Sean McConnell’s The Walk Around EP

Good day!

I finally had to give in and buy Sean McConnell’s EP The Walk Around because my friends Jack and Brian would not stop talking about it. I imagine them listening to it in the background as they sob at each other on the phone each night.

Sean McConnell is originally from Boston, but seems to tour endlessly around Texas. His music is sort of a countrified rock, and has a strong songwriting pedigree, having penned songs for Brad Paisley, Meatloaf and Tim McGraw, among others.

He has two full-length albums out as well as The Walk Around EP, and in my opinion, this EP is best of the lot. And it comes down to how well the songs are written – these are six gems squeezed into only 23 minutes.

”Hold On” kicks off the EP quietly, and then builds into a strong melody with intelligent lyrics: a killer combination.

The next two tracks: "Say, Say, Say" and “The Walk Around” are both slickly written as well, and have to be great additions to his live show.

My favorite track on the EP is "Reckless Love", which is not only well-written but also shows that Sean’s singing is no joke. There is pure passion in this song, my friends.

"Bob Dylan (They Say No)" is more progressive/indie than the other tracks on the EP, but it still fits in well with the package. This is the tune that has the best chance of making it onto radio, in my opinion.

The last song on the EP is "Our Love And Our Souls" which is very good and has enough emotion to make me wish there were a couple more songs in the mix.

The Walk Around EP is only $5.94 on iTunes (the price of a large drink at Starbucks), and I consider it an essential part of any music collection. Download it today, and keep an eye on his touring schedule, as I hear his live show is not to be missed.

Mahalo!

The Argument for a Cheap Microphone: the Audio Technica M8000

Howdy!

I do a little live sound work, and when choosing the best microphone for the job I would ordinarily go for a Shure SM-57 or SM-58. They sound good, don’t give a lot of feedback, and they hold up really well.

But, they cost about $100 each, and many times it is not worth the risk of putting them out there for the unwashed masses to grab.

Huh? You’ve seen it before. The drunk lady tries the Roger Daltrey microphone swing during karaoke, or the best man fumbles the mike while making announcements, or the mike stand gets kicked over as young bands are hustling while loading or unloading during a festival or party. And do you need high fidelity for any of these gigs? Most likely not.

I have been using Audio Technica M8000 for a lot of jobs over the past year, and they are good enough for any of those situations. I have been steadily using 5 of them with no failures and no complaints from anybody that has used them.

The M8000 is a dynamic microphone with a hypercardioid polar pattern and frequency response of 50Hz–14kHz. They are covered by a one-year warranty from Audio Technica, which I have not needed as of yet.

You might look at the list price of $259 or the street price of $80 and say, ”no thanks.” But, these are often bundled into packages that make them a lot more attractive.

For example, you can pick up a deal on these Audio Technica microphones during Musician’s Friend Microphone Month sale. The package includes six M8000 microphones, six decent boom mic stands and six cables for $229 (with free shipping).

I have not given up my Shure microphones, but these budget mics make a lot of sense for what I do most of the time. Check them out if you get a chance.

Mahalo!

Not the new logo...

Howdy!

Corey gave me the inspiration for another logo, but Mr. Hall's lawyers might call me on this one...

Mahalo!

New Rex and the Bass Logo

Hiya!

Well, it's not really a new logo, because I never had one before. I thought the blog header was looking a tired, do I 'shopped together the headstock logo you see here.

The line art came from a Fender technical manual, and I used a few different fonts to put the lettering in. The capital "R" is Brush Script, the "e" and "x" are actually the Fender font, and I used a generic sans serif font for "AND THE BASS".

Let me know what you think (besides that Fender will send me a letter telling me to remove it).

Mahalo!

Leo Quan BADASS Bridges

Sugoi!

I have owned scads of basses throughout the years that had Leo Quan BADASS replacement bridges on them, and I was think that maybe you folks would be interested in how they came to be and the differences between their different models.

In 1972 Glen Quan (Leo?) started constructing his own guitar bridges, as he wanted something more adjustable than the factory bridges that came on guitars of the day. Other musicians saw what he had done, and asked him to make bridges for their guitars too. He started die-casting more of these bridges and made his own market. Not much later he switched to milling them from a high-density zinc alloy, for considerably better precision.

One thing led to another, and by the end of the 1970s, every Fender bass on the planet had a BADASS bridge and a brass nut. Funny how all those collectible basses do not have them anymore…

Leo Quan sells guitar and bass bridges, but their bread and butter are the bass bridges. They have a few different models of bass bridges, and their website is a little vague, so here are few details about them:

Bass Bridge

This is their first BADASS, which attaches with 3 screws. It is not a direct replacement for anything, except for the Martin Basses that came equipped from the factory with these bridges. Geddy Lee put one on his Rickenbacker, which had to be an improvement over the mess of a bridge that 4001 basses come with. This is not the best bridge if you want to change out your Fender’s bridge.

Bass II Bridge

This is a direct replacement for 5-screw Fender bridges, and works on both Jazz and Precision basses with no modifications to the bass. Fender is using these bridges as an OEM parts for some of their basses, such as the Geddy Lee artist model.

Bass III Bridge

Heh. This one is not even shown on the Leo Quan website, which does not seem to have been updated since 2001. This is a direct for later model 3-screw Fender Bridges, and allows stringing thought the body. The Bass III bridges have grooved saddles, so no filing is needed.

Rumor has it that that Leo Quan is out of business, or pretty close to it. Many stores no longer have their Badass bridges in stock, and they seem to be going for stupidly prices on eBay. Smart money has it that their product line will soon be picked up by Fender, which makes sense as they use the bridges on some of their basses, and have an established parts distribution business and network.

Mahalo!

D’Addario ETB92 Nylon Tapewound Bass Strings

Como estas?

I’ve never been a fan of tapewound strings. It seemed like every bass that I have played with them sounded dull, and the strings never felt quite right because the gauges were different than normal roundwounds. But a friend of mine tried these D’Addario tapewounds, and really liked them, so I had to give them a shot.

The set that I tried is the D'Addario ETB92 Nylon Tapewound Bass Strings, which fit long-scale basses. I put these on a 1982 Fender JV Precision Bass that already played and sounded very good (with D’Addario roundwounds, BTW).

Upon stringing the bass up, I found out that D’Addario took care of one of my complaints. This flatwound set has normal string gauges: 0.050, 0.065, 0.085 and 0.105. For starters, this means that they fit well in my normal-sized nut (heh), and also that the tension and feel is closer to that of “normal” strings.

The outer layer is flattened black nylon, so they feel slicker than cat snot, and they look tough too. Playing the bass unplugged bass was a little surprising, as it was louder and more resonant than I was expecting. But I got a bigger surprise when I plugged it in. The strings are more dynamic than any other tapewounds I have played, and have a very round tone.

They are a winner and I am going to keep them on this bass. I am curious to see how they sound in a mix as well as how they age over time.

The list price for a set of D’Addario ETB92 Nylon Tapewound Bass Strings is $62.99, but you would be stupid to pay that much. Heck, D’Addario sells them on their own web site for $41.00. Your best bet would be to head over to Musician’s Friend or Guitar Center and pick up a set for $29.99.

Mahalo!

Martin Strap Button

Aloha!

This may seem like the lamest product I have ever reviewed, but stick with me on this one. I had not seen one of these Martin strap buttons before I took the Martin factory tour awhile back, and I wish I had found them earlier. I bought one at their gift shop and it is maybe the best 6 bucks I have ever spent.

Most of my acoustic guitar playing is done while standing, so a strap is a must. Unfortunately, many acoustic guitars only have one strap button, so one has to improvise. On my cheaper acoustics I usually drill a hole at the heel of the neck to install a second button, but I have never had the stones to do that to one of my Martins. So I go with the old standard shoelace behind the nut and hope and pray that it does not come untied or break.

Well, this made in the USA Martin accessory works perfectly, and looks a bit more professional than a shoelace too. It installs easily: just thread it behind the strings by the nut, and button the ends together. Then a strap can be attached to the other button, and you are good to go.

The leather is a bit stiff when these are new, making them a bit harder to put on. Of course this makes it a bit harder for it to accidentally come loose as well.

When installed, there is a decidedly horizontal strap angle, but I did not have too much trouble adjusting to it. I wonder a bit about whether it is good to leave the suede part of this strap in contact with the finish on my headstock for extended periods of time. I will need to check with my more knowledgeable friends about this.

As I said earlier, the Martin strap buttons are around $6 ($5.95), and they come in fashionable black, tan or brown. You can find them through any of the major online retailers such as Musician’s Friend or Sam Ash.

Mahalo!