Slappa Da Bass

So as I said before, I'm kind of a frustrated bass player in a sense. I'll admit my Yamaha BBN4 totally covers any of my bass needs. I usually only use it for home demos and the like. 

But this happened:

It's one of my Buddy's, who passed away last year. I've been helping his family out, by selling his equipment, and getting some well needed money to them. 

I struck up a deal with Adam of AF Precision Setups to do thorough setups, cleaning, re-stringing, and generally sort out the instruments. It makes things tough for a prospective buyer to haggle on the price when an instrument plays great, and functions perfectly. I had a buyer claim a Kramer Focus 3000 that Adam did a thorough setup on played better than a brand new EVH Wolfgang and a new Charvel San Dimas. Adam has also become a Guitar archeologist of sorts, when we come across some odd instruments. A 1997 LP custom was a unique project, not only cleaning and a proper setup, sorting out the wiring, but also making sure it was a real Gibson (thankfully it was). Another thing is correcting some "fixes" done by previous repair people. It's a tall set of tasks overall, and he does great work, pretty much every guitar he set up made me want to buy them for myself. He's my go-to guy now, for my guitars.

https://www.instagram.com/afprecisionsetups/

Anyway back to the bass.

A bass player friend of mine & band mate in the early 2000's had 2 EBMM basses at one point, and from what I can remember, the necks were pretty beefy. One was a limited edition with a black sparkle paint job (and matching headstock) and an older, possibly 1980's one that had string mutes. He liked them but didn't love them, and eventually parted ways with both of them. They were cool, but I can get it when you don't bond with an instrument.

When I pulled this bass out of it's case, I immediately felt some cool mojo. The neck wasn't as beefy as the previous ones I remembered, and it felt really good overall, with a nice balance. It needed a general cleaning and a good setup, but It didn't feel tough to play. I'm a guitar player, so playing bass is fun, and I could do a set on pretty much any bass with a band, but it wouldn't be super easy. But on this bass it felt like it wouldn't be as tough. It felt fun and adventurous.

When I brought it to Adam, I played it for a bit, and he said he hadn't seen me as excitedly playing in a long time! When he picked it up, he kind of came to the same conclusion. We figured out what it's worth used, and he said he knew an EBMM fanatic, and would let him know about this bass's availability. I'm sure when it's all done it'll play fantastically, and sound great. Hopefully I can get some $ to my buddy's family, and get a bass in the hands of an appreciative player.

I have no need for a bass, and I do have a couple of my buddy's instruments in my possession as a reminder of him. There are also plenty of other Guitar/music related projects to dedicate my $ to (as well as paying bills) so there should be no GAS here, but for some reason there is. Ernie Ball did licence out their designs to a company called OLP, and They seem to be pretty reasonable, with a lot on Reverb & Craigslist coming in at about $150 or so. Modding one to get it up to spec wouldn't be super expensive either. I don't know if I'm going to pull the trigger on one of those, but I'm certainly looking at these basses in a whole new light.

Will I just start giving my Yamaha more attention, and investigate it's own low end, or will I part ways with it, to fund getting one of the OLP basses, and go down the road of modding it? Maybe, after playing this bass, I was a lot less frustrated.

Tune in next time!

Mark III

I remember when these pro made pedalboards hit the market, and it seemed like so much money when a piece of plywood, and some velcro would do the trick. I tried everything else to cheap out and when they all failed, in one way or another, it brought me to the brand that's pretty much the no brainer, industry standard; Pedaltrain.


When I started building my first real pedalboard back in 2009, I used Pedaltrain's biggest board available.

 

This was the first version, in the early days of my band, The Goodbye Theory

 

 

Eventually it got boiled down to this

 
At a full 36" wide, my idea was to put every pedal I had on it, and have a pedalboard that could handle any musical situation. I even got the heavy duty ATA Flight case. Bad planning on my part for a couple of reasons:

1. I didn't take into consideration I'd need a lot of patch cables to connect everything. Those patch cables add up, not only in signal loss, but $ wise too.

2. Power. I'd need at least two power supplies (no one made a power supply that could handle more than 8 pedals at the time when I was building this board) So there's another $150 I didn't consider.

3. Most of the pedals I had at the time were drive pedals, and I really didn't need more than two. Balancing out all the output levels, and EQ voicings before every set or practice, ugh..

So I downsized from their 36" wide monster to the 24" wide Pedaltrain2, with the ATA case. I really didn't need the hard case on this one either, a gig bag version would have been a better choice. Especially since the trunk space in the MINI is at a premium.

After wiring up my usual collection, I realized I could easily throw a couple of spare pedals on it, albeit not wired up or connected, and still be able to swap stuff in and out quickly at practice. Since I get about 6-7 pedals a year to review, this worked out great. I also had some "unique" pedals on my board. TC Sub N Up, EHX Synth 9 and the like. I liked kicking them in here and there for some flavour, Alot of times when I did that, I'd get the stink eye from the band. Some neat sounds for sure, but it's like putting hot peppers on chocolate ice cream, it just doesn't work.

 

Eventually it looked like this at one point.

So I decided that I was going to be more practical with my pedalboard, and eliminate the excess. I downsized to a Pedaltrain Classic Jr, and I boiled and distilled what I need on my board for 99% of what I'm doing musically at this point.

1. Tuner
2.Overdrive/distortion
3.Boost
4.Chorus
5.Delay
6.Sonic Maximizer

Now I do have a DS engineering chronometer that's really not a pedal, but a timer/clock. its good for planning out set times.

So since I have these lovely looper/patch bay pedals, my idea was to use them and clear off some space on my board. this meant I could place the pedals towards the back end of the board, route the cables to the loopers in the front. it makes for less tap dancing over one pedal to get to another. Less foot action to accidentally move a knob or switch during the act as well.

Loop #1 has the overdrive

Loop #2 connects to the boost

Loop #3 is open, but will be used for something I'll share with you all later.

Loop#4 connects to my chorus and delay pedal in one loop. I love the idea of chorus and delay, and I hate the idea of having to tap dance to turn them on/off individually.

Power is by my trusty Voodoo labs power supply. I did have to get new brackets for mounting it though. 

 
Now I did give up one thing with this board: expandability. There's not a lot of room to add anything, but considering the power supply only has 1 free input now, I'm cool with that, maybe I could jam a mini pedal in there, but the idea is to have a board that does what's practical, guitar tone wise. So what else would I need.

I have debated getting a buffer just in case. So far I haven't noticed a tone loss, probably because I'm using really short cable runs, and everything is true bypass, as well as the loopers. If you're a pedalboard geek at the level of the comic book nerd from the Simpsons, please comment on how I'm doing it wrong, like Dr. Frasier Crane, I'm listening.

Now I don't need the old pedalboard, it's power supply mouning brackets and the ATA case. So I sold it for $100. It's a good deal and it covered the cost of the new board.

This time around I decided that the ATA case was too much, and went with the gig bag option. Earlier (cheaper, non pedaltrain) Pedalbords that I owned, came with gig bags, and they all pretty much got trashed. Cheap materials, Zippers that were made from pot metal, and jammed easily. Stitching that tore apart. No Bueno.The Pedaltrain bag that came with the Classic Jr, is a step up from the cheap ones. I know MONO makes a better one, but it's expensive. 

Pedaltrain used to only offer a case or a bag for their boards. I tried many times to just buy a bag, for my pedaltrain 24" model and I got told it was a no go every time. Recently they did start to offer bags/backpacks, but the cost was almost as much as the pedalboard. The premium bag for the Classic JR is a whopping $119. I paid $118 for the Classic Jr & it's included bag, which I think should be ok for the moment. The ATA case for this version is a bit smaller than my previous board, and considering its $149 price tag it's not a bad deal. If I ever find myself doing alot of shows where my gear will get fondled by strangers, I'd consider it, but for now, going to and from practice, the studio and local gigs, I should be good. Famous last words, said my every guitar player about their pedalboards for sure. I still have another trick up my sleeve though.

P.S.

(why is it I think of burgers when I'm working out my pedalboard?)

I'll have a Classic Jr, and a PT2 With a Case!

Acoustics, Arts & Craft

Recently I did a post regarding small builders and their crafts, pedal wise. Magic boxes of wires that can change the landscape of a an electric guitar's sound. Now for the flip side of the coin; the purity of just an acoustic guitar.

 

Guitar building is an art form, it's palette and canvas is enormously colorful and broad. Then there is the art that comes out of the instrument. Acoustic guitars are even more magical. It's raw materials created from mother nature, processed by an artisans hands, and played by people blessed with the ability to extract more from the final product.

 

My personal experiences with acoustic guitars aren't as vibrant as my journey with electric guitars. My first, an ovation, that I over paid for, and didn't sound all that great. I could take it to the beach though and not worry about it. I traded it in for a used Stratocaster. Many years later I got my second, an Ibanez Acoustic, was a gift from an Ex-girlfriend in a sense, as she got me a substantial gift certificate to a music store that helped fund that purchase. I didn't play it much, as I didn't play alot of acoustic guitar back then. I sold it in 2013. My wife doesn't like it when I sell guitars. She was saddened to see my Green Les Paul go, as well as my Blue G&L ASAT. When I told her I sold my acoustic she was bummed, when I pointed out how I got the guitar, she immediately said "oh get rid of it". I already play the Fender Mustang she gave me this past xmas more than I ever played that Ibanez Acoustic.

 

I admit the one I play now, isn't expensive or flashy. It's a Mitchell Grand Auditorium. Mitchell is Guitar Center's in house brand, like Kenmore or Die Hard. I did a review of it years ago, and I was really gobsmacked as to how good it played and sounded. It retails for about $300. I was able to keep it, thankfully and It's gotten alot of use, in my original band, my cover band, and just playing around the house.

 

In the past year Taylor has sent me several guitars for review; inexpensive mini models, to their top of the line instruments. The value of each one was staggering. It got me thinking of what you get when you take those big leaps. Each one got closer to purity. I used the Taylor Builder's edition K14CE in the studio for a recording session, and it moved me in a way that was beyond what I would expected.

https://www.taylorguitars.com/guitars/acoustic/builders-edition-k14ce

 

It's not cheap, but when I saw the price, I didn't even flinch. It's worth every penny. I didn't think a guitar could get any better. But take it a step further, and it goes into this territory:

https://www.atelierrosenkrantz.com/

 
Instrument design and production has greatly benefited from modern technology, but seeing a craftsperson work in the traditional sense is amazing.
 

In the past, when most guitar media was perpetuated by a few magazines, as well as some "in the know" music stores, it was a small world. I knew of small guitar builders, from Eric Schoenberg, Danny Ferrington, and Dana Bougeois. I knew Parker guitars were made in Massachuetts, and I even worked for them for a bit. Now it's overwhelming, as there isn't just one funnel of information, but a tsunami that our internet and social media has become. Sorting out and finding the people out there, honing a craft and sharing their art, is mind boggling. It was neat to hear of a person sharing their craft that was semi local to me.

 

I admit, part of this post is to dig into something I haven't really blogged about; Acoustics. The other part is the recent passing of Anthony Bourdain. Yes he got his start as a chef, then a food writer, then a TV host on the food network, and the travel channel, then to CNN.

 

Over the years his shows started on foods, the people that made them and their cultures. On CNN it shifted, there were still explorations of foods, but people, and their cultures took the focus. I had no idea there was this Raw Craft show existed. But in going down the Youtube/Amazon/ondemand/netflix rabbit hole of his shows, looking for solace in the loss of a person that I never met, that took me to places near and far,  I found this video. It got me to think about the purity of a hand crafted instrument. In this case, he was the perfect ambassador to investigate this amazing builder and her work. Again, he took me to a new place, not far from where I am. it's inspired me to explore more in my own backyard and work my way out. They called him the Elvis of bad boy chefs. He often referenced The Ramones, Iggy Pop, Queens of the Stone Age. Not surprising as music, is like food in a sense; good ingredients, assembled properly, and shared with others. Making instruments and making music falls into this ideology as well.

 

It's sad to see that someone could share the exploration of so many things pass on. Music can be as complicated as an amp simulation algorithm, or as simple as an acoustic guitar being played on the beach. In a sense, so can life. Try to find the simplicity in things, and the issues at hand tend to become less overwhelming.

 

If you need help, you are not alone. Reach out. Call a friend, call a family member, call the national suicide hotline at 1-800-273-talk. The world needs creative, and passionate people that share their creative arts and experiences with us all, in all of its forms.

Rest in Peace - Matt "guitar" Murphy

It's sad to see living legends pass on to history. We're all destined to leave the second we arrive, but when people that shared, and gave so much are gone, it's still not easy.

With a heavy heart, I'm sad to report that Matt "guitar" Murphy has left the building at the age of 88.

I'm not a blues fan, in the truest sense. I have seen Buddy Guy multiple times, BB King once, and once I did see Matt "guitar" Murphy live at Harper's Ferry. Hell of a guitar player, no nonsense, no tricks. He laid it all out on the stage. He's best known for the blues brothers. The praise I could heap on to the movie "The Blues Brothers" would be a dissertation, not a blog post.

Every Musician in that movie held their own, on their instruments, and as actors. At no point in the film, do you cringe at the delivery of the lines. There were no long deliveries given to them, just the sharp punctuation and jabs that is inherent in a musician's DNA. The music was their dialogue. 

Strangely enough, in my early teens, it was on TV, and scrolling through channels, my Dad, said to stop and watch this. I thought it was one of those deep 1980's movies where two comedic actors did a serious film that didn't perform as well as a blockbuster. I was so wrong. A comedic musical journey, complete with nuns, ex-girlfriends that have a penchant for explosives, cheese whiz, orange whips, a shitbox Dodge traded for a microphone, and of course, Nazis. The band was smoking, and guitar wise, had Steve "The Colonel" Cropper. If you're gonna do a blues themed movie, it's a good choice. Add in a guy that backed up Ike Turner, Otis Rush, Muddy Waters, and it's a one two punch that leaves you speechless. That guy was Matt "guitar" Murphy.

There have been several albums released around the time of The Blues Brother's movie, and the soundtrack is cooler than liquid nitrogen. Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Cab Calloway. If you're gonna be on a record (or in a movie) with those greats, you're in great company.

There are several movies that I can quote, line for line, beat for beat. The Blues Brothers is one of them. It's a movie my Dad introduced me to, and gave me a dip in the pool of a music that's truly American. He's was a legend before the Blues Brothers, He was a legend in The Blues Brothers, and he'll always be Matt "guitar" Murphy.

Q&A (well at least the Q part, for now)

So when I re-activated this blog as a writing exercise in music stuff, I didn't think much of it. They say to get better at anything is to constantly do it over and over, and be critical of yourself. I wanted to be a better writer and be better at communicating in general. I do a lot of product reviews for performermag.com and I do some general music articles, but I sometimes like to stretch out a bit, and with a magazine's limits of size, doing that was going to be tough.

I have no problem being hard or critical on myself. I'm not going to drift into the stereotypical abyss of booze and self loathing all great writers aspire to. I'll take to being a less than great writer, have my liver intact, and be able to enjoy life. My exploration of music has been fun for a majority of the time, and my writing about it, has been the same. But getting better means keep doing it, over and over, until you get it right.

In my list of articles I'm working on I try to vary things up, However I am curious as to if there are any topics or questions you, the readers, have for me. Any particular subject I haven't covered? A theme I alluded to that you'd like to go a bit deeper with? Please feel free to reach out to me on this, and I'll try to cover them in future posts. This blog does have an analytics section for the owner (me) and while I can't see who's looking at this page, I do get a breakdown of data, as to how many visitors I get, and what posts get checked out. I've been a bit surprised at the numbers coming in, so apparently I do get quite a few people looking at this page, and since you've given me your attention, I'd like to give you, the reader mine.

Drop me a question or message me in the comment section below this post.

Or friend me and direct message me on twitter: https://twitter.com/_chrisdevine_

instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christophermdevine/

I look foreward to hearing from you all.

Thanks

Making Stuff

About 15 years ago I started cruzing the internet looking for amps (like you do), and I came across a few webpages that specialized in information on making your own amps, providing schematics, instructions, tips and tricks, as well as a gallery of completed amps of people that have made as resources.

The schematics didn't look too nutty, and seeing that other people did it, in some cases, also had no experience doing this type of work before. I was kind of inspired. The designs were pretty simple, based off of the old RCA tube amp diagram that even Leo Fender used as a basis for some of his earliest amps. I even had a pipe dream of making my own amps as a product, starting my own company. But real talent makes anything look easy and after looking into it, I realized that this wouldn't be easy. A few people that were making them back then, have started companies since, and few have gotten their stuff into the hands of professional players. When asked about it, they usually said , "it hasn't been easy". With guitar trends being fickle, and economy that was as stable as jello, they kept at it.

So I set my sights a little lower, I do like making, fixing and tinkering with stuff (that explains my love of vintage British cars!),  so I started thinking about making some of my own pedals. I grabbed a copy of "electronic projects for musicians", made a trip to a large electronics supply house (not radio shack!), and plunked down about $150 in miscellaneous parts.

Starting out simply, I tried an A/B Box. The circuit wasn't hard to do, but drilling the holes in the boxes, making sure things looked even, like they were machined in a factory was kind of tough. The holes on my 1st one looked like a blind man did it. Eventually I got my drilling down pretty good, and made a few for friends. Another project I undertook was making Amp channel switchers that didn't look like they were designed in the 50's, and they came out ok. I made a passive tone unit for a local studio, their enginneer loved using that with guitarists that had solid state amps, as it took some high end edge off.

Then I tried a few tougher things; 1st was a fuzztone. As much as I checked and re checked the circuit, it couldn't get it right. Comparing it to a EHX fuzz, and a Dunlop one,  It just sounded like junk. It didn't even have the "well it's got a sound that would be good for something" feel to it. Moving on, I attempted a distortion pedal that was based off of the DOD overdrive, again, it just sounded like poo. I scoured news groups (this is before reedit), looking for corrections or mods for these circuits, as much as I like a challenge, it proved overwhelming. I liked the experience I got from this, but in no way was I going to get into making pedals for sale.

Eventually I gave the remaining electrical components to Steve Varao, who was making pedals, doing mods, and the like. He has the talent, knowledge, and ability to really make some cool stuff. He modded my Boss BD-2, and made a good pedal sound great! I asked him to make me a couple of true bypass loop pedals in exchange for the pile of parts. He had the abilities to make this collection of components look like a factory made piece. I still use them to this day, and are well worth it, considering how I have my pedalboard configured.

I still have the urge to modify and tweak stuff, but considering the time and money investment, I'm going to leave it to the pros. I learned a lot going though all that, and know where my talents lie, as well as knowing when a pedal costs a bit more, and where that extra $ goes.

I applaud anyone trying to get into starting a business making pedals or amps. The market is full of small companies, putting out high quality products. It's like beer: back in the day there were like 3 beers you could get at a bar or store, now there are beer stores and bars that only sell small batch, hand made craft beers. It's not an easy thing; to come up with a new pedal ideas with so much competition out there. Makers like Keeley, and JHS have gotten really big, building on mods, to each developing their own thing tonally. If you find a small manufatcurer in your area, and they're starting out, I highly suggest supporting them.

That being said, there are 2 companies that I feel need to be shared with you all; Fuzzrocious and Coppersound. 

Ryan at Fuzzrocious makes some very wild pedals, it great to see a company go from DIY to production. It's a family affair as well, with his wife and kids stepping in, designing some very unique graphics to some very unique pedals. Name a new family business that's this cool, I'll wait.

Coppersound Pedals are VERY local to me, as they are a Massachusetts based company. It's great talking to them about pedals, they get it. They do offer up a range of pedals, and any of their pedals could easily replace any mass produced pedal on your pedalboard, and give more options at the same time. My fave right now is their tele inspired Broadway Preamp. The Telecaster design isn't a gimmick, its big.

These guys know it's not an easy business to be in. They take the time to talk to players, and listen to them. It's R&D, it's Public relations, it's what makes them unique. 

I stepped into a local music store this past spring, and another customer asked a sales person to try out a coppersound pedal. I chimed in "that's a good choice" and quickly pointed out a feature i liked on it, adding "they're local & great guys too". The sales person, in his hipster uniform of ironic facial hair and plaid shirt, shot back a snarky and sarcastic "yeah that's what I look for in a pedal, Nice guys". 

Yes, its a bonus. The same way I won't ever go out of my way to buy an item in your store, because of that remark. Here's a local company, being sold in a local music store, by a fellow that misses the true credo of a hipster "Here's something cool, you've probably never tried, and it's local". the same sales guy probably thinks Subway makes a great chicken parm. That experience at that music store just made Amazon and Reverb.com look better to me. It's sad to hear of brick and mortar stores hitting hard times, but when a brick and mortar store acts douchy, my sympathies fade away. The bummer will be when a local company looks for a place to sell their stuff locally, and there will be limited places to go.

With the media telling us that the guitar is dead, no one actually buying music, and few examples of people actually making music, why get into all this? From my experience, it's love, it's a connection. I'll bet on Love, and like every bet, it's not gambling, if it's a sure thing.