Burgundy to Beige, Silver to Sunburst; the color of your guitar is more important than you might think. You can't just choose your favorite color, because sometimes that doesn't fit right with that type of guitar. I know that when I purchased my Fender Jazz bass, white was the last color I wanted. Yet somehow it fit and I was in love. With all the color options, as well as an infinite number of other variables, its a wonder any of us every find a guitar we are happy with. Now back to color. Sometimes the color can make you think of a specific company, or even guitar model. I know when I see Tobacco Sunburst I think of Fender. When I see an orange burst or "Fireglo" finish I think of Rickenbacker. When I see a solid orange guitar I think of a Chet Atkins or Brian Setzer model Gretsch. You can even associate color with a musician. Eric Clapton is known for playing "Blackie" his black Fender Stratocaster, Angus Young from AC/DC is known for playing a cherry red Gibson SG, and Eddie Van Halen has is own unique criss cross Jackson Pollock-esque design. The next time you walk in to Sylvan, or any other music store for that matter, take note of the array of body colors, hardware finishes and pickguard colors. You'll realize that when it comes to color combinations, the sky (blue) is the limit. - Kevin Kevin is a veteran Sylvan Music employee, with a profound love of usually four stringed instruments like bass and ukulele. He's also an accomplished jaw harpist. You can find him playing shows around town in his folk/rock band Sun Maiden, or his metal band Rat King. If he's not at work he's probably covered in grease working on one of his motorcycles.
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There was a time, not long ago, that I avoided pedals like the plague. Being a bass player, I never felt the need to use pedals, and on the occasions that I did try them I was never happy with the sound. I always had the idea that "bass players are the backbone of the music, you aren't supposed to be flashy". My mind was changed when I starting working at Sylvan Music and was encouraged to try out all the pedals. These are a few opinions that I have developed over the 7 or so years of working here. The first thing I would advise is, whenever possible, buy bass-specific pedals. The biggest problem with using guitar pedals on bass is the massive cut in bass frequencies, and losing your low end is counterproductive. Bass specific pedals are made with the bass frequency range in mind so you keep the low end and get the effect as well. My second discovery is that having Wet/Dry controls is almost mandatory. Wet and Dry knobs control the volume of two different signals; the Wet being the effected signal, and the Dry being the clean signal. This way you can dial in as much or as little effect as you like while having your clean level unaffected. My personal rig includes: the MXR Bass Fuzz Deluxe, MXR Bass Envelope Filter, and the EHX Freeze. Feel free to come in and check out these and many other bass specific pedals. -Kevin Kevin is a veteran Sylvan Music employee, with a profound love of usually four stringed instruments like bass and ukulele. He's also an accomplished jaw harpist. You can find him playing shows around town in his folk/rock band Sun Maiden, or his metal band Rat King. If he's not at work he's probably covered in grease working on one of his motorcycles. |