Sweet Willie's First Annual Bass, Beer, and Brats Fest

[_Sweet Willie_]

Well, "First Annual" might be a stretch -- maybe "Pilot Test" or "Test Drive" might be a better term.

 

Anyway, several LDLers and a couple of non-LDL musician friends of mine dropped by this afternoon chez moi to indulge in the three B's -- although some avoided the beer.

 

I cooked up some brats Chicago stylee (simmered first in beer, butter, and onions, then grilled) as well as some sausages. I can now happily recommend Sierra Nevada's Porter Spicy Brown mustard. Some of the others brought various dishes and beverages. It should be noted that Ace Cracker makes a fine chili, and an even finer spicy mango-apple salsa (truly awesome).

 

We had an array of basses to share and some very fine rigs to sample. My neighbors have not yet complained, but the funk in my basement may never go away (suffice it to say that while my basement is of reasonable size, it was very warm and humid in northern NJ this afternoon!).

 

wraub took pictures which we will eventually get posted. The folks who attended will inevitably share a few words.

 

This went well, so I may try to have a "Second Annual" next summer and expand the invitee list a little further. However, no promises!

 

Peace.

--s-uu

[cornbread_medhotmail.com]

Man, we need a touring one of these. There aren't enough of us down in these parts to have a big gathering.

[musicfiend]

I still haven't met with any lowdowners

[hags2k]

Sounds like a good time. Can't wait to see the pictures.

[dcr]

You put butter & onions on your brats? I put diapers on mine.

 

Hah! I'll be here all week, folks.

 

 

Sounds like a great time, Sweets!

[ATM]

Originally posted by Dr. Sweet Willie:

My neighbors have not yet complained, but the funk in my basement may never go away (suffice it to say that while my basement is of reasonable size, it was very warm and humid in northern NJ this afternoon!).

When I first read this, I was thinking that the music of the day was still reverberating in the basement, then I read about the hot and humid conditions. Now I'm wondering if the neighbors would be complaining about the smell or volume.

 

Either way, sounds like you guys had a good time.

 

ATM

[getz out]

It was indeed a good time. I was relegated to playing guitar for most of the event, but I had a chance to finger some of the fine basses in attendance, including some highlights - Nick's Roscoe Beck Fender V, a nice Kubiki Factor, and a 70's Fender Jazz that played itself. Also, another fellow brought an 80's-era Sadowsky strat that would have felt quite at home in my stable.

 

wraub's "unfinished" fretless felt pretty finished to me.

 

Thanks S-uu to hosting, it was a very nice event. Maybe we'll try early fall for the next event to cut down on the non-musical funk?

[Tom Capasso]

Originally posted by dcr:

You put butter & onions on your brats? I put diapers on mine.

 

Hah! I'll be here all week, folks.

It's worse than that - after the butter/onions and cooking, we ATE them.

 

It was a fun day - I got to spend some quality time with Wraub driving (and playing my band's demo CD ).

 

It was also a day of fulfilled promises. I've had a problem with the sound of one of my Bergs, which I'm sure was the crummy head that I have. Maury brought his HT112 and I brought mine so I could test side-by-side with a real head (in this case, a Kern pre and Peavey DPC1400). Turns out my cab is fine. One interesting side effect was that Maury's sounds just a touch brighter than mine. Not enough to bother anyone, but enough that discerning bassists could hear a difference. As soon as we finished this test (Maury had been promising that we'd get to do this), I fulfulled my side by having him play my EB3. The EB3 went over better than I expected (with other players as well as Maury). It's always a trip when I have them play with the bridge pickup on, and then say "try this" and flip over to the neck humbucker. The volume and sheer "low-ness" forces a strange and funny expression on the face of the player.

 

We'll name the basses later (we put all the instruments together for a few pictures).

The amplification included

• Maury's Traynor YC-40 (guitar)
  
• Ampeg Rocket (guitar)
  
• Willie's SWR Redhead
  
• Maury's Kern/Peavey going to a Berg HT112 and Acme Low B2
  
• Wraub's SWR Grand Prix and Peavey 700 into my Berg HT112 and EX112
  
• Dan's Mesa Scout
  

 

A Mesa 400 amp head was there, but we never connected it.

 

We managed some slightly coordinated noise (sometimes known as music). Oddest was doing the line from "Good Times" - two guitars strumming the funk, lead mostly played on an Overwater 7 by a mindblowing pro, and two fretless basses covering the bottom.

 

I can report that the art of bass manufacturer is doing well - we had a very broad array of different instruments from mass manufacturers to small luthiers. Not a bad one in the bunch. And I could name plenty of well-established names (both large and small) that were not represented !! It's good to be a bassist these days.

 

Thanks again to Willie. What will your wife think when she sees the funk dripping down that wood paneling?

 

Tom

[saxofunk]

Food and music, the backbone of America!

 

And the reason 60% of the population is obese and suffers from hearing loss.

 

Sounds like you had a bunch of fun, maybe next year it will be nationally advertised (as if I could ever make it...). Maybe you can get sponsorship from Sweet Baby Ray\'s .

[Nicklab]

Big props to Dr. Sweet Willie and all of the lowdowners who made yesterday such a great time. Willie, you are a tremendous host, and thank you for having us all!

 

It was very cool to see everyone who was able to attend. The basses were plentiful as was the funk (pun intended) . Maury's Rob Allen fretless 5 was very nice as were many others. I think the only basses I DIDN'T play were my own and perhaps the Overwater 7. That thing and the guy who brought it were sick!

 

One of my favorite moments was a duet I had with Wraub on "All Blues". We were trading choruses and there was a cool back and forth going on. Events like this really crystalize what a good community the Lowdown really is.

[JPJ]

Beer, brats, and bass...that sounds like a Chi-town party to me! With I coulda' been there, but it sounds like everyone had a great time.

[_Sweet Willie_]

Originally posted by JPJ:

Beer, brats, and bass...that sounds like a Chi-town party to me!

I had to bring a little Chicago home w/ me after ten years there. I should've loaded the fridge w/ Goose Island brews, but I couldn't track any down on my pre-fest supply mission.

 

All were gracious guests. Of course Capasso spilled a half gallon of root beer all over my dining room table. At least he apologized nicely.

 

My friend Dan brought his OW 7-string and the score for his "Concertino for 7-string Electric Bass". It was cool to read that! Many of the specs for my Nordie 5 were based on my interactions with Dan as he designed his OW w/ Chris May. Worked out well for both of us.

 

Maury gets props for coming early to help me get my act together.

 

The g****rs included Maury's Ibanez, my friend Evan's Sadowsky strat from the '80s, and the 1974 Gibson ES-335 that we inherited when my grandfather-in-law passed away several years ago. (Now my daughter plays it.)

 

Here's my crack at the list of basses:

Carvin LB-70 w/ Bartolini guts and p'ups

EB Music Man 'Ray5 fretless (black, thus loud)

Nordstrand Fish o' Luv 5-string

Overwater 7-string

Sadowsky 4

Fender 4 (1973?)

Kubicki Factor (really cool -- I love these)

Tom's Gibson EB (surprisingly fun to play)

Rob Allen 5-string fretless

Ibanez SR 6-string

Fender Roscoe Beck V

OLP MM-stylee w/ upgraded bridge

Ibanez Roadstar 5 converted to fretless by wraub

 

Did I miss anything?

 

Peace.

--s-uu

[Nicklab]

You forgot Tom's Kinal?! For shame!

[Tom Capasso]

See - little exploding root beer and it's like you weren't there

 

You're just upset because of what I said to Jason.

Jason was telling Nick that he had applied to D'Addario for a job (he graduates MIT with a mechanical engineering degree soon), and the HR department wasn't very helpful. I said they were just stringing him along....

 

I'm with Nick - it's a great community. We actually get to talk about more than just bass - like - real life.

 

Tom

[57pbass]

Great time had by all....

 

Thanks Willie for being a great host and cook..

 

Eric ..great job witht the chile and salsa...

 

The basement conditions where like this...

 

there were about 10 of us sweaty guys...

 

The temp were in the high 80"s with very high humidity..

 

In addition to the heat..

we had 6 amplifiers plugged in pumping out even more heat....

 

but it was great....

 

we did major damage to the foundation on Willies home..

 

The engineers watching the Maplewood NJ richter scale saw some action yesterday..lots of low freq rumbles throughout the area...

 

Many beautiful basses but I had a few favorites...in no particular order

 

Willies 5 string Norstrand bass is amazing and very very comfortable to play..

 

Mad Ball Capassos 5 string Kinal is a beauty...I actually played a full set with that bass a few months ago so I already knew it rocked...

 

Getz - 5 String frettless Rob Allen.. another amazing bass maker

 

Overwater 7 string bass is a beauty..andDan the guy who owns it is a great player and a real nice guy...

Nicklabs Roscoe Beck is a very nice bass....

 

The amps sounded real good too.....

 

Thanks for a great time guys..see you all at the next gathering...

[The Fonz]

a good time was had by all. although, believe it or not, some of us had to get out of the bassment for a moment as the sheer amount of bass (pre-organized jamming) was a bit overwhelming. at one point i snuck out for a coffin nail and jason (gospel5) was using chez s-dub as his own personal subwoofer. which reminds me dubs, i need to talk to you about hauling your pad to my next show for sound reenforcement. i have to wonder if acoustics and specific frequency factored into your choice of abode.

 

that overwater 7 f'ing OWNED. most of us were a bit intimidated by it, which explains why most of us didn't play it. dan ('57pbass) was the first to take a ride, then i picked it up because no one else was game and what the hell. it was easily the sweetest bass there. more than just surprising in how easy it was to play. i've had trouble playing yamaha sixes and this neck was even bigger. it had me mulling over ordering one. and the guy who brought it was a monster. i'm not even sure he was human.

 

the fish o love was my number two, and trust me, it was a CLOSE nimber two. gobs and gobs of tone in one gorgeous chunk o lumber. i got to try a carvin and was pleasantly surprised. also found an effect i want too. s-dubs had an envelope filter in his signal chain that just dripped funk. highlight of my afternoon was playing chameleon on the fretless rob allen through that filter and an octave pedal. i've never been one for effects, but i mat be converting. toms EBS was another surprising happy stick. i had to drop some sabbath on it, it was only right.

 

all that low end in one room, and not one p bass. not even 57pbass brought a p bass.

 

the brats were outstanding. looks like i'm now down with the chicago brattub pre-grillin from now on. i'm flattered that everyone like my food, and for the record it was white peaches, but as they never really ripend in the salsa the way i wanted them too i can see how they could be mistaken for apples.

 

and your dogs were pretty friggin sweet.

[LLroomtempJ]

fish o luv gets my vote for the best bass in the house. I would love to have that as my 6. I think it's time to get in the nordstrand queue so that i can have myself a nice graduation present in august of 2006.

 

The overwater 7 was nice...the owner (dan) tuned it like a 7 string guitar(b,e...e)...let it be known that dan was an a b s o l u t e beast. I was sure to ask for some stuff to work on before i left suu house.

 

got to meet a lot of guys from the ld, definitely good stuff...this is my third time attending a meeting of this sort (GC, Wraubshow & BBB I). The event was great. Willie's dogs were very cool. I'm sure that i can say that a good time was had by all.

 

look forward to doing something like this again.

 

jason

 

edit: suu is a very nice and hospitable guy. wraub, i thank you in advance for the picture postings.

[wraub]

Hello all. Tried to get to this yesterday, but work intervened in a major way. At least I got the upload done... Pics are below.

 

I also had a great time, and can only hope this becomes a regular event. My thanks to Will and his family for extending their lovely home to the likes of us.

 

All the guys are really nice, solid players and cool to hang with. I also really enjoyed the "jam" with Nick. Been a while since I've done anything like that, I felt outclassed... But I had fun.

The food was truly tasty, the beer was cold, and the bass was plentiful.

 

Here's some pics, in no particular order:

 

Will burns up the Kubicki.

This is one of the basses brought by Dan (57 Pbass). I really enjoyed playing it, it's a nice example.

 

Don\'t let Maury tell you he can\'t play guitar-He\'s actually pretty good.

 

He\'s definitely better on this, though. This is a sweet Sadowsky, another beaut supplied by Dan.

 

Ace takes a crack at that Sadowsky.

 

Dan takes a crack at Ace\'s OLP. It\'s only fair.

 

Tom on tha Kubiski, with the truly scary Dan C on Will\'s Music Man fretless. The Music man owns the Pino tone.

 

The aforementioned truly scary Dan C on the even scarier Overwater 7.

 

Jason (Gospel 5) on the OW 7. I think he liked it.

 

Dan P on the OW 7.

 

Jason on the Fish O\'Luv, while Nick checks out the Kubicki.

 

A money shot of the Fish O\' Luv. Everything you\'ve read about this bass is true, except it\'s even better in person.

 

Will and the Amazing Self-Playing Jazz Bass.

 

 

Where to begin...

 

More to follow, as work allows...

 

Peace,

 

wraub

 

 

(all pics copyright, all rights reserved.)

[getz out]

Rock on, wraub. Thanks for posting.

[Danzilla]

Ah, sweet bliss! Thanks for letting us live vicariously!

[saxofunk]

Sweet pics!

 

Can't wait 'til you get that fingerpaint gallery posted... hope you didn't mess on the bass gear!

 

(that vest looks a little small, even for S-uu)

[mcbn]

Originally posted by cornbread:

Man, we need a touring one of these. There aren't enough of us down in these parts to have a big gathering.

There are enough of us... we just need the right venue.

[way2fat]

Little Egypt is centrally located.

[_Sweet Willie_]

Thanks for the pics, wraub.

 

Maybe we can get Whappo to sponsor the next one and arrange a cab or two for tryout.

 

What about Blueberry Hill Bass? JPJ, you wanna sponsor next year's Second Annual? You could send out an Esh and a Roscoe. I'd send 'em back -- really...

 

Gospel5 has really got it goin' on. For a cat who's only got a couple of years in the bag playing bass, he's doing remarkably well. Keep on keepin' on, young brother.

 

Really a nice time -- fully attributable to the class and quality of the company!

 

Peace.

--SW

[davio]

Originally posted by 57pbass:

The temp were in the high 80"s with very high humidity..

Sounds like a Florida Winter.

[Tom Capasso]

A few comments about the pic with all the instruments:

 

That's some kind of "walnut floor" (the Fish-O-Luv and the Overwater 7 laying on the floor next to each other).

 

That black Strat-looking thing in the middle is a Sadowsky - Thanks to Evan for keeping the boutique vibe high.

 

Willie's FoL and Carvin are on the floor, and his fretless Stingray has it's head up on a stand, but is mostly lying down. Wonder what that means...

 

JPJ (and anyone else) - don't just send some equipment - bring it and join in !!

 

Yes - we all took breaks away from the low noise. It was an awesome time.

 

Tom

[Nicklab]

Originally posted by wraub:

All the guys are really nice, solid players and cool to hang with. I also really enjoyed the "jam" with Nick. Been a while since I've done anything like that, I felt outclassed... But I had fun.

Wraub are you serious? I felt the same way! I had a great time jamming on that. I felt a little out of my depth doing that, too.

 

The pics look awesome, too!

[The Fonz]

the downside to wraub on the shutter is that you don't get any images of him laying down the law himself.

 

that overwater was kinda like a pit bull: ferocious and scary looking, but once you pet it it turns into a lapdog, all sweet and friendly.

 

as for gospel, he was interestingly comfortable behind that seven string. i think jason is our own little harry potter, we can expect great things.

 

i imagine this is what it's like at a wifeswapping club when all the guys are married to lingerie models.

[_Sweet Willie_]

Upon looking again at that photo of all those instruments, I'm really quite amazed. What a collection!

 

Originally posted by Ace Cracker:

which reminds me dubs, i need to talk to you about hauling your pad to my next show for sound reenforcement. i have to wonder if acoustics and specific frequency factored into your choice of abode.

All that ol' skool wood paneling on the basement walls really makes for nice sonic properties...

 

Originally posted by Ace Cracker:

s-dubs had an envelope filter in his signal chain that just dripped funk.

I must admit that the pedal board attached to my SWR belonged to getz76. However, I am now casually keeping an eye out for a used EBS BassIQ...

 

wraub really did a nice job on his fretless conversion. He kept protesting with great modesty that it wasn't quite done, but really, it played like buttah and looked great.

 

57pbass really brought some great instruments. I loved playing the Kubicki. Reminded me immediately of Wally's Kubicki that I got to play a couple of summers ago. Also, that J bass he brought did indeed almost play itself.

 

Peace.

--SW

[Dave Brown]

Love the Bass Northwest pic of all the gear.

 

And the fact that this gear is all making music, not hanging on some wall.

 

But I just keep thinkin' that Willie needs some red velvet in this room. Maybe an Elvis painting?

 

And where are the poker playin' dogs?