BASS = WORK

The MTD Kingston has arrived, and gone through its first Jitters show (quite a trial of an inauguration for any bass!). I know where the $200 I saved on the price did NOT go - it did NOT go into the setup, which took me 3+ days to get it even close to acceptable (including a trying sequence during which I removed the B-string and used it to grind down the graphite nut until the string sat properly enough to get rid of an horrendous string buzz problem - unwind the string, grind the nut, rewind the string, tune, test the buzz, repeat....).

The bass now plays quite well and sounds punchy as all get out - very funky, excellent mid-range and mellow highs, but the low end is a little undefined. Aside form the setup, any other complaints are minor cavils really when considering just how excellent a buy this bass is. Too bad they might not be manufacturing these any more...

Passion and other tidbits

Howdy. Let's see... what can I tell you...

Just had our "wine class" dinner at the Petite Passion restaurant (of the Culinary School in Philly). Excellent stuff - and a great buy for a 9 course meal. We all brought interesting wines, the star of the night being an `89 Krug vintage Champagne (our third Champagne of the evening to kick things off...), still full of fruit, some spritz, and lots of biscuity goodness. And the `90 Tokai I brought for dessert turned out to be nothing to sneeze at, either. Still no word on our exam scores, unfortunately!

Work is nuts at the moment and I think is actually causing me physical stress symptoms for the past month (to hopefully be verified by the Dr. this week). Some fruits of our labor is paying off - check out www.BecomeAnMM.com ...

Finally, it looks like MTD will no longer be making the old passive "vintage pickguard" model of the Kingston bass (this linked page shows only Active models with translucent finishes). So, me being out of control with bass purchases the last 6 months (to make up for the lack of purchases in the previous 6 years I suppose), I decided if I was ever going to get a fretted version of one I'd better do it now. I found a steal of a deal on Snow Pearl model at Musician's Friend (see inset pic) - presumably priced to get rid of them quickly - which should be on its way to me soon.

The purchase has got me thinking about how clearly the MTDs are the best electric basses for me, and how clearly I've come to know what works for me in a bass (5-string, slim neck with wide string spacing, rosewood, light weight) and what doesn't (maple fretboard...). It's taken me years to figure this stuff out... and one of the best experiences I've ever had was picking up the Kingston MTD fretless in Bass Central in comparison with dozens of other basses, some of them ridiculously expensive... and the guys at BC were so unbelievably cool about it, especially with me spending multiple hours there and buying one of the lowest cost instruments at the end of it (their patience has paid off as I've bought the majority of my basses since from them, including the pending custom MTD 535).

Cheers!

Latour

Huge (and overdue) shout out to the folks at Cosimo for letting Ker & I taste the bottle of 1967 Chateau Latour they had opened on New Year's! Quite an experience to taste a 40-year old wine that holds up that beautifully. Thanks guys!!

Also - looks like my custom MTD will be ready in about one month (early Feb.), after Mike Tobias gets back from NAMM (check it out if you're in Anaheim next week), and has a chance to finish the bass. I'm keeping cool, not trying to get too excited about it yet, and trying to forget the fact that there are approximately 2,678,400,000 milliseconds between now and then (but who's counting?).

01-01-2007