Old Smoothie and Caprice Gig Report... part deux

[armybass]

Lets try posting this again while in a wee bit more sober state of mind....lol sorry about that..


Well I gigged the new Caprice this weekend.... to say I was impressed is truly an understatement. I took both the Caprice and my new OS Stingray to my gigs this weekend with the intention of running them both through their paces and I think I was able to accomplish that.

The first night was in a cellar type club with concrete floors, ancient brick walls and a very low ceiling. Unfortunately on this gig I also had to contend with my dear drummer friend who seems to be a wee bit dynamically challenged and the sound in that room just goes to crap once we start playing the volume game. I tried to start out on the Caprice but I really could not hear anything but drums and cymbals and I refused to turn up so I really did not get a very good impression of the Caprice. On the second set, the crowd cleared out a bit and I suppose with fewer people to potentially impress, the drummer pulled back on the reigns. I had also decided to use the OS Stingray and it was just lovely. It sounds as good in a live band mix as it does solo in my bedroom. I had the bass and treble at about 75% and still have the factory strings on it. I loved the neck and playability and the tones were just there. Sterling gave the best definition of this bass when he says it is an active bass that sounds like a passive bass. It truly is a Smoothie.

The next day was a big multi band outdoor Wounded Warrior event with a big stage and full sound support. I was with a different group and with some really talented and tasteful musicians. Mostly doing rock and some Muscle Shoals like groovers. I gave the Caprice the nod once again since I felt like she did not get a fair shake the night before.... I cannot begin to tell you how impressed I was with this bass. I had the neck pup on full and the bridge nearly off and the tone at about 50%. The growl and snarl and rich harmonic content was glorious. I was catching the wide eyes of the other bass players standing in the audience and shared many a smiles over the Caprice's tonal performance. As greasy and nasty as the growl was, the tone remained musical and so pleasing. Of course a bass convention commenced back stage after our set and I was able to hear the praises and ooohs and ahhhs from my fellow bass brothers. One of my good friends was already on the fence about the Caprice and I am sure he left yesterday in full GAS mode looking to aquire his own.

I love my OS Stingray... and it is probably my favorite bass I own... but the Caprice truly stole the show this weekend. I had FUN playing this bass. I cannot wait to gig it again.

 

[tbonesullivan]

The caprice and cutlass are such classic designs. You really can't go wrong with them. I just wish they had an option for some active electronics. I've really come to rely on those.

 

[bovinehost]

TI just wish they had an option for some active electronics. I've really come to rely on those.

Brother, you won't find anyone who has relied more on that active MM tone over the last few decades. That is me. It is I. I'm liking the "passive" adventure. It's different, and yet - that familiar tone really is in there. I'm gigging this Cutlass hard and digging it in all its passive weirdness.

I've tried over the years to find a P bass to sort of quiet the voice in my head that tells me, "Everyone has one. You just have to find the right one." How many have I bought? I don't even want to consider it, but I've had a metric F-ton of them. Standards, Highway 1s, a Mike Dirnt or two (okay, three) and the list goes on and on. The last one I had, I think it was a Highway 1, I said, "Boy, this is close." But in the end, given a choice between gigging that or a Bongo or a Big Al or whatever MM I had lying around, I always chose the Music Man. And not just because I'm obviously a company man; because, really, in the end, it's all about what works in a live environment. The Music Man basses always won.

But I wanted in my heart to love a passive bass. Something P-ish, if you will.

So now I don't have to muck around on the Sweetwater site or peruse Craigslist for some damned Fender. The Caprice and the Cutlass have quieted my fever - and I still get that Music Man tone. I've embraced the weirdness.

And I hesitate to compare the basses to the Fenders, but let's be honest. The Caprice is a J configuration and the Cutlass is a P configuration, at least at their most basic forms. But! But! But! I get the stuff I love about Music Man and none of the things I don't love about Fender - and lo, the latter are many, although I have tried. I really have. Fenders now, for me, are like a really pretty girl you want to talk to and then you move in closer and she smells just ever so slightly of her litter box at home. It's off-putting. She's pretty, though, isn't she?

The Music Man passive basses are that pretty girl but up close she smells almost as good as Lukather.

So yeah. I embrace the crazy business of this whole passive bass concept.

I'm going to shut up and play my Cutlass now.

 

[armybass]

Fenders now, for me, are like a really pretty girl you want to talk to and then you move in closer and she smells just ever so slightly of her litter box at home. It's off-putting. She's pretty, though, isn't she?

That might be the greatest sentence I have ever read in the English language. So thought provoking and so well sculpted that I am able to actually put myself right in the moment. Word crafting..... its a gift. Jack has it.

 

[Holdsg]

Jack, you sound so poetic, like something Craig Young would write...maybe he's mentoring you?

 

[bovinehost]

I, um, may have had a martini or two there. I'm glad it wasn't actually worse.

 

[armybass]

Well my original post was so written in Old Glenfiddich that it couldn't be translated and I had to rewrite if from scratch..... it's all good!

 

[GregP]

So yeah. I embrace the crazy business of this whole passive bass concept.

Welcome to the passive club You know what I think EBMM could add to the Caprice to make it feel a little more at home with the active guys? A passive bass control.

One of the issues we always run into as bass players is a venue being too "boomy". I think that would be an absolutely stellar addition. I know G&L has a passive bass cut on some of their guitars and it's hard to imagine how it could be proprietary technology...any more than a tone knob would be. EBMM could even keep the classic 3 knob layout if a concentric pot was used for the treble/bass cut

 

[Eilif]

I am so glad I did not have any liquid in my mouth when I read this.

ROFL!

The Music Man passive basses are that pretty girl but up close she smells almost as good as Lukather.

 

[bovinehost]

Luke almost always smells wonderful. I'm not even making this up.

 

[tbonesullivan]

I'll have to see if any of that rubbed off on my Luke III. I still kinda wish they would offer some type of active package. I do have one precision style bass, and it's got both passive AND active circuits. The tone is passive, and the active part is just a bass boost/cut and treble boost/cut, but it really does help get a good sound.