Post 2372
- 8 years and 297 days since I started this blog -
Daily Comment
To get ready for the upcoming winter travels, I have been playing my 1979 Steinberger XL-2T bass exclusively for the last couple of weeks. That's it in the pic above. It is a monster-sounding bass and a real conversation piece.
The story of the Steinberger bass is pretty interesting. The XL-2T was not the original of the design, but it was the flagship model of the original.
Ned Steinberger was part of a collective of woodworkers and luthiers in Brooklyn in the 1970s. Another member of the group, Stuart Spector worked together with Steinberger for the first bass design, which was submitted to the collective for critique.
They hated it.
The basic critique was that it was a copy of a Fender bass that used better wood and finishing, but the design elements were completely derivative.
The two teamed up and Spector came out with the NS-1 bass under his own logo. The reshaped- and resized body were gorgeous, and the bass was a huge hit. The NS designation was for the body's designer, Ned Steinberger.
Ned Steinberger went in an entirely different direction. The first design was derivative? Steinberger decided to make a bass with not one single thing that had ever appeared in a bass instrument before.
This complete blank slate, nothing that exists will be used approach carried into everything: Body material (proprietary graphite-resin compound), fretboard (phenolic), pickups (low impedance - requiring a preamp. The group that made them became EMG, but Steinberger had the first active pickups in a production instrument), active electronics (by Hazeltine Labs, some hippy techies in New Jersey - again, the first active electronics in a production instrument), the frets (specially made, and including the first 'zero fret' in a production instrument), the strings (double ball-end strings, required for the 'headless' design, were initially custom-made by LaBella), the integrated neck-strap (which suspends the bass from one point on the back, perfectly balanced), a fold-out 'lap plate' so it could be played seated...
I bought mine (a very early sample from the Newburgh factory) in 2000. It was made in 1981, I believe. The first Steinberger bass was made in Brooklyn in 1970. The basses were a 1980s phenom. When they were first introduced, they were the most expensive production basses you could buy.
For what it's worth, Stuart Spector became, by far, the most successful bass company, and the NS series basses are at the core of that success. Their custom-made basses sold for much more than Steinberger's basses, but weren't production basses. That came later.
When Steinberger's company was bought by Gibson, everything Steinberger quickly died. Gibson did that to quite a few excellent small instrument companies (looking at you, Tobias).
You don't really care, I know. But I've told this story a lot since I started bringing the bass out in public. Like I said, a real conversation-starter.
It's an ideal travel bass, totally rugged. I like the sound, although it is not 'my' sound, which I developed with the bass I replaced it with: The Reverend Rumblefish PJ, which got me my nickname. Still, it sounds good.
Last night, the screw that holds the strap to the mounting plate (it's at the small brass circle in the middle of the pic above) came flying off at the jam session I was playing at (the brass piece you see is actually the nut the screw came out of) and after a long search, I played seated the rest of the night.
Today I had a very pleasant experience getting a replacement screw. I found a great non-chain hardware store! The clerk was so helpful and knowledgeable, and spent quite a lot of time with me for a forty-cent sale! (That was the price of one screw. I bought three, because I felt bad and just in case!)
I am grateful that there are good people in the world. The last time I went to a hardware store with a similar small-purchase need, the salesman was surly and off-putting).
Food and Diet
The story of the Steinberger bass is pretty interesting. The XL-2T was not the original of the design, but it was the flagship model of the original.
Ned Steinberger was part of a collective of woodworkers and luthiers in Brooklyn in the 1970s. Another member of the group, Stuart Spector worked together with Steinberger for the first bass design, which was submitted to the collective for critique.
They hated it.
The basic critique was that it was a copy of a Fender bass that used better wood and finishing, but the design elements were completely derivative.
The two teamed up and Spector came out with the NS-1 bass under his own logo. The reshaped- and resized body were gorgeous, and the bass was a huge hit. The NS designation was for the body's designer, Ned Steinberger.
Ned Steinberger went in an entirely different direction. The first design was derivative? Steinberger decided to make a bass with not one single thing that had ever appeared in a bass instrument before.
This complete blank slate, nothing that exists will be used approach carried into everything: Body material (proprietary graphite-resin compound), fretboard (phenolic), pickups (low impedance - requiring a preamp. The group that made them became EMG, but Steinberger had the first active pickups in a production instrument), active electronics (by Hazeltine Labs, some hippy techies in New Jersey - again, the first active electronics in a production instrument), the frets (specially made, and including the first 'zero fret' in a production instrument), the strings (double ball-end strings, required for the 'headless' design, were initially custom-made by LaBella), the integrated neck-strap (which suspends the bass from one point on the back, perfectly balanced), a fold-out 'lap plate' so it could be played seated...
I bought mine (a very early sample from the Newburgh factory) in 2000. It was made in 1981, I believe. The first Steinberger bass was made in Brooklyn in 1970. The basses were a 1980s phenom. When they were first introduced, they were the most expensive production basses you could buy.
For what it's worth, Stuart Spector became, by far, the most successful bass company, and the NS series basses are at the core of that success. Their custom-made basses sold for much more than Steinberger's basses, but weren't production basses. That came later.
When Steinberger's company was bought by Gibson, everything Steinberger quickly died. Gibson did that to quite a few excellent small instrument companies (looking at you, Tobias).
You don't really care, I know. But I've told this story a lot since I started bringing the bass out in public. Like I said, a real conversation-starter.
It's an ideal travel bass, totally rugged. I like the sound, although it is not 'my' sound, which I developed with the bass I replaced it with: The Reverend Rumblefish PJ, which got me my nickname. Still, it sounds good.
Last night, the screw that holds the strap to the mounting plate (it's at the small brass circle in the middle of the pic above) came flying off at the jam session I was playing at (the brass piece you see is actually the nut the screw came out of) and after a long search, I played seated the rest of the night.
Today I had a very pleasant experience getting a replacement screw. I found a great non-chain hardware store! The clerk was so helpful and knowledgeable, and spent quite a lot of time with me for a forty-cent sale! (That was the price of one screw. I bought three, because I felt bad and just in case!)
I am grateful that there are good people in the world. The last time I went to a hardware store with a similar small-purchase need, the salesman was surly and off-putting).
Today's Weight: 196.4 lbs.
Previous Weight (10/23/19): 197.0 lbs.
Net Loss/Gain: - 0.6 lbs.
Diet Comment
Food Log
Breakfast
7:05pm: Blue-green protein smoothie with almonds, kefir, large organic egg, chia gel, kale, spinach, blueberries, whey powder (24g protein), coconut oil, hemp seeds, hemp protein (7g protein), raw organic cacao powder, moringa leaf powder, fo ti (mushroom powder), cinnamon, turmeric and stevia-inulin blend.
Lunch
Skipped.
Dinner
1:55am: Manchego cheese, sweetened, whipped cottage cheese with walnuts, and a Quest bar.
Liquid Intake
7:05pm: Blue-green protein smoothie with almonds, kefir, large organic egg, chia gel, kale, spinach, blueberries, whey powder (24g protein), coconut oil, hemp seeds, hemp protein (7g protein), raw organic cacao powder, moringa leaf powder, fo ti (mushroom powder), cinnamon, turmeric and stevia-inulin blend.
Lunch
Skipped.
Dinner
1:55am: Manchego cheese, sweetened, whipped cottage cheese with walnuts, and a Quest bar.
Liquid Intake
Espressos: 1; Coffee: 15 oz.; Water: 40+ oz.; and a shot of Jameson's Irish whiskey, neat.
Please leave a comment when you visit my blog.
Thank you!
Thank you!
No comments:
Post a Comment