Make Way for 25 and 28

25. Danelectro Longhorn, limousine black
I stumbled(!) upon an NOS Longhorn on eBay. They were reissued for something like a day in 2006, and were very hard to come by. You may recall that this time last year I was looking for one, but they were either nonexistent or stupidly expensive. Well, I found one, brand new and reasonably priced, and in the color I wanted no less. Danelectro finally upgraded the bridge (with individual saddles rather than a mere piece of rosewood), tuning machines, and now-metal strap pins. It feels great to have one again because they just sound incredible. Add to that the fact that it's 24 frets, and you have one amazing little instrument. It has a bark to it, but at the same time sounds like my 8-string did, minus four strings (read: piano-like). The lipstick pickups are passive, but they almost sound active. Weird.

Anyway, as my gear acts as my currency, the V had to go to make room the Longhorn. C'mon, we all knew it was a relationship ordained to be fleeting. Exciting and conversation-inducing when I took her out on the town (a whole lot of leering and catcalls), but fleeting nonetheless.

28. Genz Benz GBE250C Combo

I once again tired of lugging around two separate components to shows, so I sought out yet another powerful combo. Now that I know the Ampeg combos I was interested in are made in China, I looked elsewhere and found this Genz Benz. It's a high-quality amp with a tube preamp, 250 watts, and a reasonable weight. I love the idea of the tube preamp and am impressed with its non-coloration when using just the mosfet part, but I dunno. I'm glad to have it, but I'm already looking elsewhere. I really want to love it, but I think we're just better as friends. The fact is it just doesn't quite have the push I need. I'd love to have an all-tube amp, but those guys are more often than not horrendously expensive. So, for solid state, I'd love to get my hands on either an older Fender BXR300 or Peavey Data Bass 450. The Nitrobass head and Henry the 8x8 had to go to finance this one.

Non-Humbucking Bronco

T his little guy is a Squier Bronco. I picked it up to leave at the rehearsal space so I wouldn’t have to lug my V all over the place and risk either leaving it on the train (it could happen) or subjecting it to extreme temperatures in the car.

This is an entry-level bass, and pretty much any review you read will inevitably say “a good beginner bass” or “good for the guitarist who occasionally wants to play bass”, or “for those with small hands”. All valid points, and the reason for those are because it’s short scale. Short scale in the world of instrumentation is the equivalent of a Fisher Price My First Bass. Rarely are they taken seriously. As I’ve mentioned before, short scale bass options are few. If you want a short scale bass with a maple neck, your options are exponentially more limited. On eBay you can find some, but they’re often brands no one’s heard of, even though the company has sold a gazillion of them.

I went for the Bronco because they’re plentiful in supply and you can find them in just about any music store. I tried one out at Guitar Center, and this is one of those instruments that because it's SO mass-produced (crafted in Indonesia!), you have to play about a half dozen to find one with the right balance of feel, sound, and sustain. One would think that because they’re all made in the same place to the same specifications that they would all sound and feel identical. They don’t.

So, I spent about thirty minutes playing a black one, and I bought it, quite pleased that the only one I had available to try had all the important juju. I took it to rehearsal that night and whaddya know-- not a sound came out of it. It had bum electronics whose defect didn’t present itself until it had been plugged in a couple times.

Sigh. I don’t know what it is about that Guitar Center, but it seems that 75% of the stuff I’ve tried is defective, new stuff included. I didn’t want to have to haul the bass all the way back to the store because I didn’t want it replaced; as I said, I found the right one and didn’t want to risk a replacement that was lacking in vibe. I also didn’t want to leave it with them to get repaired because I didn’t have time to waste. So, H took care of it for me and had it ready for me the next time we met.

So, the synopsis. It has a single coil pickup from a Strat. That’s it. One wouldn’t believe that a simple single guitar pickup could pull off bass signal, but man, this thing is great. Hairy, even. The neck is fantastic as well, smooth and satin. This thing is bone-simple and that’s one of the things I love most about it. Oh, and it weighs about as much as nine paper clips. I look like Andre the Giant playing it.

Squier is a division of Fender, and they produce pretty much all the same American-made Fender models, but overseas and cost a fraction of the price of a genuine Fender. When someone is trying to sell one, it’s guaranteed that they will say “Fender Squier Bronco”. That’s a misnomer. It’s a Squier. The parent company is Fender, but that’s it. Just like people will try to sell a “Gibson Epiphone SG”, throwing in the parent company’s name doesn’t make it worth more, so why bother? It’s not as if people will laugh at you less. I don’t know if I’ll play this thing out live, but I might. As one who likes to defy convention, I’m a little intrigued by the idea of showing up with a “toy” of a bass and just ripping it up all night long.

Huh. Who'da Thunk It?

That's right: A flying V. Though this design is usually associated with metal, it was originally conceived in 1958, long before metal even existed. Country players flocked to it, but not surprisingly, it didn't really take off. Every now and then Epiphone or Gibson will re-release it.

So yes, there's definitely a stigma attached to it and it definitely isn't for everyone; they either love how it looks or they hate it. I personally don't care either way, because all I know is that it's super comfortable, feels great, sounds like my Les Paul, and seemingly weighs as little as my Longhorn. I really dig it.

Warning: GEAR POST

I haven’t posted anything about musical gear (read: basses or bass amps) lately, and seeing as how my Sitemeter indicates that most of the hits are from people searching for information about gear I’ve owned, I’ll post about my most recent acquisition. No, it isn’t an Epiphone EB-3 like I said it would be about this time last year. It’s an Epiphone EB-0. I’ll explain.

I’m a reasonably tall guy (5’11”) with what most would consider large hands. Problem is, I am very inflexible. Out of the 25-plus basses I’ve owned over the years, only one has been shortscale (30”): my Danelectro Longhorn. I bought that one on a whim and got rid of it pretty quickly. I shouldn’t have. For you see, standard scale basses have a scale of 34” or more, and that extra length has always been problematic for me. It requires a reach that my wrist has no problem protesting. I’ve tried wearing the basses at different heights, from down to my knees all the way up to my chest, but nothing helped. Fretting or playing scales at anything below the root G was just too uncomfortable. The solution? Short scale. The EB-3 is long scale, so that option is out the window.

Unfortunately, this meant selling my beloved Les Paul Standard 4-string. I adored that bass but just couldn’t use it to its fullest extent. The thing was just too damned long. So, a couple months ago I sold it to buy an Epiphone EB-0. It’s a short scale with one huge sidewinder (humbucker) pickup right at the neck. It’s an entry-level bass, and people either love it or they hate it. It’s a $200 instrument, and not unlike produce, you have to go through a lot of them to find a good one. I wanted one in black but no store would stock it, so I bought it through Musician’s Friend. I figured that if I didn’t like it, I’d just return it. Well, the first one arrived, and man, it was tweaked. The strings didn’t line up with the pickup pole pieces, and the bridge seemed off-center. So, back it went. The replacement arrived within two days, and visually it was just fine. It sounded good and felt surprisingly good as well. The problem is the intonation. On short scale basses, sometimes intonation is a problem. When you hit an open string, it’s supposed to be in tune open and also at the 12th fret. The harmonic at the 12th fret is in tune, but when fretted, it’s sharp. And then it just gets worse and worse the further up the neck you go. This bums me out because I spend a lot of time beyond the twelfth fret. Most of my parlor tricks take place up there. Without having access to eight other EB-0s to try out, I can’t say if it’s a quality issue or just something inherent to this particular short scale. I played the $13oo Gibson version, but it had the same problem.

So, I’m on the lookout for a better shortscale. There really aren’t too many options out there, unless you have one made. Ideally, I’d like to pick up a now-rare-as-hens’-teeth

Danelectro Longhorn,

or a Waterstone Indra,

or an Airline Map Bass,

or an Italia Torino,

or a Fender Mustang.

So, the quick and dirty review of my EB-0 is this:

1. Sounds reasonably good, very boomy, but really shines through my Hartke preamp

2.Very neck heavy. Actually, head-heavy. As I said to my band mate recently, the headstock is like a divining rod for dirt.

3. The intonation is abysmal. Stay below the ninth fret if you want any kind of accuracy.

4. The harmonics at the third and fifth frets are faint to nonexistent. This distresses me because this is also from where I pull some of my parlor tricks.

5. As you’ll see in about eight million other reviews, it’s a great beginner bass, but not so much for the semi-professional or professional. Or anyone who likes to play in tune.

I don't believe this is a matter of Got What I Paid For. I've owned cheaper basses than this that performed flawlessly. When its replacement arrives, I’ll keep it but convert it to fretless. But for now, it'll just have to do.

Information Overlord

S’funny. I have the ability to track who visits this web log, how long they stuck around to read, and how they got here. Some visits are just from people who are browsing on Blogger and click “Next Blog” and pretty much wind up here by accident. Some of those people immediately realize that this isn’t their cup of tea and move onto something else, but every now and then someone will hang out and read a couple posts.

I’ve gotten hits from Portugal, Italy, France, Spain, and interestingly, Africa. The visits from overseas are usually by way of the “Next Blog” method.

However.

For my faithful reader(s), you know that the past couple months have been heavy on the lists of things I’ve bought and sold and various automotive woes. So far, the greatest traffic I’ve seen is from people searching on a particular bass or amp, how to turn off that confounded Hyundai Accent “check engine” light, or just to find some info on the Island of Misfit Toys and its inhabitants. Not surprisingly, during the summer there was a rush on “Ban de Soleil”.

I hope I was helpful and at least somewhat entertaining in your search for answers.

Don't be a stranger! Drop a comment and say hello! I'd love to hear from you.

Bassic (sorry) Instinct

A dear friend of mine asked me for advice the other day regarding his first bass purchase. Not surprisingly, I gave him a most verbose dissertation. He then suggested I put that advice into my web log. Well, I've opted for a different approach:

I have owned so many basses and amps, I might as well just list them and my experience with them. Hell, I've spent (often wasted) a lot of money over the years trying this stuff out; the least I can do is dole out free advice. This list will be old news to those who have read my old website, and for the casual (read: not gear-obsessed) reader, it will be an utter bore. But for that other %.0003, enjoy.

Basses I've Owned (in reverse chronological order)

23 (pending).

Because of the pleasant surprise my Les Paul turned out to be, I have fallen in love with the Epiphone EB-3. It's gorgeous and sounds simply fantastic.

22. Peavey Foundation Fretless, tobaccoburst

After unloading my fretless Pilot, I longed for another. I looked for a looong time for another fretless but just didn't want to pay a lot. My Pilot was an outstanding bass that I got for $125, so that was my (unrealistic) point of reference. So, after many months, I spotted the Foundation, and it was $100. It was filthy and needed a lot of work, but, forgive the pun, is a great foundation. I love this bass. It weighs very little and has a broad tonal palate.

21. Epiphone Les Paul Standard, ebony/chrome

I had too much gear that I wasn't using, and I don't like to hang onto things that I just don't use. So, I sold it all, including my beloved Stingray. Sometimes one just has to do things like this no matter how ludicrous it sounds. I bought a new, ebony & chrome 4-string Epiphone Les Paul. LOVE it. I can get a surprising variety of tones out of the 2 humbuckers. It doesn't just sound like wood like the Thunderbird did even though the pickup configuration is the same. Near as i can tell, there simply aren't too may black ones out there. all the stores seemed to only carry the cherryburst version. Cherryburst is a lovely color, but I fond the black (Epiphone calls it Ebony) more timeless.

20. Galveston Acoustic/Electric Bass, translucent green

It has a no-name preamp in it, replete with EQ and presence. And you know what? It actually sounds really good! It's a shallow body, so the low end isn't especially loud. But it's definitely voiced for midrange. So, it's good for practicing quietly or when I just don't feel like plugging into something when playing along with CDs and stuff. I think I got my money's worth out of it and I really like it. Sold it.

19. Dean Rhapsody 8-string, natural

My brothers and I went to see the band Doubledrive over the summer, and their bassist Josh Sattler was playing a Hamer 8-string. HUGE sound. I had been thinking about getting one for quite awhile, but this sealed the deal. Hamer versions are very hard to find, so I found a used Dean Rhapsody on the internet. I love it. It's such a beautiful, lush-sounding instrument and I enjoy it very much. It can't be used in every application, but it's a lot more versatile than one might think. Sold it and greatly miss it.




18. Ernie Ball Musicman Stingray 4-string, orange

I added the obligatory Hipshot and swapped out the pickguard from white to black, then to clear. I love this bass to bits, and it will remain a permanent member of the stable. I had to sell my Thunderbird and Jazz for it, but it was totally worth it. Every now and then you stumble on something and say, "this is going to be with me, ALWAYS." I'm happy with how it is stock, but I wouldn't mind installing and EMG pickup and preamp. I found that I was using it all the time and my Warwick was just collecting dust, so I sold the Warwick to make room for.....


17. Epiphone Thunderbird 4-string, tobaccoburst

I think the Thunderbird is one of THE most rock and roll-looking basses ever made. I've always wanted one, and the Gibson versions are prohibitively expensive. So, I found a used Epiphone version on the internet. These things are LONG. I was forever ramming into stuff with the headstock. Unmistakable tone. Just huge and piano-like. Very well made and I loved it a lot, but since I'm both a fingerstyle and pick player, I could never get it to sit comfortably enough to play both styles. Wish I still had it.

16. DeArmond Pilot 4-string, cobalt blue

I was in another band that required some pretty significant public transportation in order for me to get to rehearsal. Carrying my Warwick with me turned out to be a major pain in the ass. So, I bought the Pilot for $140 from a closeout Sam Ash was having, and I would just leave it at the rehearsal space. Probably the best $140 I've ever spent. This bass seems to weigh just ounces, has a great neck, and the electronics aren't half bad. What's also cool is that this turned out to be two basses in one. I wanted another fretless but didn't want to spend too much, so I converted this one to fretless, SUCCESSFULLY. All it took was a couple hours, sandpaper, and wood filler. That's it. Oh, and flatwounds. Sold it. Shouldn't have.


15. Warwick Corvette Standard 4-string, natural

Now this was an impulse buy, but a great one. I went to the store for strings and walked out with this. I saw them on the wall every time I went to the store, but never gave them a second look because they seemed so cold and sterile. On a whim, I tried one, and that was it. It felt great, had beautiful tone, and the look really grew on me. And the quality of it was unbelievable. It had some really cool innovative stuff like an adjustable nut and bridge. Plus I just had a lot of fun telling everyone it was made of Bubinga. I put in Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounders (THIS batch worked) and a Hipshot. It was my #1 for awhile.

14. Ibanez ATK 300 4-string, honey

I'd always loved the crushing, springy middle punch of a Stingray. I still couldn't afford one, but I had heard about Ibanez ATKs and how similar they sounded to Stingrays. I sought one out on the internet and found one. Another really heavy bass, but it was beautiful and well made. It had some crazy coil-tapping options, but all I wanted was the Stingray sound. It came close, but not quite. And the strange thing was that this bass was active, but it didn't have the kind of output one would expect from an active bass. It was a maple neck, my fave, but I just couldn't get used to it for some reason.

13. Fender Squier Jazz 4-string, red

This was actually a Fender Squier, Mexican-made, not like the Squiers you see today. Great bass right off the shelf, but I opted to modify it. I got a Warmoth maple neck, some knobs, and pickup covers. The thing became a trailer queen, really. I was more impressed by how it looked than sounded. I installed some Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounders, but I must have gotten a bad batch because they were weak-sounding, even weaker than stock. And they weren't wired out of phase or anything. It just didn't make sense. So the stock pickups stayed. Should have kept it.

This is also around the time I decided that I didn't really like more than 4 strings, so I started to install Hipshot D-Tuners on all my basses.

12. Gibson Les Paul Special 5-string, cherry

Man, this thing was a total beast. I don't even rememember what prompted me to seek one out, but I found one used on the internet. Everything about this bass was thick. Two humbuckers, high-gauge strings, ebony fretboard, the WEIGHT. My God, the weight. I couldn't believe how much this thing weighed. I think it was made of mahogany. Or slate. I liked it okay and it sure looked impressive, but the novelty wore off quickly. It was gorgeous and I didn't really want to part with it, but it was a lot of work to play and I could never get the sound I wanted out of it. Traded it.


11. Danelecto Longhorn Reissue 4-string, Commie Red (really)

I'm not sure what drew me to this bass, but it was the complete antithesis of the Les Paul 5-string. I saw its unusual shape and lipstick pickups, and that probably did it. Then I played it. I couldn't believe that wall of sound came out of two guitar pickups. And it weighed absolutely NOTHING. I love all things quirky, and this certainly fit the bill. I played it for quite a bit, and although its short scale took some getting used to, it was quite pleasant actually. I did a couple shows with it despite numerous testimonials of the strap pins coming out. I even recorded a demo with it. The strap pins did finally let go once, and I completely boogered up the jack because of it. However, Danelectro sent me a new jack free of charge. The only problem other than that is that I play aggressively, and because the bass was so light, I had a hard time keeping it anchored. It was as if it was trying to run way from me all the time. But again, it was a joy. Should have kept it.


10. Yamaha BBN-5 5-string, natural

I love Yamaha stuff. It's relatively affordable and put together extremely well. Very comfortable and it didn't weigh as much as some 4-strings. This one had two J pickups in it, and they were ultimately what led me to trade it later on. They were just too weak. I couldn't find appropriate aftermarket pickups for it, so I traded it.

9. Jay Turser JTB-440 Stingray knockoff 4-string, blue

I always wanted a Musicman Stingray but sure couldn't afford one, but I stumbled on this. Not to mention it was approximately 1/5 the price. It did the job for quite awhile, actually. Now that I've owned a Stingray and have also learned a lot since then, I now realize that it sounded absolutely nothing like a Stingray, despite how it looked and even with the humbucker. OLP makes a much better version of it now.

8. Peavey Milestone 4-string, sunburst

I really liked this bass. Very clean and simple. Didn't keep it long because I did a direct trade for #9.

7. Fender Precision fretless 4-string, Inca silver

Then it was time to sate my appetite for a fretless. This was a beautiful bass with a black headstock and no fretlines. I had absolutely no business buying this thing. I had it a couple months and lost my patience with it. Fretless requires a fair amount of discipline, and it's painfully obvious when you don't know what you're doing. Playing it live was especially nightmarish when you couldn't hear yourself. Sure looked impressive, however. Give me something fretted, pronto. Wish I had it now, though.

6. Ibanez SR406 6-string, blue

Naturally, I just had to get a 6-string after having my appetite whet by a 5-string. If I thought I hit bum notes with a 5, hooooo boy. Having a high C was cool for chordal stuff, but it was tough to hear those high notes when playing live. I was seriously out of my league with that one. I ultimately sold it so I could buy Christmas presents. Surprisingly, I don't regret selling that one. Nice bass, though.

5. Peavey Foundation 5-string, black

This is when things started to REALLY get interesting. I had joined a band where the lead guy was a multi-instrumentalist named Mac Ritchey. He had some amazing gear, most notably a fretless 6-string Pedulla. Thus began my re-energized lust for a Pedulla and a newfound interest in fretless and a low B. Well, I'm not a Rockefeller, and I wanted to start off slow, so I bought a used fretted 5-string Peavey instead. That took some getting used to and I hit a lot of bum notes at first. But at the time, I thought laying a low B under something was just cool as hell. Sold it.

4. Hohner B-bass 4-string, black

Now, this was quite a step up for me. It had active electronics, and I didn't even know what that meant. But the even cooler feature was that it had a Steinberger-licensed bridge. So, I could drop from E to D with a flip of the lever at the bridge. The electronics were absolute garbage. EMG Selects. I probably would have kept them despite their sound, but they would just cut out all the time (in hindsight, the problem was the preamp and not the pickups). So, without any research or knowing any better, I ordered real EMGs for it because someone at my music store said they were the best. I'm glad I did, because it was a great-sounding bass after that. It had a small body, 24 frets, and was pretty light. This was the bass that began a long legacy of Seller's Remorse.

3. Peavey Foundation 4-string, black.

My first foray into Peavey basses. At the time, I was amazed by the thing. Very well put together, it sounded great, and it came in this crazy molded plastic (VERY tough) case that looked like a big breaded fish fillet. I installed some Bartolini pickups in it (J and P), and it made it sound even better. I also refinished this one and attempted to convert it to a fretless. I shouldn't have. I ruined a perfectly good bass.

2. BC Rich P-bass knockoff 4-string, white

Definitely not one of the US-made models. Budget parts and even a pointy headstock. But it was still pretty good. I knew absolutely nothing about basses or guitars when I bought it, and I distinctly remember choosing it because the A string had this weird dead sound to it. I thought it was a 'feature' of the bass and bought it. Obviously, the 'feature' disappeared as soon as I changed the strings. I refinished it with a honey stain. I shouldn't have.

1. Mako P-bass knockoff, white

My very first bass, and as I recall, it wasn't too bad. It was certainly good enough to learn on.


Bass Amps/Rigs I've owned, in chronological order.

1. Sears guitar amp

Handed down to me by my older brother. It sufficed for what I needed for, which was playing 12-bar blues for hours on end, quietly. Interestingly, it had a knob for 'reverb'. Well, it wasn't reverb. It was tremolo. I don't even know where that amp went.

2. Peavey Basic 50 combo

I outgrew the Sears amp pretty quickly, so I finally went out and bought a real bass amp. This was my first experience with anything Peavey, and it was a great experience. I've loved their stuff ever since. I later sold it so I could buy Christmas presents.

3. Randall Combo

Being ampless just wasn't working out since I got an offer to join a band, so I quickly went out and bought this odd little used Randall amp. I knew absolutely nothing about amps back then, but I'm pretty sure it was 60 watts, solid state, and had a 12 in it. I've never seen another like it, and it sounded great when pushed to the limit. Still wasn't loud enough, so...

4. Peavey Mark IV, Peavey 210 Powered Enclosure, Peavey 1x18 cab

My God, a real bass rig. Way out of my league with this one. I had no idea how to run the thing other than turn a few knobs and adjust volume. I've never been a big fan of 18s because they always struck me as being too slow. Well when you only have 210 watts pushing it, it's just gonna be that way. The powered 210 was a pretty cool idea, and I knew nothing about biamping. I used that rig to about 1/8 of its potential.

5. Peavey Minx

I had enrolled in a university to study music, so I needed a practice amp. Well, I *was* a student after all, so I was broke. I traded in my huge 300-watt rig for this little amp with 30 watts and a 10. It was kind of a sad day and that was the first time I experienced firsthand how much one gets screwed on trades at music stores. Not to mention I dropped out of the university about 2 months later, even more broke and carrying a wee amp. Sold it pretty soon after that.

6. Peavey TNT150 combo

I was still bandless for awhile around that time, but I pined for a bigger amp. So, a great friend of mine (thank you, Whitney) actually bought me one in exchange for the promise that I wouldn't just turn around and sell it in a couple months. I kept that promise. It was the first amp I had that had chorus in it, a feature exclusive to Peavey. I LOVE Peavey chorus. I really wish they still had it in their amps. It was a real bonus. Sold it eventually.

7. Peavey KB60 combo

I'm not sure what prompted me to pick up a used keyboard amp, so I'll chalk this one up to an impulse buy. I'm pretty sure I got it to run my drum machine through it. A great amp, too. I discovered that in a pinch, they make great portable PAs. Reverb! So with this, my TNT, and Minx, I basically had a rig that looked like a Peavey snowman. Sounded great, too!

8. Sunn Coliseum 300 head

I finally joined another band, but for some reason found that the TNT wasn't loud enough. In actuality, it should have been. The problem was with my inability to EQ the thing correctly. Smiley-face EQs settings do NOTHING to use the amp's power potential. So, I bought the Sunn. I liked it because it was very clean and simple-looking, and from what I remember, it sounded very nice too. Solid-state and mostly trouble-free.

9. Peavey 4x10 cabinet

Of course, I had to have something to run the Sunn through. So I bought my first 410. I was now in the big leagues again. A great cabinet that could handle a lot of power. Sold it.

10. Peavey Mark VIII head

Onto a different band. We played a show in the city (which was thrilling as hell for me because I'd only played in basements), and I forgot a speaker cable. I figured there was no difference between an instrument and speaker cable, so Boy Genius here used a guitar cable. Yup, cooked the head mid-set. After getting an estimate on the cost of repair of the Sunn head, I decided a new head would be smarter in the long run. It didn't take much convincing or shopping around. I went straight for the Mark VIII. Very powerful, lots of cool knobs, and it had the chorus I love so much.

11. Peavey 1x15 cabinet

So now that I have a head that's so powerful, I need a 15 bottom cabinet to fill out the sound spectrum when added to the 410, right? Damned straight. Also sounded very good and could handle a lot of power. Sold it. Sold everything I had, actually, due to disenchantment.

12. Peavey TNT150 combo

After having my own place for awhile, I got the jones again. So I saw an ad for a used TNT 150 for short money and bought it.

13. Peavey Minx

I determined that the TNT was a little much for my shoebox-sized apartment, so I bought another used Minx because it had a headphone jack. The neighbors rejoiced. Wish I still had it.

14. Kustom 410 combo

I bought this little oddity at Wurlitzer's. A used amp, the salesman sold it to me as a bass amp. It wasn't. I really should have known better that it was a guitar amp because the cabinet was just too shallow to be a bass amp, and it had reverb and tremolo, for cryin' out loud. Now that I think of it, it would have made a really cool guitar amp. Anyway, the thing was just wrought with many problems. Cool-looking with the purple jewel and black
tuck-and-roll, but I just couldn't get rid of it fast enough. So I traded it for......

15. Yamaha 115B combo

What a weird amp this was. It was 100 watts and had a 15, but the thing was something like 4 1/2 feet tall. It sounded very...paper-y. It had a buzz in it whose source I could never find. Off it went.

16. Peavey 210TX combo amp

This was the first new amp I had had since my first TNT, and I had to order it. I also traded my 410 in for it. Really a stunning amp, but it just wasn't loud enough. 210 watts alone and 300 with my 1x15 hooked up to it, but it just didn't have the headroom. But it really sounded great otherwise. Chorus! Traded it in for...

17. Peavey Megabass head, Peavey 210TXR cabinet

I ordered a 210 cabinet with a 2-rackspace provision in it to fit my recently-acquired used Megabass head. What a setup. Ah, that Megabass. This was Peavey's first foray into digital bass amps. Two channels, 200 watts each.
This was one of the loudest amps I've ever owned, and I still don't know why. It had something to do with its being digital, and good God did that thing crank. Chorus! Unfortunately, it also had a slight crackle I could never fix. Should have kept it anyway.

18. Peavey 1x15 cabinet

Needed it to pair with the Megabass/210, naturally. The pair just annihilated.

18.5 Ampeg 212 cabinet. I didn't keep it long. It had a rackspace in it for a power amp, but was an extranneous cabinet.


19. Carvin RL6815 combo

I finally figured out why it was I kept experimenting. I wanted something that was powerful and great-sounding, but I also wanted it to be small. With this combo, it had a 600-watt head encased in a 1x15, 2x8 cabinet. I figured "now this is THE combination I need!" Nope. The combo cabinet just simply couldn't project the way one or more separate cabinets could. So, I took the head out, installed it in a rack and used it through...

20. Peavey 2x15 cabinet

I got tired of hauling two cabinets around, so I picked this up. These cabinets have a ridiculously low wattage rating for a bass cabinet, but they CRANK. It was trouble-free despite how many watts I pushed through it, and I ultimately sold it to make room for.....

Around this time, I was using the Carvin/215 rig, and the head blew during a show one night. That was expensive as I had to ship it all the way from MA to CA, and THEN pay for the repairs as well. Turned out to be a defective part that Carvin had opted to upgrade in the next version, and I think they should have upgraded mine for nothing. But what's done is done. Thoroughly disgusted with how that turned out, I got the repaired head back and sold it. Onto....

21. Peavey Max bass preamp, Samson F1200 power amp, Ampeg SVT50 Isovent cabinet

I stumbled on the Ampeg cabinet first. It had two 10s, and two isobarically (clamshell) mounted 15s. It weighed a good 841 pounds, it seemed, and what a beast. I figured it'd make an ideal replacement for my 215 cabinet as it could be used biamp or full-range all in one cabinet, weight be damned. I knew it'd take a fair amount of juice to run it, so I decided to go with a separate preamp and power amp as opposed to a head. I never had much luck with it. The effects loop in the preamp, when used, would short something out. I bought the preamp used, so God only knows the abuse it had seen. I had a Samson 1200-watt power amp running the whole thing, but I just couldn't get any decent volume out of it. The cabinet didn't work out, so I traded it in on...

22. Peavey 4x10 cabinet

Hey, they sound great. What can I tell ya.

My Samson/Max/410 rig disintegrated on a New Year's eve gig. Not only did the power amp melt down, but it also took two of the 4x10 speakers with it. Cha-CHING. I got the Samson fixed for nothing under warranty and sold it to a friend of mine. So the problem wasn't with the Ampeg cabinet but the power amp. Go figure. I sold the preamp, too. The next day, I went out and bought a new.....

23. Peavey Nitrobass head

This thing is great. Pretty damned powerful, and has a lot of really nice features. When my previous rig crapped out, I knew immediately that I was going to buy tried (and tried and tried and tried) and true Peavey. Unfortunately, Peavey no longer includes chorus on their bass heads, BAM heads notwithstanding. But again, I love this thing. It's still part of my current rig.


24. Peavey 210TX cabinet

I traded the 410 with two blown speakers for this. Fair amount of woof for its size, buy I felt like I was hurting it all the time. Sold it.

25. Peavey Mark IV head

Tired of having my rigs disintegrate and having no backup, I bought a used MKIV. Technology that's almost 25 years old, but these are still great heads(!) even today. Sold it.

26. Crate BE215 cabinet

I got this to use along with the 210 or sometimes as a standalone cabinet. It handled a lot of abuse. I don't think it's rated for more than 200 watts, but I easily exceeded that every live show and it never showed any signs of being taxed. Sold it.

26. SWR Henry 8x8 cabinet

Onstage, I sometimes have difficulty hearing myself. 15s throw the bass very nicely and all, but I can only feel them onstage and not hear them. Unless I'm 20 feet in front of the cabinet, but I haven't gotten to play those size stages yet. I'd bring my 210 cabinet to cover the upper frequencies and to hear myself better. It worked, but hauling both the 215 AND 210 got to be tiresome after awhile. So, I decided to get a Henry 8x8. Projects right where I need it, has a surprising amount of woof and great punch, and will take a whole bunch of power. My favorite cabinet to date and still part of my rig.

27. Peavey Basic 112 combo

I needed a practiuce ampo that could also be used at smallish shows, and this was the answer. It's 60 watts, expandable to 75 when another cabinet is added. It's a great, no-frills amp that does the job quite nicely. Still have it.

So. Any questions?

Everything New is Old Again

I am forever perusing want ads for things I clearly don’t need (guitars, cars, motorcycles, Flowbee, etc.). I look out of curiosity and pure fantasy most times. Read them long enough, and no matter what item, you just pick up on certain terms. For example:

OEM – Original Equipment Manufacturer. Component made by the manufacturer for a specific machine.

NOS - New Old Stock. Never mind that that it’s an oxymoronic mess of a term. It simply means that it’s an OEM part that hasn’t been used yet. It’s an old component that’s just taking up shelf space, like a valve cover for an old motorcycle. More often that not, they command a high price.

The market, no matter what the commodity, has become absolutely obsessed with age. Whether it’s cars, guitars, toys, motorcycles, games, clothing, or bicycles; anything that’s over a certain number of years old has its desirability suddenly octupled. Why? Because it’s old?

Oh, but it isn’t old--it’s vintage. Merriam-Webster, if you’d be so kind:

Pronunciation: 'vin-tij
Function: noun1 a (1) : a season's yield of grapes or wine from a vineyard (2) : wine; especially : a usually superior wine all or most of which comes from a single year b : a collection of contemporaneous and similar persons or things
3 a : a period of origin or manufacture b : length of existence

A Gibson SG from 1986 is not a must-have just because it’s twenty years old. There was nothing special about it then, and there sure as hell isn’t anything special about it now. I often see ads touting these as vintage instruments and there’s typically a ludicrous price attached to it. Fender actually produces a custom bass guitar that has been “relic’d” or “distressed”. That is, they take a brand-new instrument and make it look old. A new, relic’d Jaco Pastorius model Fender Jazz bass is at least two grand. An original 60s model can fetch anywhere from two to as high as fifteen grand. Because it’s old. The latter one is cool because it has real history and patina, but at the end of the day, it’s still just wires and wood. I’ll grant you that an instrument that has been knocked around and used as a workhorse for years is a beautiful sight. But how do you put a price on that? Besides, wouldn’t you want to put that wear on from your own use?

It’s not enough to wear something out naturally. It now has to be done in a factory. Shirts, jeans, instruments…they get the “vintique” treatment.

My ’76 Chevette, ’78 Nova, ’80 Impala wagon, and ’82 CJ7 had some otherworldly patina to them. What greater patina is there than rust and faded paint? Surely those cars would be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars now. I knew I should’ve hung onto them. My Toughskins from 1977 would surely be a cash cow.

Why aren’t we this jazzed about the elderly? Because we can’t sell them?

Have You Seen Me?

In the summer of 2004, I found myself in a situation where I needed to sell off most of my gear (who knew the Brooklyn Bridge wasn’t actually for sale?). Of the several basses I had, one was a DeArmond Pilot, pictured to the left. I had converted it from a fretted to a fretless bass, and I sold it to guy who resides in or around Boston. Freak that I am, I usually hang onto any and all information from a transaction such as this, but for the life of me, I can’t find any of the buyer’s info.

There’s a chance in approximately one in 31 quadrillion he’ll see this, but here goes:

Are you out there? Have you grown bored with it? Do you have no longer have time for it? Would you like to…

SELL IT? Because I tell ya, I’d love to have it back. I’ll even pay you what you bought it for. I’m the guy you met at Downtown Crossing. A most bizarre plea, I know. Email me if you’re out there: oceanbreakupAThotmail.com

Now, isn't there some kind of football game or something this weekend? I haven't heard much about it...

Barnstorming

Something else that makes me kind of wistful this time of year? Thoughts of my very first real band: Until the End.

We had started in the fall, but by this point in the year, things were really starting to pick up musically and socially. We were a trio, with a female vocalist/guitarist with great pipes and strong songwriting, her powerhouse brother on drums, and me: a huge-maned, bashful 17-year-old on bass.

At fifteen, I bought a cheap bass to play along with my guitarist older brother. We played twelve-bar blues and the odd Zeppelin song, but beyond that, I’d never really ventured outside of the safety of the family room. That would change forever one day at lunch in high school. I got a tip from an acquaintance of mine that he was living with a band that was looking for a bassist. I had met the drummer before; but I was merely an accessory to my older brother at that point. You see, the drummer was legendary in his drumming and personality, and that legend was rivaled only by the parties he threw. He moved to my town around the same time I did, and he wasted no time making a name for himself. His new living space was a dream come true, I would imagine, as adjacent to the house was a very large barn. A drummer’s Valhalla. Almost immediately, he started jamming with whomever would drop by, and eventually my brother who had aspirations of singing started hanging around there as well. Naturally, as a 15-year-old, my conduit to the outside world was my older brother, so I got to tag along to some of these epic events.

The barn was very, very old. The upper floor would bounce precariously all night long as the crowds grew and grew, and the wiring in there was pretty sketchy with the old-fashioned exposed porcelain insulators. Its inner walls had exposed beams, and there were thousands of nails poking through from the outside. I vividly remember watching a guy at one of these legendary parties, completely polluted; falling into one of the walls, and a nail poked him right in the forehead. I pulled him back from the wall, took a good look at him to assess the damage, and watched a rivulet of blood leak from the puncture. I threw him over my shoulder and my brother and I drove him home. We ultimately left him on his lawn because we just weren’t sure what else to do about him. He lived.

I learned a lot that summer.

Fast forward a couple years to the lunch room conversation. I had seen the drummer play before, and in short, he was a god. Today he’d tell me what a silly bastard I am for thinking such a thing, but when you’re fifteen and you see a guy play drums with that kind of aptitude, he’s a god. End of story.

So here I am at seventeen, having really only noodled semi-seriously at home, playing to AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, and Black Sabbath records (yes, VINYL), with an opportunity to join an actual, honest-to-God band. In a move that still surprises me to this day, I accepted the invitation to audition. The surprise I’m speaking of is because I was SO green and hadn’t really ever played in a band before, and I was pretty sure I would get steamrolled and laughed out of the audition. I was quite convinced I had no business entertaining such an idea, but something pushed me along.

The acid test came, and there was neither any anxiety nor embarrassment. On the contrary, the brother and sister were totally patient and cool, even though they had credentials that outclassed me twenty fold. It seemingly ended as quickly as it started, and I was in. I was flying from that for a week. Right away we got down to rehearsing, and though we had a decent work ethic, the rehearsals were pretty loose. People were always coming and going to either listen, or more likely illegally quaff their beer in peace. The idea of a “closed practice” was bandied about from time to time, but it just never panned out. The bottom line was that the barn was just a great place to be. Loud, free rock and roll and a great vibe. At this point, I’m still the shy new kid and would remain that way for a long time. But I sure loved to people watch. And the cops. Man, the cops. They would show up because the lady across the street would call them every time. She was a music teacher, strangely enough.

The other beauty of the barn was that it wasn’t insulated. Snow would come in on occasion. We rehearsed upstairs, the most open part of the barn. It had a large drum riser, tapestries, spray-painted walls, lights, a million bottles and cigarette butts, and some shag-nasty couches. Frankly, it was heaven. However, heaven was also the same temperature inside as it was outside. We tried many methods of keeping the place warm, like using kerosene heaters and hanging The World’s Largest Afghan as a curtain to hold in the heat, but they were just decorations more than anything else. Playing gigs was exciting as hell for me, but moving our gear in and out of the barn most certainly was not, as it had insanely narrow and steep stairs that had claimed its fair share of victims over the years.

Now, am I wistful for hours of freezing my ass off? Hardly. But thanks to the passage of time, I can easily romanticize the whole thing and glaze over how difficult it was to muster up the motivation to essentially play music in a walk-in freezer for a couple hours, and trying to shake off the chill for the four hours after that. It was around Christmas that I finally started loosening up, and some very important friendships were forged that I still hold dear to this day. I distinctly remember the electric feeling, that I was part of something that would stick with me for the rest of my life. And it sure did. I had the foresight to record our rehearsals all the time. Without even realizing when I'm doing it, I usually revisit those rehearsals this time of year.

Bass-O-Matic

So I’m looking for a new band. Or more accurately, another band to fill the void. The two band situations I have going on right now, well, they’re not going. One is an original band that writes in the vein of Gov’t Mule, ZZ Top, and Masters of Reality. The other band, also original, writes in the vein of Jeff Buckley meets Mother Love Bone.

The latter band was a happy accident. Two of the members are from a long-defunct band that I dreamed of being the bassist for. About a year and a half ago, I got a call from the drummer asking if I’d like to join the new band he had going on, and that the vocalist was rather Buckley-esque. Well, I love Jeff Buckley, and if the drummer and guitarist were on board, it had to be good. Well, it most certainly is. But it’s also extremely tentative. There are life commitments that as of late have kinda put the kibosh on things. But I’m not complaining. The reasons are all good. Beautiful, even.

The former band is a whole lot of fun, but the drummer is in another, MUCH more successful and audience-friendly original band. Think danceable punk fronted by a woman with great pipes. The guitarist has two other bands as well, one a cover band and the other a little jazz outfit. I’ve always been a little envious of those guys because their chops are always sharp due to playing all the time. My chops, what’s left of them, are as dull as a sack of wet mice. The reason for that is I don’t really practice at all because really, what’s the point? So I can be a bedroom virtuoso (easy now)?

Of course, that is a stunningly foolish reason not to practice. You practice to learn and improve. If you’re not practicing, you’re atrophying. And great googily moogily, have I ever atrophied. I let that happen because:

1. It’s summer and I don’t want to be indoors, practicing through headphones
2. I’m lazy
3. Reiterate #2

I’ve owned a bass for 19 (zoinks!) years now, and I’d say on average, I think of selling it all off and giving it up completely every .725 years. What stops me? The thought that winter’s gonna roll around and I’ll be boooooooored. Couple that with the fact that I’m super-irrational and my lady fair brings me back to ground level, and that’s why I still have a bass. So, when I have another fit of restlessness because of a lull, I think about getting rid of it all or joining another band to keep myself from doing something foolish.

That brings me to now. I put an ad up on the internet announcing my availability. Man, the tides sure have turned recently. For as long as I can remember, bassists were THE most sought-after band member (well, maybe second to vocalists). For as long as I’ve been playing, there’s always been work for a bassist. Lately it seems that I see more “bassist available” ads than the “wanted” ones. And I’m not talking about hacks like me, either. I’m talking about guys who play electric and upright, have music degrees, etc., and amazingly, they also have to resort to the same pedestrian means I do for landing a gig.

Joining a band is not all unlike any other kind of relationship. For the sake of immediate relation, I liken it to marriage. When you look for a band, you have to decide “am I going platonic or full-on lifetime commitment here?” Because really, it’s gonna matter sometime down the line.

Platonically, you have the cover/wedding bands. You know what’s expected of you, you’re playing other people’s music, you make people dance, you bring joy and often impart nostalgia. And you get paid. End of story. Do I consider it selling out? Hell no. In my eyes, if you’re playing music, something you love dearly, then good on you for being true to yourself. I actually have a great deal of respect for wedding bands because of the vast catalog they have to memorize, ready to honor the bride’s obscure request for “Angry Young Man” by Billy Joel (the keyboardist will have perma-grin from that moment on).

Matrimonially (yes, I know that word’s a stretch), you have original bands. Now, this is where your mettle REALLY gets tested. You know from the start that you’re going to lose more money than you make. Of course, money isn’t the goal, but it’s a HUGE bonus. To at least recoup the gas money you spent on the trip to play Ed’s Hoot ‘n’ Holler in Poughkeepsie for a 30-minute set through a horrific PA, playing to pretty much just the bartender and your significant other, well, that would be appreciated. There’s a very fine line between suffering for your art and just paying your dues. If you’re good enough and stick it out long enough, there will be dividends. But the band mortality rate is VERY high for this reason.

Then there’s the personality aspect. What will be the “leaving the cap off the toothpaste” that will cause infighting? Happens all the time. It could be that I reeeeeeally think that F# adds nicer tension and that the B is too predictable. Or that I think that guitar part would bite better if it were clean rather than overdriven. Or “Why do *I* always have to watch the gear?” Or “dude, your inebriated girlfriend used up all of the drink tickets AGAIN”. The list goes on and on.

But before you even get to that point, you have to find a band, then audition. This process has been simplified a little by the dawn of the internet. Really, there’s no reason for a band to not have MP3s anymore. The tools are out there, many of them very cheap if not free altogether. So, you get to listen right at your computer instead of trudging into town on a Tuesday night at 11:45 to hear the potential band, or bring all your gear to an audition to recognize immediately that there’s no way in hell you’re joining this band.

The part I’m having difficulty with is telling someone yes or no. How do you tell someone that the song they sent you, the one they wrote from the pit of the heart is just, well, trite? Or what they consider “rocking/melodic” is actually pretty boring and limp? I dunno. Email also tells a lot about where a person is coming from. I can’t help it. I’m a stickler for grammar. Nobody’s perfect, least of all me. But I can’t help but assume that someone who misspells every other word and has egregious syntax errors will be a really BAD drummer. But then there’s Tommy Lee, so go figure.

Auditions are funny because there are actually two happening simultaneously—I’m auditioning the band and they’re auditioning me. I hate auditions. But, such is life and this is how it’s done.

Stay tuned.