Phil Lesh and his medium scale Series II 6-string bass

[hieronymous]

Thanks for the info on the Casady bass! Must have been quite the meeting - two of the Guild/Alembic bass gods!!!

[5a_quilt_top]

Re: Jack coming back - IMO a bit ironic 'cuz ain't he the one that started all of this in the first place - ?
 
Seriously, being a huge Casady fan (and a big fan of irony, as well) - I'M ALL FOR IT!
 
Keep after him, Phil - he can't hold out forever!
 
Especially if he keeps holding onto that work of art you're currently playing...

[David Houck]

Thanks for the link Stephen!  The pre-show talk with Jack and Phil was pretty cool.  Watching the show now.
 
And enjoying watching Rob Eaton from DSO.  This is a nice lineup!

[edwardofhuncote]

If all follows suit, I'd love to see McVie pull one of his Alembics back out of retirement. (the old Omega cut continuously fretted Series bass was back at the Mothership for some work last year. hmmm...)  
 
It's super-fun to watch these guys come full circle with Alembic!  
 
(Message edited by edwardofhuncote on May 03, 2015)

[StephenR]

In keeping with the back out of retirement theme...
 
Phil demoed Big Brown (the Alembicized Starfire bass he played in the 70s) during the history segment of the 1975 show recreation at Terrapin Crossroads last night. Before he started he mentioned that the bass had been back to Alembic for a tune-up and so they could properly document it. He flashed a picture they gave him of the bass with labels on it telling him what all the knobs and switches do. Even with the diagram he didn't seem to have much of a handle on it but it was interesting. After watching him fumble around with the bass during the demo it is hard to believe how well he used to play this bass and how great it sounded.
 
Haven't watched the show itself yet but the demo at the beginning is pretty cool...
 
http://tinyurl.com/pljnw5h

[sonicus]

Thanks Stephen !  That all brings back good memories of some of my experiences  from back in the day ,
 
Wolf

[mtjam]

Thanks for that link! Haven't had a chance to watch the whole show yet, but I really enjoyed the bass segment at the beginning.
 
That sound is why I'm here today!

[David Houck]

Can't watch the '75 show since I haven't watched '74 yet.  I've been trying to watch them all in order; and it's been interesting seeing how the music changes over time.

[edwin]

After all that fumbling around, I think he should pass that bass on to someone who will use it to its full potential! :-)
 
Seriously, though, I was hoping he was going to be playing it for the show. It's nice how he can get feedback from it. Mine shrieks in the high frequencies before it will feedback if I use a full range speaker. I think my pickups are microphonic.  
 
I think it shows how much you need to keep in mind what the tone you are going for is and what needs to happen with the filters to get it. Once you get out of practice with it, it can be daunting. The video also shows how great the basic tone of that bass is.
 
Mica, any chance of posting that diagram on the forum?

[StephenR]

The times I have seen Phil play Big Brown onstage since the 70s he used it only to make feedback. I didn't see him play it on any tunes.
 
Agree that it would be great if the diagram was archived on the forum.

[serialnumber12]