WAY back when, I had a lesson with Andy West up in San Rafael, CA. He had a rack of GK heads (don't remember the speakers) and this was in his Steinberger bass days. I was too much in awe to really get much technical information. In the beginning, he asked me to play one of my own lines but interrupted me about 1/3 of the way through to start suggesting alternate fingerings.
Truth be told (and I mean no disrespect -- honest!), I was at least hoping he'd listen long enough to what I was trying to do and let me finish before critiquing me...Oh, well, it was probably a lame line, anyway!
But I was also his last student for the day and he asked if I wanted to join him for lunch! Yeah, like i was going to say, No? We had a great conversation. I used to photograph airshows as a hobby and told him about the SR-71's being stationed at Beale AFB at the time. He's a very technologically oriented guy.
This was also when mirrored aviator glasses were all the rage, but he had a novel use for his. When we sat down at the cafe he took them off and placed them on the table at such an angle that he could see his own reflection in the lenses. Most of us are unaware, but when you sport a beard rivaling Moses', it's easy for bits of food, crud, car keys (just kidding), etc. to constantly become trapped in it without the owner's knowledge. This way he could tell if there was anything in his beard before it became an embarrassment.
I've seen him play with Steinberger, Alembic and I want to say, G. Modulus (?) basses and he was killer each time.
