So tonight I sort of achieved a life goal of sorts...

20 or so years ago, I was a beginning bass player, I had this mental image of one day driving a Karmann Ghia convertable to a gig with the top down and my big ol' standup bass in the passenger seat.

15 years later, my, for lack of a better word, "dream" car shifted from a Ghia to the 914 which I acquired a year later. But by that time I was in semi-retirement from the music scene, and I never made a transition from electric bass guitar to acoustic standup.

So now I've been working my way back into playing bass in bands, and with spring reluctantly arriving in Chicago, tonight I (gently) tossed my gear to ride shotgun in the 914 and sped off to rehearsal and made a slightly modified version of my vision a reality.

Silly, sure, but satisfying nonetheless!
Click to view attachment

Keep on rocking and dreaming

Nothing silly about that. I have the same dream but with a surfboard inside.

That's super cool.

I've handled a couple gigs in the teener. Scotty (the drummer) might appreciate this....
Bass drum in the front trunk first. Mad rally to pack all the rest. Amazing what this little car can hold.

excellent, took me 22 years to restore my mustang.

only the tough finish! more power to ya!!!

mike

If you pull the seat pad on the passenger seat the amp sits a lot tighter which allows for more "spirited" driving.

Awesome!!!

About 15 or so years ago I actually looked for an extra top under the guise of bolting a Yakima basket rack to it to hold the parts of my kit I could not fit inside the car (kick drum primarily). Never came to fruition. Probably a VERY good thing! Ha!

I had a simply fantastic drum tech from 2004 - 2007. Those were the only years I was able to drive my car to a show once in a while. To finish a great show, sit and relax for a bit and then pull the top and head out on a warm summer night was the fricken greatest.

Again - kudos!!

The first 914 I ever saw had a surfboard strapped to the top of it. From that moment I was hooked.

Keep on rockin' in the free world!!

I used to take the spare out of the front trunk, and my guitar amp would fit perfectly with room for a gig bag, and other stuff. I would put the 12 channel powered mixer in the rear trunk with the mic stands (off the bases) and I could still get the roof in there, you couldn't fully close the rear trunk, but I never had any problem.

It was always fun to see the look on people's faces when I kept on getting gear out of the car.

Hey Scotty, it looks like we've found a bass player for our "All 914 Band"!! But the commute for practice looks like it's gonna be a bear!

I've got my Pearl kit Scott can play, and Dan I've got a 100 watt Peavey TKO bass amp, and an Ibanez bass if you don't want to bring any gear. I've got a sax/keyboard player and a great harmonica player who both love to play whenever possible (they don't have 914's though). Here's a pic from a jam last summer.

I can't imagine trying to fit a bass drum in there!

I can settle for the Peavey amp, but I'll bring my Musicman bass over the Ibanez. Next time I'm in TN anyway...

My 1x10" practice amp isn't bad, but I don't think I'll ever drive the 914 to a gig, since for my live rig I use an Eden 2x10" cabinet that ways about 90 pounds, I'm not sure I want to even see if it fits in a trunk. Maybe if I removed the passenger seat...

Another issue is I don't mix beer and 914, but I do mix beer and bass!

Yea, just put your spare in the rear trunk, and I'll bet your amp will fit in the front trunk. Musicman is a great bass! Leo Fender's gig after he sold Fender to CBS. OK when's the jam???

not a silly dream at all.

I've been playing since I was 15, but only played a few gigs... each time was a lot of fun!

btw, the best $100 you can spend is on a SKG case. my guitars have been tossed around on flights and everything but the case keeps them perfect. the only scratch on my guitar was from letting a friend use it for a gig one night... he put it down on a shitty stand and it fell off, I was not pleased.

HA! Awsome. I am in. We need to get Eric Shea too. We should get a song list together for everyone to just learn and keep ready if the opportunity to play presents itself.

Is that the Pearl kit in that photo? Is it hanging on the old original Jeff Porcaro Pearl rack?!!

I know this is a 914 site, but I would love to see a "gear whore" thread - I can imagine that some member of this community have some instuments that rival some of the cars on this site. Maybe I will throw something out in the sand box.

Fun stuff.

my gear right now is weak, but I think that thread would be very interesting!

Start one in the sandbox. It will be fun seeing what comes out.

Yea Scott, that's my Pearl drum kit. I got it from Fork's Drum Closet in Nashville, a pretty good drum shop. It was a practice kit for a touring drummer, and I got a great deal. Needs new heads though, they're only about 17 yrs old!

Perry -
Let me know the drum sizes. I have a pile of new/unused heads - I am confident I will have a full set for you. What is the style of music you primarily play? How hard do you hit? All of my spares are Remo - primarily coated and clear Emperor batters (2 ply) and Ambassadors (single ply). I am pretty sure I have a couple of sets of Pinstripes as well (2 ply with an internal muffling ring). They are a bit dead sounding for my personal taste, but they do last and are extremely easy to tune.

I will start a new thread in the sand box - didn't mean to highjack.......

rock on, man!