Interviews!

Hello World.

One of the things I wanted to put up here are interviews. Interviews with well known bass players in India. Interviews with great drummers, guitarists and other musicians. Interviews with people in the know, sound engineers etc. Why? Because they can all teach us something. Developing as a musician involves knowing where you stand and how you can grow. Knowing how and where to go only comes from good, solid information from people who have that knowledge. As far as bass is concerned, it is important to understand each instrument in the band. What do they expect from the bass? It is important to get insights from people in the know. A good sound engineer who doesn't play any instruments knows more about what good sounds like than the average bassist. I am beginning to learn these things because of where I put myself these days. I shall bring this to you in the form of interviews from the best here in India.

Till then, Keep Grooving.

Cheers,
The Indian Bassist

The Peavey Milestone BXP 4-string Bass

Time for my first bass review. I thought it would be apt to start with the basses that I own/owned and pay them their well deserved respect.

My first bass was the Peavey Milestone BXP 4-string. This is something of a beginner's bass but worth much more than that in terms of quality. I did end up selling it when I got my second bass. I sold it due to a crunch for money and the fact that I did have a higher end bass. I regret that decision and I shall get into why.

As far as specs this is your standard beginner's Jazz Bass style. Basswood body, Maple neck and Rosewood Fretboard. Jazz style pickups with a Volume-Volume-Tone wiring. This thing was beautiful with a Tobacco Sunburst and no Pickguard. Below is the only good picture I ever managed with that bass. That's me with the Peavey on the left bottom. She looks nice!

Anyhow, the best thing about this bass was the Neck and Fretboard. The now wiser me feels that an update on the pickups and the bridge would have set this bass up like a monster. Furthermore, a de-fretting would have given me a hell of a fretless as far as the neck and fingerboard were concerned. Without doing all of those things it is still an excellent bass to start out with. Easily comparable to a Squier in it's price range. Something like an SX bass perhaps. 

Recommended? Hell yes! Especially if you are starting out, Peavey makes a fine bass to do so. They're higher models are pretty nice too - in sound, feel and appearance. In my opinion, a company that can make their entry level instruments with care and quality, is a company to be trusted with their higher-end products as well. If any of you have played through a Peavey bass amp, you know those sound excellent as well. So yes, pick one up especially if you are starting out. If you like it, keep it and update it when you can. Add a preamp, new pickups. Turn it into your first fretless too. Whatever you do, keep that neck - it is a beauty!

Do check out Peavey's products. They've been around for some time and seem to know what they are doing.

http://www.peavey.com/products/index.cfm/category/523/Instruments

Happy New Gear,

The Indian Bassist.