new and improved!

naw ... furreal, its just the same old me. i dont think theres much you guys dont know about me but here it goes for those who dont ... and maybe i'll add something interesting in that you didnt know. i might even make some stuff up.

i'm pretty much an old do-doe these days. i usta be young and vibrant ... but the next thing you know, it was gone. turns out i was asleep for most of that youth stuff anyway so i think i'm really just starting to live my life more recently. i'm just an old, big kid.

i think i try to be too smart for my own good. i try to be vocabular but fail typically. i end up typing these big long e mails to people and am dissapointed when they respond with one line about something only from the first paragraph ... i know you didnt read all of it. just so you know, the point is usually in the last paragraph.

i started playing bass when i was 16. my first bass was such a piece of junk it didnt even have a name brand on it. i had a crappy p bass for a long time that spent more time collecting dust than being played. i learned to play black sabbath and iron maiden songs mostly. i didnt start playing seriously untill i was 28. i stopped drinking, smoking pot and chasing around women and i needed something to do. i noticed after stopping drinking, smoking pot and chasing around women at how much money i seemed to have in my pocket ... i spent it on nicer bass gear ... i miss those days; income with no responsibility.

then i heard the stuff justin chancellor was doing. i learned his playing style and discovered the world of effects processing. i incorporated his style with my style and then learned some flea and john paul jones style to throw into my style for good measure. it has resulted in me, going to local gigs and wondering why all the other bassists plug ther bass right into the amphead and play with a pic ... snoozer. not that they arent good bassists; they are. just gimmie something more interesting to listen to please. i hope that my style sounds like that, more interesting to listen to, bass player. people have told me so ... i guess i believe them.

since recommitting to playing seriously, my bands have been ........

40wattsun ... tons of material never put together.

the occupants ... 20 rotating songs revolving around the circle of fifths ... most of them in 3 keys anda 4/4 beat, rockabilly punk style. prob wudda been boring if it wasnt for bible salesmen / lead guitar / vocalist danny drust. real interesting, entertaining cat.

quicksandjuggernaut ... mississippi delta blues metal. this project had tons of potential. i took it real seriously and put in a lot of hard work and it led to some local success. no one else wanted to. arguments led to firings (me first). the band has done nothing impressive (to me) since.

40wattsun ... i dug the old girl back up again. i've never had such a hard time finding committed musicians. i think its because it does have that element of being "different". it scares people away who are used to existing in mediocrity. furreal ... its just rock music.

i live in the town of phoenixville. it usta be a suburban ghetto, but the artsy crowd has moved in and revitalized the town. we have first fridays, bands play on the streets at night in the summer, art galleries open their doors, we have blobfest (this is where the movie "the blob" was filmed), and we have the firebird festival where we build a huge phoenix and burn it down ... fun.

phoenixville, pa. is a suburb of philadelphia. i stay outta the big city.

i'm a graphic artist by trade. i use my skills as a career to make baseball and hockey jerseys and other types of clothing too. i like my job.

i have 2 cats named phineas fog and tally. phineas likes mice and tally likes phineas' food.

amy lives here too. i'm lucky she shares her cool life with me. i love amy.

i guess thats it.

Great profile, MadMike, and a pleasure having you here.

Good to know more about you, dude! I, too, have two cats...haven't gotten to spend much time with them lately due to work...

I know exactly what you mean about people who respond to what I have to say without going into much depth. They tend to be the people that I shy away from in the long run. You are only as good as the company you keep and I strive to be something better than I am. There are some damn good people out there and a lot of people who I would rather have nothing to do with.

Best of luck finding people worthy of 40W Sun. I hope it gets there, man!

Welcome Grandpa!

Where did I put my dentures?

wow barklessdog ... look at the color of that bass!!!!

is that yours?

i'm gonna hafta repost the picture of my warmouth explorer dream bass ... going for the same dye stain color.

and i will post pictures of my next project ... going for that blue dye stain color.

Barklessdog wrote:

Where did I put my dentures?

They're on the bathroom counter, next to the half-empty bottle of Ensure, and the un-used shaving cream.

I'd love to see what you have in mind for your ideal Warmoth project, madmike!!

Yeah thats my Blueshawk bass I that I built the body and grafted a Gibson Ripper neck to. The dye I used was Water based blue dye from Stwe Mac with a black wash that was sanded back.

That Bluesbird is astounding, Barkless!

Truly it is! Is that a set neck, or a bolt-on?

yeah, that blue waterbased bye is what i'm gonna use for my current p bass project.

It is a set neck. A friend of mine gave me a Ripper carcuss in London, I brought it back carry on.



I removed the neck and set it.





The smaller cover on the back houses a dummy coil

Have you ever considered running bolts through the neck joint for added reinforcement?