JD Underground

Read Post
Fri, 30 Aug 2024 05:52:42 -0700

Andy from
private IP
/all
I'm working on the Blackstar bass guitar, and there is substantial interest

Background: in my limited spare time, I sometimes build custom guitars.  Samples
of my work are at this link, which is for the prototype Prince tribute guitar I
built called Purple Rain: https://www.raellic.com/guitars/Purple-Rain/

Since I can't play a note on any of these instruments, I rely on professional
musicians to test and evaluate them.  The Purple Rain guitar is currently with
Ian Docherty, who is a professional guitarist with the bands July Talk and
Dwayne Gretzky in Canada.  He loves the instrument and plays it in every show. 
It is gratifying to me to have this instrument in the hands of such a talented
player.

In that connection, I've been working on a David Bowie tribute bass guitar for
the last couple of months that is destined for a bass player in my network as a
very special gift.  Initially, it was going to be purple and red with a
purple-to-red gradient, and diamond fret markers.  However, I have since changed
the configuration of the first one to double-gilded in 24K gold with gold-plated
hardware and gold-plated strings, with custom Blackstar fret markers made from
laser-sintered Titanium.  The intention is to tribute Bowie with an outrageous,
ultra-glam bass guitar.  No joke, this instrument will touch people's souls.  I
decided to make two of them, to start, because one is a gift for my collaborator
and one was to sell.  But then I had a better idea than selling the second one.

On a lark, I reached out to the managers of a couple of very famous bassists who
are musical heroes to me.  I pitched them on testing and evaluating the
Blackstar bass in memory of Bowie, and if they like it, they keep it
indefinitely to play as much or as little as they want.  So far, one of them has
said he is in.  This is a freaking crazy world where I can build an instrument
and one of my musical heroes will actually play it in shows.  It's
self-actualizing, is what it is.  I'm not quitting law, but apparently I need to
turn guitar-building into an actual business.  The irony here is that I would
rather be able to play guitar than build guitars, but hey-- Leo Fender couldn't
play a note either.

I will post links to the Blackstar work in progress once I have it up on
Instagram, and hopefully photos with the artist I drop it off to.  He's playing
San Francisco in about three weeks and that is a tight time frame, so we'll see.
 Shaking my head that this is actually happening.

#PublicFigures
#Technology 


Sat, 31 Aug 2024 10:16:11 -0700

PeanutsandCashews from private IP
/all
That's really cool. When I was in high school and my first couple years of
college, my good friends and roommate formed a band that had some local success.
They played quite a few clubs and other venues around the area (including a high
school dance at my school). Anyway, I used to be the primary (and usually only)
roadie, and I ran the mixing board when they practiced and played. When they got
lights, I ran the lights, too (which made sense because I also knew all their
originals and could match the changes and such). So, I used to hang out with
musicians quite a lot, and there would always be musical instruments around me.
I could play the saxophone, but there's not much use for those in a classic rock
band. I always used to be fiddling around with my roommate's guitars. To this
day, I can play only a couple AC/DC songs (if someone were to hand me a guitar),
but I sure know a lot about guitars, still, for someone who cannot actually play
a guitar. On TikTok, I follow mostly people who play guitar and bass (and a
couple lawyers).


Sat, 31 Aug 2024 11:45:51 -0700

Andy from
private IP
/all
https://www.instagram.com/p/C_Vwk8ixhRq/


Sat, 31 Aug 2024 17:20:21 -0700

whiteguyinchina from private IP
/all
I am busy now but will make fun of your shortly about this 


Sat, 31 Aug 2024 19:36:51 -0700

PeanutsandCashews from private IP
/all
I love the Purple Rain guitar. Sweet.


Sat, 31 Aug 2024 20:08:15 -0700

PeanutsandCashews from private IP
/all
Incidentally, one of my friends from that band is still playing professionally
today (the bass player). He plays in a classic rock band. They're actually
playing at a large local event right at this very moment. He always played a
Rickenbacker, like his idol Geddy. Nice bass, that.


Sat, 31 Aug 2024 20:27:38 -0700

PeanutsandCashews from private IP
/all
Of course, like his idol, Geddy, my friend also gave up his Rickenbacker and now
plays a Fender Jazz bass.


Sat, 31 Aug 2024 20:46:33 -0700

PeanutsandCashews from private IP
/all
Oh, wait. Pretty trippy. I just checked my Facebook feed, and there's my friend
on stage, playing a Fender P bass. Well, I have not talked to him in a while,
but I imagine he probably has many basses in his collection. He is a really
talented guy, and he was always, by far, the most talented musician in the band.
He's appeared on numerous albums and played steadily in bands that perform
around the area.

I'm getting far afield from this topic, but in high school, my man, despite
being a talented musician who played in a band, was horribly, painfully shy and
had absolutely zero game. A couple years out of high school, he married the
first woman who had sex with him, and they remain married now (with a couple
kids).


Sun, 01 Sep 2024 02:00:48 -0700

Andy from
private IP
/all
I half-jokingly tell people that law takes up 30% of my brain.  The funny thing
about my guitar hobby is that between project management and actually building
them, it takes 100% of my brain to create these world-class instruments.  I
laugh about it because if there were a way to quit law and build guitars
full-time, I would.  But it simply isn't sustainable economically to try to sell
eight- or nine-thousand dollar guitars due to the current market for
instruments, which is saturated with mass market volume made-overseas guitars
for $500 or less.  My guitars are outstanding in the conception and execution,
and the price reflects the ultra quality materials and components that go into
these instruments.  The gold gilding in particular is going to raise the price
of the guitars a lot, but it will be worth it.  These things touch people's
hearts and souls.  That's worth it to me, no matter how many of them I sell.  On
that subject, I really would like to attend the NAMM show in 2025 as an
exhibitor, but that means I need to have at least three instruments done, which
is an investment of probably $10,000 and dozens of hours of my time.  I'm not
sure I can get it all done by then.


Sat, 07 Sep 2024 01:28:05 -0700

2tierreality from private IP
/all
Multiple music artists made a song entitled "Black Star" or "Blackstar". Which
one is the namesake of your bass guitar?  When I saw the original post, my brain
immediately went to the Radiohead song, but then I realized that might not be
the one. 


Sat, 07 Sep 2024 02:44:47 -0700

Andy from
private IP
/all
It's a David Bowie tribute named after his Grammy-winning Blackstar album:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackstar_(album)


Sat, 07 Sep 2024 16:54:42 -0700

Andy from
private IP
/all
Check out the gilding, looking good so far: https://www.instagram.com/p/C_oLMrmyuxv/


Wed, 18 Sep 2024 08:45:29 -0700

Andy from
private IP
/all
It's almost done!  https://www.instagram.com/reel/DAB4MO2yd0Z/


Wed, 18 Sep 2024 20:38:08 -0700

marlon from
private IP
/all
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIC4HVTeP5c


Tue, 24 Sep 2024 06:15:53 -0700

Andy from
private IP
/all
It's essentially done, check this out: https://www.instagram.com/p/DAOmWihSpsj/

In terms of sound, it is absolutely crystal clear.  It also has a three-way EQ
with a frequency selector on the mid, which is a first for me.  It's a
world-class instrument that turned out well as a prototype.

The last things I need to do are: (1) set pickup height correctly, (2) fine-tune
the side marker height, and (3) replace the fret marker stickers, which are
already peeling, with high-quality fret marker decals that I found.


Fri, 27 Sep 2024 16:03:11 -0700

Andy from
private IP
/all
I fixed everything and shipped it off today, that's a wrap.


Sat, 28 Sep 2024 06:41:07 -0700

Andy from
private IP
/all
Final guitar: https://www.instagram.com/p/DAb10VHSY3T/
Replies require login.