I know I keep going on and on about how beautiful this bass is…it really is!!!

Lonnie has finished the set up and it now touching up the edges. This bass has a slight milky white factory overspray around the edges. This bass by no means needed this detail but it is factory original.

We also tested the volume on this bass with Thomastik mittels…OMG…this bass is off the chart. It pushes almost 90 decibels. My loudest bass pushes 84-86 on its best day.

I won’t full appreciate this bass until we jam this weekend. Can’t wait.

Big Daddy gets some bling...

So…we were looking for an easy Epiphone bass to get up and running…well a sure way to peak Lonnie’s artistic creativity is to give him no deadline and no expectations. He has been down in the workshop for hours and he has been so very quiet. I even went down to check on him a time or two just to make sure he was okay. Yep, he was just fine but deep into a new bridge design. His passion for light, loud and bone original is taking over on this bridge design. He had laid out in his mind a way to lighten the bridge but keep the strength. He has hand carved a design on the BOTTOM side of the bridge that is quite nice looking. His thinking is when you are playing the bass and looking down at the bridge you should not see his modifications.






We discussed this the other night while driving to a jam. Lonnie has always had a “thing” for a vintage car that looked stock original but had the horses under the hood. He calls them “grocery getters”…the little old car Gramma’s drive to church on Sunday with the dog dish hub caps. But the car can lay rubber and out run the neighbor’s hot rod…you know that kind of car! It is the same way with basses. He likes to see vintage original with a little something special in the set up. The kind of bass that makes you stop, look and listen.

We shall see what this new bridge design does for Big Daddy. He is a beauty of a bass and a little bling-bling on his bridge will be just fine and dandy with me.

Big Daddy's return...

Well…after such a long and involved restoration with the previous Epiphone we were looking for an easy Epiphone to get up and running. After looking around at our fleet of choices Lonnie and I selected Big Daddy a 1941, B-5 #548 as the next bass to get a little Bass Monkey TLC.



Big Daddy as named by his previous owner, came to us from the west. The owner had this bass in his care for many years after his step-father passed away. This bass has to be one of THE most clean and pristine pre-war Epiphone’s I have laid my eyes upon. I think this bass represents the absolute height of Epiphone pre-war opulence. This bass has it all. The tuners are 24kt plated gold, the flamed wood is the finest there is and the milky white overspray was an extra detail for the finest of basses.

This bass is in excellent condition and requires only a new set up. We are leaving the original end pin and tail wire intact. It will be a crown jewel in my Epiphone bass collection.

I have selected a new bridge and a full set of Thomastik Spirocore mittels for the bass…the bass is solid and in good health. It should not take to much TLC to get this one thumping.

I hope my expectations are quickly met.

And she's home...

The bass has arrived after her long journey home.

Here is what her owner had to say...

Thank you Wendy and thank you and Lonnie so much for this awesome instrument. I'm amazed to have found you and discovered you and Lonnie's passion for fixing up these old basses. I feel like I made a couple of new friends in life - I'll keep you updated on any gigs when I take her out!

I don't know if I ever told you that I was Counting Crows' bassist and co-founding member - I don't know if you know much about them, (we weren't U2 or anything) but we did pretty good in the mid 90's. I wish I had this bass during my Counting Crows years - we would have sounded better with her!

Anyways great to know you Wendy and also please give Lonnie my best - he's a true artist and I'm now a fan of his work.
All the best and let's please stay in touch - Matt

Doesn't get much better then that.

THE END :-)

The long journey home!

Lost all my money but a two dollar bill, a two dollar bill...

I'm on my long journey home!

The bass is all packed and ready for its long journey home to California. It won’t be too much longer until this big beauty is back home and making sweet music again…WHEW…what a ride.

Safe travels and make us proud.

The final chapter...

California...Here I Come!

Right back where I started from where bowers of flowers bloom in the spring each morning at dawning birdies sing at everything a sunkissed miss said, "Don't be late!" that's why I can hardly wait open up that golden gate California, Here I Come...

Here is the final slide show. The pictures can do all the talking.

http://s318.photobucket.com/albums/mm428/bassmonkey2/Matt%20Malley%20-%201948%20Epiphone%20B-4/?albumview=slideshow

California here I come...

The Epiphone is almost completed. The final detail, as small as it may be, Lonnie is trying to find the small brass “tack nails” that hold the Epi badge in place. He has the badge glued in place with a small dot of an adhesive as insurance so it won’t be lost. Since the tailpiece is not original for this bass the three pin holes for the badge are missing. He has been searching for the small tacks and an even smaller drill bit to make the pilot holes. As they say the devil is in the details.

Yesterday we had a visitor to the workshop. We asked if he would indulge us and play this bass. Jim is a local music teacher and a professional jazz musician for 30 years. He made the bass sound great and pulled tone out of it that we never could.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nS8EqQcDD0k

It was very rewarding to hear this bass make sweet music after many years of silence. She will soon be packed up for her long journey west…California here I come!