Recent content by billybrix

Lots of variables. The age of the guitar makes a difference. Newer instruments generally have finishes that are more resistant to temp and humidity variations. And really, it's the changes that hurt, moreso than a gradual buildup. New guitars generally come with a warning not to open the box for...

Amen, brother. I'm still tight with one of my bandmates from the '60s-'70s in NYC and he teases me aabout that monster to this day. I picked mine up right at the Plush factory in Manhattan. As I recall they gave me "a deal" on it. ("Let's get this POS outta here.") They very kindly helped me...

Tom Ribbecke is a very old friend of mine and I've watched his relationship with Jack Casady change and grow as they explored the entire "bass guitar that sounds like a standup" concept. They've developed 4 versions of the "Diana" so far, and Tom has incorporated some of the things they've...

I lived in State College for nearly 30 years and Peter was one of the best bassists in town. He's also an amazing fine artist/painter and an all-around great guy. I own his prototype J-bass, built before he started the honeycomb process and making his own necks. The bass is beautiful and an...

Yes, it's rare. There aren't a lot of them out there. My rig back in the '70s was one of those with the standard front-facing 2x15 Sunn cab on top. The horn is designed to lay down on its side, so I added some feet to the front loaded cab, and laid it sideways on top. Drove it with a Sunn...

I bought one of these way back in the day, with the 2x15 folded horn cab and it was my rig for many many years. I specifically bought it because I was in a power trio and wanted the Pappalardi/Bruce overdrive sound with the massive growl underneath. Nothing else came close back then, short of a...

LOL! "Poorly refinished state" is Tim's very polite way of saying I'd butchered my baby 20 years ago and stuck it in a case after a few years and never looked at it again. Single ply piece of plastic, painted black, with a shape that looked like it came off some Gene Simmons bass reject as a...

I know I'm late to the party, but... I believe that if you get something like a Boss GEB7 bass EQ and play with it you can get a somewhat Ric-ish sound with almost any bass. Rics have a very scooped sound and very hot pickups so you'll find that cranking gain and doing the smiley-face EQ will...

@cableguy: I was very, very lucky! The head cost me next to nothing (buddy found it at a yard sale) and the cab was a clearance item. @stiles: Ah! I didn't bypass the crossover. With the horn switch set to the off position it sounded like it was running full range so I left it without...

BP: Speakers were daisy-chained. I know about the Ext jack.

Jimmy, I would have, but with both drivers blown (wonder what the previous owner did to it?) I figured a port would fatten it up a bit AND make it a little more like the original.

I've had a 64 B-15-N for a while but no Portaflex cab to go with. When I used the amp I played thru a GenzBenz ported 15. Lovely tubby sound, but aesthetically unsatisfactory. :) Recently Musician's Friend had a new Ampeg fliptop PF-115HE cab in their Clearance section for $150: blown...

I'm just a guy with an opinion -- just like everybody else who's checking in here. :) The fact that I've made my living for almost 40 years as a graphic artist might give me a tiny bit of cred tho... LOL! -bb

I'm not sure Larry. I generally think of art as being a product of talent and study. Picasso could paint stick figures and they were raved about, but only because he had created this entire body of work and people could see the "idea" behind the simplicity. If you had designed and built some...

LOL! Thanks Mike! Most of the folks I know my age don't look like they're ready for a night of hard rock-n-rollin'. I believe it's still an image-conscious bidness unless you have a reputation. I'd be nobody from nowhere in Lubbock so I'm just trying to say that, despite my age, I don't...