Johnny's Bass Amplification Chain

During most of my Falafel time, I did not own a bass amp.  My amplification was typically provided for as part of the "backline."  I used whatever was available.  Not the best situation for a consistent sound.  As time went on, I borrowed a GK amp owned by Ricky Methylene Blue's bassist, Chris "Hand of Doom" Smith.  It was a powerful little combo, but to really project through the cacophony, it needed to drive a separate cabinet which neither Chris nor I had.  So I usually plugged into the board through a DI or used whatever backline amp was there.  Sometimes even borrowed the amp of the band appearing before us, depending on the gig.

For my present solo album, I've been using the magic combination of a Rolls tube mic pre and a dbx 160A compressor before hitting tape...er.. disk.  Then I will sometimes re-amp the recorded signal and blend that with the original.  Every once in a blue moon, I will throw in an original Sans Amp stomp pedal.  I think I used that on "My Brother Died on The Chessboard," but not entirely sure.

Anyway, the Rolls/dbx combo works great for studio work, but when that Falafel reunion tour starts, I'm going to have to get a bass amp.  I may get one sooner though.

No, the Panasonic 3700 DAT recorder is not part of the bass recording chain.
Just an innocent by-stander collecting dust and cigarette ash.

Vintage Flashback: Gig at Coney Island High

Heavy Duty who was responsible for Falafel's promos for most of the band's existence, never placed the year of the gig on any of it.  I believe that this was from 1995.  June 30th that year was a Friday.  This was one of Falafel's last gigs before Duty bottomed out and ended up driving a bus in Prague.  Or so they say...

Somewhat New Bass Squeeze

Summer of 2011, I picked up an Ibanez SR500 bass from this dude in the far reaches of Queens.  Simply an inspiring instrument.  First introduced in 1987, this bass has been a favorite among metal bassists.  I first became aware of this bass in or about 1990 at a gig somewhere Downtown -- maybe The Pyramid.  There was this dude in a Primus-like power trio playing one.  I was impressed by the dude's playing as well as his sound.  While one's "sound" or "feel" comes foremost from the player, the instrument is the physical conduit for the player's musical ideas and is the sound in space-time...er...reality.

Anyway, fast-forward to 2011.  I discovered this dude in Queens advertising the sale of the SR500 at a nice price.  Called him up and made the purchase.

Here's a picture.....

Torch's Ibanez  SR500

Besides having a killer & versatile sound, it's one handsome bass 

I still have my Carvin fretless bass, which has a wonderful vibe, sound and feel as well.  However, being fretless, it is harder to bash out that oily growl necessary for thrash-hardcore.  Frets somehow allow aggression to the max.  Additionally, the SR500 has active pickups with 3-band +/- EQ.  I do not know the frequency of the bands, but I'd like to do some research and find out.  If not, I could do some spectrum tests, but I'm lazy and have so little time with a bunch of more important tasks to attend to.

Bass wise, I feel complete with my present instruments.  I may decide to explore 6 string basses at the appropriate when I start doing prog rock again, but until at least the completion of the present album, I am very satisfied with my present instruments.  Rather ironic because I never had a bass while I was active in Falafel that I was particularly married to.  I had everything from a Sam Ash Dean bass that I bought new for $200 in 1988, to a vintage Rickenbacker which I occasionally borrowed from my old roommate at the time.

I'll get into my amplification chain another time.

Torch and Heavy Duty making some noise at The Ritz with GWAR on some July 4th Show.
Note that I'm sporting my roommate's Rick.  I liked its feel and neck, but the sound for me lacked low end balls and grind.  Punchy mids and highs, yes.  I know a lot of Heavy players favor them like Lemmy and Geddy, I prefer the Ibanez.

Ambrosia: My "First Child" according to some.

Photo taken just before getting ready to take her 

to the tech for a setup and minor tweaking.

Life Gets In The Way

It's hard trying to get music done much less "blog."  However, got a nice update.  Just finished mixing yet another track for the upcoming JHT solo album, present working title, San-Ship.  Yes, most of you are thinking, "Huh?  Oh well, same old Johnny."

Anyway, the latest track recorded is called "Memories in My Pocket" -- dark, angry, sarcastic and fast.  As with the last few tunes I've recorded, I've been using an Ibanez SR500 -- an amazing bass.  Will be posting pictures of this and other instruments used on the album before the end of the month.

Guitars have been exclusively "Ambrosia," my 1975 Gibson Les Paul Custom and my '92 Fender Strat.  Couple of songs have been exclusively the Strat or the Paul, but usually some mixture of the two.

Later...