Sometimes...You Have To Break Out The Bass

 Sometimes...

Do you have something around the house that, if you were a logically thinking person, you'd get rid of it--and not only that, you'd have gotten rid of it years ago?

 Yeah, I've got a couple of those things around the house. They seem to accumulate the older I get. More years...more stuff. It's the way of things. There's one thing...a big wood and plastic and metal and electronic insides...that I don't think I'll ever get rid of. My Gibson RD Artist Bass.

It's beautiful.

Apparently, this opinion was not widely shared at the time this particular guitar was produced. It's a 1978 model and RD Artist line went from 1977 to 1979. Bass players did not appreciate the synthesizer/guitar Frankenstein-ian bass. However, as the years passed these guitars have become sought-after items. I could unload it at anytime, but I don't think I will.

The other day I opened the case and released the bass from its deep blue plush surroundings and played it a bit. It was fun. I was never really good, but it was fun to just play. Sometimes you have to break out the bass.

No, I'll most likely never be in another rock band, or take place in another recording session, or wrap the bass in plaid and lip sync Saturday Night from the Bay City Rollers at the Union Building on the University of Utah campus and come in 2nd in the Lip Sync contest--only coming in second because we tied with a group that actually rehearsed their act, but we tied because one judge gave us an 11 of 10 points and therefore, we came in 2nd. No, sadly, those days are most likely gone forever.

Then again, who knows...?

Me, A Guitar, Then And Now...

It's been, what...30 years? Maybe longer. Back when I was in high school and lived across the street with my mother and sister in a house my father partially built, me and a couple of friends were in a band. I played bass,  my friend Todd played the drums and Todd's little brother, Blair was a monster on the guitar (truth be told, Blair was the best musician on all the instruments--Todd and I were pretty green...).

We didn't play too many live performances, but we did have access to a recording studio, pretty much free of charge and could use it whenever we wanted. How many high school garage bands could say that?

I imagine, not many.

We had fun, practiced whenever someone wrote a new song, and recorded after school and on the weekends. As Todd, the master sound engineer, took already recorded tracks and mixed them down so we could add new tracks and mix them down again, I remember laying down on the carpeted floor of the studio, listening to the song over and over again and eating Nabisco Grasshopper and Oatmeal Cream cookies as we waited for another chance to record. Our little band created such classics as Cat Logs, and the ever-entertaining, Corn Dogs Have No Eyes. Yes, we were on our way.

But then, life happened. We grew up, moved away, got married, had kids and mortgages and insurance and expanded waistlines. My friend wanted me to bring my bass to this weekend's Comic Con so I unpacked the Gibson RD Artist Bass and basked in the glory of its awesomeness.

So much has changed in the past 30 years. I no longer live in the home with my mom and sister. We sold the house after my mom died. My sister lives with her daughter in another city. The golden locks of teenage hair I once had (and never really fully appreciated...) are long gone, gone for almost 30 years, and there's no way I could ever fit into the clothes I was wearing, even if they still existed.

As I tried to remember how to play a bass guitar, I attempted to recreate the photo that was taken of me over 30 years ago. It's kind of close--I am holding a guitar and smiling. Now I smile because of all the good times I had attempting to maintain a steady bass line back when life seemed so much simpler.

Gibson RD Artist Bass, Absolutely Beautiful!

The Gibson RD Artist Bass

Back in high school I began playing the bass guitar. I actually traded my accordion for my first bass and I ended up trading that bassfor a classical guitar (which is in its case in the basement--another basement treasure...). My mom took me to Guitar City in Centerville where I found the RD Artist Bass.

Us older musicians along the Wasatch Front remember exactly where Guitar City was, off Parrish Lane and west of I-15. I loved that store--the guitars and drum sets they had inside that smallish shop were incredible. It was there I found this huge, solid Gibson bass and we bought it for $500.00.

In high school I played in a band (didn't we all?). My friends and band mates had access to a recording studio (I still have a difficult time realizing just how lucky we were...) and we recorded several songs. My bass-paying career never panned out, but I had good times, and I kept the guitar. I know the bass player for the band A flock of Seagulls played the RD, as did a few others. It's an unusually-shaped guitar and there are many aspects that make this guitar especially cool, like the mother-of-pearl inlay designs.

I know many people think the most beautiful musical instrument in the world is a Steinway grand piano, a piano so black you can see your reflection from any angle. But for me, I'll take a nice Gibson, or Fender guitar any day... After all, both could kill you if they were dropped on your head.