Today we lost a great.
Duck's playing influenced me very early on in my career. It was my mom who bought me my first Blues Brothers record, Pocketful of Blues. The grooves on that record got to me instantly, and buried themselves in my subconscious. If you play bass and don't study Duck's work, you're missing out on a HUGE body of work that laid the framework for every bass player that followed. You will be missed. Heaven just completed it's rhythm section.
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A bass is a bass, no matter the cost.
Sure, when you first buy an expensive bass, you baby the crap out of it. But once it gets that first ding, its on. I've got two cheaper basses, and an MIA Fender. I don't treat any of them differently. Well, one of the cheapies is my mod platform, but other than that, my philosophy is to treat them all with respect, and when the time comes, they'll return it. Yup, it's goofy to assign personalities to inanimate objects, but all three have over time become extensions of my fingers. I know how each one will react to different plucking position, how each tone control acts (they're all slightly different). I've played hundreds, maybe thousands, of basses since I started playing in 1981. I spent years searching for a specific tone or feel, trading basses and buying others. It wasn't until I stayed with the same bass for awhile that I really found what works for me. And it isn't always the most expensive. My $500 Dillion gets more playtime than my $1500 Fender. Basically what I'm trying to say is this: Find a bass that makes you want to pick it up every time you walk by. And then play the shit out of it. I didn't have money for anything expensive when I first started playing. Heck, it took 3 years to convince my parents that I would stick with it long enough to warrant buying a guitar for me. My first axe was a cheapie Harmony student size acoustic. Total junk. I played that guitar till there was barely any paint left on it, then passed it along to my little brother. I think he still has it. I bought my own first bass. It was junk, but it didn't matter to me. I played it until I wore it out. It took me almost twenty years of playing every day before I really started to notice things that I preferred. Up till then, I could play any bass, though I spent more time fighting it than playing. Thin necks don't work for me. I prefer the "modern C" P-bass. Someone else may pick up the same bass and hate it. It doesn't matter. If a $5000 Custom Shop Fender get you YOUR sound, then play a $5000 CS Fender. On the other hand, I've found $100 SX basses that absolutely KILL. Bonus with those is that you don't have to worry about them getting destroyed if you play in "less than reputable" dive bars. That said, I'd still take my MIA Fender to just about any bar I'd play, because it's MY sound. I'd probably watch it like a hawk all night, but there's nothing wrong with that, either. Whew. I got carried away. Sorry. My point here is simple. Find a bass that you love, that makes you want to play. And then play. Forget about the name on the headstock, it doesn't matter. The only people that care about the name on the headstock, are the ones that listen with their eyes. Obviously they aren't hearing very well that way!! Gear snobbery is stupid. One of my favorite things to do when someone gives me crap about playing a cheap bass (other than to point out the high end Fender on the stand over there) is to blaze through something (read: SHOW OFF) on the cheapie. Or let the tone speak. When the band starts and the groove catches them, people will completely forget the name on the headstock. I used to put black electrical tape over the logos on all my gear. I guess that comes from when we were kids and we made fun of each others cheap guitars. Now, it doesn't make a bit of difference. It's all just music. If it doesn't groove or make a person share the emotion you felt when you wrote it, no expensive instrument is gonna change that. Gotta love those days when you can't decide which bass to play.
I've presently got three P-basses, each one slightly different, whether pickups, bridge, tele or standard P. The band I'm playing with tonight is country, so the tele look really captures the vibe we're going for. Hmm.... http://www.fender.com/support/articles/bass-guitar-setup-guide
This is worth reading for any bass player. Setting up your bass is one of the most important skills a bassist can learn. Otherwise, your stuck paying a tech to do it, and you'll get your bass back with a setup that works great for the tech, but probably won't be ideal for you. Give it a read. It's worth it. Well, I've got this blog thing on the site now, so I better get writing!!
Here's my thought. I've been playing music since 1981. I've had some crazy experiences in that time, and ALOT of situations that would've gone smoother had I had a clue. So I'll do my best each day to share a little of my sick and twisted knowledge of playing bass, performing in front of an audience, setting up your instrument, and anything else that might be on my brain. Stay tuned. This is gonna be a bumpy ride... For most of my 30+ years of playing bass, I used roundwound strings. Mostly because of playing in a hard rock/metal situation, I needed that squeaky grind that only rounds can give.
When I bought the 60th Anniversary Fender P-bass at the beginning of this year, I decided to give flats a chance, even though I'd never spent any real time playing them in the past. Flatwound strings and P-basses are perfect together, and this bass is no different. As soon as I plugged in, it was the sound I was looking for. Unfortunately, when I bought strings, I also grabbed a set of DR roundwounds. I figured they'd be a great backup set. Three days ago, I decided to give them a shot on the 60th. Nice and bright, grindy P tones. Sounded great, until I played with the band. Not my thing anymore. The extra string noise is driving me crazy, an I just don't like the feel under my fingers. The flats are going back on today. This one is a special bass. I'm so far behind schedule on this it's offensive, but it has to be right. I'm building a replica of Michael Anthony's Jack Daniel's bass!!
This build is for an old friend, and thankfully he isn't in a huge hurry to play it!! I started it bacau the end of January, and the first "draft" was scrapped mid-February. Solid ash was just too heavy, and not correct to the original. The second version is an amazing flamed maple neck-thru with mahogany body wings. There's some really cool stuff planned for this, but I can't reveal too much just yet, now can I? Unfortunately, I've been fighting against my health since the start of this project. I've been forced to work in short five and ten minute bursts, whenever the body allows. It's definitely gonna be a crazy instrument when it's done. Can't wait. I made the switch to P-basses around the beginning of the year. My reason for this was simple. I needed a bass that was well-balanced and not very heavy. The T-birds were great, but while playing them, my back would twist while trying to keep them balanced and under control. Not good for a bad back.
My first was an Xaviere PB model from Guitar Fetish. For $169, it is a GREAT instrument. I modded the crap out of it right away. First up was a reshaping of the headstock to resemble a tele bass. Next, I added a humbucker to the neck position, and wired it up like Billy Sheehan's "Wife" bass. Great sound, but extremely impractical. So I returned it to a single split coil, and replaced the pickguard. It wears Chromes (Flatwound). Next P is a MIA 60th Anniversary Fender. No mods at all to this one. It's perfect as is. It spent the first few months wearing flats, but I've since strung it with DR Lo-Riders. This one just sounds better with rounds. A week or so later I found the Dillion 5204, which is a copy of the Fender 54 P. Cool bass, GREAT neck. Swapped the 2-saddle bridge for a 4-saddle AVRI bridge, and sprayed the B/W/B pickguard flat black. Also installed D'Addario Chromes. All three got Dunlop straplocks immediately. I've used them since the mid-80's. Each bass has a completely different vibe. The Xaviere makes a great backup. The Fender is obviously my main player, but lately I've been playing the Dillion alot, because it really does the "vintage" vibe well. Over the last three years, I've been on prescription pain medication for my back injuries.
During this time, I've lost ALOT of memories. There are bass bodies in my shop, fully completed, that I don't remember making. I tried to take pix of everything so I have some documentation, but I always forget. |