The Last Bass Outpost

This is a nice bit of work from Walt Kelly in Pogo.  Seemed appropriate for an off-kilter thread...especially when we all play a clinker now and then.

I practice with my band in a basement which has a narrow stairway for access.  I get tired of dodging the walls with my Fender Rumble 100 or my Genz Shuttle on a 12T head.

I found a solution!  A Roland Micro-Cube 20XL-Bass.  20 watts into an 8" speaker, and a hair lighter than the Rumble, but also smaller in every dimension.

It has a built-in tuner, compression, reverb, and some other stuff I don't expect to use.  But those options eliminate the need to bring my pedal board. It also emulates four different classic amps, including an Ampeg Flip-Top and a Fender tube Bassman, which are all the options I plan on using. 

The band practices at very moderate volume, and this little gem is just right.  Saves room, easy to carry and as long as you don't try to dime it, sounds very nice and very bassy.

I actually bought one through Guitar Center but had to return it because it was the guitar version.  The model numbers for the guitar and bass versions are actually the same, and it fooled the place that took it in trade.  I had given up on the idea, but then spotted one on Ebay at the same price.  Got it for under $200.

I'm quite happy with this as a practice amp. Why the upload turned some photos 90 degrees, I don't know.  When I click on them they come up looking correct.

As of this evening I am an ordained Dudeist Priest.  I have the documentation coming from http://Dudeism.com. 

I admire the way of The Dude, and there is a story....

My oldest daughter was married at 5 PM this Thursday at the Mishiwaka Amphitheater (https://www.themishawaka.com/) west of Fort Collins.  A lovely old venue next to the Poudre river, with kayakers going by all day long.  The officiant was one of her past bosses, a very cool lady who has been ordained for some time.  Turns out that you don't have to use an officiant of any formal religion; in most of the US just about anyone who is ordained by a religion defined very loosely is just fine as long as they carry out the correct process in documenting the wedding.

It was a fantastic event.  There was an excellent live band and the music went on until 9 PM.  It was a wonderful time!

At the event, one of my nieces asked me if I could be the officiant at her wedding in December.  Turns out that in her fiance's family there is a tradition that the senior uncle in the family conducts the ceremony.  I'm senior to any uncle on either side, so she asked.  Well what the heck, we were planning to go anyway, and I was complemented.  I of course said yes!

Then I came home, checked out the Church of The Dude, and was ordained.  It doesn't hurt a bit.

My daughter's last company, Duda.co (Internet services) was actually named after The Dude.  Their meeting rooms at HQ are named after various characters in the movie.  Anyway, she was aware that the Church of the Dude is one of many which you can use to become ordained online. Sounded like a great idea to me. They have a well developed website with many thoughtful and amusing support and philosophy materials. I like their approach, which is "Chill, dude."

I am, however, also thinking about what it might take to start a Church of The Coug.

Bill's Harmony H-22 reissue arrived this week!  After wrestling other more immediate problems, I got the chance to play it yesterday.

As expected, it's well set up, in beautiful shape, and has a nice sound.  Strings are rounds and by measuring them are 36 1/4" from nut to bridge!  That's different for a 30" scale bass, but it's due to the bridge tailpiece design and placement.  Flats will come soon. It's light, so it's a bit neck heavy, but nothing obnoxious.  It sounds VERY nice.

My thanks to Barb Walence and our own God Of Thunder!

And the turkey is in the smoker!  Will take the carved turkey good stuff to the family dinner tomorrow.

 

The spirit of Damon Runyan is slightly with me this morning.....

So, I'm hanging out in a nice pawnshop in downtown Pagosa Springs, which is a nice little town if you're not too into urban settings. I'm helping my friend Gimpy Bob hunt for a stereo receiver to replace his kaput one, since of course this little town of 2,000 has no joint where a guy can buy a new stereo on a Saturday, or mostly any other day, for that matter.

Now, Gimpy Bob is a nice guy, and seein' as how I do the stereo stuff, we are very pleased when we find a not very old Sony receiver that will do just what he needs.

I am hanging out by the counter while Bob does the credit card tap dance with the shop owner, when my wife has a moment of insanity.

"Wow, that's a pretty bass" she sez.

And since I am always a thoughtful and supportive husband, I sez "What bass is that?".....................

My lovely wife points to a blue metallic object on the guitar rack. I am struck by the attractive appearance of this bass, but notice that it is not of the Fender persuasion even though it's jazz-shaped. But upon a bit of handling and plucking, I decide that this proposition is both more than somewhat good-looking, and nicely playable. More examination shows that it's a very recent G&L JB Tribute, with at least one Seymour Duncan pickup added, and a maple neck that's only 1.5 inches at the nut. This is indeed a very fast neck with satin finish, pleasant to the hand. The proprietor clues me in that there's a nice hard case with the original hex wrenches and, a new guitar cable, strap and basic clip-on tuner.

So at this point, I decide that if my wife finds this bass to be so attractive, it should come home with us. I find myself doing the credit card tap dance with the proprietor, and carry this new axe out to the car.  Sometimes lack of planning does not prevent finding a new bass.

Labella low tension flats are ordered and should arrive this weekend.

I love this. 12 minutes, multiple versions, even including Muppets!

Watch the whole thing and you'll feel more cheerful.

Merry Christmas to all!!

Interesting post from Reverb...

https://reverb.com/news/brian-setzer-is-coming-to-reverb?utm_source=android-app&utm_medium=android-share&utm_campaign=blog

If he's selling part of his collection, there will be some cool stuff in there. Probably priced accordingly.