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Born in 1965, tried guitar in 1978 but found I have the wrong shape of fingers.
Bought my 1st bass in 1980 and found I have the wrong level of talent. Never mind;
average guitarists are everywhere but even an average bass player can get in a band.
Twenty years later, I've advanced to the stage of 'adequate'. I've almost always been
in a band, but the bands I've really gigged and recorded with are 'sub rosa' (1990
- 1995) and 'the difference engine' (still going). sub rosa was standard, 90s 'indie'
music and my current band is an amalgam of indie, rock, blues and house.
First bass was a r/h Kay 4001 copy (1980, now lost). Awful, but the access was good
for an upside-down bass. About 1985 I bought a no-name, r/h 'P' copy (also lost) which
was also awful and the access was terrible. From now on it's all lefties and I've still
got them.
1987 Hondo Fame 830 P type. Grover tuners, string-thru-body bridge (snapped them
regularly) but dull, uneven response that needed a compressor. Also, the only neck
to go bow-wow on me.
1991 Aria SLB2a. Another ply body, but P/J pickups and an active EQ (of sorts).
This was my mainstay until last year, and I have fond affection for it. Never touched
the truss rod, held tune well and (if you switched it to active and put both p/ups
on full) gave you an instant "TANG", JJ Brunel sound (think "Peaches"
or "Grip"). My current, blues loving, guitarist hates it so...
2003 Jim Reed BE5. First 'proper' bass and a bargain. 5-string, twin soapbar, active
bass + treble, 5 piece mahogany/maple neck, mahogany body with bird's eye koa top and
back etc etc. See my review on harmony-central.com - the hardware is no-name (but decent)
and the Kramer-sourced pickups aren't great but, hey, less than £400.
My amp has always been a CMI 100W valve head from the 60s (Making Music magazine
found out for me that Marshall sold some of their stuff as 'Cleartone Musical Instruments'
back then) with a 2x10 cab. Neither my car nor my back are fond of big cabs.
I'm building/designing a 5-string project or two. Any info I get from other players
would be very welcome.
I have always preferred to play through all-valve amplifiers and have developed
a disease known as GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome). I get the most pleasure from finding
less-known old amps with great sounds and small price tags. If you are curious to know
more about them, contact me through Arni and I will fascinate you to death about them.
Best regards, Oz |
