Paging Mr. SuperMan

MT Spaces · #1 04-18-2007, 12:58 PM

In another thread about ribbon mics I said:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob Knebel

Woof, it sounds like your ribbon mikes alone are worth more than my whole set of bass gear (2 kays, amp, and pickup)

! I'm thinkin that you are an "old school" bass super-hero of some kind .... Old Standards, old tone, gut strings, ribbon mikes ... now that's what I like! I don't know your real identity ...... I think the other Superman worked for a newspaper or somethin

but I would sure like to hear some of your "old school" bass playin sometime ....

OK Superman, I bought David Peterson & 1946 "In the Mountaintops to Roam" off i-Tunes last nite. As soon as I hit "play" on song 1 and heard the sound of your old school bass so nicely mixed with the other instruments, I started grinnin' ear-to-ear

! That's some sweet bass playin'. Did you use your ribbon mics discussed in the other thread to record that CD? Sincerely Kent, thanks for keepin' that "old" sound in bluegrass ... I imagine the Huskeys would be mighty proud of you

.

superman · #2 04-18-2007, 11:52 PM

To answer your question Bob,yes I did use a ribbon mike for Daves project,a rca 44bx to be exact,,I try to always use my 44 on anything I record,,but you have to be very careful these days with some of these little "home" studios, If you put phantom power to a ribbon mike it will break the ribbon, and some smaller studios dont have the ability to cut the phantom power. for that project I also used a very historical bass that was owned by Joe Zinkan,Joe played on lots of Jimmy Martins recordings, Man Wisemans,Flatt&Scruggs,and some of Monroes stuff, and thats not even starting to count the country stuff he did.Joe was one of the A team that did session work here in Nashville,he started with the Delmore Bros in 1937 and worked till 57 with Roy Acuff,Bob Moore once stated Joe was the best slap player he ever saw,and I was told that Huskey Sr.idolized Joe and I know Roy Jr did, we talked about him several times.Joe never gets the credit that he deserves, he is the real father of country/bluegrass bass players.before him there were no real bass "players " at the opry, mostly just holders,or comidians.I have been told and also seen Opry programs from the 40s that listed Joe down for a solo song,,most of the time it was 4Leaf Clover, or Tiger rag,,jazz type songs, but he played them slap style,,I have some video, of him in the 60s and he was still amazing.
I was truly blessed to get to know him before he passed and he sold me the bass he had since he was 16, the same one he used in the studio, Its a old round back german prob dates 1880s, and I've spent a small fortune getting it back in shape, but it still does its work when you put in front of that mic.
listen to Jimmy Martins cut of Tennessee,,youll hear what I mean,,,Kent

mchildree · #3 04-19-2007, 07:46 AM

Okay, Bob...I assume you know who "Superman" is now, right? Most of us in the bluegrass world know who he is, right away.

MT Spaces · #4 04-20-2007, 10:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mchildree

Okay, Bob...I assume you know who "Superman" is now, right? Most of us in the bluegrass world know who he is, right away.

Yeah Mike, I'm a bit dim but I finally figured it out ..... sorry, now I'm embassed

. No excuse ... other than I live in the boonies a bit too far from the heart of bluegrass country

. Well, at least from my flailing about and the kind, informative reply from Kent, I learned some good history and found some more great bluegrass bass playing to listen to. Onward and upward ..... I'm off to search out recordings with Joe Zinkan playin' bass

!

mrpc · #5 04-20-2007, 02:54 PM

Sounds like Superman is totin' around some very expensive pieces of Nashville history! Pics?

MT Spaces · #6 04-20-2007, 04:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrpc

Sounds like Superman is totin' around some very expensive pieces of Nashville history! Pics?

Howdy Mr. Politically Correct

!

Here is one of the links that gave me a clue as to who Superman was:

http://www.rockabillyhall.com/nashvilleseen01.html

Look down the photos until about number 25. Great picture of some great bass players

! How cool is that?

mrpc · #7 04-20-2007, 05:20 PM

Ouch.......doesn't your neck hurt after all that Prairie Sun?

the mrpc nomenclature is for Paul Chambers, after Mr. Paul Chambers. BTW his famous bass had a Lion Scroll like superman's!

Thanks for the links.......looks like superman hangs out with some pretty heavy instrument collectors, so I don't imagine that he'd mind if we check out his collection via pics. It's American History, after all.

MT Spaces · #8 04-20-2007, 05:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrpc

Ouch.......doesn't your neck hurt after all that Prairie Sun?

the mrpc nomenclature is for Paul Chambers, after Mr. Paul Chambers. BTW his famous bass had a Lion Scroll like superman's! ...... It's American History, after all.

I don't get much prairie sun on my neck here in the Rocky Mountains at 5000' elevation but my nose is pretty red from the frostbite (or is it the Hefeweizens?)

PC for Paul Chambers is way better than PC for Politically Correct. My bad ..... no insult intended

. Yeah those pictures are definitely American Bass History .... Joe Zinkan, Superman, Bob Moore, Lightning Chance, Billy Linneman, Dennis Crouch, Mike Bub, etc. etc. Can't beat that! Take Care.