The Last Bass Outpost

Bernard Paganotti plays a bass like that, which I think he's owned since the '60s. There must be something to them, as he also played custom Jacobacci basses, and presumably could get basses built to any spec he wanted.

Do these basses have end pins? Gretsch made a bass like that and I've seen it called a 'cello' bass in literature.

Hunter Green you say?

I spoke a bit with the guy who would do the work. It sounds like a familiar workflow: filler/primer, colour coat then 2K clear lacquer. I think he mentioned 'flattening', but he definitely mentioned buffing the finish if necessary.

The work may well cost more than £120; I have to take the bass along for the guy to evaluate. He has done non-car stuff before, including furniture and record decks.

Nobody got a black JC pickup? 

I'm looking at a vinyl dye product to turn my cream Casady pickup black. Apparently it gets down into the plastic, rather than sit on the surface. It might be nonsense....

I don't care what he says because he plays a Stingray. 

For me, the Stingray marks the point that bass technology and design started going in the wrong direction. That stubby bridge-position active tone became the norm, and tones became thinner, percussive and less rich as a result. Not for me. This is the point that bass playing became a rhythmic pursuit rather than a melodic one, and a wealth of knowledge and judgement garnered by the prog rock bands was thrown out the window in place of all that 'always on the one' tedium.

Anyway...

Anybody wasting calories on the RRHOF is a bit of an idiot. The place is a museum, not a governing body. The bands in the 'hall of fame' aren't accredited rockstars at the end of the ordeal. Alice Cooper became a chartered rock singer in 2011? The place gets endless free promotion from dullards complaining about who is, and who isn't, in the RRHOF. Occasionally they let a rap band or other undeserving entity into the hall of fame, expressly to drum up a bit of anger. Anger equates to free publicity.

I suppose the RRHOF is the Guggenheim for gas jockeys and the Smithsonian for short order cooks, but it is just museum! Rooms full of old guitars, notebooks, stage clothes etc. As I've said elsewhere, I'm sure the toilets are clean and I'm sure the restaurant does a reasonable burger. That is all that anybody needs to worry about.

It seems to be the norm for a RRHOF thread to kick off on Talkbass every six months or so, as somebody else allows their righteous indignation to boil over. Such people are remarkably easy to wind up, even if they don't see the joke:


How come Bill Haley is in the RRHOF but Stryper aren't?

How come Bruce Springsteen is in there, but GG Allin isn't?

When will the RRHOF recognise the contribution Wall of Voodoo made to rock music?

Why are Steely Dan even in the RRHOF?

Why are Lynyrd Skynyrd still in there? They didn't even play on their own records! It was the dudes out the Alice Cooper band!

How come Bobby Womack is in there? Can you say 'one hit wonder'?

etc, ad nauseum.

Two months later....

I'm getting the Casady bass refinished by an auto body shop. I'm looking at RAL 9001 as the colour, which is a pleasantly vintage shade of cream. I saw a cream EB-2 online and took a shine to it. No binding, just acres of 2K lacquer. I'm glad somebody else is dealing with the 2K lacquer.

I will cut either a black or a red tortoishell pickguard for the bass and clean up the wiring loom harness. I'm going to put a shout out for a black Casady pickup and mounting ring set, as mine are cream and might clash with the body.

Richie Kotzen doesn't use a pick! Only noticed that in this video.

Yeah, I've seen some ultra-radius'd 3 pointers on "lawsuit"-era Japanese stuff before. I guess they were made of soft metal, which also explains why I've seen them with chunks missing.

I wonder if they ordered them to the wrong specs then bent each and every one in the factory?