Bass shopping in 1982

I started playing electric bass in 1982 and when it came time to shop for a new instrument there were not nearly as many options as there are now. There was no internet, no richly illustrated catalogs from mail order companies, and no bass-specific magazines. Guitar Player would throw us bass players a bone every so often, but most of the content was geared towards the magazines primary audience. Of course you'd see basses being played in concerts, music videos and occasionally on album covers, but the only way to learn what was really out there was to visit a music store. Here are my recollections of that experience.


Everyone dogged Fender. During this era music store salesman would always dissuade you from buying a Fender bass. The general consensus was that Fender's golden age had ended in 1965 when Leo sold the company to CBS and the quality of their instruments declined steadily in the ensuing years, the hallowed name being the only reason anybody still bought them. If you really wanted a Fender and could not find or afford a pre-CBS model, then you were better off getting one of Leo Fender's more recent designs like a G&L or a Music Man. Thus, I wound up with a G&L, and then a Music Man...because I really wanted a Fender.


Everybody played Fender. Despite the advice of music store salesman, nearly every bassist you saw played a Fender, and they were not always pre-CBS models. While it's true that quality became inconsistent during the 1970's decade, you could still find good instruments from that era as I eventually did when I finally realized that the G&L and Music Man basses I owned were not what I really wanted. It's worth noting that while Fender was still making basses in the early 1980's, they didn't show up in music stores too often, and when they did it was almost always a Precision Bass which at the time was way more popular than Fender's "other" bass...the Jazz Bass.


Other American companies were trying to compete with Fender. I've already mentioned G&L and Music Man whose basses were popular at the time, and Peavey was making waves with their budget-minded T-40. It was sort of ungainly, but it was a lot of bass for the money. Rickenbacker maintained a strong foothold and continued to appeal to a certain type of rock bassist. I wanted one briefly when I went through a Chris Squire/Geddy Lee phase, but even then Rickenbacker was viewed a bass that was strong on treble frequencies and short on versatility. I don't think either of those statements are true...but I don't want one any more. Other venerable American guitar companies continued to miss the mark when it came to electric basses, notably Gibson with their ironically named Victory bass, Guild with the oddly-shaped B-302, and Ovation with the bizarre Magnum. These instruments were generally of good quality and now have a cool "outsider" factor that makes them collectible, but at the time they were seen as also-rans.


The Asian companies were getting things right. Asian made-basses has long dominated the beginner's market with basses that were often derivative of American instruments, including the Korean made Hondo II Jazz Bass copy that served as my first bass, but several of these companies including Ibanez, Yamaha and Aria were now offering innovative, high quality instruments that were starting to take an increasingly large portion of the market share. This started in the previous decade, but it was during the 80's that it really became prevalent, and it was often bass players who were the most visible exponent. The stores that I frequented often touted these basses as a way of obtaining an instrument with pro-level quality and features at a reasonable price. You certainly wouldn't find yourself paying for a famous brand name going this route.

Musings of a Dixieland Bass Player

For the past several years, I have been playing with a six-piece Dixieland band called The Jazz Phools. I thought I’d share some of my thoughts in hopes that someone finds them helpful, or at least slightly entertaining.

Dixieland: We don’t generally call ourselves a Dixieland band because that term has some unhip connotations. “Vintage Hot Jazz” is the phrase the bandleader likes to use, but if you were to do a Google search for “Dixieland Band” you would find a lot of groups who look and sound like us.

Gigs: This group started off playing only occasional gigs, usually taking place in a senior living center of some sort, but “Roaring 20’s”, “Great Gatsby” and “Repeal of Prohibition” themed events seem to be becoming increasingly popular and we have been playing 3-4 private events per month, usually booked through the GigMasters website. Go figure.

My Pet Theory: I think the bandleader started this band because he plays trombone which is typically the first instrument that gets cut. He’s a smart guy. In The Jazz Phools, the bass is usually the first to go since the pianist can play bass pedals.

Versatility: We perform other styles of jazz such as swing and big band and have even performed songs by Beyoncé and Maroon 5 upon request (really). We also have a selection of 1920’s numbers during which the pianist plays my bass and I switch to ukulele (really). I now regret telling the bandleader that I play ukulele, but it was bound to get out eventually.

Two versus Four: Many musicians associate Dixieland with two-beat style bass lines, but I’ve done a lot of listening and this is not always the case. If the band uses a string bass as opposed to a tuba, you will almost always hear the bassist walking in four at some point. The earliest recorded jazz bassists did this and the classic Dixieland records (i.e. Muggsy Spanier, Dukes of Dixieland, Pete Fountain) demonstrate this as well. Playing the head in two and walking in four during the solos and shout chorus is a reliable formula.

Speaking of tuba: I occasionally use the bow on certain numbers to emulate the sound of the tuba and I find it quite effective, if used judiciously. There is a precedent for this in early jazz, good examples being “My Pretty Girl” (1927) by The Jean Goldkette Orchestra featuring bassist Steve Brown and “China Girl”(1930) by The Casa Loma Orchestra featuring bassist Stan Dennis. Both of these guys were great slap players too. The great bassist Bob Haggart also used the bow in this fashion with the Bob Crosby Orchestra, a big band that took inspiration from older New Orleans style jazz. I don’t play tuba and gigs where portability is required and a string bass impractical (i.e. parade floats and boats) have led to a unique solution: playing my Kala U-Bass through a small amp powered by a trolling motor battery. We’ve also performed unplugged with the pianist on banjo, which offers some perspective on how this music was originally performed.

Attire: Sometimes we wear the typical Dixieland band uniform of a red vest and solid color shirt with black dress pants. The band members who have the least amount of hair often wear hats such as the typical straw boater or even a derby, the latter being the trumpet player's preference. I don’t mind this as I like dressing up for gigs in general and vintage hats in particular. The bandleader has tried to get us to move away from uniforms and towards individual vintage style attire with varying degrees of success.

Charts: The bandleader passes out books at each gig. I pretty much know the band's repertoire by memory now and would only need the book for new arrangements, but since the bandleader calls songs by the number, I need the book. Is number 37 “Basin Street Blues” or “Hello, Dolly”? Is “Sheik of Araby” in Bb or F? There’s only one one way to find out. By the way, if you ever have to play out of the illegal and widely circulated “Dixie Players Fun Book”, be aware that the chord changes are often wrong. The guy who created this book later admitted that he did not have access to a piano when he wrote out these charts.

Dinah: Somehow this song became my vocal feature. I’m not a great singer by any means, but I try to base my performance on George Brunies’ hip sounding vocal from the 1939 version by Muggsy Spanier and his Ragtime Band. I recently had the band change the key from Ab down to F to improve my odds.

Drummers: The band is fortunate enough to have one of the best drummers in the area. Having him there makes these gigs more fun and no matter how capable the sub is, I always miss him when he’s not on the gig. He’s a nice guy too, but he won’t wear a straw hat on stage. I sure hope no one presses the issue.