Hello,
I'm involved in a new 50's project and we need a pro stand-up bass player to complete backline. A working knowledge of early Elvis, 50's Rock and Rockabilly is a definite asset.
We're looking to recruit a band member as opposed to a jobber.
If this sounds interesting, send an pm for more details.
Sounds like fun, DasBeaver! Wish i had that stand-up bass still, I could dig on something like that.
Move the project to Windsor and I'm in!
Hey Mark, yeah too bad, this is going to be a fun way to make some good scratch. What happened to your bass?
Jeff O, you live in Windsor? I always thought you were 'merican.
Detroit, just across the border.
'twas never my bass...I'm one of those "I'm an upright bassist" guy with no upright bass. 
And just before I get raked over the coals by anyone, I don't maintain my claim as an upright bassist anymore.
Hey Cool, I didn't realize you were so close.
Mark, you'll always be an upright bassist to me! (j/k)
This is turning into quite the adventure and we haven't even got off the ground yet. There's going to be a freakin' novel in this one, more details later.
Here's a quick one if anyones interested:
We posted the above ad on a few local sites, and got way more responses than we thought we would. When we began weeding through them, the first was a response from a guy who played double bass, but only classical music...with a bow. Perfect! The next guy wanted to know if we could play reggae. The list goes on...
Finally someone was really into the idea, played stand-up, four and five string bass, could sing lead and backup, could double on guitar or keys, and was playing in a 50's band that night! So we went down to see his gig. The drummer had bailed at the last minute so it was two guitars and the bass player (with an electric bass).
We introduced ourselves and they launched into an Elvis tune with our man on lead vocals. Yikes. We gave them the benefit of the doubt, maybe they just sound terrible because there's no drummer and they were doing sound from the stage. They reconfigured, tweaked the mix, and played another. It wasn't the PA, this guy was completely tone-deaf and didn't seem to understand what 'keeping time' entailed. The next tune he didn't sing, but his timing oddly didn't improve...at all.
Finally they took a break and they were a really nice bunch of guys. When we asked Bassy Bassman about his stand-up bass the other guys in the band started laughing and making fun of his 'stand-up' bass and telling stories about him trying to play it live while the bridge kept flying off and shooting across the room.
He didn't get the gig. Here is the bass in question:
Man, if that's a joke....I ain't laughin'. 
I saw a picture of a psychobilly band once, and the bassist was playing some metal-style pointy electric bass. He was resting a fin on his knee, and was attempting to look like an upright bassist. it was frightening. i would rather see that than the monstrosity you've posted above.
PS, damn i wish that i had an upright, i'd audition in a second.
Haha, there's a lot of minor details you can fake, but an upright bass ain't one of them!
You wouldn't need an audition man, that would be perfect. We're looking at a pretty busy schedule, so that would be the only drawback. Well, that and the whole not having a bass issue 
Again, if you lived closer, like Windsor, Mark and me could share the gig!
We got a gig Saturday, apparently the last one for the singer. He told me he was too "busy" on Wednesday afternoon, couldn't rehearse Thursday either, and after Saturday he was out. By the time I got home he had already posted his "farewell" message on our myspace page.
Then it dawned on me - the day I met him he was singing a "farewell" gig with his then current band. He started another band, hired me to play bass, then he broke it up after the first gig. He couldn't get along with the keyboard player and horn player.
Anyone know other guys like this? Live in the band just for the chance to have a farewell sendoff?
Incidentally, the other 3 of us (bass, guitar,drums) all sing, too, although he didn't want us to with him in the band, since he only sang and didn't play any instruments. So we're not even gonna miss a gig. We're getting together next week to divvy up his songs.
Damn. Now i'm irritated. I would've loved to have played some 50's stuff in the last band that i was in, but nobody else was into it. The singer/guitarist called Eddie Cochran and Gene Vincent "boring". WTF?
Jeff, I know 'of' a guy like that, but luckily have never had to deal with one in a band. Thats a funny story, people are whacked.
Mark, Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran boring? Those words don't even make sense together in a sentence! I don't get it, really. There's a lot of music I don't like, but I can at least appreciate it for what it is. If you look back at a lot of 50's material it was way more dangerous than whats going on today. Link Wray's Rumble was banned from the radio for starting riots, and it was an instrumental! Elvis was called the 'personification of evil' and police showed up at a concert in Florida and threatend to throw him in jail if he shook his body onstage.
Ah, who listens to us.
No kiddin'. You're preaching to the choir here, my friend.
