother to a gig with his brand new Ford LTD 1972 station wagon with wood imitation on the side, the three on the front seat, back seat recessed, the back loaded with a drum set, an Ampeg V4B head and original 2x15 cab, a Twin reverb and guitar + bass square case. I was so tight I think we have to carry the picks in the glove case. And send the drummer by bus. :bassist:

(That was before the Class D and Neo speakers era)
 
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Econoline memories:

The van was so rotten, one night we had a flat tire, impossible to jack to van cause the frame tend to collapse, put all the gear in the snow aside the road to have a chance to jack a little bit and put the spare tire, but the spare tire was leaking and was not really better so roll to a garage cause the hydrolic lift was the only safe way to work on the wheels. This gig started late, we were half paid, minus the garage bill we had just enough to take a beer for the last set.

1984 North cost in Quebec, -20 deg. , we were paid every Tuesday morning so the routine was the same, go to bank to change the check, one guy go into the bank, the other go to the grocery store, and the two others hang around the van checking the oil ect. The third weeks, somebody had noticed the routine and warn the police that somebody is preparing a hold-up, and guess what happen. It is always stressing to have six 38mm. on the head. (FREEEEZZZE!!!)
 
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Back in the 70s we had flash pots. Betcha don't even know what they are :).
Flash pots, you had flash pots? When I was young we couldn't afford flash pots. We were lucky to have someone who could afford a lighter and bit of fluid.

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I've played with the home made flash pots that a lighting tech of ours loved to use in venues where we could get away with them. Awesome for the stage show. Not so awesome for the subs when the BANG is picked up by the kick mic and the system doesn't have a limiter on it. Luckily it was next to last song of the night.
 
Econoline memories:

The van was so rotten, one night we had a flat tire, impossible to jack to van cause the frame tend to collapse, put all the gear in the snow aside the road to have a chance to jack a little bit and put the spare tire, but the spare tire was leaking and was not really better so roll to a garage cause the hydrolic lift was the only safe way to work on the wheels. This gig started late, we were half paid, minus the garage bill we had just enough to take a beer for the last set.

1984 North cost in Quebec, -20 deg. , we were paid every Tuesday morning so the routine was the same, go to bank to change the check, one guy go into the bank, the other go to the grocery store, and the two others hang around the van checking the oil ect. The third weeks, somebody had noticed the routine and warn the police that somebody is preparing a hold-up, and guess what happen. It is always stressing to have six 38mm. on the head. (FREEEEZZZE!!!)
Ha-ha... Yeah we had an antique cab over truck. One of the shifting forks would slide out of the case from time to time. We would pull it up on a curb. Whichever of us was most sober (none by today's standards) would get under and remove the side of the tranny case and slide the fork back in and off we would be on our merry way. I do not miss that.. Not a bit
 
I had to compete with the rhythm guitarist's amp plus the lead player's Fender stack. 1981, I guess. I had my first amp in life, a no-name head on a 15" cab that gave real farts a good name. Later I bought a Ross Bigmouth (portable 15" combo for those who don't remember) and chained them up. Voila! Bass! The Ross was doing all the heavy lifting, but having no-name out there, as well, upped the backline "density." The cool factor was in how well you could clutter a stage with musical-looking garbage.

So there we were, playing Smoke On The Water (no joke), and no-name gave up the ghost. Smoke billowed from the head and the drummer nearly choked to death. The Ross kept on keeping on, though, and nary a difference was heard.
 
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Ha-ha... Yeah we had an antique cab over truck. One of the shifting forks would slide out of the case from time to time. We would pull it up on a curb. Whichever of us was most sober (none by today's standards) would get under and remove the side of the tranny case and slide the fork back in and off we would be on our merry way. I do not miss that.. Not a bit
He another rotten cab story: the guitar player older brother borrow his father 1968 gmc suburban the ride us to a gig. Manual 3spd transmission, he never been able to pass the second, so 1 to 3 directly, we get to the gig but return in bus with the gear at 1 o'clock.
 
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Talk about the good ole days ... this was my first bass amp. Emerson stereo console. Managed to find a pre-amp input on the circuit board and wired it to my bass and blew out the speakers. My mom wasn't too happy.
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yeah those cheap oval speakers werent meant to handle that much bass :D

Boy I sure got a lot of use out of our old console set, I think it came from Montgomery Wards If I recall correctly.
 
Unlike many who complain about having to leave their couches and play a gig, I actually like to play. The thing I miss most about about the late 60's and 70's is playing out six nights a week. We had a ton of fun. Not like today when it seems like everyone wants a one or two set gig that starts at 7:00.

I miss that too, although I'm not sure I could keep up with the schedule. I played in a road band that would sometimes be booked for four months in Oregon where we would play 8:00 PM to 2:00 AM six nights a week. Every two or four weeks we would drive to the next gig. We had a lot of adventures and got to spend time in a lot of different cities. I was able to drive all over the Western United States without a map. I knew where to stop for gas, where to eat and even what mile marker was just over the next hill in parts of Wyoming, Nevada, Colorado, California, Arizona, etc.
 
The best thing about the good old days, was catching something after a midnight rendezvous, and knowing some pills or a shot in the butt would take care of it.

I had bad luck in Eugene Oregon. Seems like every little rendezvous ended in a trip to the health clinic. I worked with a singer who almost bragged that he'd been infected seventeen times. Maybe his epitaph should read: "He had the clap seventeen times".
 
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I had bad luck in Eugene Oregon. Seems like every little rendezvous ended in a trip to the health clinic. I worked with a singer who almost bragged that he'd been infected seventeen times. Maybe his epitaph should read: "He had the clap seventeen times".

When I was much younger (and dumber) I got more ass than a toilet seat. No shots, only whiskey...
 
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