Fender Rumble 40 Combo Amp

The Fender Rumble 40 Combo Amp is a great addition to my bass kit. Shown with my Gibson SG Special Bass, the combination really provides a versatile lower end for any type of music. The newest models in Fender's Rumble series are much lighter than previous models with completely new designs from the ground up.

Ibanez Gio 6-String Bass

This Ibanez 6-string electric bass is the latest addition in my growing musical arsenal of deep-end stringed instruments. It's built like a tank and really opens up my possibilities as a bassist by adding more notes at both the high and low sides of the scale.

With a beautiful mahogany body, rosewood fretboard and maple neck, it's not really as heavy as it looks, but it does sound heavy - very heavy.

This affordable but quality-built Ibanez 6-string bass features a DXH-6 neck pickup and a DXH-6 bridge pickup, and Phat EQ active bass boost which adds additional low-end power, reportedly more that any other 6-string bass in its price range. It really gets down on the get low.

Paired with my Fender Rumble 40 combo amp, I've recently been shaking the foundations of my home with this 6-string monster. I've also noticed that playing it makes going back to my other two 4-string basses seem easier. 

But hey, this is a good thing and I'll take whatever I can get, right?

Buncombe Built Exhibit Opening

 Me, Billy Radd, and some of the quirky instruments I've Built on display

Laura Graziano, cellist, Steve Miller, instrument maker, and Derek Graziano, musician, luthier and lapidarist. 

Kitty Love welcoming attendees to the show

Last Friday evening, the Asheville Area Arts Council held an opening for their Bunbombe Built Exhibition of musical instruments built in our county. Held at the AAAC Gallery in Asheville's Grove Arcade, the three-hour event was hosted by Executive Director Kitty Love, and curated by Linda Go and Gar Ragland.

As far as I could tell, a good time was had by all. I certainly had fun talking to the public about why and how I make instruments out of film cans and cigar boxes.

The Babicz FCH Difference

Yesterday I replaced the stock bridge which came on my 2014 Gibson SG Special Bass, that I received from Anita Gayle last year for my birthday, with a beautiful Babicz FCH (Full Contact Hardware) eCam Saddle System. The resulting increase in the tone of my bass is dramatic with much more dynamic range. I liked my Gibson SG Bass before, but now? I love it!

The FCH saddle also allows hight adjustment of each individual string and the ability to fully lock down the bridge saddle so that string height and intonation adjustments remain secure even when changing strings, features not found with my original stock saddle.

Jeff Babicz designed his FCH to gain the maximum amount of direct string coupling to the body of the instrument providing over 50 times more contact service per saddle compared to the conventional stock saddle. In fact, the new 2015 version of the Gibson SG Special Bass and other models now come stock with a Babicz saddle just like my new one.

It literally took me only 10 minutes to change out the old bridge with the FCH and adjust and set the intonation of each string. And, tricked out with some RotoSound black nylon flat-wound strings, I suspect that my bass looks and sounds like no other (I might be wrong about that, but I'm sure there are not too many other bass guitars with this particular combination/setup at this moment).

So, all in all, this is the best upgrade I have made on any of my stringed instruments - bar none.

Back to Basics Video

Billy Radd - Back to Basics from Anita Gayle on Vimeo.

Musical Stuff I've Built

Please, click on the links below each pic for more info.

Original Kodakaster

My First Acoustic 3-string Canjo Build 

250 Watt GE TV Set Cabinet Combo Amp  

Left Handed Kodakaster 2 Acoustic Canjo

The Dymaxion Film Can Combo Amp/Speaker

shown with Kodakaster 1 piezo pup upgrade and Berringer preamp

 

Kodakaster 3 with Flatpup Humbucker UpGrade

 Kodakaster 4 Sapele Gold 3-String Canjo

 Utah Plates 4-String Tenor Electric Guitar

 Kodakaster Duo 4-string Electric Canjo

Kodak Film Can Snare Drum

Padron Cigar Box Kalimba with Platpup Humbuckers Upgrade

Paul Revere - One Special Man

1938 - 2014

In Memoriam - One Special Man

As a teenager and fan of Paul and his Raiders in the 60s, I was in an impromptu garage band that played for about a year at local parties for our friends in basements and garages, and outside at backyard bar-b-ques. We loved to cover The Raiders songs because the kids all loved to dance to them as much as we loved to play them.

In college, Where the Action Is was a popular TV show that most of the residence of my dormitory at Kent State U would watch every afternoon (after classes, of course) in the downstairs lounge. Paul's slapstick comedy routines were of special interest to all of us and laughter would often roll through the halls. I know that watching his fun way of looking at life, and his great, infectious music affected my life and the lives of my friends in many ways. I still have most of his early albums and play them occasionally when I want to lift my spirit.

Then, many years later in 1992, as a freelance film maker, I had a chance and work with Paul on a music video project through a meeting set up by a mutual friend of Ron Foos. I traveled to Reno with an assistant and worked closely with Paul, his wonderful wife Sydney, and Barbara Bogart on a video for Syd and Barb to promote their recording of Two Little Girls from Little Rock.

It was dreamlike for me for the first few days working with Paul at variuos locations in Reno in creating the video because I was in such awe of his wide-ranging creative talent and just plain blown away with the opportunity to work with one of my rock and roll heros. But, as many others have said about him, Paul seemed so easy to get to know and treated me like an old friend from the beginning of our relationship. During my 40+ year career making films I never had a more loving and generous "client".

About halfway through the project I confessed to Paul that I was a really big fan of his, had always enjoyed the Raiders music, and never missed one of their many TV appearances when I was in high school and college. A few minutes later he ceremoniously presented me with the above autographed VHS copy of a film about him and the band. Wow! Of course, I still have this tape, a great memento of us working together.

A few years later, I had the opportunity to go to a Raider's concert with my wife and youngest daughter in Spokane. I had called Paul's home a few days before and spoken to Sydney mentioning I was going to be at his concert. She generously gave me his cell phone number. During my cell call to him, while he was in route to our town, he suggested that he would love to see me and that I might want to wait in the autograph line after the performance so we could talk. We did wait and when it was our turn in line, Paul greeted me very warmly, spoke with us for a few minutes, made a special issue of introducing me, my wife and daughter to each of the Raiders, and gave me a big, big hug while telling me how glad he was to see me.

I'll especially never forget that moment. He was one special man and I'm sorry he's gone.