1. Shielded the control cavity
2. Changed to CTS pots
3. Installed Nordstrand NJ5F pickups
4. Installed a Nordstrand 2B Preamp
5. Wired the controls to be Vol/Blend/Bass&Treble Stack.

Anyone that knows me knows that I am a fanatic for Roger Sadowsky bass guitars.  I’ve been playing the same M5-24 since 2006.  I call her Brownie because of her Sunburst color and she gets virtually NO downtime and has had one vaction in 5 years (when I played a Sadowsky MV-5 for a tour in South America)!!  We’ve toured 5 continents together and prayerfully we’ll be able to do more.  With all of that being said, I think it’s time to get her a little relief!!

I’ve been searching for another bass to try that could be a great backup to Brownie.  I know that the obvious solution would be to get another Sadowsky, which I will one day, but for now that price tag puts this idea a little out of reach.  The prices of those wonderful instruments have increased over the last five years and I have to admit that I faced a bit of sticker shock when I went back to start pricing basses.  I totally understand it though.

In the interim, I’ve researched almost EVERY bass manufacturer that exists.  I’ve even bought inexpensive basses and have modified them in search of a great backup/alternate bass.  The new Fenders are inconsistent in sound/feel, the older Fenders cost just as much as the new ones, the Squier’s feel/sound great passive but do not have any realistically usable preamps (if any at all), G&L’s are great but just don’t suit my taste or work load, Warwick necks are too small for my hands, and I’m not a fan of the Shecters,  ESP’s, Epiphone’s etc.  So that leaves a few options that could work in my world… Ibanez Premiums, the new Lakland AJ’s and the Carvin SB5000 / B50.

Of the last three basses mentioned, I figured I’d just take a first stab with Carvin.  I met Sekou Bunch at a Jazz Festival in California last year.  We were in the slot right before the band he was with that night.  As we were leaving the stage he invited me to his trailer to check out this new bass, the Carvin SB5000.  He raved that this was an incredible instrument and that I should come play his bass.  I must say that I’ve never owned anything from Carvin before and I had always received those magazines from the company that just seemed to magically follow me wherever I moved!  So I was familiar with the brand through media, but this was my first time up close.  The neck on this bass felt incredible and when he played it on stage the sound was big and round yet articulate for every note.  I was really feeling this bass, except for one thing… the body shape.

Carvin SB5000

I’m just more of a traditional when it comes to bass body styles.  This design is close to a traditional shape, but that upper horn on the bass just didn’t appeal to me.  I went to the website anyway to check out the specs, and it was then that I found out that Carvin offers the SB5000 bass and many others as a custom build.  My Sadowsky was a metro model, so this custom thing really intrigued me and I was very elated to know that I would have a unique bass. A little more delving into the site lead me to the Carvin B50 which has the SB500 electronics with a more traditional body shape:

Carvin B50

Discovering this bass sold me on trying Carvin first.  Everything about this bass is appealing to me.  I honestly don’t think that too many people are aware that the B50 is basically the same as the SB5000.  Web searches yielded little to no information about the latest B50 models.  So when I get my bass I’ll do reviews and YouTube clips on how the bass sounds.   I just made the order on Cyber Monday, which ironically was the last day to receive close to $200 off the price of the bass at the time, but has been since extended for a week.  The base price is somewhere around $860 and price fluctuates with the options you choose for your build.  Build time is currently running about 7 weeks.  This is great considering that many smaller companies average about 6 months.

Please visit Carvin and check out these basses.  I’ll keep you posted on the process!!

I also had the opportunity to play bass on and co-produce a few tracks on the album!  In Jahah’s own words:

“For those of you who miss the “golden era ” of hip hop (Biggie, 2 Pac, Nasty Nas, Jay-Z, A Tribe Called Quest, KRS-One, Gang Starr, Black Moon, Wu-Tang etc) my project Nostalgia RED is for you!”

The album is available on iTunes and Amazon or you can download it for free!

For more info and videos click here:

We shared the stage with some incredible Polish artists : Leszek Mo?d?er, Myslovitz, Zakopower, Tomasz Sta?ko, Me Myself and I and Perfect.  We were also able to perform alongside and some legendary artists from the United States and abroad: Michael Bolton, Dolores O’Riordan from The Cranberries and Tricky.

Each foreign artist was asked to perform a song native to Poland.  Our performance piece was a reggae version of Daab’s W moim ogrodzie (In My Garden).

The night was rounded out by an incredible fireworks show that we unknowingly stood underneath.  I have some footage that I’ll share soon of what it’s like to see fireworks from directly under them!!  It was an incredible night!!

We had to travel from Lund, Sweden to Gothenburg.  It was only about a 2 hour’s drive, but this is a great opportunity for me to show you the tour bus that has become my second home!

Everybody tries to act like it doesn’t matter where anyone sits, but the truth is everyone has their favorite spot and that seat to the right is mine..ha ha!  It’s in the front where I can see out the front windshield and play the Playstation 3, have some say so in which movie is watched and never get left!  Here’s other pics of the bus:

We like to call this the bedroom. There’s a door that allows this room to be private.  The room also has its own tv, surround sound, DVD, PS3, Satellite and light dimmers in about 10 different colors.

These are the bunks where everyone sleeps.  There are only 6, so you know someone has to sleep elsewhere.  I personally sleep in the seat I showed you earlier.  It actually reclines to about 120 degrees.

This was supposed to be my bunk, but there is a draft from outside that was making me sick.

Windows Media Center with over 300 movies and a router for wireless internet on the bus!

Here’s a pic of everyone in the front watching a movie.  This was before I claimed my seat…ha ha!

This is the inside of the venue for Gothenburg

Above is a shot of the stage.

We didn’t spend the night in Gothenburg, so I don’t have any city shots.  But here are pics of outside of the venue in all of the snow!!!

It was snowing pretty hard!

The Parking Lot

The sidewalk.  They had to dig out a path for people walk through!  Do you see the evening rush to the right?

Outside of the venue.  Can you believe people actually came to this gig?

The fried chicken that blessed my soul after the show!!!

Defenseless Video from It’s The Feel on Vimeo.

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