Lo-E

A dear friend (and great bassist) who lives in a small Manhattan apartment called me during the summer to ask if I wanted to buy his 1967 Ampeg SB-12. He had realized that, with his bad back, he had only used his lightweight rig for the past several years and he didn’t want the Ampeg to languish in his closet. He offered it to me at a very generous price and, naturally, I said yes. To be honest, this was the best purchase of the last several years.

This sounds to me like the obvious first choice. A pickup you already know you like for that price is a pretty low-risk experiment. It will sound different on a long scale bass, of course, but how different, really? If you hate it you can always sell it here on BC for a few pounds less and you haven’t lost much but if you love it you’ve gotten one hell of a bargain.

Here in the US, the Duncan SCPB-3 is a popular p’up for those looking for a fatter, more aggressive scpb sound. To my ears it sits somewhere in between a scpb and a regular split p. The larger magnets give it a fair amount of heft. I suspect that the Duncan SCPB-1 might be a marginal improvement to what you have now but will probably sound pretty similar. Even very inexpensive pickups are pretty well made and sound pretty good these days. I’m not sure the scpb-1 - which is also trying to emulate the classic pickup - will be much of a departure from what you have. It might be a little better made but I doubt it will sound much different. How easy is it to get Fralin pickups in the UK? One of Lindy Fralin’s scpb pickups with a 5% overwind might be just what you’re looking for. It will be fatter than a typical scpb but still retain the essential scpb character.

Really enjoyable! An enclosed, heated rooftop bar "battle of the bands" in Bushwick, Brooklyn. We were the old guys playing with a bunch of much younger bands. Our singer entered us in the contest on a lark. We played rings around the other bands and then the judges chose the band that had three very attractive young women in it. So it goes!! It doesn't matter; We had a lot of fun. The venue's management and staff, the sound crew, the video crew and, especially, the members of other bands were all really, really nice with no exceptions. It was a very fun crowd and a nice scene to fall into. Hopefully we'll play with some of these folks again.

Elvis Costello - Pump It Up

I started doing my own setups in the early 1990s and followed soon after with nut replacement, then fret work. Complete re-frets with extensive fingerboard dressing: no problem. I already had a background in electronics so that’s never been much of a problem. These various skills were learned one at a time; Each time I payed a lot of money to a “craftsman” who did a disappointing job for me I swore to myself I’d figure it out on my own and never be taken in again. I’d find cheap, beater instruments to make my mistakes on and learn. Thankfully, I found a number of genuine craftsmen in the area who were very generous with advice and whom I can still turn to when I’m stumped. I also enjoyed restoring amps and cabinets but I’ve never designed my own.

If I waited to take an uncluttered pic of any of my workbenches it would be an awfully long wait. Forever comes to mind.

I haven’t yet but I keep eyeing up the fretless options - probably a dozen or so of them! For those prices it seems worth taking a chance to use up parts from the parts drawer and throw a beater bass together.

I wouldn’t say I’ve lost any sleep over any that I’ve sold but there are a few I miss a little: 1980 Ibanez Musician 8-string - was never very useful to me but it was awfully cool 1976 Ibanez “Silver Series” P-bass copy with P/J pickups - sold to a friend for next to nothing because his son was learning to play. I didn’t realize at the time what a good bass it was. His son became an excellent player so I don’t feel too bad about it Mid-1980s ESP fretless P-bass with P/J pickups - kept the neck and sold the body. Big mistake; it was better on that body than any it’s been on since Out of more than a dozen instruments I’ve sold these are the only ones I miss, and not really that much, so I guess I’m doing alright.

Foul Smelling Oxen

75/25 for me. I think there’s a lot of material that sounds better with a pick but my pick playing is crap so I’ll only use one when I think I need to. The more grown up approach would be for me to face the problem head-on and work at my pick playing until it improved but I never laid any claims to being a grownup.

This is wonderful, practical advice. I’ve carried a small case - my “crash kit” - to about 20 years worth of gigs and it has evolved over time as my needs at gigs have changed. It always contains a spare of every type of cable that might fail (instrument {1 short, 1 long}, speaker {speakon and 1/4”}, XLR, AC mains extension), batteries, some basic tools, torch, extra tuner, strings, some strings for the guitarist (believe me: he didn’t remember to bring any), gaffer’s tape, markers, a direct box, drum key, spare hi-hat clutch (believe me: the one at the club slips), and on and on…. Believe it or not, the case is not all that big but it has bailed me and my band mates out of more trouble than you could possibly imagine. Bunion’s advice re: pedals is also wise. I can’t imagine you’d need a noise suppression pedal for any reason unless you’re planning to play with gobs of effects. A tuner pedal is nice. Since the advent of affordable, accurate headstock tuners I don’t even carry a tuner pedal anymore. What I often do carry, though, is a spare micro head. There are a lot of clubs here in NYC that don’t take good care of their gear and I’ve had to deal with a lot of backline heads that weren’t working right. A spare mini head is good insurance. It’s certainly not necessary, though. You can add it to your list as you start gigging more often. Spare strap…. Good one, Bunion! In all these years, that’s never occurred to me!

Hah! I put that on the list because it’s the kind of advice nobody will ever think to give you when you first start out. The first time I wrote a set list in colored marker (I can’t remember now if it was red or blue - probably blue), I put it on the stage floor and we ran through a sound check under fluorescent work light. Later, we started the show under colored stage lighting and I was looking down at a blank page!! The colored lighting canceled the colored ink and it simply disappeared! It had never occurred to me that this could happen. Why would it? It would have been nice if someone had warned me, so now I’m paying that forward.

Rule #1: Have fun Rule #2: Write your set list in black ink on white paper - no colored ink! Rule #3: If you mess up just keep playing Rule #4: See rule #1

Sometime in late 1989 or early 1990 I had a bass teacher who had just bought an SWR Redhead combo. It was the first time I had ever heard of SWR and I just LOVED it. Shortly afterwards I found a used Studio 220 and found that, while I really liked the tone, it was underpowered and not nearly punchy enough for a rock context. I traded up for some Ampeg gear and then moved through lots of other things over the years. About 3 or 4 years ago I was visiting a local guitar shop and saw a Groove Tubes preamp. The GT preamp was nothing more than a preamp version of the Studio 220, manufactured by SWR whose factory was right across the street from Groove Tubes! Paired with a 1,000W power amp I finally, after 25 years, had the tone of my Studio 220 along with enough power to complete with a loud drummer! It didn’t replace my other gear but it’s a great option to have along with my more aggressive sounding amps. Congratulations on your new/old SWR preamp! I hope it turns out to be as much fun for you as mine has for me!

With a single plywood top I strongly recommend skinning it with a layer of 1/4” (or 6mm) finish plywood, masonite or hardboard. Screw it down but don’t glue it. Any time the top gets chewed up you can quickly and easily replace the top layer, preserving the main top. Another option is to double up the main top with a second layer of 3/4” plywood that stops a few inches shy of the back of the bench. This will create a shallow tool tray along the back and you can then cover the added top with 1/4” plywood as I mentioned above.

I don’t have any multi-scale instruments but I think it’s a great idea. Those that I’ve tried required almost no adjustment on my part and felt really natural to play. I’m not so sure I see it as a solution to a problem, per se, as much as I see it as just another approach to design.

I’m not sure what their productions entail in other cities but the original production in NYC is comprised of the Blue Men (all accomplished percussionists) and a backing trio of multi-instrumentalists playing trap kit, keys, guitar and Chapman Stick. Both the cast members and band members rotate between the various productions to keep the chemistry between them fresh and keep it from getting too repetitive and boring. They all seem to genuinely enjoy it. I’m not sure if the original three Blue Men are performing the show at all anymore.

Wow, that bass is SO made in U.S.A. They wrote it twice!!

My experience with Boomers was that they felt and sounded very similar to D’Addario XLs but they lasted less than 1/2 as long. Boomers were my first strings and I really liked them at the time but my personal opinion is that D’Addario made a similar string in the XL and did a better job of it. Of course, some people swear by Boomers so I can only speak from my own experience.

My 1979 Ibanez Studio ST-924 was a lucky find. I bought it from a friend from school when I was 18 or 19 for $100. It was a really well made, professional instrument and I, not knowing any better, lucked into it. It was a great instrument to learn on. Unlike a lot of instruments that passed through my life in various ways, that one remains safe at home. I don’t gig with it anymore because it weighs as much as a Land Rover but I still practice with it a lot. I still love the neck. Some years ago I found another for sale locally and bought it. They’re fairly uncommon and, at some point, I’ll make one fretless.

A fresh setup is a wonderful thing! Just this afternoon I threw three of my basses on the workbench for fresh strings and setups. One of them surprised me with a cracked nut, making the job a little bigger than expected, but all three are now happy and playing like champs. I tend to let strings get pretty dead so my basses usually end up going longer than they should between setups. I have a couple more slated for tomorrow if I have time.

One of my Jazzes (a Noel Redding model) wears TI Jazz Flats at all times and I use it for R&B stuff or when I’m looking for a ’60s rock sound. My other Jazzes are used for a variety of rock and pop and they wear nickel roundwounds. I’ve changed brands a few times over the years but settled on D’Addario XLs a few years ago and they’re working for me; inexpensive, bright, they feel nice and they last a long time. Sometimes I’ll use DR Sunbeams on the active fretless for a warmer sound but not always.

Wow…. Some really great stuff already mentioned but I’ll add a few: Joe Jackson’s first three albums for Graham Maby’s playing Elvis Costello’s Attractions albums for Bruce Thomas (also BT’s playing on Suzanne Vega’s 99.9F Degrees) Robyn Hitchcock’s albums with Andy Metcalfe and Matthew Seligman Brian Eno’s Another Green World and Before And After Science for Percy Jones (PJ was a big influence on me) All of Peter Gabriel’s albums for Tony Levin Steel Pulse’s albums with Ronald “Stepper” McQueen The Selecter for Charlie Anderson Joni Mitchell Hijiera for Jaco The Band’s first two albums (I really love Rick Danko’s playing on these) REM’s first four records for Mike Mills’ wonderful melodicism I could do this all day!! And I haven’t even touched on my favorite jazz upright albums!