What do you do when you arrive in a foreign county and need a bass player?
Well, for our guitar player Edgar the solution was simple. You buy one! Edgar already is a bass player (along with being a classical, gypsy jazz, straight ahead jazz, blues, bossa, and rock guitarist) and some of you may have heard him play bass in the house band at Whisky West in Seattle, WA. But he left his fretless Fender Jazz bass back in the US. So, first things first.
Did you know that Germany has its own eBay? Neither did I, but Edgar – being German – did. And before the rest of the band even arrived a week after him, he did the research and found a beautiful Schechter fretted bass that was being sold by a young heavy metal bass player, Adrian (pictured above). The bass had hardly been played. It was love at first sight (between the bass and Edgar, not Adrian) a deal was struck and the bass came home with us!
A bit about Schecter bass and guitars. One, this bass is light and balanced, so it’s perfect for gigging all night. Two, Schecter guitars are well respected – having been played by the likes of Pete Townshend and Mark Knopfler. Three, the company started as a custom shop in 1976 in Van Nuys, CA, was bought and sold, but finally returned to its custom roots around 2012. We like that.
Edgar lovingly cleaned the bass, put on new strings, aired out the hard shell case and Voila! Instant bass player. Now we just need to find the amp.