pgar
01-14-2007, 03:54 PM
Hi -
My name is Paige Garwood, a guitar/bass instructor/player in the Metro Atlanta area. I play bass and do the arrangements for Brent Reece and the Main Street Band, a small folk/country/pop trio out of Atlanta. I really enjoy that gig, as it is mostly a low volume, almost unplugged vibe. Up until very recently (translated as Saturday January 13th, 2007) my bass of choice was a Warrior fretless 5 string. Very warm, woody tone, all the fretless muahhhh you could ask for. Then at our last concert, it got knocked off the stage and the headstock snapped... got it repaired, thank God, but it got the rest of us to thinking about making sure we had a good backup bass for me. I have am incredible handmade 4 string fretted, but it's not the same as a fretless, now is it?
Our band had some $$$in the pot so the bandleader and I went shopping. We looked all around Atlanta for a 5 or 6 string fretless... no go. Then we discovered Atlanta BAss Gallery. Called ahead went to see Jim Rubio (sp) on a Saturday. omigosh... Bass heaven. All these incredible upscale basses... The Pedulla Hexabuzz... a Michael Tobias signature bass, to name a few... an Italian job I can't pronounce... I played them all. Then I spied this upright-ish looking bass thingie nestled in the middle of some Kydds... omanomanomanoman!!!! What an experience... Jim was great.... he stayed out of the way... I think he knows that any of those basses in his shop really sell themself! To make a long story just slightly less long... Jim cut us a fair deal, and I walked out with a Barker 5 string fretless. I strung it EADGC using Thomastik Jazz Flats - wooooooooo...... I am so in love. I was playing the same lines I played on Brents last album within minutes. In our trio, the bass is very prominent, as I am the only soloist - Brent plays rhythm, sings great and looks good - so as good as this bass looked, if it was going to make me change my playing so much that it would hinder my abilty to solo, it wasn't going home with me.
Not to worry - this thing is smooth. I can imagine if you are a dyed in the wool upright acoustic player that the thought of having an electric bass "pretend" to be an upright would be excuse for an episode of projectile vomiting.... but get over it. This bass isn't pretending to be anything but what it is - another way to play the electric bass that is going to save me from wrist, neck and back problems. I intend to be playing bass into my 80's (I am 50 now), and this instrument is part of that formula.
Thanks Mr Barker!!!!!
Back to the woodshed.
paige
p.s.
edited to add
The ergonomics of the design intrigued me.... i.e. no weight on the shoulder, less probs with bent wrists etc. But the ease of playing, coupled with the T_O_N_E sold me. Can't tell you how much I love this thing with TJ Flats on it.
My name is Paige Garwood, a guitar/bass instructor/player in the Metro Atlanta area. I play bass and do the arrangements for Brent Reece and the Main Street Band, a small folk/country/pop trio out of Atlanta. I really enjoy that gig, as it is mostly a low volume, almost unplugged vibe. Up until very recently (translated as Saturday January 13th, 2007) my bass of choice was a Warrior fretless 5 string. Very warm, woody tone, all the fretless muahhhh you could ask for. Then at our last concert, it got knocked off the stage and the headstock snapped... got it repaired, thank God, but it got the rest of us to thinking about making sure we had a good backup bass for me. I have am incredible handmade 4 string fretted, but it's not the same as a fretless, now is it?
Our band had some $$$in the pot so the bandleader and I went shopping. We looked all around Atlanta for a 5 or 6 string fretless... no go. Then we discovered Atlanta BAss Gallery. Called ahead went to see Jim Rubio (sp) on a Saturday. omigosh... Bass heaven. All these incredible upscale basses... The Pedulla Hexabuzz... a Michael Tobias signature bass, to name a few... an Italian job I can't pronounce... I played them all. Then I spied this upright-ish looking bass thingie nestled in the middle of some Kydds... omanomanomanoman!!!! What an experience... Jim was great.... he stayed out of the way... I think he knows that any of those basses in his shop really sell themself! To make a long story just slightly less long... Jim cut us a fair deal, and I walked out with a Barker 5 string fretless. I strung it EADGC using Thomastik Jazz Flats - wooooooooo...... I am so in love. I was playing the same lines I played on Brents last album within minutes. In our trio, the bass is very prominent, as I am the only soloist - Brent plays rhythm, sings great and looks good - so as good as this bass looked, if it was going to make me change my playing so much that it would hinder my abilty to solo, it wasn't going home with me.
Not to worry - this thing is smooth. I can imagine if you are a dyed in the wool upright acoustic player that the thought of having an electric bass "pretend" to be an upright would be excuse for an episode of projectile vomiting.... but get over it. This bass isn't pretending to be anything but what it is - another way to play the electric bass that is going to save me from wrist, neck and back problems. I intend to be playing bass into my 80's (I am 50 now), and this instrument is part of that formula.
Thanks Mr Barker!!!!!
Back to the woodshed.
paige
p.s.
edited to add
The ergonomics of the design intrigued me.... i.e. no weight on the shoulder, less probs with bent wrists etc. But the ease of playing, coupled with the T_O_N_E sold me. Can't tell you how much I love this thing with TJ Flats on it.