The Last Bass Outpost

As some of you may know, I am a Bass VI aficionado - not in terms of knowledge, I just love them! The only one I have ever played is my CIJ reissue from the batch they released around '96. Fender Japan has re-reissued them, this time in more colors - in addition to the 3-tone sunburst, they also have candy apple red and vintage white. I saw a few of them in stores when I went to Japan back in June of this year, but didn't have the funds available to grab one.

Well, now it looks like they are becoming available here! The Music Zoo has the white one. The wording is interesting - in the description it says, "Unless you live in the right place in the world, or scour the Internet looking for one, you're not going to find many stateside; a Fender Made in Japan Bass VI." But the title calls it the Fender Classic Series Bass VI. It looks like an official US release, though it's not listed on the Fender website yet.

There is an interesting bass up on the 'Bay - apparently an Ibanez prototype for Phil Lesh of the Grateful Dead:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-Grateful-Dead-Custom-Phil-Lesh-Ibanez-Bass-1980-Prototype-One-of-a-Kind-/160926395136?pt=Guitar&hash=item2577f5eb00

Three pickups, lots of controls - is this pre-Musician? Looks like around the same time - interesting also in that the current owner claims that it is short scale.

Haven't been posting here at the Outpost much - haven't been able to get anything new! But the other day I stopped by Bananas At Large in San Rafael. I just wanted to look at some of the 5-string Fender P & Jazz Basses, maybe check out a combo. I started out playing the new American Standard 5-string P-Basses through an SWR Spellbinder Blue combo amp (Stanley Clarke connection) - it sounded alright, though I can't afford $1000 for an amp right now. Then I noticed a couple of black GK combos - we plugged into one of them - night & day! It was the MB112 II - nice fat bottom, clear sound, and so light! Couldn't get it out of my head, went home and started checking online. It's a redesign of the older ones with the silver grill, assembled in the USA, 200 watts. I went back today and checked it out with an American Standard Jazz 4-string:



And took it home for way under the advertised price! I thought maybe because of the Labor Day Weekend sale but the sales-guy (who actually seemed more like a manager or even owner) said he just matched the lowest price they found.

So I took it out and plugged it into one of my outdoor power outlets and had fun with my fretless Guild M-85 II that I recently had fixed up:



Sounded really nice at low volume. Looking forward to playing with some other people - maybe just a guitarist first, build up to playing with a drummer. Seems plenty loud, but if not loud enough, that could be incentive to pick up one of the powered extension cabs when they come out...

www.dinosaurrockguitar.com

I only read through his analyis of Richie Blackmore - I was looking for info on his distinctive picks and found a very naunced, detailed review of Richie Blackmore's playing. Made me want to listen to some Deep Purple! For a long time I LOVED guitar solos - Richie, Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa, Jerry Garcia, just to name a few. Lately not as much - my tastes have changed I guess. But it is still a huge part of what I love about music.

Also, anyone know anything about his picks? I used to use them (probably Japanese-made) growing up in Japan, haven't thought about them in a long time.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rare-1974-Ibanez-Lawsuit-Triumph-Bass-W-Original-Gibson-Les-Paul-Recording-Case-/230768898146?pt=Guitar&hash=item35bae5f062

Never saw one of these before...

Here's one for Uwe - custom made for Geddy Lee??? 

http://www.bananasmusic.com/productdetail.asp/pid_17110/productname_Gibson-Custom-Shop-Original-Flame-Top-Bass

Yesterday was Jimi Hendrix Winterland Day in San Francisco - it was kind of just a CD release party at Amoeba in San Francisco for the (almost?) complete Winterland concerts from 1968, but the special guest was Bootsy Collins! He was the voice reading letters and documents by Jimi Hendrix in the recent Voodoo Child documentary.

I decided to take my new favorite envelope filter, the 3Leaf GR2, for him to sign (in addition to buying his new album - it was kind of a CD release party for him too). I thought the staff might be uptight about him signing other stuff, but no one was around, and Bootsy was totally into it! He asked what was distinctive about it and I tried to explain the effects loop and how it lets the clean sound of the bass trigger the envelope, but I was kind of nervous - I WAS TALKING TO BOOTSY COLLINS!!! He did say thought that he was really interested and had to write the name down, so while he was signing it I jotted it down on an old receipt I had in my pocket.



(That's Janie Hendrix in the background - Jimi Hendrix's adopted half-sister who also happens to be CEO of Experience Hendrix, the group that controls Jimi's legacy)

My wife has been learning bass on and off - I told Bootsy and that she really liked funk - she has been on a quest to find the best funk bass tracks - so he said she should enroll in Funk U! Even though I'm more familiar with his music, she was more excited to meet him - it took her hours to calm down. Here's a shot with all of us, including Bootsy's wife/manager, "Peppermint" Patti:



And finally, here is my signed envelope filter - I feel like I have been annointed...



One more thing - I posted on the 3Leaf thread at TalkBass - that's the company that makes the GR2 - the owner/builder Spencer just posted this morning that Bootsy already emailed him!