The Bass Geek

The new IMN Podcast is up – download it or listen at the site or on WFYI HD2, Thursdays at 4pm and 10pm.

It’s a good thing we taped this podcast ahead of time, because had we been taping now, I doubt I would be able to concentrate. NPR’s Monitor Mix blog (written by ex-Sleater-Kinney member Carrie Brownstein) is sponsoring a new contest – a BASS SOLO contest. Clearly, this is a subject fraught with peril. As I commented on the blog entry, how do you tailor a bass solo to win a contest voted on by NPR listeners? I’m torn between the shredfest and the obligatory Bon Iver cover. Neither appeal to me, so I’m a bit at a loss.

So please, lend me your support, won’t you? The contest ends on Friday, May 28th, and I’ll need some lead time to prepare the recordin’ (thankfully, they don’t require video). Send me some ideas, offer some guidance, and we’ll get this project off of the ground. How often do people ask for frickin’ bass solos, anyway? LET’S MAKE THIS HAPPEN.

Please find enclosed the flyer for the Friday, May 28th, 2010 edition of Fez Fest, coming to you courtesy of the Dockers, Vinyl Shriner, The Melody Inn, and those of us in the Playboy Psychonauts. Unlike a certain other band playing in Indianapolis later this summer, we promise all original members using the same identities in which we started the band. Also, we played all the parts on our (upcoming) album. So there’s that. Toss in free fezzes to get you in the fezziest mood possible, and you’ve got the best way to end Carb Day in Indianapolis.

Not that there are carburetors anymore. They’re just as non-existent as the original guitarist and drummer in a certain band playing Indianapolis later this summer.

Nashville is just now starting to clean up after all the flooding that devastated the city, and there’s a ton of work to be done. And then, of course, people have to get back to the work they were doing before the flooding occurred. Which is more than a little difficult if the tools of your trade have been underwater for a few days. That hits close to home because in Nashville, those tools are usually expensive and difficult-to-replace musical instruments. Low Notes For Nashville offers assistance to musicians who have lost their instruments (and maybe everything else) and need to get back on their feet. Bassists from all over the nation are offering gear and proceeds from their music to help out, so head over there and see what you can do to help. Even if the bassists are just adding the typical 1-5 to a song, that song couldn’t exist without it.

The cover story on this month’s Bass Player magazine digs into the Fender Jazz bass and celebrates the 50th anniversary of the instrument’s creation. Fun side note – that means I’ve never known a world without the Jazz bass. As part of that story, BP asked readers to submit pics and stories about their instruments, so this is my entry. To the left is the picture, ably taken as part of the photoshoot for Teach Yourself Visually Bass Guitar (feel free to buy the book for more Jazz bass pr0n and some helpful instruction). You’ll see a fairly standard 2001 American Standard Jazz Bass, modified by yours truly with a Roland GK-2B MIDI pickup. Since then, the stock pickups gave way to some Nordstrand split-coil pickups. Absolutely no difference cosmetically, but they take a lot of hum out of the signal when one has a higher volume than the other. That’s just what Jazz basses do – it’s their innate character.

What’s fun about this story is the way I came to own this particular instrument. I’d first noticed it in the hands of the wonderful bassist who’d replaced me after I left a local funk group. His playing certainly stood out, but it was the bass I noticed when I first saw the band perform. It looked right, it sounded right, and I just loved hearing it. I made a mental note to play this kind of bass the next time I went shopping, went back to listening to the band, and didn’t think too much about it. Going forward a few years, I was finally in the market for a new bass, but for entirely different reasons. I’d acquired the MIDI pickup and module I use now, and it was going to be too much effort to put on the finicky curves of my Stingray. Thus, I actually went out to look for a bass that would easily accept the MIDI pickup. The local music store had just the model – a wonderful Jazz bass. Turns out the bassist (and a friend by now) had sold the bass to this shop, and the choice was easy. Between the sound, the ease of the MIDI pickup installation, and the trust I had in the graphite-reinforced neck (I’d seen some bad things happen to Jazz necks before), it was an easy choice. Side note: I also let my friend know that if he was going to keep selling instruments like this, let me know. Ended up buying a cool P-Bass from him a few years later, too. But the Jazz is still the versatile, comfortable, and multi-functional instrument I prefer to use whenever I can. It just feels right.

So there’s the story, Bass Player. Thanks for letting me share it.

Photo from CNET by Scott Ferrara/EMG

For a mainstream tech site like CNET to take notice of a bassist’s instrument, something must be wacky, geeky, or in the possession of somebody famous. The custom instrument John Paul Jones is using on the Them Crooked Vultures certainly qualifies on all counts – it’s a custom Hugh Manson lap steel with bass strings worn over-the-shoulder. Then, toss in a touchpad to control some stage lights as part of the show. ‘Cause, you know, he’s not busy enough as it is. I guess when you’re JPJ, you get control over whatever you want. It’d be an experience to hear what he’d do with this whilst collaborating with Diamanda Galas.

The new IMN podcast is up – download it or listen at the site or on WFYI HD2 Thursdays at 4pm.

5 songs in about 5 hours (including setup time) – not a bad recording session for the Playboy Psychonauts. It helps that all of the tracks were recorded live (two or three tracks per song), but I think we’ve got some good material. Now we mix and master and add pixie dust and such to see what happens. How much is pixie dust these days, anyway?

Yes, there is cowbell.

The new IMN Podcast is up – download it or listen at the site or on WFYI HD2, Thursdays at 4pm.

The Playboy Psychonauts hit the studio this weekend for a whirlwind session – we’re hoping to get an EP or 7″ out of the session. We’re not recording prog rock here, folks – set up, play the originals, and get out. Stay tuned on the final form these songs actually take, but it shouldn’t be a terribly long wait. I’m also looking forward to using the Jazz bass on this gig, just to see how the new pickups work in a real studio.

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?