Spring Update

Rik Wright came by to add some excellent solos to a couple of tunes on my forthcoming solo album.

On another note- I started playing with an electronic, experimental music group recently: Blue Sky Void …and here’s the pedalboard I am using for this new adventure:


And here are a few sound files…

Cheers, sg

DAW Drama

So I upgraded my DAW to MAC OS Catalina. Consequently I had to update my DAW I/O device drivers; my primary I/O device was an Antelope Orion Studio. As soon as the driver update was completed- my audio had digital pops & clicks in it. To make a very long story short- I went through the usual work of searching knowledge bases, user forums, etc. for any kind of remedy or recommendation; unfortunately- there were none to be found. All paths led back to installing the latest drivers (which I just did). As it turns out- I had just started a collaboration project and couldn’t waste a lot of time trying to get my rig working. So I pulled out my old UA Apollo Twin. I purchased the Apollo when they first came out, now years ago, and it didn’t survive the first session; both mic preamps overheated and blew out. However the line level in’s & out’s still worked and that is all I needed to get my collaboration rolling.

I knew I was going to need a more complete fix though, as my collaboration was going to require a lot of instrument recording. Hence I started the long journey of digging through storage and resurrecting my studio DAW that used to roll around with me, back when we all used to use recording studios. It’s a little over-sized for my room- but it’s exactly what the doctor ordered and it sounds amazing! This rig uses an RME MADIFace I/O unit, driving a Solid State Logic Alpha-Link MADI-AX. I patch 16 of its MADI channels through a Rupert Neve 5059 Satellite Summing mixer. With all of the I/O channels I have I can also use my 500-series racks for outboard processing. Now we’re cooking with fuel!

Ciao for now- sg

Recent J-Bass Brain Surgery

I recently performed a complete electronics surgery on a Mexican J Bass; opting instead for EMG pickups and electronics. Looking at the pic with the new chrome knobs (from L-R)…

1. Mid cut/boost with sweepable freq.
2. Stacked High & Low cut/boost
3. Neck pickup volume
4. Bridge pickup volume

The previous incarnation sported an active/passive toggle switch; and now the new version has removed that toggle switch and left a hole in the plate (I might bring the switch back). I absolutely love the sound and tone control I am getting from this particular set (EMG “J5 Set”) although, for the unacquainted, it is worth mentioning that these particular EMG’s will take you even farther away, from a “jazz bass” sound, than the previous Fender Noiseless pickup set already had. sg

Continued Woodshedding

Greetings all!  I have mainly been woodshedding my bass chops over this Winter. I have been working on specific combinations of different artists’ material to get my head around shifting from one type of chord composition to something totally different. I have found that it is easy to get stuck in a “mindset”, especially when it comes to muscle memory, if you work on too much of the same material all the time.  So my current mixture consists of works by: George Michael, Public Image Ltd and Porcupine Tree. Ok- they are all British- but that’s about where the similarity ends.

Lastly I’ll just note that I was at a fun show last night in Petaluma…

Psychedelic Furs!

Cheers!  sg

Happy New Year!

Happy new year! It’s been forever since my last post- I guess I got a little busy. Long story short- I spent the Summer searching for, and then buying, a new house. This has kept me really busy and past few months have been spent customizing my house to our liking. This Spring I will be starting work on the garage project studio.

For now- here is the latest incarnation of my bass rig’s pedalboard.

Cheers!  sg

Transplant Surgery Successful

As mentioned a few days ago- I had to rearrange my pedalboard to make room for my new Eventide H9. The Tech-21 TRI-OD had to go in order to make that room; but I think I have a way to bring it back- fixpedalboards.com  …I’ll add a riser, or two, and then I can re-claim the space consumed by those cable patches on the back-side of my Boss-ES8 switcher. Note the image below- this is the “before” shot; you can still see the TRI-OD on the right edge of the board. A riser will allow me to float more pedal effects above the patch cables you can see in the superimposed red box (that’s a lot of space).

I am not in a hurry to perform this mod- but once I do I will share the results here. ciao for now- sg