Gear endorsements were a nice little income stream for name guitarists even back then. The problem for Jerry was that so much of his rig was custom-built, there wasn't that much he could commercially endorse. Did Bob or Phil ever endorse Modulus? I have a frankenstein fretless bass with a Modulus graphite neck I got secondhand and love. One of these days, I'll spring for the type of Modulus bass that Phil played--they really are fantastic instruments. I've never thought the graphite necks work that well for guitars, though. The overtones aren't complex enough, so they sound clinical.
Furman is among the companies that was essentially born from the Grateful Dead and related scene History of Furman Sound and its Grateful Dead Roots I’ve seen Bobby Ibanez ads but don’t recall seeing Modulus, though they may exist. Bob was an investor in the company.
Phil had good things to say about Modulus, I believe, but I don't think he ever officially endorsed them. I've wondered why he switched from Smith to Modulus; maybe the string spacing is tighter? I've got a fretless Smith 6-banger and the fingerboard looks like the deck of an aircraft carrier. Now that's some hyperbole.
I have a nice SBD that I picked up on eTree. I can send you the files if that's easier... Happy to help.
Bob's first Ibanez reminds me a lot of John McLaughlin's 1972-74 Rex Bogue doubleneck (which I believe Ibanez did a knock-off of). That was a fascinating read. Thanks. It's interesting how the Dead's need for equipment that didn't exist drove inventions that everyone uses now. They also were interesting in how they employed women like Betty Cantor and Janet Furman in technical roles at a time when women rarely got jobs like that. Modulus basses have great clarity (especially on the low B on a 5- or 6-stringer) and an unreal amount of sustain. They're really perfect for the way Phil plays. Years before the fretless Fender/Modulus hybrid I have now, I briefly had a Modulus Jazz bass that was a hell of a player. It was great for R&B/slap, but it had almost too much sustain for traditional rock bass stuff--you couldn't get the thing to shut up!
My brother plays in a traditional bluegrass circle and he has brought in about 6-7 hunter-Garcia tunes to these old salts and they love them. At their heart, these we’re wed to the folk/bluegrass/mountain/blues zeitgeist. I just love their version of whisky In the jar. I spent years in Europe and whenever I would go to an Irish pub, invariably the band would play this and it would always have different verses but everyone knew them and sang along.
Phil played the Smiths (he had at least two that I know of) in '90-'91 and this video is from later '91. It's hard to see the headstock, but for a few seconds it looks like it has an "S" on it. However, the body shape is not characteristic of Smith basses that I know of. Great crunchy/snappy tone. Is this a Modulus?
Of course they are deadheads. It doesn’t matter whether you toured with them. I have warm memories of the shows I attended but I love the fact that people who never saw them can get so excited about their music still. They are every bit the dead head I am.
I was given a Dead studio mix tape in ‘91 in response to my love of heavy metal.I couldn’t take Garcia’s voice or playing then.I heard Without A Net years later from the same person and it clicked effortlessly.By then I was really into my own art and taking inspiration from everyplace and different approaches to music.With the vault series Hundred Year Hall and DP series being accessible I was able to discover new abstract improvisations that fed my creativity at that time.It would be an ever on again off again exploration from then on.I still have my own favorite aspects and wouldn’t know how to relate to some of these guys familiar with every era and lived out endless shows.I wish I was there to see some.
Yes, that's a Modulus Quantum. It was their main model for many years. Quite a few guys have used them over the years in just about every genre, but the main other jam-oriented player I can think of right now is Neal Fountain, who has played with Jimmy Herring quite a bit. Quantum — Modulus Graphite Ah, well that certainly makes the story even more interesting...
Now playing 30 items from June 26, 1973. That's the 26th day of July in the year 1973 for you folks overseas.
The examples that jump to mind for me are Mike Gordon and Dave Schools. Mike has played a Quantum 5 almost exclusively since 3/1/97 and Dave has played a Quantum 6 for even longer
A steal at just $4,900 plus a slew of of possible upgrades. Man, I'd love to get one of those in Trans Sienna or Velvet Black Cherry but I'll have to live with what I've got. For the record, I'm not begrudging what they charge (other than perhaps charging $100 for a fretless board). Fewer materials and less workmanship and it costs extra? Their setup must be geared for fretted with side dots in between the fret locations, so re-locating the side dots is an expense.
Garcia endorsed Travis Bean guitars in the late 1970s. There's another ad that I couldn't find, with the slogan "Travis Bean breaks the sound barrier" next to a photo of Garcia, either holding the guitar or playing it- I don't recall it being the image below, but my Images search pulled this pic up as a photo done for a Travis Bean ad
No vaccine required. Or wanted! We're the Committee for Unadulterated bzfgt, and we approve this message. Made it through Dave's 37 again today, time for some other shows from distant shores, or more likely GDP in the small Spanish village of San Rafael. Home of all you can eat huevos rancheros. Roll those Rs, MFers! [GORTED]
(I know, I know) JGB jammy goodness. I really dig the relaxed, laidback vibe. You get a real sense that it was a good time. Anyone at this show? GarciaLive Vol. 1: Capitol Theatre — March 1, 1980 . . . 1980/2013 Round Records (3) – JGFRR1001
I haven't checked in quite a while, but a used one is probably less than half that, and there are a fair number of them out there because they've been around so long. Bass is my side hustle for my own recording projects, so I've got a funky little collection of four basses that probably cost me $1500 total. Might be different if I had delusions of making a living at it... I like how they cleverly inserted the word "production" into Jerry endorsement quote, considering that Jerry was playing the Beans while waiting to get Wolf back from Doug Irwin. A store near me got an old TB1000 in stock recently, and I thought about taking a look at it for a hot minute...then I realized that I can't stand the sound of Jerry's TB1000 on any of the recordings I've heard, so hard pass.
Earlybird listening this morning: 5/14/74 Missoula MT, second set. That WRS>DS>China Doll segment is simply one of the most amazing things that ever happened. All of those transitions and the group interplay in this Dark Star are so perfectly executed that it sounds like they wrote it that way. Billy deserves a shout-out for this one. He sounds like he could have sat in with Chick Corea if he had any spare time. According to this review, apparently the good Missoulian concert-goers in 1974 were hoping for a little more basic boogie and a little less mind transformation. Oh well, their loss is our gain. Internet Archive Forums: Alternate Review
