Lunch is unknown today but yesterday I was out very early and we had a horrendous appetite by 11:00 AM. I was primed for on old fashioned Minnesota Hot Beef sandwich but had to settle for a breakfast as lunch wasn't available until 11:30. You can bet that we didn't leave and we got into breakfast big time. Lets not talk about calories. Are you getting the sense that my life is not structured??
Bass Ramblings For Lowender Day
G&L Content:
Another picture of my L 2000 Fretless.
I had mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I may try to get a fretted neck for this one. It has killer tone and I love the wood/color. Fretless is not for everything but is great for some material. It has an ebony board.
Now for the rambling. We all started somewhere and some of you have already shared that. I was a young dude in 1961 and played a novice guitar. A fellow that I worked with asked me if I could sit with his band one weekend as a Bass player. Bass what????? As some of you know the 60's were a crazy , prime time in the rock and roll business and I quickly discovered that this was a great way to meet girls. Yep, I borrowed a Framis Beetle style bass from a friend and I was into it. I bought that Framis bass and I have never looked back. Back then cars were not air conditioned during the hot summer and I opened the case at a gig and the neck raised up with lid on the case. The glue joint had let loose. I had my Gibson ES 125 TDC along that evening and we were bassless. I had been using an old Gibson amp and the speaker didn't last long playing bass through it. Now Leo Fender was a pioneer in the solid body bass but most amps couldn't hold up to it. I couldn't afford a Bassman but in 1962 I financed a Gibson EBO Bass and a new Fender Bassman. Now I am in fat city. Our PA systems were terrible but no matter what you played through and sang through, if it sounded decent, with a beat, things were cooking. What a time in my life!!! We broke up in late 1965 and reunited in 2000. Two of our current band members are from our original group. So, that is how I became a bass player and borderline suave with the ladies.
Lets hear form you folks what tripped the trigger for you!!!!!!
More Rambling-Non G&L.
Some of you may remember that my grandfather, Olof Ohman discovered the Kensington Runestone on his farm near Kensington MN in 1898. This has also been a subject in the recent film titled Holy Grail In America on the History Channel. I happen to be in that film but here is where I am going with this. A Rune, called the Hooked X is very significant Rune on the Runestone and is certainly significant in determining the Runestone is a medieval artifact. So here is the story. Two years ago I am perusing the local GC and I pick up this new Stingray 5 HH bass and look at it. It was a beauty and I turned it over and looked at the back. I couldn't believe my eyes as the figuring on the back was very unusual. There were hooked X's on it much like the Kensington Runestone. Now Ginny has heard a lot of reasons why I need the next guitar. I came home and gave her the story about the Runestone guitar and you could not imagine the look!!! This bass is hanging on the wall and here are the pictures to prove it. As you say, no pictures , no guitar. That is my story and I am still sticking to it. Ginny has heard them all. If you have new ideas, send them my way!
Last subject today is your bass picking style. There has been a lot of discussion on picking styles for guitar but for bass, I haven't seen much. Maybe I need to hang out on the Bass Forum more. I am a thumb and 1 & 2nd finger picker. I also use fingers to mute a string when I move to another note. Boy, am I loosing you? I saw a picture of Bassman and it looks like he is not a thumb player and rests his thumb and uses fingers. Our new bass player is an outstanding country player. He uses his first finger and does a short slap to mute the sustain of the string he has just plucked. It is great for country. I would love to learn slap bass. Considering that we play old rock and old country this would not be of great use but it would be neat to throw in a slap once in the while to get their attention. Also I suspect that I am a thumb picker because I first played regular guitar. One of the gals in one of our bands once asked me how I decided which finger to use or when I would use my thumb. I think she got confused by watching me. My answer was "I don't have a clue". Maybe this winter I will run into someone who can cultivate me as a slapper. I see a lot of young dudes slapping at the CG. I always view the Bass and Drums as setting the groove for the band and I had never considered the bass as a solo act. I was at an Emmy Lou concert four years ago when she had Barney Miller as her lead player. The Bass player and the Drummer did a solo and it blew everyone away. That I will never accomplish but what are your thoughts on bass pickin'. Are you a slapper, picker (use a pick), thumb or finger picker??????
Thank you for hanging in there through all this. Magic and Sam thank you for the kind comments that have come their way. Tomorrow we will get in to parts guitars , modifications and what ever else we can come up with and I will show you my idea of a sweet parts guitar, that I have built. Thanks--- Darwin
). I just realized that I have seen many a flamed G&L maple neck whereas there is no upcharge for that (nor is it advertisedas a true option). Bird's Eye maple yes, flamed maple no. This in sharp contrast to for instance PRS where you'll find flamed maple necks only on Private Stock instruments. OK, these will be flamed to the max, but still, there are these hidden beauties on some G&L's where you just luck out.