Rick Toone | Luthier

Bass Secrets of the Pros

We're not talking fishing here, folks. You're looking for this. Though it is all about choosing the right line.

Hmmm.

Orchid's hardware and pickups are in a state of design flux. Usually I like to build an instrument around those shiny little metal bits, but in this case I have a few questions about what's best. I'm considering EMG-MMTW because we've chosen a one-pickup design, and Halie plans to sing. Can't get electrocuted with EMGs.

But I've never used the EMG-MMTWs. So I figure it's time to get other opinions. I tossed questions toward the pro, my friend Damon Whittemore. He's a bassist who also runs the board for a bunch of NYC studios, including NPR and ValveTone. He is a founding partner and software designer for TriTone Digital. Check out his production work.

"Hey Rick,

Always happy to give my 2 cents:

1. Pickups? — I like EMGs, but I really like Lindy Fralins with Bartolini active/passive electronics.

2. How do you record? — Usually direct, though sometimes if the player has a good amp, or wants amp distortion, I'll add that too. Old Ampeg flip top? Yep, I love it when those show up. Though I can get some cool distortion without an amp (see below).

3. Signal chain? — My chain is a Radial JDK MK3 direct box to either a Telefunken V76 tube mic preamp (the king of mic preamps, especially for bass and voice) or to my old 1962 Grommes tube mixer. The Grommes is unique; it can be sweet and euphonic like the Telefunken, or, when gain-staged correctly, super touch sensitive and prone to tube overdrive like a HiWatt amp. Next in line is either a UREI La2a, 1176 or EL Distressor compressor, depending on the sound desired and the player's touch.

4. Bass in studio context? — I like basses that can switch between active and passive, without a lot of volume loss, and still retain some tone control in the passive world. My Mike Lull modern jazz 4 bass is like this. I just like them to sound good; but that's more about the player than the bass.

5. What would you like to see in bass development? — My big deal with basses as a player is neck playability. I like a thinner, faster neck: 1972 jazz. Tone, I like options but it should sound great with all pickups turned up, not muddy. I tend to not love 5 string basses, but I can see their place. Some players can use them tastefully; others can't. The Telefunken is one of the only preamps I have heard that can really do justice to the low-end of a fiver.

PS: If you're set on the 1 pickup design then I think the EMG is a good choice. Anyway, Orchid looks super cool!"

Lindy Fralins. Nice stuff. Orchid GUITAR pickups? Mmmm.

Alright.

Anyone else have an opinion?

Orchid (Explained)

My friend Robert Irizarry of buildingtheergonomicguitar.com wandered by — metaphorically — to prod me into revealing more about the Orchid design:

"More importantly, I'm delighted to see the new design! Very cool. I love the organic flow of it - I can't wait to see the end product! I was curious if you could elaborate a bit on some of the design elements. In particular, I'm curious about the large upper horn and its function in the design..."

Then Goran chimed in:

"I have a confession to make: I like orchid design more and more."

So I guess it's time I did some explaining.

Since a picture is worth 1,000 words, I decided to spare you the agony and just create a composite scale image illustrating relevant concepts much more eloquently than my blathering. Click to grow. I would add a few points of elaboration:

1. Controls — Why are instrument controls usually located below the strings? My arm swings in a pendulum from the elbow (I don't know about yours) forming an arc that naturally stops above the strings, where Orchid's controls will be located. Especially on a guitar, controls below the strings are just asking to get whacked with the strumming hand. Most performing pros do volume swells with a footpedal, so that is no longer a valid argument. Heck, with this new location, a player could use the fretting hand to make control adjustments. Expect to see more of this feature from me...

EDITOR'S NOTE: ...and probably others, now that the cat's out of the bag.

2. Balance point — Extending the upper lobe toward the headstock shifts the instrument's center of gravity. It simply can't point at the floor anymore. An added benefit is the player becomes more centered on the instrument: effectively re-positioning the nut closer to the player's body. Now the fretting hand requires several inches less reach to play in first position, reducing shoulder/wrist strain for the fretting arm.

3. Leg — From a standing position, sit...and the bass maintains alignment with the player's body. The player's thigh holds the weight, instead of the shoulder strap. The lower cutaway makes this possible. Nice upper fret access, too.

4. Reduced weight & better ergonomics — The new center of gravity does not depend on body mass to balance the instrument. Instead, I can eliminate or redistribute body mass as shown by the drawing, including chambering the body (semi-hollow). What is not shown is the sculptural quality the body will have. As is typical in my designs, the instrument will be very three-dimensional, conforming to the shape of the player's torso: deep cut in the upper instrument body mimics the human ribcage and eliminates pressure points. The sensation is almost of "wearing" the bass as it wraps around you.

ORCHID SERIES:

Orchid Design
Orchid (Explained)
Stacked Laminate Neck Construction
Orchid Body
Orchid Neck Construction (Trapezoidal)
Trapezoidal Neck Profile
Skipping Ahead
Purple
Orchid Assembly

Orchid Design

Building a bass for Halie.

She's a young but promising bassist who sets her watch by the movements of Green Day (no...not Greenery Day). I can relate, because for me, for many years, there were no other bands but Rush (no...not this guy). Since Green Day are fans of Rush (just listen to the rhythms) I can respect where she's coming from. It's alright by me.

Ever notice how huge and clunky a P-bass is?

Fits great if you're a 6'2" 190lb male. But Halie's...what...5'4" 120lbs, or so? A full-sized bass to her is like wrestling with a surfboard. Just think about smaller — feminine — fingers, too.

What to do?

Orchid is created for her. 32" scale length, with all the balances and proportions of the instrument totally Picassoed to make it a Prada-fit for a young woman. But, damn, wouldn't you know it also fits me better than any bass I've yet played? Perfect balance: standing or seated.

Design sketched out in the photo below. Look at that flame maple. Click to grow. Orchid is going to be g...o...r...g...e...o...u...s. Did I mention Halie likes purple? One purple Orchid coming soon to a stage near you.

ORCHID SERIES:

Orchid Design
Orchid (Explained)
Stacked Laminate Neck Construction
Orchid Body
Orchid Neck Construction (Trapezoidal)
Trapezoidal Neck Profile
Skipping Ahead
Purple
Orchid Assembly

Seeking Uncertainty

Lounging in a hot bath after an intense day of mental and physical exertion, my face barely above water, a sequence of thoughts occurred to me. Truthfully, there was not much else to do but listen to sweat drip from my nose into the water. A quiet place, a quiet moment to think, and relax.

Steam.

Hot.

Drip.

"Mmmm," I thought, "I'm really relaxed."

"I should do this more often," was followed several slow moments later by, "I'm really lucky...to have this water. To have this...peace. Not many people on earth are as fortunate. If I was a primate in the wild, I would never have this opportunity."

2.5 million years of evolution, and my ancestors give me a heated bathtub? Peek beneath the bubbles. Giggle. Along with the bath, of course, comes something quite new to Homo sapiens.

Absence of fear.

No lions in the undergrowth. No leopard in the trees. No crocodile under the water. No bear in the cave. Oh, they're still there, but our electric campfire has pushed back those predators. We can safely ignore them. Medicine pushes back the invisible predators. Religion pretends to push back the biggest predator.

We hate fear.

But we're evolved to live with fear. Uncertainty is the mildest form of fear. Uncertainty is the pause between the stimulus and the response — the pause between the growl in the darkness and the decision to flee or fight. Fear's gift to us is our central nervous system, and our ability to think.

Our adaptation to fear is curiosity.

Curiosity is the term we use to describe the process of exploring uncertainty. Curiosity extends the pause between the growl in the darkness and the need to make a decision.

Through curiosity, our ability to learn, we turn predator into prey.

Owner Of A Lonely Heart. A (much) closer look.

This song has been on my mind partly because I've been listening to 90125 lately, and partly because I note a resurgence of '80's fashion in the 22 and younger crowd. So I might as well anticipate the trend: bouffant, bleached-blonde mullet, acid washed jeans, stirrup pants. Ack, no! Make it stop.

I lived through this once, already.

Sigh.

Since we're talking about recycling, let's look beneath the surface of Max Graham's 2005 video version of the song. What has changed in society & music since the original 1983 version was recorded?

1. The ability to manipulate sound as easily as if it were text or a visual image. Notice the tempo (speed) of the remix is much faster, yet the pitch (high/low) of Jon Anderson's voice is unaffected. Computers. Digital audio. In 1983 music was recorded on analog tape, and the ability to condense or stretch time without altering pitch existed only in imagination. Now, the software tools are so powerful, our creative limit is our own imagination. In media, there is no longer any such thing as "reality."

QUESTION: As you listen to music today, do you think current creativity reflects the unlimited sound design possibilities our tools offer? If so, where are you hearing creativity?

2. One human with a computer is equal to the collective output of a massive creative team. Not better. Not worse. Just equal...in terms of ability to reach an audience. The 1983 version required five immensely skilled and practiced specialist musicians (thanks guys), a producer, recording engineers, mix & mastering engineers, assistants, transporation, studio facilities, etc. Max Graham could have done everything for the 2005 version on his laptop. At home. Including distributing the song to his audience online. For a tiny fraction of the cost. And his musical "status" is equal to Yes again, in terms of audience.

QUESTION: Now that those possibilities are in the hands of...anyone...everyone...are you hearing great art? If so, where? Who?

3. The remix is a deconstruction of someone else's original art. A recirculation — not reinterpretation — of someone else's original creative thought, intellectual property, or even identity: for profit. The tempo is much faster. The beat is metronome mechanical, precise, inflexible, in a way only sample accurate quantizing can produce. The nuances of the guitars, bass, and (particularly) drums are gone, replaced by repeated "cut & paste" fragments. Lyric edits, most notably missing, "sooner or later each conclusion/will decide the lonely heart..." ostensibly remove the possibility of failure, and downplay the role of personal responsibility.

QUESTION: How would you interpret those changes? If the purpose of art is to teach us about ourselves, what did you learn?

4. Women will trade their sexuality for material gain. Even barely pubescent boys know this, reinforced by both the story-line content of the video (girls "auditioning" for boys), and the complicity of the actual performers who performed in the video.

QUESTION: Has the role or status of women changed since 1983? If so, how?

5. Global political tensions remain high. "Owner Of A Lonely Heart" was written at a time of tense uncertainty between the Soviet Union and the West. Threats of a nuclear missile war. Miscommunication and distrust. Building upon #4 above, is a series of nude photographs of a Russian woman born ca. 1983. Here stripped, literally, of cultural identity, so you can see her as a fellow naked ape. She is now of child-bearing age, and thus represents Russia's future. And she would have been — is — our "enemy" if you believe politicians.

A "target."

Some might be unsettled by her nudity and choose to label the images "pornography." But I see her as a powerful visual symbol representing all points outlined above.