Music Loft, Groove Shoppe, AllMusic, and other things

[Tom Capasso]

I was unable to post much for a while in early August. I'll tell why, but as a consequence there were a few store visits that I haven't shared. I'm going to fill in some gaps now.

 

As part of my quest to find a cab for my neighbor Rob, I went to places trying to find something.

 

One place was All Music in Plainview, NY. One of the owners is Guy, and we had an interesting conversation. I couldn't figure out why he had AccuGroove cabs and some high end foreign basses. While not a "kid's" store, it's not a high-end specialty shop.

 

It turns out that Guy was called in to buy up the Music Loft (Joey G's place) in NYC that went under. Guy is working with the Groove Shoppe (who has a different clientele than Guy) to sell off the inventory. I played a $5000 Zon that was a slice of heaven, and it was fun looking/trying some different basses.

 

Guy was very helpful/not pushy, and while he doesn't have anything for my neighbor there was a nice vibe there. Fun place to hang.

 

Speaking of the Groove Shoppe, I've paid a few visits there in recent months. They have a Demeter 3x10 that's probably a bit too big and a bit too "modern" sounding for Rob. I'm still trying to drag Rob in to learn more. The Groove Shoppe is a big Bergantino place, so there's lots of fun in store (so to speak).

Here's the 3x10:

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t217/tom_capasso/forumstuff/Demeter3x102008-08.jpg

 

While there, I bought a Body Glove gig bag to replace the GigSkinz that I have for my Kinal. While I'm not rough on the cases, I thought I saw small dings in odd places. The Body Glove isn't a stiff bag (see Willie's Mono Case), but has worked out well so far. I shifted cases around -

Kinal - Body Glove

BenLoy - GigSkinz

EB3 - Fender bag (the EB3 original hardshell case is falling apart all over, and the handle has been gone for years).

 

David at the Groove Shoppe and I have spent lots of time talking, and he said "don't be a stranger". He also sends his regards to Willie, who visited a while back. In that spirit, I brought him a CD of selected Fountains of Wayne songs along with my Gibson. We played it through a Glockenklang/Berg setup. Yeah - it's got a unique sound. After I showed the humbucker sound and my Univoc Ric-copy pickup sound, I handed it to David. As so often happens, it took me an hour to get it back. Dave is a fine player and we upped the anty by plugging in EBS chorus and octave pedals. Lots of fun, and that bass still has lots of mojo.

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t217/tom_capasso/forumstuff/2008-08DavidBeasleyGibson.jpg

 

I also visited my local Guitar Center. They recently moved to a new facility (the old Tower Records store). I tried a GK700 with a MarkBass 2x10. Wow. Wow. And very light. This may be Rob's best choice - once I get him into the store.

 

Now why I was slow to post:

 

A bit over two weeks ago we had family visiting (wife's brother and family up from NC, nieces down from Geneva). It was a fine time - we hosted a BBQ with my family so both sides could hang. My in-laws put up for Lion King tix, and it was a great weekend. Until.

That Sunday (8/3) Andrew took a new road bike (he'd always had a mountain bike - bought the "new" one used on ebay) to visit a friend. Somehow (nobody knows how) he went over the handlebars. Not wearing a helmet, he was knocked out. Fortunately someone saw him go over (but not why) and called 911. He was taken to the hospital. Long story short, he's fine. Minor road rash, serious concussion with hemorrhaging. Spent 26 hours in the hospital, then we took him home. He had about a week of mostly sleeping and vicious headaches. Following week the headaches mostly subsided. The only memory loss was about 2 hours around the accident. He went back to work this past Tuesday. My wife and I stayed home for two weeks and took care of him. Family was great, and we're very lucky. Neurologists told him he could be in a coma, have permanent brain damage, or be dead. One lucky thing here was that my wife's brother was here - he's an ER doc at Duke. He talked to doctors, interpreted for us, and was happy with the trauma care Andrew received.

 

Thank God everything is OK, but it slowed me down a bit.

Tom

[Phil W]

Thank God he is OK. Phew.

 

Phil

[fingertalkin]

Always good news when someone is doing well after an injury. Hopefully not wearing a helmet falls into the "only happens once" category.

[Paul K]

I was formerly in the "pffffftttt....I don't need no stinkin' helmet...." Not anymore. Thanks for the story, and glad for Andrew's recovery.

[jlrush]

It's good to hear that Andrew recovered so well from his head injuries.

Also, you're a good storyteller Tom. Thanks for sharing.

[Nicklab]

Glad to hear that Andrew is okay. That sounds like a nerve-wracking experience, Tom.

[kenfxj]

Damn Tom! Glad to hear he's doing OK.

 

I'm showing this to my 14 year old Jimmy. He's got one of those Haro x-games bikes with the pegs. The neighborhood kids have turned the cul-de-sac into a bit of a skate park (there are no houses on the cul-de-sac, just a town water tower). I've been stressing the no stunts without a helmet bit.

 

Now I will go stress it even more.

[Mr. Bizarro]

That must have been a pretty frightening experience. Dropping out of communication for a while during those kinds of events is completely understandable. Family comes first.

 

I have always worn a helmet, and after reading that, I always will. But I think maybe the full-face downhill helmet is a bit of overkill when I'm just riding around town.

[Tenstrum]

Friend of mine was riding his mountain bike on a pretty rough trail when he went head first over his handle bars and head first into a rock! It split his helmet almost in two, but fortunately it didn't hurt him much. Had a headache for the rest of the day. We had to carry his bike out since the front wheel was mangled and even if it wasn't, I don't think he was to skippy about riding his bike without a helmet considering what had just happened...

 

Glad he's ok Tom.

[Tom Capasso]

Thanks for all the kind words. I appreciate them.

 

For those of you who knew about the Music Loft (or saw some of the great stuff at Bass Player shows, including Dingwalls), isn't it something that the owner just closed up shop and sold it off? I haven't heard about that type of thing happening, and there are plenty of other bass stores that are doing fine. BassNW seems to keep lots of inventory (new and used). Thing is, this guy Joey G seemed like a flake (though his staff seemed pretty cool).

 

Tom

[Rowbee]

Great to hear that Andrew is ok!!

 

I went over the handlebars when I was younger too and it's not pretty. Thankfully I didn't suffer any head injuries but I broke my right arm and consider myself lucky.

[_Sweet Willie_]

Update on Andrew?

 

As for the Music Loft -- yes, we played some nice stuff at their booth at the first BP Live. We tried to have a LDL gathering there, but Joey G didn't seem like he was down for that. I think TC tried to organize it, but couldn't make any headway.

 

Peace.

--s-uu

 

[rizzo9247]

Update on Andrew?

Yes, hope all is progressing nicely. I have had more than my share of injuries, but messin' with the melon is scary stuff.

[Tom Capasso]

Thanks for asking.

There is no permanent damage. He's been back to work for almost two weeks. He has to be careful not to hit his head for 6 months or he will a) stay extra susceptible to concussions b) have another concussion.

He has some minor loss of hearing on the side of his head where he landed - an ENT says it's due to inflammation and should clear up in a few months.

He gets a bit dizzy if he goes upside down. Why would he go upside down? To take a radio out of his cousin's car, or while helping me mount a banister.

 

He has been biking (with a helmet), including today.

We are all still amazed he's come away so easily. He has a very hard head (and is in terrific shape).

 

To keep some bass content here, I received a cable order I'd placed with Butch Ammons (Bayou Cable). These are very solid cables. Of course I don't know anything about how they'll last, they look like they'll last forever. And I got them custom made (I needed a short XLR cable) to the length and connectors I wanted. Excellent connectors. Very nice. Highly recommended. I got XLRs (one with a switch on the connector), speaker cables, and an instrument cable. cool stuff

 

Tom