I live in beautiful mid-coast Maine, in the little shire of Rockland - Lobster Capital of the World. I am 32 at this writing, married, and live in a big old Victorian cottage. I am a marketing coordinator and webmaster by trade. And a bass player now as an avocation only.
I first remember listening specifically to the bass lines in songs on the radio as a little kid, tunes like; Joy to the World by Three Dog Night, and Papa was a Rolling Stone by the Staple Singers. I started playing trumpet at age 7, but I continued to hear the bass in every tune. I loved the lines from the themes to t.v. shows like Barney Miller and Sanford & Son. I started playing bass in 1981, when a group of my close friends and I all decided to start a band. We actually drew straws to see who got to pick which instrument they wanted to play. I went third, and after the first two guys picked lead & rhythm guitar respectively, I was left with bass, drums, or keyboard. My sister was an excellent pianist (so I didn't want to compete with her on that), and drummers always seemed to have WAY too much equipment to lug around, so bass it was!
My major bass playing influences are John Deacon, John Entwistle, John Paul Jones, Jack Bruce, Chris Squire, Jaco Pastorius, Flim Johnson, Will Lee, James Jamerson, Carol Kaye, Duck Dunn, Louis Johnson, Lee Sklar, and my all time hero Rocco Prestia. I have many other musical influences, horn players, drummers, kazoo artists, Zamphir, etc.—but those are the bassists that have really helped shape my style. My favorite drummers have always been hard hitting, funky percussionists like Phil Gould, Steve Jones, Elvin Jones, Mitch Mitchell, Stuart Copeland, and one of my all time faves Tony Thompson from Chic and Power Station. The man absolutely slams!
My first bass was a no-name P-bass copy that had only three strings. From there, I moved up to a Hondo II P-bass copy, which I modified with a new Warmoth neck (Tele headstock, J-bass dimensions with rosewood fingerboard), and Duncan Quarterpound pickups. This served me quite well for a while. After a couple of years, I wanted a more quality instrument and purchased a used Guild B-301 from a friend. I kept this bass for almost ten years, although after hearing Jaco I de-fretted it myself and stripped it to natural finish. This was my only fretless. I then went through a number of basses looking for the right feel including:
Steinberger XL-2A (white with active e.q.)
Various P-basses including a '63 that I NEVER should have gotten rid of
Peavey Dynabass (lasted all of 3 months with that one)
Gibson Thunderbird IV
Veillette-Citron custom 8 string (yet another keeper that I shouldn't have sold)
Yamaha BB1100
None of these basses really spoke to me though, and I remember distinctly hearing and seeing John Deacon (an early influence) playing "Stone Cold Crazy" on his funky looking and awesome sounding four string. After doing a little research, I found out that it was a Music Man StingRay. I sort of spaced this over the years, until the singer in a band I was playing in came to practice with a huge smile on his face, and a bass case in his hand.
"What do you have there?!" I asked.
He said nothing, but opened the case to reveal a beautiful vintage StingRay, cream colored with a white pickguard and a maple fretboard. I just about fell out! After plugging it into the GK 400RB that I had at the time and playing it for a minute or so, I was hooked! Why had I not played one until now!?!? He then crushed me by telling me he picked it up at a local pawn shop for $250.00! He wouldn't sell it to me either, although I offered him twice what he paid for it.
After a year or so of looking, I found a 1980 StingRay that I purchased. It was white, with a white pickguard and a rosewood board. I loved it, but I have always been partial to maple boards, so I continued to search for an original natural ash model with maple. In 1993, I located one at a major music store in Florida. Exactly the model that I wanted, natural, maple, 2-band e.q., everything. I sold the white '80 (stupid), and sent off the $650.00 for this natural model, sight unseen. Big mistake. I was shocked when it arrived to find it in deplorable condition. The neck was badly warped and the truss rod nut was stripped so that adjustment was impossible. The hardware was corroded and rusty, and the pickup sounded like half of the windings were missing. I immediately called the store up and vehemently complained that it was totally unacceptable for me. I was playing out 4 or 5 nights a week at the time, and teaching lessons as well. This was a big time no good situation that they had put me in, and I demanded my money back. The manager placated me by offering me a brand new Ernie Ball StingRay for only $100.00 more than I had paid for the other one. It was a transparent sunburst model, with maple board, and 3-band e.q. I packaged the old bass back up and sent it off with my check. About a week later the new bass arrived and it was wonderful ... love at first pluck.
I played this bass for four years, until in a period of life questioning, I decided to stop playing music entirely, and sold all of my equipment. The StingRay, the 8 string, the fretless, and the SWR Redhead, everything went. A word of advice: NEVER DO THIS!!! After 18 months of agony, I realized that music was the main thing in my life that brought me joy and satisfaction. So I began the process of locating replacement equipment.
I traded a friend some computer stuff for a Peavey Megabass head and a 1516 cabinet. I had owned the same rig earlier in my career, and I knew that it was bulletproof gear that sounded acceptable, had adequate volume, and would allow me to play any venue imaginable. O.K., got the amp out of the way, now about the bass.
I was in a local music store trying out various basses when a guy happened to come in looking to trade a bass toward an acoustic-electric 6 string. The salesman opened the old case and was looking at a 1978 StingRay, natural with maple, in fantastic condition, with an original Music Man strap, and even the original brochure! He told its owner that he knew nothing about Music Man's, but there was a guy out back trying basses that was into them. So I get tapped on the shoulder, and there is my friend Harvey, holding my dream bass in his hands with a Cheshire Cat grin on his face. I took it from him, plugged it in, and practically wept! It was exactly what I had always want
ed, and now here it was in my hands.After talking with guy who brought it in for a little while, I asked him if he was selling it. "Yeah, " he said "I am not playing bass anymore. I bought it new in New York City in 1978, and I've enjoyed it ever since, but I really want to get into guitar, so I brought it down here looking to trade." I then asked him how much he was looking to get for it, expecting a pretty high number. When he said $400.00, my wallet flew out and that was it, I became only the second owner of this sweet instrument I call Blondie. A fresh set of Rotosound's and some spit and polish and it looks and sounds better than new. I would like to take a moment to thank the bass gods for smiling on me. There is no way that that all happened by coincidence, and I know that for certain! I would love to pick up a fretless StingRay in the near future, but for the time being, I have to be content to dream about the 20th Anniversary model that I saw on Bass Central's website. Pretty delicious looking, wouldn't you agree?
So now I am getting my chops back, practicing my scales, and thoroughly loving the hell out of every minute of it all. I am not in a band at the moment, but I have jammed with some old bandmates and it has been a blast. I might try to put something casual together, because I am working full time, going to college three nights a week, and would like to remain married. No long practices and pick-up gigs during the week for this old cowboy any more. I am officially out to pasture, at least for the time being ...
Groove on my fellow bass players!
p.t.