jcadmus

Holey socks -- almost identical to my first rig. I had a candy-apple green Sekova violin bass and a Montgomery Wards Airline amp with an eight-inch speaker. Dreadful.

Other basses amps and cabs I've owned along the way: Basses: Frankenbass fretless P-Bass -- Fender neck, Mighty Mite body, DiMarzio pickup, Grover tuners. I think the music store literally slapped this together from parts laying around. Ibanez EXB 445 -- My first five-string. Surprisingly good for the price. I traded the Frankenbass for it. The store threw in 12 sets of strings. I don't know who they made money on the deal. Carvin LB75 -- Was nice to order a bass the way I wanted it. The H50N stacked humbuckers were very quiet, which I liked. The truss rod broke and I sent it back fro a rebuild. The second one just wasn't the same. Amps and cabs: Sunn Concert Bass amp with 215S cab -- woefully underpowered and brittle sounding. I had this amp way too long. Peavey Combo 115 -- This was a very good amp. Crisp and warm sounding, with an onboard compressor that was actually usable. Only problem was at 90 pound with one strap handle on the top, it was pain to move. First thing I did was put side handles on it and build a dolley for it. Peavey 210TX cab -- added this the Combo 115 and that amp really opened up. Peavey TMax amp and 115 Black Widow cab-- traded the combo 115 for this and kept the 2x10 to go with. I actually didn't like this amp as much as the Combo 115, but it had tons of power. But then I played a friend's Eden rig and I was ruined. Eden D115XLT -- Bought this when I got the WT-550 head and D210XST cab. The nicest-sounding 15 I ever heard, tight and punchy (for a 15). After awhile those 15s just weren't my sound, so I eventually traded it to buy the Eden D410XLT.

I'm out.

Early Rigs.

Freedom!!!!

I'm always impressed with the quality, playability and sound of Ibanez instruments at all levels. Even their entry-level basses are a notch above everything else in the price range.

My first "good" rig was a Gibson EB0 and a pre-CBS Fender Bassman amp with the 12-inch speakers from the original cab loaded into a Bandmaster cab. I also had a Univox 2x12 extension cab. My first band was a quartet called Atlantis doing all the usual late 60s through mid 70s stuff -- Deep Purple, Peter Frampton, Bad Company, The Eagles, etc. Current rig is Eden WT550 and TN 501 amps with D210XLT, D210XST, D410XLT and TN410 cabs. Basses are the '76 Fender Jazz Bass I've had since high school graduation, a Pedulla Rapture J2-5 and a Music Man Stingray. I've been in three bands in the past year -- a garage rock band doing everything from the Moody Blues to Beastie Boys called Dan's Garage, a hard-rockish outfit doing everything from Cheap Trick to Foo Fighters called Pneumatic Jones, and a country-rock band that does a rock set playing everything from America to ZZ Top called The Dirt Road Pickers. And I play a lot at my church.

Agreed, although it would have been great if he could have sold the business to someone who wanted to continue his work. But Michael's been dialing back the business for quite awhile, so I'm not surprised that he decided just to call it quits.

Goodbye Pedulla.

Whoa. Funny, I kind of had a premonition about this. Love my Pedulla Rapture J2-5.

That's a brilliant record. In the rotation every year at our house.

Personally, I'm calling that time well wasted. Time Well Wasted.

I know. I thought that's what he was driving at too.

How do you pronounce that one?

Still Here.

So ... we're not talking about Keith Partridge's dad, right? Seriously, it used to crack me up that there was a Jack Casady and a Jack Cassidy existing in the same universe at the same time. Very different guys. Sounds the same, not the same.

Up And Coming.

I'm barely tolerable now. Barely.

Not that I can recall. Advertisements in general may or may not pique my interest, but artist endorsements are not a factor. That being said, he does not look happy to be here.

Bad Ads.

To the contrary, I don't think an artist endorsement or ad has ever made me want buy a piece of gear.

Threadwinner!

Acquiring My First Bass.

You've overcome the first major hurdle. Which is understanding that bass guitar is a completely different animal from every other instrument you play. With that in mind, you'll do well. Best thing you can do to learn is listen to what great bass players do -- how they support the song, how they interact with the drums and other instruments -- and do those things.

NOT a myth: Guitarist = Lousy Bass Player. Not always the case, but often is. They noodle around like their soloing the whole time, never hitting the root, never locking with the drums. Because "anyone can play bass." As I often say at work (different context, but the principle holds): If anybody could, anybody would. And we see what happens when anybody does.