The Bass Geek

A Las Vegas jeweler is selling this particular custom-made instrument for $250,000. The original story is accompanied by a graphic explaining the fine detail of the bass, ranging from a body formed from a single piece of quilted maple (nice touch) to several 24K gold inlays (superfluous) to diamonds in the knobs and a nut made of Siberian mammoth tusk (you must be joking).

My favorite part, though, is the explanation of the brass frets. It was a structural consideration, as gold would be too soft for playing, and brass was necessary to stand up to the strings. I find it quite hard to believe that this won’t end up in a display case somewhere, untouched by playing hands for years at a time.

Also, the new IMN podcast is up - download it here or listen at the site.

This fascinating 7-string headless bass comes courtesy of Building the Ergonomic Guitar:

Love the fanned frets and design. And there’s this wonderfully restored Rickenbacker from the Bass Kahuna:

The top is just amazing. Nice work!

Production week for “The Wiz” is finally over, and the audiences and reviews have been positive. More than anything, it’s good to just get it over with and take a break - between work and this, I’ve picked up a little bug and am home sick right now. I’m tackling the technical edits for “Home Recording For Dummies” in the meantime, though.

If you get the chance to pick up the latest issue of “Bass Player” magazine, I’m part of their “Introduce Yourself” series this month. I don’t know how many folks they have submitting for this feature, but I think the fez photo had something to do with the publishing. It’s the issue with Victor Wooten, Stanley Clarke, and Marcus Miller on the cover.

The new IMN podcast is up - download it here or listen at the site.

Steve’s flying solo on this one, though. We’re in the final week of rehearsals for “The Wiz” at ACT, and the long nights prevented me from taking part. Which is sad, because figuring out ways to work pro wrestling into commentary on local music shows is a personal passion of mine. Back next week, though.

Also, for those wishing to network in my fair district, the Fountain Splash! networking event is tonight at Deano’s Vino, beginning at 8:30.

That little truss rod adjustment has really brought the Stingray back to life - it’s playing like a dream now, and it sounds great. Which is good, ’cause rehearsals are running long. Quite long. Still, the music is a joy, and I’ve got space to do some cool stuff within the ensemble.

I’m also doing some beta software testing - nothing worth commenting on, but just some fun playing around with a new program. It’s fun to try and break these things.

Still working through “The Music Lesson” - comparing a book to the work of Carlos Castaneda isn’t the best way to appeal to me (I tried in college, and it didn’t take. At all.). Some of it is interesting (especially the learning music through immersion parts, although that’s been tackled by Suzuki), and some of it I already do, just not as framed in the book’s terms. Some of it makes me want to kick a hippie in protest. Such is life - I suppose there’s a lesson to be learned there as well.