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.
https://www.facebook.com/justintrevinomusic/videos/483741955458399
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.
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.
I need a beer.
Very nice!
Nice!
Great sound, nicely played. "Fluidity" is a good word, as it flows.
Hey, Patman! Bring one for me, too! Or, maybe, bring out a couple!
Love that Texas country.
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 (http://www.justintrevino.com/about). Note the rmute in some of the pics. When he's playing bass in FB videos, it's usually the Ric or the Eko.
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.
Quote from: westen44 on October 17, 2018, 11:01:05 PM
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.
I believe all or almost all the videos I saw were from ten years ago.
Houston Astros fans will be surprised Joe West can sing and play bass so well. ;D
Actually he isn't such a bad singer. Definitely a great umpire. Go Sox!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJ9MBWyBvtI
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/
Quote from: 4stringer77 on October 18, 2018, 07:19:34 AM
Houston Astros fans will be surprised Joe West can sing and play bass so well. ;D
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?
Quote from: westen44 on October 18, 2018, 01:11:31 PM
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 (https://reverb.com/item/11473159-vox-spyder-iv-hollow-body-electric-bass-guitar-1968-ser-401358-original-grey-hard-shell-case). 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.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnFZsrs32Co
Quote from: Dave W on October 18, 2018, 11:04:23 PM
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.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnFZsrs32Co
That would be the October '96 issue. Interview about his then current solo album, he used the Eko on some tracks.
Just went through a stack of old magazines the other day - mostly nerd stuff like BP, needed to clear some space..
Quote from: Dave W on October 18, 2018, 11:04:23 PM
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 (https://reverb.com/item/11473159-vox-spyder-iv-hollow-body-electric-bass-guitar-1968-ser-401358-original-grey-hard-shell-case). 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.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnFZsrs32Co
For the late 1960s $355 was definitely not cheap. But I suspect the Eko (for whatever reasons) has been underrated through the years. I certainly wouldn't mind playing one I also wouldn't mind having Amber Digby on stage with me. I'm not a country player, but someone like her might be able to convince me to try to become one.
My first bass was a Norma copy of the Eko 995 even the bump on the headstock, and my first amp was an Eko two piece with the preamp controls in the head and the amp and 15' speaker in the bottom.
$338 was about $100 more than a P in the late 60's.
I found a Höfner catalog from 1967 on Jules' site. 500/1 was $345 then, about the same as the Vox and Eko.
$600 Relisted for $569. Looks original and in good condition. Excellent price IMHO
https://www.ebay.com/itm/332852719364
(https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/RIMAAOSw-HRb0QU2/s-l1600.jpg)
Quote from: ilan on October 26, 2018, 10:26:02 AM
$600. Looks original and in good condition. Excellent price IMHO
https://www.ebay.com/itm/332852719364
(https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/RIMAAOSw-HRb0QU2/s-l1600.jpg)
That's in real good shape. Missing the little bridge cover, that's all. Those are mid-60s pickups, here's one on Reverb (https://reverb.com/item/12255870-eko-995-brown) with later pickups. There always seem to be a few available. All of them and all the Italian Vox variants have deep-looking finish cracks, they really laid the poly (or whatever it was) on thick.
https://www.ebay.com/itm//264407475135
Quote from: ilan on July 24, 2019, 09:12:42 AM
https://www.ebay.com/itm//264407475135
Pass. I don't like that seam separation near the heel. There are always a few of these available complete and in very good shape at reasonable prices.