A little overdue bass maintenance

I’ve been playing a bit more bass lately. Much less frustrating for me than guitar. This is a wacky little 1968 SD Curlee short scale. My bass teacher had one of these and I found one on ebay a while ago. Its a neat little thing. Put on the first set of new strings in years. Cleaned up the maple neck and fingerboard with my favorite bees wax and turpentine mix. It works well and I just love the way it smells.
In fact, if the World Turpentine Council ever needs a spokesperson, I’m applying. I have my Billy Mays style infomercial all ready to go…
What if I told you that you that there was a product that could clean wood… and condition it… at the same time! I know what you’re thinking… Dave, there’s no way… But wait, there’s more… After a hard day of wood cleaning and conditioning, there’s no need to shower… this miracle product doubles as a unisex fragrance! Right from work to a night out on the town… there’s no telling what adventures are in store when you smell like this!
Unleash the power of Turpentine!

A bit much???

Upright bass and such

Quick phone pic to accompany my post. My bass and bows.
Gig went well last night. I keep meeting really cool people lately too. Band was me and my friends Paul on piano and Mark on drums. Joined by Tony a 70 year old sax player for the last hour. He used to play in the Navy band. One of my favorites to play with. He always calls interesting tunes. Thank heavens for the real book on iPad.
So I met a world class drummer last night. He’s friends with my piano player and they were talking while we set up. His name is John Riley and is one of the top jazz drummers in the business. Nice guy, he was on his way out, or he would have sat in. That’s ok, it would have made me really nervous as I certainly am not nearly close to the level of bassists he plays with.
It’s strange. I live in a small town in rural PA but we’ve had two incredible drummers move to the area in the past couple years. I met John last night and the other is Eric Harland. He lives next to my friend but I haven’t met him yet. Guess being a quiet, beautiful place within 2 hours of NYC is why.
Fun stuff.

Packed for a gig

All packed for a gig tonight. Playing upright bass in a jazz trio. Three hour set. I’m really rusty but it should be fun, hand cramps and all.
Playing out two Fridays in a row. I’d love to do that more often.

Music room updated and painted

This gallery contains 5 photos.

Before and after of my music room… I could call it a studio, but I really don’t have any recording gear.  Not sure what I was thinking with the red a few years ago, it was horrible.  Anyway, its much … Continue reading →

House and holiday stuff

Went to two parties last night.  One right across the street in a gorgeous house.  Talked local business with the hosts, the mayor and other folks.  Next party at my friends house.  Played upright bass with the other musicians there and drank German beer.  A little fuzzy this morning, such a lightweight  these days, snow shoveling helped.  Just got invited to a new years party by my local brewer friends, that should be fun.  Some people consider themselves social butterflies.  I’m starting to think of myself as a social moth.

Gotta knock some things out on the house so I can get moving on building my workshop in the basement.  Itching to make stuff…

First gig on electric bass in about 6 years???

Played a rock gig on electric bass last night. First time in about 6 years. Had a 30 minute set of 5 originals and one cover. Sang one tune, only my second time singing in public. Practiced 3 times in the last 2 weeks. I was worried how it would turn out after just learning the tunes at the first rehearsal.
It went fairly well. Can’t complain. It was fun. I bet we could kick ass with regular practice. Guess we should work on that.

Instrument hangers

Modular instrument hangers. Made this for my basses. Aluminum bar stock, stainless sheet metal hangers. Hangers move anywhere along the rail. Shown with my baby, 1984 Ken Smith.