Guitars page II: More guitars and other loud making things!
Sure. It may be from another life, but it is also
another guitar. A guitar that I have recently made
fun of or at least disrespected by preferring to
play a less playable but cooler looking bass,
instead of this ol' standby. This is a Mexican
Fender Jazz bass with vintage noiseless pickups
and a tortoiseshell pick guard. It really is a fine
instrument and NEVER let me down. It may not
bounce like a Gibson, but why would it have to?
  This pic is from some where in Manhattan. The
band was "The Clams" and we were very psyched
to be doing what we were doing, a where we
were doing it. This was early enough in the "Arc
of the Band" that I would flop on the ground
during any energetic song and play on my back.
  Webster's Musician's Dictionary defines the
following:
"A Clam" : Bad note
"Arc of the Band":  The life cycle of a group,
beginning with a) Optimism and hard work. b)
Satisfaction and comradery. c) Steady gigging
with a calm focus. d) The realization that this may
never get you laid and what is up with the other
bone heads in the band. e) Fuck this waste of
time and I hope I never have to see you self
centered alcoholics again and finally f) Gee, look
how cute the gal who or how talented the guy
who replaced me is. Fuck her (or him), I wrote
that bit.
The Ampeg B-15 Rocker Amp.
Classic bass amp that is almost
visible in the above picture,
behind my substantial nose. This
still has an Underdog patch glued
to it as well as a 2004 set list taped
to the top. Never cleaned, this amp
has the DNA of 100 beers and
martinis on it's retro vinyl skin. I
forget how many watts, but it was
enough to be constantly told to
"turn down!" by other bandies.
This amp is still used when the
Melon Farmers play longer than 2
hours in a bar and is a staple in the
practice space.
   Note the chrome wheels
borrowed from a 'long board' skate
board. Yes, they shouldn't be bent
outward like that...
The practice space is illustrated
below. In pic #1 we see the drum
set that Steve made me buy in
order for him to consider lending
his talents to the band. This way he
could waltz in and out with only
Sun Chips and beer with out
carrying any electronic drums
around. Pretty smart.
  Steve is a whiz at the drums, too.
Next to the drums is
Mark's mini wall of
sound among a sea
of pedals. Somehow
he has pedals that
turn his sound up
with out him
actually going to
the amp to do so in
an obvious manner,
hence alerting the
rest of us that an
increase in volume
is underway. By the
5th song at
practice, Wanda has
her ear plugs in and
by the last few
songs I begin to
realize that my tee
shirt collar has
cooling blood
soaked into it with
thick trails running
up to my ear holes.
Mark's text
coming soon...
This here is the loud box that I
have always wanted. If you look at
the very first knob, you may notice
that it is at #5. This is a
murderously loud setting outside
and it is suicidal in our practice
space. Please note, however that
this was a purely defensive setting
and approximately 1/2 the volume
of Mark's wall of death.
  Get used to saying such things
as "er... huh? and Say again? What
, what?" and walking around in
muted splender as the busy word
bothers everyone but you. Say
good bye to the irksome "ghetto
wagons" and their 'foom, foom,
foom' as well as fire truck sirens,
TV, radio and bar owners yelling
"turn it down"...
  Marshall 1/2 stack with 100 watt
head.
More Mark Moore a coming soon...
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