NAMM 2017: Remo Rhythm Lid Review

Aloha!

While walking through the terrifying drum hall at NAMM, I stopped in my tracks as soon as I saw the Remo Rhythm Lid Display. These products are not new for 2017, but I had never seen them before and I am blown away that nobody came up with this idea years ago.

Surely you have seen YouTube or Facebook videos of people using plastic buckets as drums, and often very well. Apparently it was only a matter of time until someone made affordable drum heads that fit easily onto the plastic buckets that everybody has kicking around their yard or garage That somebody would be Remo.

These 13 by 2–inch units are pre-tuned (no keys or hardware to lose) and fitted to Acousticon drumshells. They should fit most of 5, 6, and 7 gallon buckets like the ones you can buy at Home Depot or Lowes; they press on to the bucket with a slight downward pressure that “creates a ‘Press Fit’ seal that produces the quality tonal frequency.”Mmm hmm.

They Rhythm Lids do fit well, and when hit with sticks, mallets, or hands, they have a lovely warmth and resonance to them. There are four different heads available, as well as a snare attachment, so there are quite a few different sounds available. They might not be for everybody, but street drummers and parents that are looking for something to occupy their kids (for not a lot of cash) will find this to be a pretty cool option.

Best of all, the Remo Rhythm Lids are not very expensive. A quick check of a leading online retailer shows that these are selling for $36 to $63, with the snare models being at the top end of the price range. And, if you are unable to find your own bucket, you can buy the Rhythm Pal which comes with a Rhythm Lid AND a nifty black bucket. How could you go wrong?

NAMM 2017: Ultimate Ears UE Pro Sound Tap Review

Aloha!

There are a lot of advantages to using in-ear monitors, but some musicians never make the switchover because it is a completely new way of looking at monitoring, and some of the solutions they explore are complicated and expensive.

Ultimate Ears sells some of the best in-ear monitors in the industry, and it is in their best interest to make the transition to this technology as seamless as possible, so their extra cool solution to this situation is the UE Pro Sound Tap.

The Tap is a black aluminum box that is about the size of two effect pedals, and it weighs maybe around a pound (There are no specs on their website, and I did not bring a scale to the NAMM show, so this is going to be a little vague). The unit is powered by two 9-volt batteries (included!) that are supposed to last for around 30 to 40 hours of continuous use.

Set-up is dead simple, as this box uses whatever monitor signal is being sent to the stage. The Tap goes in-line between the mixer and a monitor, and it provides an in-ear monitor signal of the mix that is being sent to the nearest stage monitor. There are connectors for Speakon or Combination XLR/TRS, so pretty much any standard cable configuration will be usable. Also, the manufacturer says that this unit will accept line level or speaker level signals. That is about it: set-up is foolproof, and if you can plug in cables and your in-ear monitors (1.8-inch jack), you should be good to go.

The Tap does not affect the signal that is sent to the stage monitor, and the only controls are in-ear monitor adjustments for input level and volume. Frequency response covers 20 Hz – 20 kHz, so the listener should be able to hear anything that is coming through the mix. See? Easy!

The UE Pro Sound Tap does everything it is advertised to do, and is certainly one of the simplest ways to get an in-ear monitor signal to a musician on stage. Pricing seems reasonable, too, with an MSRP of $249, which includes the peace of mind of a one-year warranty. For this price you also get the aforementioned batteries, as well as a 6-foot XLR cable and a 6-foot ¼-inch TRS cable. If this has piqued your interest, head over to www.pro.ultimateears.com for details and ordering information.

Mahalo!

NAMM 2017: Clear Tune Monitors Vintage Series In-Ear Monitors Review

Aloha!

I am a big fan of in-ear monitors and was recently able to check out Clear Tune Monitors' new Vintage Series products, and they seem like a very good value.

Clear Tune Monitors (CTM) is based out of Orlando, Florida, and they have been in the business of selling custom-fit in-ear monitors for a while. But, the custom market is not for everybody as they are expensive, there is a certain amount of hassle involved in getting the molds made, and they take a awhile to be made.

The Vintage Series of monitors is a solid attempt by CTM to reach a few new demographics – musicians who are looking for universal fit monitors, and people who are looking for high-end earbuds. To meet these folks’ needs there are three different models in this series:

- VS2. These are 2 driver, 2-way monitors designed more for audiophiles. They have a fairly flat sound curve and a clear tone. Specs are 110dB @ 1mw input sensitivity, frequency response of 20 Hz to 15.5 kHz, and impedance of 20ohm @ 1 kHz. The list price of the VS2 monitors is $399.99.

- VS3. These are 3 driver, 3-way monitors that are designed more for on-stage musicians. They have a very sharp tone with incredible bass and mids – the kick drum really pops with these, making them my favorite of the bunch. Specs are 124dB @ 1mw input sensitivity, frequency response of 20 Hz to 16 kHz, and impedance of 20ohm @ 1 kHz. The list price of the VS3 monitors is $499.99.

- VS4. These are 4-driver, 3-way monitors that have a very warm sound with terrific mids. They sound great, and would be my choice for general music listening. Specs are 119dB @ 1mw input sensitivity, frequency response of 20 Hz to 16.5 kHz, and impedance of 28ohm @ 1 kHz. The list price of the VS4 is $599.99.

All of these monitor systems provide -26dB of noise isolation, and they All of have a 1-year warranty, with cables that are replaceable separately. They come in cool packaging, and include an assortment of different foam and silicone tips, a ¼-inch adapter, a tool to clean the ear goo out of them, and a nice zippered case.

It should also be mentioned that the Vintage Series monitors have cool chrome accents (sort of a 50s vibe), and come in four attractive colors: Darth Black (seriously), Intense Red, Dusty Blue, and Passion Pink. In my book, the pink is the coolest. Your mileage may vary…

As I said, the VS3 are my favorites, but you are not going to go wrong with any of these Clear Tune Monitors products. Of course, keep in min that the way we hear sounds is subjective, so it is always nice to try before you buy. I tried, and came impressed! For more details or to order, go to www.cleartunemonitors.com

Mahalo!

NAMM 2017: Manufacturer Spotlight - Kala Luthier Collection Ukuleles

Aloha!

I have played plenty of Kala ukuleles over the years and actually own a few of them. This is because they are one of the best values on the market as they use good materials and their overseas workmanship is top-notch. But, I have never seen them as a premium brand until their Luthier Collection caught my eye at the 2017 Winter NAMM show.

Well, it turns out that Kala has a custom shop in Petaluma, California that makes instruments for artists, and they produce a few models for the general public too! These are serious instruments that are built with quality woods by real craftsmen, and you will pay accordingly: the four models in this collection have MSRPs that range from $1599 to $2299 (case included!). Looking each of them over in person and giving them a few strums, I have to say that these are amazing instruments, and it would be hard to imagine how any of them could be made better. Here is a brief rundown of each:

- Poi Pounder. This is pretty a pretty cool name, as this tenor-sized uke is made out of Hawaiian Koa, which is the same material that is used to mash taro into the dubiously yummy poi paste. This is the most highly figured Koa I have ever seen, and it is simply breathtaking. The neck is Honduran Mahogany and the bridge and fretboard are Indian Rosewood. The binding and inlay are African Padauk, and the rosette has a trick Koa and Padauk swirl. Top quality components, including a GraphTech Nubone nut and Wittner planetary friction tuners, are standard. The list price on this model is $1599.

- Parquetry Tenor. This tenor-size ukulele would make any Celtics fan happy, as its design will remind them of the parquet floor at Boston Garden. You see, in an effort to not waste beautiful wood, the luthiers fit together discarded pieces of Hawaiian Koa into a lovely mosaic, and the effect is truly wicked when it is contrasted with the Maple binding and glossy finish. The neck is Honduran Mahogany while the bridge and fretboard are Ebony. Top quality components, including a GraphTech Nubone nut and Kala open gear tuners, are standard. The list price on this model is $1599.

- Three Cord Strand Koa and Three Cord Strand Maple. These two tenor ukuleles have similar specs, with one being constructed of Hawaiian Koa and the other of figured maple. They get their name as they are pieced the back is pieced together from a marquetry of Maple, Purpleheart and Koa, in deference to the Cord of Three Strands concept that you will find in Ecclesiastes 4:12 (“Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” NIV). Anyway, it symbolizes strength, and religion, and really pretty wood. The neck is Honduran Mahogany and the bridge and fretboard are Indian Rosewood. Top quality components, including a GraphTech Nubone nut and closed-gear gold-plated Kala tuners, are standard. The list price on either of these models is $2299.

As I said earlier, each of these is the ne plus ultra of ukuleles, and anyone who picks one of these up will surely be satisfied with their purchase. Of course these instruments are not available through just any dealer, and they may actually have to build one for you. So, head over to the Kala website at www.kalabrand.com to get the complete story.

Mahalo!

NAMM 2017: Taylor GS Mini Bass New Product Preview

At the 2017 Winter NAMM show I had the opportunity to check out the new GS Mini Bass from Taylor Guitars, and it is a neat piece of work! This was a surprising bit of news for me, because I had not heard that they were developing this product.

Taylor guitars are fantastic instruments, and they have untold numbers of devotees that will are huge fans of their products. Most Taylor guitars are built in their San Diego, California factory, but some of their lower-priced instruments are built just across the border in Tecate, Mexico. These include the 100 and 200 series instruments, as well as the Baby Taylor and the GS Mini models. So, this bass was built in Mexico.

One way to look at the GS Mini Bass is as a travel bass, and I think it will work well in this respect. It has a 23.5-inch scale (like the GS Mini guitars), so it is possible to make the instrument a lot shorter. Of course the bridge is placed more towards the center of the body when compared to an electric bass, but it is still a tidy package. Plus, it comes with a surprisingly sturdy padded soft case (Taylor calls it a “hard bag”).

Another way to look at the bass is as an instrument that would be comfortable for guitar players to transition to. I think it will work well for this too, thanks to its scale length and its very comfy Taylor-esque ergonomics. It is not such a stretch on those lower frets for those with smaller hands (bonus!). This would be a fine instrument for songwriting, studio work, or hacking around with friends.

So, let’s take a look at how this thing is put together!

The GS Mini Bass has a solid Sitka spruce top, mahogany top with . X braces to keep everything together while still allowing it to vibrate well. The back and sides are made with a sapele laminate, which ends up looking like mahogany to me. The body has a tasteful purfling, a simple rosette and a tortoise shell pickguard. The whole this has an even coating of matte-finish varnish.

The neck and heel are also made of sapele, and the fretboard is hewn from ebony, which is surprising on a guitar at this price point. The nut is also has the same 1 11/16 inches width as the GS guitar. There are 20 frets standard-sized Taylor frets, and you will find 14 of them free from the body. The headstock has a simple overlay with a screen printed logo, and sealed-back chrome tuners. They are unbranded, but seem to be good quality, and they hold tune well.

The craftsmanship is up to Taylor’s high standards, with an even finish and a truly terrific job with the fretwork. The Tusq nut and bridge are perfect, and the GS Mini Bass has a very comfortable action with the OEM strings. By the way these strings are a story all on their own, as they are custom light gauge strings that have a nylon core with a phosphor bronze wrap wire. Taylor says these strings were developed just for this bass, and no other strings should be used on it.

Unplugged, the sound is about what you would expect from a small-bodied acoustic bass. It sounds warm and pretty, and it is nicely balanced from string-to-string, but there is just not a ton of volume. Fortunately the GS Mini Bass comes with a good electronics package: the Taylor ES-B system. This is an under-saddle piezo transducer system, that uses an onboard preamp is powered by two CR 2032 batteries. Controls are basic, with volume and tone knobs, as well as a built-in tuner. It has a very clean and natural sound, and I really like the way it sounds when it is plugged in.

Pretty much, this bass does everything it is supposed to, and I think both guitar and bass players will find a lot to like about it, and not much of anything to gripe about.

The Taylor GS Mini Bass is supposed to go on sale in March, and it will have a list price of $918. That should put the street price around $700, and I think this will be a real winner for the company. When you see one, be sure to try it out as I think you will like it!

Mahalo!

Rex and the Bass 2016 Year in Review

Happy New Year’s Eve!

This wraps up my 7th year of blogging, and Rex and the Bass is still plodding along. I appreciate the support of my readers, and I read all of the comments that you post on this site. If nobody looked at these pages, I would lose motivation and move on to something else.

2016 is done and this page is on the verge of a few significant milestones: the blog has almost 1,000 posts, and Rex and the Bass is rapidly approaching 1,000,000 page views. Wow!

The side project of a blog has led to a few other side projects – writing gigs for Blues Blast Magazine and Chicago Blues Guide. Many thanks to their editors for having faith in me! It was a bit of a stretch this year as I was finishing up my master’s thesis, but somehow nothing went off the tracks.

As in previous years, here is a list of the top ten most read posts of all time for Rex and the Bass:

1. Apple A1121 iPod Hi-fi

2. Fender Jazz Bass Special Re-issue

3. Crystal Castles (2010) Album Review

4. Philip Kubicki Factor Basses

5. Little Dot Mark III Headphone Amplifier Review

6. Memory Lane: Pulp Fiction Soundtrack

7. Art and Lutherie Ami Cedar Parlour Acoustic Guitar

8. Gallien-Krueger 400RB Bass Amplifier Review

9. Fender Jazz Bass Special

10. Honda EU2000i Portable Generator Review

I have always said that I would stop writing this blog when it is no longer fun. Well, I am not there yet, so I look forward to another year of sharing with you!

Mahalo!

Blues Blast Magazine Album Review: Deb Ryder – Let it Rain

Hello!

This CD review was originally published in the May 7, 2015 edition of Blues Blast Magazine. Be sure to check out the rest of the magazine at www.bluesblastmagazine.com

Deb Ryder – Let it Rain | Album Review

Bejeb Music

www.debryder.com

11 tracks / 46:54

Sometimes an album comes along that just has everything going for it: solid songwriting, talented personnel that click with each other, and top-shelf production values. Deb Ryder’s sophomore solo album, Let it Rain, checks all of these boxes and then some. This disc proves that her excellent debut CD was no fluke, and that she definitely has a role in the future of blues music in the United States.

Deb Ryder is originally from Illinois, where she got an introduction to the Chicago music scene courtesy of her father, an in-demand musician and club owner. Her family moved to Los Angeles, where she often had the opportunity to sing at the Topanga Corral (owned by her step-father), opening for great artists such as Big Joe Turner, Charlie Musselwhite, and Taj Mahal, as well as her mentor, Etta James. Fast forward a few years, and you will find her still in the City of Angels, and making a name for herself as a powerful singer and songwriter.

For Let it Rain, Ryder could not have done any better than having Grammy-winner Tony Braunagel come on board as producer and drummer. They were joined in the famed Ultratone Studios in Studio City by bassist Ric Ryder (her husband), Mike Finnigan on the keys, Johnny Lee Schell and Kirk Fletcher on guitar, and the killer horn section of Lee Thornburg and Lon Price. These folks are all first-call musicians, and there are also a few guest artists that joined in to really make this a special project.

Like her debut, Might Just Get Lucky, this album is made up solely of songs that were written by Deb, and you will find that she is a very good songwriter and she does not limit herself to one sound. This record is a journey from Illinois to Louisiana, and she nails the blues sound as it is found in both of these places, as well as everywhere in between. The set opens strongly with “That’s Just How It Is” and the band is tight with killer leads from Fletcher’s guitar, and Finnigan setting the tone with his Hammond B3 as Ric Ryder and Braunagel hold the bottom end down. Deb’s voice is worthy of this fine accompaniment, as her voice is powerful and dripping with soul.

The next track brings the well-arranged horns and Schell’s guitar into the mix with the cool Latin-tinged shuffle, “Can’t Go Back Again.” This song is backed up by the swinging “You Won’t Be True” and gloriously dark “Guilty As Sin,” couple of tunes about a woman done wrong. A tasty bonus is some righteous harmonica work from guest artist Kim Wilson on the latter. You know, you just cannot beat lines like, “You’ve been talking in your sleep, and Betsy ain’t my name.” Ryder’s timing and phrasing are spot on as she adds plenty of drama to the proceedings.

Deb Ryder is not afraid of jumping into the deep end of the pool and she wrote a couple of heartfelt gospel and soul tunes, “Cry Another Tear” and “Hold Your Lamp High” to really change things up. Her voice can take on all of the genres that she tried on this disc, and these two songs are no exception. Of course, she is helped out by her steady backline and some wonderful work from Finnigan on the organ. This record really delivers the goods, and things never get dull!

On “Ma Misere,” Braunagel lays down a heavy Cajun beat as he is joined by David Fraser on accordion, and none other than Albert Lee on guitar. There are definitely benefits to recording in LA, and having Mr. Telecaster just down the hill from you in Malibu has to be near the top of the list. After this super-fun song, the disc closes out with “Round and Around,” a more bare-bones Delta and gospel-inspired track that features lovely resonator guitar from Schell and some nice harp courtesy of Wilson. This was a wise choice to end the set, as it brings the listener back to the roots of blues music.

There is not a miscue through all eleven of these tracks and kudos for this studio magic need to go out to Schell, who recorded and mixed the album.

Deb Ryder’s Let it Rain is the real deal, and we will certainly be hearing more from her. Though you will certainly love this disc, keep in mind that her talents go beyond the studio. Judging by her show last month at Malarkey’s in Long Beach she is a tremendous live performer too, so you should be sure to check out her live show if you are around the Southland -- it will definitely be a good use of your time and money!

Mahalo!