Les Paul Jr. Tribute DC Reviews

[uwe]

Why did you give up the band if I may ask?

Whenever I'm without a band, Edith says I get listless and "unbearable at home".

[Ken]

Why did you give up the band if I may ask?

Whenever I'm without a band, Edith says I get listless and "unbearable at home".

Does she know my wife?  I get the same thing.

[Chris P.]

Ritual suicide? Like guys as Erwin Rommel?

[ajkula66]

Ritual suicide? Like guys as Erwin Rommel?

There was not much of a ritual involved in that one...

A properly staged seppuku...now that's different...

[Dave W]

Still one of my proudest acquisitions! And I've got the companion SRCB (5-string) too!!! Enter a rehearsal space with either one of those at your peril and watch people become embarrassed for you. "Will you be playing this at the gig, Uwe?"

When you do reduce your collection, I hope you have room to keep all the unique ones. Like the SPCB and the blue/orange gunshot EB-0L.

[Basvarken]

Why did you give up the band if I may ask?

Whenever I'm without a band, Edith says I get listless and "unbearable at home".

I quit because the band wasn't going anywhere anymore. We had recorded the basic tracks of four new songs in january. And by may, the vocals hadn't even been done yet. The guitars kept changing their parts. And my bass parts were edited beyond recognition.
We hardly ever rehearsed anymore, since we didn't get any gigs. And when we did rehearse, nobody seemed to really be prepared. When we did have a gig it all seemed to futile; starting at midnight, playing the last encore at two thirty in the morning for a bunch of drunks, then hauling your gear through a drunk pub and after that the two hours drive back home.

Having played in bands non-stop for over 34 years I got a feeling of  "seen that, done that, been there" (many times over).
When you started with covers it was all fine, fairly easy to get going and get some reasonable gigs. But once you start playing original compositions, the number of gigs starts to dry up.
The only way you can get gigs in The Netherlands is if you play in a tribute band.
I didn't (and don't) want to do that. I had done that when I was 24. Played in a Thin Lizzy tribute and in a Stevie Ray Vaughan tribute for about a year and a half or so. But it got boring quite soon. It felt like borrowed plumes to me. So I didn't want to go back to being in a tribute band when Definition Of Madmen folded.

So I quit. Playing in a band just wasn't fun anymore. I had become bitter and sour. Not a good state of mind to make music...
That was in the summer of 2016.
After I quit, I picked up working on the Gibson Bass Book first. I finished it and got it printed. It was released on december 2016.

And after that I picked up speed with building bass guitars. I had built three bass guitars in the years before during a luthier course.
But I decided to try and do my own hybrid models.
Since 2017 I've been building 4 or 5 per year. I spend every minute of my spare time on building Brooks bass guitars.
I enjoy it so much that I haven't missed playing in a band at all.
I'm lucky enough to be able to build on commission, so I don't get stuck with too many new bass guitars ;-)

Here's a few that I've built:



So I don't get listless or bored at home. 

[Chris P.]

Although I miss playing live and in a band - I don't have one at the moment - I recognize Rob's 'been there, done that, got the t-shirt' state of mind. Of course I write about basses and I still play them, I interview bass players, but I also get a lot of satisfaction out of helping young people with advice.
Gaving said that: I miss turning an amp up, playing with a drummer. I have some ideas....

[gearHed289]

Has that become a rarity? I actually play that quite often, it would likely be a keeper. It's very dark and deep sounding for an LP bass, perhaps a bit too dark and deep for most people.

But you now have first right should I ever decide to divest of this asset (see, I can do lawyer-speak too!). You are, however, aware how I put skull shape control knobs on it? 

I'm just kind of fascinated by the idea of a 3 pickup bass, and I like the way they wired it - vol/vol/vol/tone/kill switch. My LP has great, snarly tone, but lacks a little low end. Through Rics, I'm used to having a neck pickup. And you already saved me the trouble of getting rid of those wood knobs. 

[uwe]

Oh, the BFG has plenty low end, my band mates sometimes even say too much, they can't hear the notes as well. They say "Play the Ric!" and I go "In a Stones tribute?! That is the unlikeliest choice ever!!!".    I sometimes do to make them happy, but playing Tumbling Dice with a Ric feels weird. That's like jamming Smoke on the Water with an EB-3, doesn't feel right.

The 90ies LPs' front pups were placed too far back; after they had discontinued them, they later on came up with a short-lived faded fin model (Dave had one too for a short time, but returned it for sloppy workmanship), and that had the front pup nudged closer to the neck, did make a dif.

[Dave W]

...

The 90ies LPs' front pups were placed too far back; after they had discontinued them, they later on came up with a short-lived faded fin model (Dave had one too for a short time, but returned it for sloppy workmanship), and that had the front pup nudged closer to the neck, did make a dif.

Yes, the pickup placement on that one did make a difference. Shame about the awful workmanship.

[Granny Gremlin]

I finally succumbed und ordered one. Worn cherry too. I like that fin, I know it's just cost-saving on the side of Gibson, but I like to see some wood.

Ordering this bass is madness, I should be culling the herd, not adding to it. 

But if you didn't it would no longer be komplete.  ... and it's been madness for decades

Sell some Epis and Fenders. ... and that Mondial maybe.

[uwe]

You remember the Mondial! 

[OldManC]

Here's a few that I've built:

This photo is a visual equivalent to Viagra. Just amazing...

[Basvarken]

 

[Granny Gremlin]

You remember the Mondial! 

There is a horribly awkward picture of me playing it. No, I will not so don't even ask.