Wow…where does time go? It has been almost two months and the workshop has been mostly silent. As festival season drawls to a close our time in the workshop will pick up. We have some pretty cool projects starting to line up for the winter. We can’t wait to get started.
To write the closing chapter on the Blonde, Epiphone B-4 bass, # 1854…it is completed and sounding sweet. This was a MUCH easier project then the 1950 AS bass. It only took Lonnie a few months in the workshop instead of a whole year…very nice. This Epi bass has gotten lots of compliments for its beautiful blonde finish…it is a looker for sure. It sounds pretty stout too. I am looking forward to putting some playing time on it with winter jamming. The bass has been silent for many years, so I think with some good playing time it will open up even more then it has just in the past month. It has a really sweet mid range and sounds a bit jazzier to my ear then bluegrass. The tone of the bass is more complex…not just thump…which is nice. It has Thomastik Spiro mittels which are a nice match for this bass. I feel it needs a new owner who is a better player then me to really bring out the potential on this big Blondie. I do not play arco but Lonnie has drug a bow over it…boy does it fill the room with volume. Because it needs played, we are offering this bass for sale and can be seen at our website in “The Showroom”. If we can match this bass up with a happy new owner would be fantastic. We have seven Epiphone basses…I think we can share one or two with another deserving bass player.
While we are on Epiphone’s…Lonnie is working on a little Epiphone arch top guitar that I thought I just had to have. I love my Martin guitar but wanted a pre-war Epiphone guitar for a few years…hopefully this one passed through Epi’s hands…maybe there is some mojo in it. Lonnie is giving it a good once over…surprise-surprise. It needs a neck reset, some touch up work, new bridge adjusters and strings. I want to have a custom soft case made for it as I plan to take it to jams and camping…it is a nice easy playing guitar…just what I needed.
I’ll keep the update coming as new bass projects get started in our workshop. Once the Epi guitar is in good playing condition we have to decide which bass gets the full Bass Monkey treatment…I think it might be the 1937 Kay O-100, # 785 that we have had for four years. We have never heard a note of music from this bass but it sure looks nice. A beautiful, dark red brown patina…both Lonnie and I have a sweet spot for dark, rich, brown basses. You can’t beat 73 years worth of patina and experience…a new bass can’t begin to scratch that vintage itch.
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