BassMIKEY

Contact Information

Biography

I took lessons for about 14 months from a symphonic cellist and professional bassist who was near genius. He helped me buy my first used Fender Bass you can see in the B&W Photos of my gallery.

At that time, nobody I knew would show you anything, and the music competition in Thunder Bay was mean, and negative. Deemed as a waste of time, I never touched a bass guitar until many years later, while living in LA I breezed though the music books in Guitar Center and this had to be around 1989. There was a note for note transcription of Sitting On Top Of the World from Wheels of Fire by Cream. I embraced all the new VHS instructional videos coming out, and joined a band connected to SRV from Austin, Tx and before long, I was getting gigs throughout LA. It was a mad ride with better bands as I got better and we always got paid, which in LA you have to be damn good to get paid at all, since there are countless musicians and bands even pay to play just to get in a top club. Now again, I see how technology is playing a part with YouTube and certainly WikiLoops just to name a few.

If you live long enough life can be very sweet indeed.

Instruments

Currently,
2012 USA Jazz Bass,
2015 Warwick Jack Bruce Survivor Bass
2016 Cort Acoustic Bass

Epiphone Acoustic 6 String
Ibanez 6 String Strat type

I play the Warwick because it is unlike ANY bass I have tried. Not an easy bass- the neck goes on like a toboggan or a hockey stick, but the finish and feel is top notch. Lots of stretching involved on the fingerboard but it is powerful and you can dial in many sounds. Lots of cool Warwick features added and Jack Bruce did some neat things on the design.

The Fender Jazz is a good one. Every note plays in tune and the look and feel is great. Problem is -that it spoils you. Going back to the Warwick neck is a whole different feel to get around on. Still the Fender, lures me back as I keep them open on guitar stands or on wall mounts. No cases. I have all the setup tools and lessons from legend John Carruthers so I can adjust them each few months if needed.

The 6 string guitars are a result of all the great learning tools out there. I wanted to learn things like an F Barre chord to strengthen my hands and play cowboy songs just for relaxing. JamPlay, or Guitar Pro 7 or even Marty Schwartz DVD's -the learning curve is amazing and of course there is YouTube. I almost bought a FretLight guitar to learn scales on a B and high E string, but the workmanship is can be horrendous via online sellers and I don't want to be a programmer looking at software, I want to play. Which brings me back to WikiLoops.

recording devices

Just purchased a Scarlett 2i2 and accessories.
I have iMac computers and various programs having been using iMacs' since the beginning in 1998.

I was a professional cinematographer and videographer in Hollywood after college so I use Final Cut Pro X for video editing and some audio software programs.

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