Recent content by RubyTuba

Those are amazing basses! The Aria CSB450 (single pickup, passive electronics) is another underrated gem.

A 1965 Epiphone Newport. The poor thing survived my wannabe-Alembic phase, where I added a Bartolini pickup, wired in varitone switching and stereo outputs, etc., etc.. Now it's just the original pickup and the Bartolini, wired Volume-Volume-Tone like a Jazz bass. Still love it, but a friend...

With a bolt-neck instrument, you have two different pieces of wood, each with its own resonant frequency that affect the response of the vibrating string. A dead spot on the G string is caused by the resonant frequency of the neck absorbing the note. I believe it's the balance of the way the...

My personal favorite is Jack Casady's solo in "The Ballad Of You & Me & Poohneil" on the After Bathing At Baxter's album. Drummer Spencer Dryden shifts into 7/4 time and Jack soars into this lyrical, painterly solo. It's what made me want to play bass!

Gorgeous bass! I really like the way they did position markers - you're going to have a lot of fun with this instrument!

Silvertone 1463. I Played many, many high-school gigs through it. Even accompanied the school Madrigal choir, along with drums, electric guitar, and unmiked acoustic piano! For those gigs, and the volume we were playing back then, it was wonderful!

After watching Emily Elbert demonstrate it in the video on the Guild site, with flats and without, I'm tempted to dump all my other basses and just have one Starfire I. In the demo, she NAILS both the sounds I use 90% of the time. (I'd keep my fretless, but I could play all my other gigs with...

Ron Carter's "Piccolo" album . . . just staggering!

The right combination of woods and densities can make magic. I had a similar experience. Didn't really play P-basses, didn't like maple necks or black finishes, and I was tuning up some new basses at a music store I worked at. Tuned up the black P with the yucky maple neck, and . . . WHAT IS...

My '67 Epiphone Rivoli. I like to be under the kick, like Willie Dixon or Bill Wyman. I own and have owned many long scale instruments, but if I had to strip it down to one this one is it.

I stand wherever I can get a good look at the beater on the kick. That's usually on the drummer's right. Especially on pickup gigs, the quickest way for me to sync up is to play with the kick.

Emotionally: My '65 Epiphone Newport, the first non-department-store instrument I ever owned. What a neck! What a sound! Currently: My Fender Tony Franklin fretless. What a neck! What a sound!

It's where my ear lives, it seems. When I was little, Mom used to play everything from classical music to Bossa Nova at home. I was always drawn to the cello and bass parts in classical settings, and in Boss Nova the bass really propels the music. It was Jack Casady who made me want to PLAY...

I agree. Overall I've noticed that from a utilitarian standpoint, a straight-line increase in build quality is accompanied by a logarithmic increase in price. From basses to stereo gear to automobiles to whatever - something that's 10% nicer or cooler than what you have is likely to cost...

I got a great deal on a Tony Franklin fretless bass. I’ve owned a few fretless basses over the years, but this one checks all the boxes for me. I feel ignorant that I don’t think I’ve ever heard a recording of Tony Franklin playing, but I owe him a debt of gratitude for designing this...