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Double Bass 2 PeeDub Buddies...

Paul Warburton

Paul Warburton

In Memoriam
Aug 17, 2003
9,424
663
84
Denver, Co.
#1
Our Donosaurus (Don Higdon) and Lou Pappas with two of my most favorite basses on the planet. Arnold Schnitzer's Walnut (Dono on the left) and Lou with the quilted big leaf maple.
Read all about them here......

http://www.aesbass.com/handmadebasses.htm

Small world....Dono is a great friend I met here at TBDB. Lou is an old friend who took a lesson from me or two in about 1976 in Denver. They both end up in the same Ridgewood Symphony Orchestra in the bass section playing my favorite luthier's basses.
I hear the conductor is just amazing.
http://www.ridgewoodsymphony.org/

In the end, all things considered, I really like TB.

EDIT: I almost got in Dono's face about not having a bib on the walnut, but it is there hangin' down on the front.. ;) The bib!!!, the bib!!!!!! :hyper:
 
#7
Thanks PW! Next to my bass, Don's bass is just about the most beautiful looking (and sounding, and playing) bass I've seen. The walnut, at least in Arnold's hands, is a deep. dark sounding instrument. I think mine has a little more "edge" in the sound. Don, we need to get a couple of players to play onstage so we can step back and see how they sound together! Also, you're correct about the new Ridgewood Symphony conductor, Arkady Leytush. I was very happy with his rehearsal techniques and how well the orchestra performed last week.
 
#8
I've played the Walnut bass and it is a absolute wonderful sounding and playing bass. Probably the oldest sounding new bass I've ever tried. I'm gonna have to come out and hear the RSO soon and check out you guys w/ the Schnitzers in action and see the Big leaf maple in the flesh.

Dono, you look great in that pic. I hope that means you're feeling well.

When's your next concert?

Bri
 
#12
Chris Fitzgerald said:
Pee, where you gonna eatcher turkey?
Click to expand...

eatcher turkey. Nice.

DURRL, doncha breathe a word. I'm goin' to a big dinner with my lady friend, who's a fine violinst BTW, who does some teaching at a Bluegrass center. She's a fine jazz player, but we gonna play with them. No, yer eyes are OK....I said play with them, them Bluegrassers. ME playing with THEM.
DURRL you gots to give me some advice....how do I do this?? :confused: What? 3 changes per tune? Keys?...E, B, G and D....right? Can I play a passing tone er two? b5's? Will they hurt me? Will they call my scroll a headstock? Will they call my fingerboard a fret board??????
Can I say Scotty, Red, Ray, DIZ and Miles?

Maybe I'll just make a scene............

I'm skeerd........:crying:
 
#14
Paul Warburton said:
we gonna play with them. No, yer eyes are OK....I said play with them, them Bluegrassers. ME playing with THEM.
DURRL you gots to give me some advice....how do I do this?? :confused: What? 3 changes per tune? Keys?...E, B, G and D....right? Can I play a passing tone er two? b5's? Will they hurt me? Will they call my scroll a headstock? Will they call my fingerboard a fret board??????
Can I say Scotty, Red, Ray, DIZ and Miles?

Maybe I'll just make a scene............

I'm skeerd........:crying:
Click to expand...

You should be. I get my *** kicked every time I play a Bluegrass gig. For one thing, the tunes and forms are quirky, and if you don't know them, it can be very tough; sometimes there are little "hitches" thrown into them where you're in 4/4 except for the occasional 2/4 bar that everybody hears but you. Then there's the time thing. You have to be on top of the beat. I mean *way* on top of the beat. It was once described to me as, "you're playing the same tune on the next gig while the rest of the band is still playing this one".

You're gonna get yer butt kicked. :D On the bright side, you'll develop a brand new appreciation for bluegrass and the musicians who play it. :)
 
#15
Chris Fitzgerald said:
You should be. I get my *** kicked every time I play a Bluegrass gig. For one thing, the tunes and forms are quirky, and if you don't know them, it can be very tough; sometimes there are little "hitches" thrown into them where you're in 4/4 except for the occasional 2/4 bar that everybody hears but you. Then there's the time thing. You have to be on top of the beat. I mean *way* on top of the beat. It was once described to me as, "you're playing the same tune on the next gig while the rest of the band is still playing this one".

You're gonna get yer butt kicked. :D On the bright side, you'll develop a brand new appreciation for bluegrass and the musicians who play it. :)
Click to expand...

Good advice, my money's on PW though. Here's my collection of "advice" I've gathered over the years:

1. There are only 3 keys unless you meet up with a demanding singer (redundant, I know): G - the banjo key and A & D for fiddle tunes.

2. Most of the traditional tunes are some combination of 1, 4, & 5. The newer stuff might have a 2 or 6 chord in there.

3. The crooked tunes (often a measure of 2 tacked onto the turnaround of the 4/4) Chris mentioned will bite you but until you know them they bite us all.

4. Forget all that fancy jazz s**t, it's all 1 - 5.

5. There ain't no money above the C on your G string. Forget about thumb position.

6. As Chris mentioned, time is everything. There ain't no drums in real bluegrass. (Actually, in a tradition bound group there are only 5 acceptable instruments: guitar, mandolin, banjo, bass, and dobro. The tradition Nazi's are even more specific, insisting on only certain models of each of the acceptable instruments. If you find yourself in one of these groups your 5-string Bohemian will get some odd looks.) The bass and mandolin serve as the kick and snare drum, respectively. Bass on 1 & 3 and mandolin on the backbeat.

7. Names to drop: BILL, Earl, Roy & Roy Jr., Lester, J.D., and maybe Ricky. A lot of bluegrassers I know are into Django too, so if you must drop a jazz name go with him.

Have fun, playing bluegrass is a blast, especially with good musicians.
 
#19
Oops, I forgot -- Rawhide is usually in C and if the mandolin player is any good goes at about 3000 bpm.

If you get a "break" (i.e. solo) just slap the sucker and don't drop the beat. A bass solo in bluegrass is a bit like a bear on a unicycle. It's not so much about how good it is but the fact that you can do it at all!

And a Happy US Thanksgiving to all. A belated Happy Thanksgiving to my friends in Canada.
 
#20
I'm firmly on the electric side of things all bass. But,DAMN!!!!! That's some of the most beeeeutiful wood that my eyes have been blessed with seeing.
I do have some limited skills on upright.But,I stay in enough trouble with my electric bass gear.
I can only imagine what I would have to spend,just to get started.

Oh,God.....Get me outta here!!
 

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