Musical Instruments

I play bass. Several basses, actually. And a guitar, and some other things. I don't really name my instruments. I know some people do, but some people also dress their dogs in sweaters.

The Fender

The Fender is a 1983 American-made 4-sting Precision Elite II. Maple neck, split (active) pickups, fine tuning on the bridge. Gorgeous sunburst. Steel hardware (not the tacky gold). Very, very nice tone. I've had this bass for 9 years, and I still love it like an inanimate brother.

The Fretless

I snagged Dean's Rhapsody semi-hollow fretless: great value for the money. Had great tone right out of the box, but when I put Fender's flatwound strings on it, it really came alive. Good hardware, quality electronics. Despite all that, it's proved a bit of a recording challenge, but it's worth it!

The 6-string

Cort Curbow 6-string bass. Matte (pewter?) hardware, 3-band eq, and a body shape called "goofy" in Bass Player. 25 full frets gives it a range just over four octaves! Mmm...versatile.... Great inexpensive way to experiment with a 6-string to see if you'll like it. But come on: you know you will!!

The 8-string

My Rogue LX408 8-string bass was a birthday gift from the little lady. As excited as I was about it, I didn't think I'd end up loving it as much as I do! It's a really amazing sound, and the doubled-up strings can interact with different effect ranges to sound like two distinct instruments playing simultaneously. Fun stuff: highly recommended.

The Acoustic

Got the Dean Playmate acoustic bass as a gift from the little lady recently. It's pretty decent, although I've had a really tough time with the intonation...the neck doesn't quite seem to have enough reinforcement. But it's really great to have a bass you can just pick up and play, without plugging it in.

The Ovation

Yes, I occasionally dabble in the dark art of guitar. I'm no guitar expert, but it's nice to have a change of pace now and then. I have an Ovation Celebrity CK 057. Used, but in great condition: only damage is a small blemish on the blue finish. Half price at Daddy's Junky Music.

The Strat

Looking to add an electric to my collection, I jumped at my uncle's offer to sell me his strat at a great price. It's a 1985-86 Japan model with a tremolo and a custom humbucker instead of the bridge pickup. Smooth tone and feel. Great action.

The Thumb Piano

That hollowed-out gourd on the bench is a thumb piano, an impluse purchase I made at Vintage Fret Shop one weekend. CM scale, though I've pondered detuning one of the prongs to make it a C7. Vibrato holes on each side. I just might have a recording somewhere...

The Effects Pedal

I only use one effects pedal, but it's a doozy! The Digitech BNX3 lets me choose from any effect you can think of, and record and loop multiple tracks. It'll even quantize them! Mmm...quantize....