Here- here for Dub Side of Da Moon!

I been blasting reggae all week trying to break in a new set of single-driver speakers made of hemp.

King Tubby
Augustus Pablo
Israel Vibration
Burning Spear
Peter Tosh

More about Jerry Miller:LIke I said the first time Eric Clapton came to the US they asked him who he wanted to meet: He said "Jerry Miller is the best guitar player in the world" James Marshall Hendrix said almost the same thing when asked which of his peers he liked the best.(That quote courtesy of Johnny Guitar Knox).

You could see how much Jerry still loves playing and his non-show was really after my own heart. Just some guys up there playing their hearts out and their asses off. Band was strong all the way around. Didn't catch any names besides Jerry, Omar, and Tiran but they were gettin it.

THe mix was a bit problematic at first. Way to much low end on the bass and over all. I find that engineers are so conditioned to booming proccesed lows that they just push those frequencies way too much. It chased TJ right outta the place, but I had to stay. By halfway through the first set it got better. Just goes to show that the sub lows (100 hz and down) have to be handled carefully or they will destroy the mix.

Peter Tosh- I got a new student-14 year old boy named Tosh. I asked him if he was named after Peter he said yeah.

Here's a shot of Phil's new six-string bass that he took out on tour this summer. Some heads at breakfast were commenting on the trippy lights Phil had on his bass the night before in Sioux City. I just thought they were high. Guess I should open me eyes more at shows, eh? hahaha!

http://www.philzone.com/phil_pix/phil-bass-2008.jpg

lw

What a silly looking bass! The bass makers do that, it's an "art" thing. My buddy owns a bass store and its full of stuff like that. I imagine Phil's sounds good but not all the mutli thousand dollar do.

I think its a neat looking bass, but that's esthetics for you...

And Phil must liked something about it.

lw

I'm sure it's a wondeful axe. Phil Lesh had a big role in the evolution of the bass guitar and bass amplification. Professor Lesh, along with Jack Cassidy, Owsley and the folks at Alembic basically invented hi-fi musical instrument amplification.

My self I dig more of the classic look and beautiful wood and Telecaster headstocks, gold hardware, but that's just me. I kinda take the utilitarian approach, like quality tools of the trade.

I don't know.... That looks like some quality workmanship and wood there, bro. Why would someone want an ax that looks like every other guitar on the planet?

Oh yeah, me and the missus are white gold/silver type of folks, too. hehe

lw

Well, it;s just a matter of taste I guess. Not knocking Phils ax at all. It's maybe a gripe I got with the bass makers of the world.

An example: I was helping my friend Big Bob who was working for the venerable Yamaha Company(guess what my main bass is, its great having friends n medium places) at a bass trade show. We had a couple of show piece basses, one just a really nice top of the line production model, maybe 3 grand retail,the other one a six string bass with the dragibus dragon inlayed on the fret board with rubys for the eyes, all the bells and whistles worth close to 10k if you could even buy it.

Which one sounded better: well the 10k one didn't sound any better than my off the shelf very semi pro BB605, while the other one was a real sweety.

Here is a fun website for bass lovers:http://www.bassandbeyond.com/html/bass.php

After a little snooping, it appears Phils new bass was made by a fellow named Jens Ritter out of Germany.

http://www.ritter-basses.com/ritter-basses-news.htm

I think the guy makes some gorgeous axes, especially in the natural finishes.

lw

They are nice, I have heard of Ritter before.

No Phil on Ritters web site. Phil is careful with his name I have noticed, like he is never quoted in Robert Greenfields books.

What do you mean no Phil on Ritter's website? He does mention he sold an ax to phil on the linked page.

lw

I missed that. I was looking in his gallery of happy users. I wonder how much one of those beauties would set you back?

Looked like the guys axes run between four thousand euro and ten thousand euro, so maybe $6,000-$15,000 currently?

lw