The Bass Geek

It may require your email address in exchange, but Jerzy Drozd is offering a fairly comprehensive PDF on how to set up a bass guitar, complete with cut-out templates and great illustrations showing exactly how you should set everything up. This type of maintenance work can baffle a lot of new and intermediate players, so it’s a good idea to get as familiar with your instrument as possible. It’s no replacement for a good, solid, qualified tech, but it can certainly help you save some money and get exactly what you want from your bass under normal conditions.

Not sure if it’ll help with Kala’s Ukelele Bass, though. I like the idea of the small travel bass, and I’m wondering if it sounds anything like a Ashbory bass. Really, though, what bass can capture the charm of silicone strings?

Before getting into the usual material, note that the Friday night jazz music at Maria’s Pizza will never be the same following the untimely passing of Claude Sifferlen. He was a truly talented pianist and a fixture at many of the finest venues around town. He will be missed.

Is Radio Radio busy this weekend? Sure is. Roman Candle and The Ravenna Colt take the stage tonight. Tomorrow, look for the Nightjar CD release party with Katie Todd and Anna Coogan.

At the Vollrath, enjoy Shadeland, the Locals, and Vicious Guns tonight. Tomorrow brings in Downtown Struts and Burnt Ones, and Sunday finds Canadian Rifle, Sex Before Marriage, and What Lurks onstage.

The Naptown has the Last Drop Jugg Band tonight and Hobeeluv tomorrow.

Swing Night at Fountain Square Theater? Yep, it’s on. Go. Have fun. You can also enjoy lounge music at the Brass Ring Lounge. So there you go.

The new IMN Podcast is up – download it or listen at the site or on WFYI HD2, Thursdays at 4pm. And maybe 10pm, depending on WFYI’s programming needs.

Unfortunately, WOXY doesn’t seem to be faring as well, and that’s a damn shame. Now that the Internet has made just about every kind of music available at a moment’s notice, the people with valid, well-researched opinions and knowledge that help guide listeners are more important than ever. WOXY earned their name because of the dedication and passion the DJs and programmers put behind the station, from when it was a terrestrial station that hosted album giveaways on the Party Patio (with breakfast burritos!) to a groundbreaking Internet radio station that deserved a lot better than it got. They’ve been up and down financially since their went ‘net-only a few years back, but here’s hoping they come back stronger than before. As far as the music and the knowledge behind it, they’ve been a class operation the entire time.

I’m mostly writing this so I don’t forget about the name of the manufacturer soon – a bass-playing friend of mine mentioned buying and enjoying one, sent me the website, and I promptly forgot about it. So, once it’s up here, I’ll have a reference point. The sound samples posted on the Ergo Instruments sites intrigued me – it’s not as round and boomy as a full upright (nature of the beast), but I’m still liking the way it sounds. And the builder puts in some interesting configurations – corsed and uncorsed 8-string electric uprights? That’s just fun to think about. Toss in budget-friendly prices, and it’s almost enough to lure me back into the upright world.

Almost. The pain of playing an upright with dead strings back in college for a year and having to wrestle an audible tone out of the thing still lives fresh in my mind. But these things have to fade into the past at some point.

Radio Radio plays it quiet until Sunday, when they bring in the acoustic stylings of Tyrone Wells and Tony Lucca.

The Vollrath celebrates the CD release of Brad Real, along with Twin Monster, the Dirty Thirty, and Scott Dubs tonight. Tomorrow, you can take in Straight White Lines, Jascha, and John Davey.

The newest addition to Fountain Square, the White Rabbit Cabaret, has the Motus Dance Company in for a performance tonight.

The Naptown features The Spun Onion tonight and the jazz duo of Bergdall & Lismicchia tomorrow.

And, of course, there’s live jazz at Maria’s Pizza tonight and a weekend of lounge music at the Brass Ring. Enjoy!

The new IMN podcast is up. Download it or listen at the site or on WFYI H2, Thursdays at 4pm.

The Gibson Thunderbird in the image comes from an Austin pawn shop that regularly rolls out the good stuff when the SXSW folks come into town. It’s a great-looking instrument, and I certainly hope that’s not where they’re keeping it on display. Common decency, people, please. I beg of you. And a quick reminder to whoever buys it – these things are meant to be played, not stored for a connection. Do the right thing.

. . . if you’re in the market for a bass from Warrant’s Jerry Dixon, I suppose. If there’s one thing eBay has given us, it’s the prevalence of celebrity auctions. I’m only mentioning this one because it’s a bass guitar and because a portion of the proceeds go to the Humane Society of the United States, according to the Warrant website. So at least it’s helping out a good cause.

Fans of cabaret can also find a little bit of paradise at the White Rabbit Cabaret, right here in Fountain Square. They opened over the weekend, and their next show is Friday, March 19th (featuring modern dance company MOTUS). Their main schedule isn’t up on their website yet, but they are open for regular business hours, too. Well, regular for a nightclub, anyways. Also, Warrant won’t be playing there soon – take that as you will.

Radio Radio presents Blue Lustre Saturday night and the extremely strong lineup of We Were Promised Jetpacks, Lonely Forest, and Bear Hands Sunday evening. First the hard rock, then the indie rock. It’s like the musical hangover cure.

The Vollrath has ReVera, Thin Fevers, Foster Portfolio, DJ Twin Peaks, and DJ Beatloaf tonight (EXCELLENT NAME, Beatloaf). Tomorrow night, it’s the Shakti World Music Festival with Mumbai Taxi, Kwaaza Pops and the Indiana Reggae Band, and the Playboy Psychonauts. You’re welcome. Sunday wraps up the weekend with Le Loup, Wye Oak, and Lower Dens (formerly Jana Hunter).

The Naptown brings in Ann McWilliams tonight and the Wonder Indiana String Collective tomorrow night.

Toss in the Big Swing Band at the Fountain Square Theater tonight, along with the normal jazz and lounge music at Maria’s Pizza and the Brass Ring Lounge, and you’d think that would be enough.

BUT WAIT . . .

Fountain Square really pours it on this weekend with a dedication of our new fountain at 10am this morning. On Saturday, a bunch of people run around said fountain as part of the Shamrock Run/Walk. Enjoy the activities, and be careful drivers around the fountain. Thanks in advance for your cooperation.