When I bought the Washburn in Glasgow, there was a very nice friend of mine called Paul that was also a bass player and worked as a seller man in Sound Control. We used to talk about pickups, strings, necks, trademarks, amps, etc., it always was a pleasure for both of us to spend some time interchanging ideas and impressions.
I came once to the shop and tol him I was looking for a very playable instrument to get deeply into fusion, which is most of all, my stuff. We went on playing this and that and the other bass, and back to the first one, and so on...
We were surrounded with a mess of basses all around, and it was fun!
You know, this special feeling you get with a fellow-same-instrument-player kind of thing. We were laughing, having some fun, jamming toguether and comparing instruments. By the way, this is the way all seller man should be in their shops. this is truly helpful when the moment to buy an instrument comes up. To feel totally confortable is a must when you buy an instrument, particularly for proffesional use and work.
I tried all the brands available in blocks, let say, first Ibanez, then Fender, then Yamaha, etc. there was a great variety of about 70 basses I think. Of course, i was a long time ago, so I don't remember every instant of it exactly, but I can certainly see in my head those particular instants that marked the experience more.
After playing all sort of basses at all sorts of prices, shapes and colors, my face would go kind of: "mmm-no", then, "mmm-no", again, and again, nothing seemed to be of my taste. After about two hours and a halve and being a bit ashamed of not liking anything, he brought me the last one I tried, the Wasburn Status 1000 Series. He didn't bring me this one at the first place because he assumed, wrongly, that this instrument was not for me. Well, wrong he was... I got it in my hands and it was instant reward... First of all, and this is a must for me, the instrument was like part of my own body, inmmediately matched my body shape or something like that, cannot tell, but it felt so well in my hands, perfect. I was amazed at the softness of the feeling, like butter melting into hot bread...
then came the second surprised, pluging it..., wow, the sound! It was amazing, so crispy and slappy. It was an amazing clear tone, with a wide range of EQ thanks to its active circuitry. All the other basses which were very many, where played of course, with the same amp and settings. It was an ampeg that I don't remember now the model. You have to alwasy try diffefernt insruments with the same settings, so you have a ferefence of how they sound when compared. Well, the GAIN of the Washburn was about 60% bigger, or louder than the other basses I tried. I had to inmmediately low the volume to try it confortably. I don't like to play loud in shops, I hate it, becuase people cannot hear anything or talk to anybody. Of course, "
gain" is a major concern when recording, as an instrument which is loud in itself, before the line, will give you always very low noise rates and more clear, pure sound, and also much more dinamics. If you rise the amp too much, nuances seems to be lost more and more. I was surprised at the quality of the sound, the build, and the playability. I don't necessarily like the looks of heedless basses, I have grown and learn to respect them, but to my eyes it is more beautiful a full body than a headless, it is more aesthetic I think.
Well, I got this piece of heaven and went home, and guess what..., I could not stop playing it for quite a few weeks before calming myself a little bit down. In fact, I realise that I have never got tired of its tone.
Then I recorded my first lines, as I got Pulsar almost at the same time, with a few days of difference, it was a crazy time having all toguether. Pulsar, in 1999 was something extraterrestrial... People would go like: "Do you own a Pulsar card? Oh man, that's so xomplex!", it was seen as the ultimate virtual recording studio.
I have an immense expectancy growing by the minute, about which will be my next instrument and which will be the sounds I will get out of it, and of course, what this sounds will make me feel, and so compose or interpret and improvise. I am so exited right now!
Where are you my low-frequency soul mate? what ports are you surfing right now? How many strings surround your beautiful, sonorous, princess-like body? When will my arms embrace you in the wedlock of love? Come to me sweet honey! Come to my arms! We are predestined to be together! I'll promise you, I will slap you like no one else in this world!
