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Surprise Christmas NBD! Reverend Wattplower

#42
A well-deserved
tenor.gif

for both the bass and the story. Merry Happy!
 
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#45
bassslinger greg,

much respect to you and your wife, you're most kind, truly.

I had to go to short scales around twenty years ago for gigs, especially on tour cuz my hands were getting too sore. I went w/my '63 eb-3 I got from http://guitarsafari.net/ in the 90s... 'course I had to modify it to fit what I wanted from it. the reverend guitars people saw me at a detroit-area gig and said they could make me a short scale bass I could sling for gigs that was even better so that started a multi-year process of trying out prototypes and slowly coming up (took about nine of them) to get the mark I version and then a couple to get the one you got now. my gig experience went into my ideas along w/joe naylor and ken hass at reverend guitars' can-do keep-at spirit, they never gave up on me. I'm most grateful for that.

someone asked about the pickups... the three blade pbass pickups are joe naylor ceramic designs ("pblade" I think they're called), two blades for each coil. the neck pickup is a "pitbull" alnico humbucker design from rio grande in houston. I first tried them in my "dan bass" - a '65 eb-0 a cat named dan gave me after a gig in san diego after I got my eb-3 stolen in montreal w/the rest of the stooges stuff in 2008. I think they were designed for steinberger replacements... they gave the wattplower some variety cuz the pblades are pretty forward aggressive and the pitbull is more rounded/pulled-back some so the idea was to add some more vocabulary, same w/the extra pblade - adding these two sounds w/out losing the sound of the original mark I - I didn't want cats who got the mark II to lose out on the mark I sound but to supplement it.

I record w/full scales cuz I'm always recording sitting down and neck length for me like that ain't an issue w/my hands. reverend guitars has plans for a mark III which means I'm working w/them on a full scale version of the wattplower.

thank you everyone for your kind words and big happy happy to you bassslinger greg for getting such righteous kindness from your wife.

we keep on keepin on...



on bass, watt



mike watt's hoot page



GregC said:
Flabbergasted! I've been a huge fan of Mike Watt since picking up the Minutemen's What Makes a Man Start Fires? album back in '83, and have lusted after the Mark II version of his bass since it came out. I tried to buy one from Chicago Music Exchange early this year, but someone beat me to it. Then a couple months ago, I saw one in the TB Classifieds, but because I'd bought another bass after the CME deal fell through, I felt I needed to sell one first.

My fantastic, ever-patient wife paid attention to all of my nattering on about this stuff, and took covert action. She created an account on TB, messaged the seller and explained the situation (pointing out that I had liked his FS post), and bought the bass! Huge thanks to @labeledbass for trusting my wife's good intentions, being an all-around excellent seller and helping her conceal the fact that this deal took place right after she asked me more about this model.

Two things I haven't mentioned yet (thanks for reading this far). One, the bass got delivered to our apartment building as I was leaving the lobby to meet my wife in the driveway--I went out one door, the box went in the other. My wife was watching and holding her breath.:D Two, she got a promotion and a substantial raise, and the first thing she did was go out and buy me a bass.:crying: It was sitting in a wrapped box in our place for 2 months, but I thought it just had to be something else--we get each other nice gifts, but nothing at this price level! Needless to say, I was blown away when I opened up the box. And the bass not only looks great, it sounds and plays even better. Yes, I'm extremely lucky! (Sorry guys, she doesn't have a sister.)
View attachment 4518338
Click to expand...
 
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#46
GregC said:
Flabbergasted! I've been a huge fan of Mike Watt since picking up the Minutemen's What Makes a Man Start Fires? album back in '83, and have lusted after the Mark II version of his bass since it came out. I tried to buy one from Chicago Music Exchange early this year, but someone beat me to it. Then a couple months ago, I saw one in the TB Classifieds, but because I'd bought another bass after the CME deal fell through, I felt I needed to sell one first.

My fantastic, ever-patient wife paid attention to all of my nattering on about this stuff, and took covert action. She created an account on TB, messaged the seller and explained the situation (pointing out that I had liked his FS post), and bought the bass! Huge thanks to @labeledbass for trusting my wife's good intentions, being an all-around excellent seller and helping her conceal the fact that this deal took place right after she asked me more about this model.

Two things I haven't mentioned yet (thanks for reading this far). One, the bass got delivered to our apartment building as I was leaving the lobby to meet my wife in the driveway--I went out one door, the box went in the other. My wife was watching and holding her breath.:D Two, she got a promotion and a substantial raise, and the first thing she did was go out and buy me a bass.:crying: It was sitting in a wrapped box in our place for 2 months, but I thought it just had to be something else--we get each other nice gifts, but nothing at this price level! Needless to say, I was blown away when I opened up the box. And the bass not only looks great, it sounds and plays even better. Yes, I'm extremely lucky! (Sorry guys, she doesn't have a sister.)
View attachment 4518338
Click to expand...
Great Story.
Great Bass.
Awesome wife!
Well, does she have a cousin?
 
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#52
GregC said:
Flabbergasted! I've been a huge fan of Mike Watt since picking up the Minutemen's What Makes a Man Start Fires? album back in '83, and have lusted after the Mark II version of his bass since it came out. I tried to buy one from Chicago Music Exchange early this year, but someone beat me to it. Then a couple months ago, I saw one in the TB Classifieds, but because I'd bought another bass after the CME deal fell through, I felt I needed to sell one first.

My fantastic, ever-patient wife paid attention to all of my nattering on about this stuff, and took covert action. She created an account on TB, messaged the seller and explained the situation (pointing out that I had liked his FS post), and bought the bass! Huge thanks to @labeledbass for trusting my wife's good intentions, being an all-around excellent seller and helping her conceal the fact that this deal took place right after she asked me more about this model.

Two things I haven't mentioned yet (thanks for reading this far). One, the bass got delivered to our apartment building as I was leaving the lobby to meet my wife in the driveway--I went out one door, the box went in the other. My wife was watching and holding her breath.:D Two, she got a promotion and a substantial raise, and the first thing she did was go out and buy me a bass.:crying: It was sitting in a wrapped box in our place for 2 months, but I thought it just had to be something else--we get each other nice gifts, but nothing at this price level! Needless to say, I was blown away when I opened up the box. And the bass not only looks great, it sounds and plays even better. Yes, I'm extremely lucky! (Sorry guys, she doesn't have a sister.)
View attachment 4518338
Click to expand...

Awesome bass, awesome back story, awesome Mike Watt! Congrats!
 
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#53
watt said:
bassslinger greg,

much respect to you and your wife, you're most kind, truly.

I had to go to short scales around twenty years ago for gigs, especially on tour cuz my hands were getting too sore. I went w/my '63 eb-3 I got from http://guitarsafari.net/ in the 90s... 'course I had to modify it to fit what I wanted from it. the reverend guitars people saw me at a detroit-area gig and said they could make me a short scale bass I could sling for gigs that was even better so that started a multi-year process of trying out prototypes and slowly coming up (took about nine of them) to get the mark I version and then a couple to get the one you got now. my gig experience went into my ideas along w/joe naylor and ken hass at reverend guitars' can-do keep-at spirit, they never gave up on me. I'm most grateful for that.

someone asked about the pickups... the three blade pbass pickups are joe naylor ceramic designs ("pblade" I think they're called), two blades for each coil. the neck pickup is a "pitbull" alnico humbucker design from rio grande in houston. I first tried them in my "dan bass" - a '65 eb-0 a cat named dan gave me after a gig in san diego after I got my eb-3 stolen in montreal w/the rest of the stooges stuff in 2008. I think they were designed for steinberger replacements... they gave the wattplower some variety cuz the pblades are pretty forward aggressive and the pitbull is more rounded/pulled-back some so the idea was to add some more vocabulary, same w/the extra pblade - adding these two sounds w/out losing the sound of the original mark I - I didn't want cats who got the mark II to lose out on the mark I sound but to supplement it.

I record w/full scales cuz I'm always recording sitting down and neck length for me like that ain't an issue w/my hands. reverend guitars has plans for a mark III which means I'm working w/them on a full scale version of the wattplower.

thank you everyone for your kind words and big happy happy to you bassslinger greg for getting such righteous kindness from your wife.

we keep on keepin on...



on bass, watt



mike watt's hoot page
Click to expand...

Don't mean to derail this great thread, but I just wanted to say thank you for the years of music you've given my brother and me, Mr. Watt. Ball-Hog or Tugboat? was basically my introduction to "outside of the mainstream", and I adore that album to this day. Keep on keepin' on, indeed!
 
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#55
GregC said:
Flabbergasted! I've been a huge fan of Mike Watt since picking up the Minutemen's What Makes a Man Start Fires? album back in '83, and have lusted after the Mark II version of his bass since it came out. I tried to buy one from Chicago Music Exchange early this year, but someone beat me to it. Then a couple months ago, I saw one in the TB Classifieds, but because I'd bought another bass after the CME deal fell through, I felt I needed to sell one first.

My fantastic, ever-patient wife paid attention to all of my nattering on about this stuff, and took covert action. She created an account on TB, messaged the seller and explained the situation (pointing out that I had liked his FS post), and bought the bass! Huge thanks to @labeledbass for trusting my wife's good intentions, being an all-around excellent seller and helping her conceal the fact that this deal took place right after she asked me more about this model.

Two things I haven't mentioned yet (thanks for reading this far). One, the bass got delivered to our apartment building as I was leaving the lobby to meet my wife in the driveway--I went out one door, the box went in the other. My wife was watching and holding her breath.:D Two, she got a promotion and a substantial raise, and the first thing she did was go out and buy me a bass.:crying: It was sitting in a wrapped box in our place for 2 months, but I thought it just had to be something else--we get each other nice gifts, but nothing at this price level! Needless to say, I was blown away when I opened up the box. And the bass not only looks great, it sounds and plays even better. Yes, I'm extremely lucky! (Sorry guys, she doesn't have a sister.)
View attachment 4518338
Click to expand...

One of my favorites.



IMG-2409.jpg


The gun pit at Angels Gate/Fort MacArthur in San Pedro CA, Feb 29, 2020. (The gun pit, the last place the Minutemen ever played all together in 1985.)

That's fantastic, man.
 
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#59
GregC said:
Flabbergasted! I've been a huge fan of Mike Watt since picking up the Minutemen's What Makes a Man Start Fires? album back in '83, and have lusted after the Mark II version of his bass since it came out. I tried to buy one from Chicago Music Exchange early this year, but someone beat me to it. Then a couple months ago, I saw one in the TB Classifieds, but because I'd bought another bass after the CME deal fell through, I felt I needed to sell one first.

My fantastic, ever-patient wife paid attention to all of my nattering on about this stuff, and took covert action. She created an account on TB, messaged the seller and explained the situation (pointing out that I had liked his FS post), and bought the bass! Huge thanks to @labeledbass for trusting my wife's good intentions, being an all-around excellent seller and helping her conceal the fact that this deal took place right after she asked me more about this model.

Two things I haven't mentioned yet (thanks for reading this far). One, the bass got delivered to our apartment building as I was leaving the lobby to meet my wife in the driveway--I went out one door, the box went in the other. My wife was watching and holding her breath.:D Two, she got a promotion and a substantial raise, and the first thing she did was go out and buy me a bass.:crying: It was sitting in a wrapped box in our place for 2 months, but I thought it just had to be something else--we get each other nice gifts, but nothing at this price level! Needless to say, I was blown away when I opened up the box. And the bass not only looks great, it sounds and plays even better. Yes, I'm extremely lucky! (Sorry guys, she doesn't have a sister.)
View attachment 4518338
Click to expand...

I love it!

mikewatt-live.jpg


:)

He answered for himself:
Surprise Christmas NBD! Reverend Wattplower
 
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