Eko 995 violin bass

[Dave W]

Justin Trevino, blind Texas country singer/guitarist/bassist, and his Eko 995. You'll probably have to be logged in to Facebook to view. Plenty of low end thump! Justin's voice is very much in the style of Ray Price.

[ilan]

Changed pickups, harness, tailpiece, who knows what else. Still retains that lovely real-hollow-body-with-flats tone. I kinda wish I'd bought one of these (in original condition) back when they were dirt cheap.

[westen44]

He performs like someone who learned how to sing and play bass at the same time at an early age.  There is a fluidity going on.  Because if you don't learn early, there can be a tendency to have to put the bass playing on automatic pilot  out of necessity while you sing.  I'm usually interested with almost anything featuring a violin bass, but this is especially good.  There is also the factor that I tend to like Texas country more than Nashville, although my exposure to the Texas style has been very limited. 

[patman]

I need a beer.

Very nice!

[dadagoboi]

Nice!

[Pilgrim]

Great sound, nicely played. "Fluidity" is a good word, as it flows.

[Stjofön Big]

Hey, Patman! Bring one for me, too! Or, maybe, bring out a couple!
Love that Texas country.

[Dave W]

Justin is a disciple of Johnny Bush. You may not know Johnny, he's in his 80s now, his big national hit was Whiskey River, which he wrote. It was later a hit for Willie Nelson. Johnny cut his teeth in Ray Price's band in the 60s.

Justin did start playing early, but IMHO a lot of it comes from being born blind. My late friend Phil Parr was the same way. Flawless bass playing and singing no matter how much the bass lines varied from the vocals. It's like an extra sense in lieu of blindness.

YT seems to be down right now or I'd post some videos. In the meantime, you can see some of his basses in his photo gallery. Note the rmute in some of the pics. When he's playing bass in FB videos, it's usually the Ric or the Eko.

[westen44]

I looked on You Tube and some videos with Amber Digby caught my attention.  He is only playing the Eko 995 on one of them, but that bass suits him well, IMO.

[Dave W]

I looked on You Tube and some videos with Amber Digby caught my attention.  He is only playing the Eko 995 on one of them, but that bass suits him well, IMO.

That must be the one from about 10 years ago. I see it more often lately, mostly in photos and videos on his personal FB page. He was playing it last weekend at Ruidoso Downs but there's only a still pic so far.

Amber always gets my attention.

[westen44]

I believe all or almost all the videos I saw were from ten years ago. 

[4stringer77]

Houston Astros fans will be surprised Joe West can sing and play bass so well. 
Actually he isn't such a bad singer. Definitely a great umpire. Go Sox!

[westen44]

I hadn't ever paid much attention to Eko.  But when I did I thought it was kind of interesting, yet if you wanted something like a violin bass, it might make more sense to get something else.  This article presents some context and insight, like the Eko connection to the Grass Roots and even Les Claypool--a name I wouldn't have expected to be involved in any of this.

https://www.vintageguitar.com/8937/eko-995/

[Dave W]

Houston Astros fans will be surprised Joe West can sing and play bass so well. 
Actually he isn't such a bad singer. Definitely a great umpire. Go Sox!

What does a mis-titled video (the song title is Okie from Muskogee) with no bass player visible have to do with either the Eko 995 or Justin Trevino?

[Dave W]

I hadn't ever paid much attention to Eko.  But when I did I thought it was kind of interesting, yet if you wanted something like a violin bass, it might make more sense to get something else.  This article presents some context and insight, like the Eko connection to the Grass Roots and even Les Claypool--a name I wouldn't have expected to be involved in any of this.

https://www.vintageguitar.com/8937/eko-995/

Rob Grill of the Grass Roots played his 995 on TV mimed appearances early in their career and possibly in live performance but studio musicians played on the recordings.

A bass magazine article in the late 90s mentioned Les Claypool playing one, IIRC he said he liked the rubbery sound he got from it.

My first bass was a 1968 Vox V283 Spyder exactly like this one. It was made in the same factory as the Eko. Despite what that VG article said, neither were cheap back then. I paid $355 new for mine and the Eko was about the same.
That was expensive back then! Both sounded better to me than a Höfner 500/1.