- Age:
- 67
- Sex:
- Male
- Location:
- Idyllwild, California
- Current Setup:
- -Upright Guitarrón (UG): A Lone Star Mariachi guitarrón, tuned E1-A1-D2-G2-C3-F3, with a full-octave, fretless fingerboard (raised to lower the string height), a built-up and rounded underneck, a solid brass bridge, and a reinforced tail-end wall with a long endpin to allow it to be played sitting down, cello-style, with DB left hand positions but pizz only. (Except that the E1 and F3 strings can be bowed for that final ballad note and that's about it.) These modifications were intended to allow the pizzing of actual DB bass lines, and that has worked out. My UG looks like a blowfish on a stick, and it will never sound just like a DB, but it's a lot of fun getting it as close as I can.
-Electric Upright Guitarrón (EUG): A home-made, solid-body upright guitarrón that breaks down to fit inside my luggage. Except for the tuning machines and strings, it was made from scratch from a birch plank and hardware store parts. Originally it was a Travel Practice Upright Guitarrón (TPUG) that made very little sound, which was perfect for practicing in hotel rooms. I flew it to the U.K. and traveled for a month through Wales and the south of England May-June 2012, and it worked great in my hotel room. But later I had a custom pickup added so I could practice outdoors and hear it through a headphone amp over the noise of nearby traffic. The pickup happened to transform it into a legitimate EUG that plays well through an amp and speakers.
-Schaller classical guitar tuning machines. (For the EUG)
-RotoSound RS886LD Tru Bass 88 nylon-tape-wrapped steel flatwounds (50-65-75-100-115 & 135/1000ths inch). (For UG & EUG)
-Maple dowel endpin with PVC connectors. (For UG)
-GSI Glacier stainless-steel espresso-cup endpin rest, tethered to my stool or chair. (For UG)
-ABS endpin with T-bar. (For EUG)
-Peterson StroboClip SC-1 Clip-On strobe chromatic tuner.
-Meisel MCT-8L clip-on chromatic tuner.
-Rubbermaid Roughneck model 2979 instrument stand. (For UG, at home)
-On Stage guitar stand. (For UG, at gigs)
-K&K Sound Pure Bass for 5-String Acoustic Bass pickup. (For UG)
-Watson Guitars Cooper custom pickup. (For EUG)
-Fishman PRO-EQ Platinum Bass preamp/EQ/DI.
-Headway EDB-1 preamp/EQ/DI.
-Jim Dunlop MC-401 volume boost foot switch.
-Acoustic AB50 practice combo.
-Roland Micro Cube Bass RX battery/AC practice combo.
-No-name soft guitarrón gig bag. (for UG)
-Gator GKB-88 XL soft keyboard gig bag fitted with charcoal-foam case lining. (for EUG)
-Sony 7506 studio headphones.
-Sennheiser PX 100, PX 100ii, and PX 200 folding headphones.
-AKG Perception 420 large-diameter condenser mic.
-Presonus FireStudio Mobile recording system interface.
-Mogami/Neutrik gold-plated instrument and mic cables by Redco Audio.
-MacBook 2.2GHz Intel Core 2Duo 2GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM.
-Amazing Slow Downer OS X 3.4.3 tempo-changing, pitch-changing, and looping app.
-Audacity 1.3.13-beta recording and editing app.
-Finale SongWriter 2010 music notation app.
-Bernafon Veras VR9 CP hearing aids. (sigh)
-Hundreds of bass and jazz books—including Advance, Aebersold, Alfred, Belwin, Leonard, Mel Bay, and Music Minus One play-alongs—that I can tell you about, if you like. - Previously owned gear:
- Actually, I still own this, I'm just not using it:
-K&K Sound Pure XLR preamp. - G.A.S. List:
- -A modicum of talent.
- Gigs, Bands, & Ensembles:
- In my career, I'm fortunate to have played with many of the Jazz Greats' recordings. (Too many to mention, and I wouldn't want to leave anyone out.) Always in my living room when nobody's home but me. However, in 2011 I joined a local hobby band we call The Living Room Ramblers, which pretty much describes the scope of our gigging.
- Influences and Teachers:
- Bass inspirations: Bill Saitta, Marshall Hawkins, Henry Franklin, Dan Pliskow, Lew Berryman, Ed Fuqua, Todd Coolman, Todd Phillips, Ed Friedland, Ray Brown, Paul Chambers, Ron Carter, Rufus Reid, Chris Fitzgerald, Rob Thorsen, and Casey Abrams.
Favorite TalkBass threads:
Ed Fuqua: http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f73/really-learning-tune-304843/
Also Ed's comments in: http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f31/time-flexible-143447/
Joe Packard: http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f22/pacmans-sure-fire-scale-practice-method-50170/
Jazz inspirations: Marshall Hawkins, Bill Saitta, Henry Franklin, Paul Carman, Barnaby Finch, Hal Melia, Bram Wijnands, Harry Pickens, Houston Person, Duke Ellington, Bill Evans, Miles Davis, George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Hoagy Carmichael, Jamey Aebersold and Casey Abrams.
Life inspirations: Baruch Spinoza, Wolfgang Mozart, Benjamin Franklin, Charles Darwin, Mohandas Gandhi—and Marshall Hawkins and Herb Jeffries (both ongoing). Oh, and my Aunt Edna who is still living in her own apartment in an assisted-living building and going strong at age 109.
I've never cared as much for the BG sound ("moo, moo, moo-burp, moo") because the DB sound ("mwah, doom, bwoom, ba-toom") has a special, varied, woody character I love. But I admire good jazz bassists, whatever type of bass they play. - Favorite Genres:
- Jazz: traditional, swing, bebop, straight ahead, cool, modal, and Latin.
- Other Hobbies & Interests:
- Four Grandkids, bridge, chess, cooking, golf, reading, schnapps making, Spanish, and travel.
- Available for instruction:
- I feel qualified to teach 1st-week UG here in Idyllwild. (BYO UG.) Students to date: Zero.
- Teaching Credentials:
- Currently designing, authenticating, and printing out my own UG teaching credentials.
(PROFILE EDITED 2013-03-26) | Jack Clark is not a member of any public groups |
