The Last Bass Outpost

... got his final wings I guess.



That shyly mumbled "Thank you ..." at the end of the song that instilled fear in him performing it live is touching.

I'm assuming the video you posted is the Cap Center 1977 clip, which is the definitive live version - and the one that Henley has lawyers chasing down every time it shows up on YouTube. There are often - when musicians pass on - musings in print and other media of impromptu jam sessions in the Great Beyond, involving the recently departed and those for whom the bucolic environment there is more familiar. It's a nice thought, although I prefer thinking that the first thing Randy did when he checked in was punch Glenn Frey in the mouth again... "one more time".

Ah, my first bass (not including an awful Kay that I rented). I bought it and the accompanying UB250 amp without informing my parents. Dad was very annoyed because he was certain I was "going to quit" and be stuck with the gear. I had the Uni for about two years and then traded up to an Ampeg Big Stud. Wish I still had both...

Oh right, I remember now, the dots went, the trapezoid inlays came. And wasn't there a short run that featured the Babicz bridge which - functionally fine as it is - looked awkward on the little bass ...




Still, it could have been worse, imagine a return of the man-made evil that is the two point bridge!


You said it would work without a stringholder!

I prefer the Hipshot, but I think either balances nicely with a big chrome mudbucker.

I remember that Dawk guy. Had his own forum for a while where he generally embellished of otherwise played up his significance in keeping rockstar guitars working, out on the road. I think he used to sell an epoxy cube containing a small transformer with a single wire running into the primary or something, as a magic instant Blackmore tonal device. A general shitehawk.

By all accounts, Dawk was a pretty decent guy that had a TON of knowledge, and was valued by the bands he worked with. If he was a bit of an opportunist, it's because EVERYBODY in that field is a bit of an opportunist (how many Tube Screamer knockoffs are there?). The box you are referring to was Dawk's take on Bill Lawrence's Q-Filter, which IIRC he developed for the Gibson L6S as a way of cleaning up a guitar pickup's sound without reverting to a coil tap. Kent Armstrong also makes one, as does Lawrence's legacy company, Wilde.

Wow, thanks.  Still not sure what the bridge pickup is, what the switch on the pickguard does, and why two jacks.

If you look at the pic that shows the underside of the bridge pickup, you'll se the word "Dawk" engraved on it. That would be the late John "Dawk" Stillwell, who worked for Deep Purple and Rainbow as a tech. He was responsible for Roger's modded Rickenbacker, as well as Blackmore's initial scalloped fingerboard Strat and his modded Marshall Major heads. I believe Dawk did the Thunderbird as well.

They were designed to look elegant - and they did.

Without question. However, I think the ad agency elected to scale down the the image of the Thunderbird to fit the wee man playing it. Something looks distinctly "compact" about it.

I always thought Townshend's solo sound pitiful - there I said it.

Well, you won't get any argument from me on that one - but then Townshend was never a "lead" guitarist in the vein - nor in the same league - as his contemporaries. I saw in an interview (Ox documentary maybe?) where he said since Entwistle's death, he has been forced to work on his lead playing and feels he's gotten better - or something to that effect.

"But for lots of bass players the amp is just a monitor. They want it to add zero color. In which case a DI is enough."

Guilty as charged. Decently fresh strings, my pick, the way I play & and a rig that is not broken and has sufficient headroom (it doesn't even have to be my own one, I'll gladly play over someone else's). Bass setting between 3 and 6 o'clock, mids between 12 and 2 o'clock, treble/presence again between 3 and 6 o'clock on any amp. That's all I need. No preamp. I don't even really have a preferred bass. And I still sound so much "Uwe" over each and every amp I play it is sometimes pitiful/laughable. (That said, I don't like to hear my bass over the monitors, possibly just because I like to hear my bass sound coming from behind and not from upfront.)

When I read about your discerning and particular tastes in amps and preamps, I always feel terribly inadequate and wonder what is wrong with me. I have never been attached to amps. And in my 44 years of bass playing I've only owned about ten of them (Dynacord, H&H, Reußenzehn Mk I, Yamaha, Reußenzehn Mk II, Ashdown JAE Sig, Ampeg SVT, Roland, Markbass and Orange).

Come to think of it, speakers are more important to me than amps. I frown at rigs that don't have at least one 15" inch speaker, I even coupled my Ampeg "refrigerator" with a 1x18" subwoofer (from Ampeg as well) because the sub-lows of the 810 left me unconvinced. I've never seen anybody else do that, but the gain in oomph was marked.

Currently, I play 1x15", 2x12" (or 2x2x12" to be exact as two speakers are packed behind the other two) and 2x10" speakers. I've downsized. My peak was 2x18", 1x15" and 4x10" with occasional addition of a 1x or 2x12" mid bin(s). That offered reliable headroom and moved some air.  You didn't even need to turn it up loud. You simply were EVERYWHERE when you played over it. I know it's against the trend of the times, but I don't like to stand in the 'sound tunnel' of a comparatively small speaker cone area blaring at me (like many guitarists do), I like to be immersed in a (not too loud) indirect sound all around me.

Uwe, it surprises me that you have never owned a Hiwatt. It seems that an old DR would appeal to your proclivities. The SVT is an unusual choice for someone who doesn't seek coloration.