An Unexpected Development: The Gretsch

Over the weekend, I was in Guitar Center trying to demo some pedals, since tax season is coming up and I'll have some cash to burn. While I was there, I saw this bright orange Gretsch bass sitting amongst the basses with a price tag on it that just couldn't be right (normally, you can't touch a Gretsch bass for less than $1800 and they average $2700. This one was new for $800). I drove home as fast as I could get away with and hit the interwebs to look this baby up.

 

Nothing.
Nothing on Gretsch's website.
Nothing on Guitar Center's website.
Nothing on Google (WTF?!?)...

The Squier Project: Fingerboard Phase Complete

So, I ordered a set of roman numeral Mother-of-Pearl/Abalone vinyl inlay decals from Creative Cuts. When they arrived, I sanded the fingerboard, placed the inlays, let them set and masked off the rest of the neck.

When I started the project, I was using Minwax Clear Gloss spray-on finish. The first thing I did was put on far too-thick coats, which resulted in bubbles that didn't auto-level and severe gathering at the edges of the inlays.

The Squier Project Continues

So, the Squier has been here for a while, and has started to undergo some significant changes. It's had a BadAss Bass II bridge on it for about a week, now. What a great upgrade! For such meh tuners, the sustain has improved considerably, and the differences in tone and resonance are like night and day from the flimsy Squier bridge. 

The Fretless Is In

I ordered it Wednesday, and it arrived on Friday. A quick trip to the local music store gave it a set of flat-wound Fender Lights, and a bad-ass bright yellow strap with "POLICE LINE DO NOT CROSS" woven into it in huge black letters.

 

Incoming: Squier Vintage Modified Fretless Jazz Bass

This past weekend I managed to make it up to Guitar Center. I went in with the intention of playing 4 or 5 fretless basses, and got to actually play one. The only fretless bass in the place was an Indonesian-crafted Squier Vintage Modified Fretless jazz.

Sometimes You Gotta Let It Slide

So, recently I've been playing with a Dunlop Pyrex slide, trying to see what range of sound I can get out of it, and how it can be applied to the music I want to play. I can't help but notice there aren't a lot of bass players fond of using a slide, and I think that's a shame. The sound is deep, and gives what you're playing a country-bluesy feeling. Depending on your attack, you can range your slide technique from a whispering hum to the sound of a dozen bright little springs, snapping sharply in turn.

Lately, I've been playing Gnarls Barkley's Gone Daddy Gone, The B-52's Rock Lobster, Gorillaz' On Melancholy Hill, and a solo I've been working on with the Dunlop slide, and I've been getting some really good feedback from it :) I'll post a couple videos soon.

A Modern Day Warrior, Mean Mean Bass Line

When I started playing a few months ago, I would have never thought I'd be ready to take on a Rush song at this point. But here I sit, about 2/3 of the way through Tom Sawyer :) Geddy Lee is truly one of the greatest bass players in the history of rock. The fact that he manages to sing, play bass AND play keyboard in this song is testament enough to his greatness :) I'll post a video of me covering Tom Sawyer when I feel I've got it down well enough to warrant recording.

Gnarls Barkley: Transformer & Gone Daddy Gone

I've been playing with some Gnarls Barkley songs for some time, now. While they're generally simple to learn, they're not quite so easy to get the timing and feeling right on. The Live @ Abbey Road version of Transformer has no bass tab, so I've been figuring it out by ear. I don't have a fretless or an upright, so the actual bass line is out of my reach, but I think I've managed to put together something that sounds pretty good. I'm playing Gone Daddy Gone with a slide, and I really like how it's turning out. I'll post videos of both of these songs, soon.

The SUDDEN Influence of Led Zeppelin

I consider myself to be something of a music buff, so as much as I'd like to make an excuse for never sitting down and actually listening to some Led Zeppelin, I just can't. I am happy to say, however, that the situation has been rectified. Upon hearing me say I didn't have much exposure to Zep, my good friend Sam came over and had me sit through 25 or so of her favorite songs about a month ago. I have to say, I was blown away...

Gorillaz: Incoming

Over the next few days, I'm going to post several videos of me covering various Gorillaz songs that I love. I consider the Gorillaz to be one of my primary musical influences. The first song I ever learned to play straight through (though I don't consider it complex enough to count for much) was Stylo. I had it down about 2 days after I got my bass, when I still had no understanding of how music works. 

Here's a list of what I'll be covering: