2018 Updates!

Wow-- seems like my last post was just a couple of weeks ago, but it's been much longer than that.  The old saying, "Time flies when you're having fun..." has proved accurate-- especially when one is a home owner(!)

Catching up:

To start off the new year, I sold the 5-string G&L JB-- you know, the one with the teal metal flake finish.  As much as I tried I could not overcome the distraction of that low B string.  

Being a visual learner, I have catalogs of fretboard position "shapes" in my head, and adding the extra string kept tripping me up-- my finger memory kept going to the B thinking it was the E.  Beyond that, I very rarely needed one of the five extra notes that additional string provides.  The bass ended up being a 50th birthday gift for a local player, so everything worked out great!

Busted!
A short time after selling the JB5, my Plum Crazy G&L LB-100 ended up on the disabled list with a busted truss rod(!)  In all my years of playing I'd never had a trussrod break; have heard it happen to others, but never personally experienced it.  

While initially upset, I soon recalled that these instruments for which I tend to be sentimental, are in fact tools and tools occasionally fail.  With a short phone call, my dealer gave me with the customer service contact info, and in a very short time the kind folks at G&L got back with me to arrange for a repair.  

The total down-time was only about five weeks.  G&L's repair work and customer service was top notch!  Looking back on it, the experience has just amplified my appreciation for the company and its products.

Good News!
Sometimes instruments get sold/traded to make room for something new.  Part of the fun of getting a new bass is the search, or hunt if you will.  In this case, I had been keeping an eye out for a certain Fender Signature bass of a longtime favorite of mine; Steve Harris.  

A few years ago Fender released a new Steve Harris signature model, and if history is any indication, the model is likely to be unofficially removed from the catalog after three or four years.  Having come across a really good deal at the same, rare moment I had a little money in hand, I enjoyed a New Bass Day.  A full review is in the making...

What's to come:

As Ferris Bueller famously noted, "Life moves pretty fast.  If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."  In the months to come, I'll make more effort to catch some of those Bass-Adventure moments and record them here.  Here are a few of the things I currently have brewing:
     - New bass test drives
     - Notes on selling/trading basses in today's market
     - New Bass Day reviews
     - Musical notes from the stage
                                                 ... and more!

Stay tuned & in tune!