Recent content by Kawai2g4b

From a gear standpoint, I got a Reverend Triad 5 in army green this week. Wasn’t sure how the neck would feel given my past iffy experience with their 4 string basses, but the 5 has a nice profile. And the pickups are very hot to the point where it almost sounds like playing a T-Bird in some...

I managed to catch Mastodon twice: once in 2012-ish with Opeth and Ghost, and more recently with Gojira. They were great both times but this last time they were very locked in.

I had one of those as well, though mine had previously undergone an EMG upgrade. Normally I wouldn’t be a fan of that but the pickups matched the tone of that bass so well, given its small size and naturally more punchy EQ response. Truth be told, though I gravitated away from smaller basses...

Unfortunately I’m not familiar with the music stores in spite of my connections to that area. However, you owe it to yourself to tour the Stax Records museum if you have an hour and a half to kill.

The Kawai FIIB is a great bass. Just be mindful that the strap button placement demands a bit of a reach for the lower frets and that you will have to use your amp to dial down some treble. Once you get around to that, they are amazing. And by all means you need to try a an Aria Super Bass.

For bass overdrive, I made a habit out of using a ln EHX Hot Wax dual OD. Those hold low end together surprisingly well and stacking the modes can get you into some aggressive territory.

I’d be curious to hear what it sounds like with an older bass cab with higher efficiency speakers. Might be able to coax some more volume out of those versus modern neo bass speakers.

Just caught The Sword and Red Fang out in Austin yesterday. The Sword killed their set but I haven’t seen Red Fang sound this good and tight live before. Also props to the opener, Spoon Benders, for putting a nice set together. Gear-wise, Bryan Giles was running through one of the new Sunn...

By all means you should see their current lineup live. I have seen them multiple times over the years but they have gotten better every time. They have Coady Willis back as second drummer as well.

So, I got a used Fender Shields Blender recently because I needed to put an analog octave fuzz back on my board for guitar. Of course, I can’t help myself and ran my Jazz Bass through it and 🤯. It has a lot of low end, a blend function, and octave up and sub-octave modes that can run...

I finally heard their new album, Fantasia, and it’s been on repeat listen for a few days now. They need to make it to the Southern half of the US soon.

To start, the MXR phase 100 or phase 45 for bass. For advanced, find a used Blackout Effectors Whetstone. For different, but startlingly effective: a Peavey Musician Mark III head (with the built-in phaser). You can blend the channels, one of which has the phaser (keep this one treble and mid...

I will say this now like I will say for any L-2000 player that’s new to the instrument: the volume knob set to around “7” gives an output akin to a P-bass and can really set it up for playing thicker, more P-bass-y tones. It also helps tame some of the highs that these basses explode with. That...

I actually had the neck-thru guitar version of the Lotus wing series copies (L650). Weirdly I lost it in a move as I was refinishing it and it never turned back up again. Absolutely killer guitar though

Now why they would do the Scavenger again is beyond me. They all neck dive unlike any other bass I have played. Now the Wing Series guitars are a whole different story. The semi-hollow looks nice in a refined 60s Italian semi-hollow way.