Fender’s L.A. Bass Bash a Smash! A who’s who of bassists converge for new gear, camaraderie and show Talk about a “booming” business: the recent Fender Bass Bash in Los Angeles proved to be, quite literally, a resounding success. An impressive who’s who of bassists gathered on Wednesday, Nov. 9 and Thursday, Nov. 10 to sample the latest gear from Fender and sister bass amp company SWR® while enjoying a convivial atmosphere of four-string community. The event culminated Thursday evening in a stellar performance at Hollywood’s Musicians Institute at which guitarist/emcee Greg Koch and drummer John Calarco were joined by bassists Kim Stone, David Pastorius, Roscoe Beck, Chris Maresh, Reggie Hamilton and Tony Franklin, each of whom turned in their own unique and astonishing performance. A great set by the Mike Keneally Band completed the evening. That rainy Wednesday afternoon, bassists descended upon Center Staging in Burbank, where they could cut loose in the sound room with Koch and Calarco, and mingle with everyone in the main room, where they could try out basses and amps, particularly the star of Fender Bass Amplification’s show, the TBP-1 tube bass preamp. In addition to digging the gear, many bassists said they enjoyed the sense of “bass community” they found there, and that they hope it becomes an annual event (Fender presented the original Bass Bash two years ago). “Bass players so rarely get a chance to hang together,” said renowned bassist Steve Bailey. “To me, the beauty of this is walking in here and seeing a handful of friends—some are guys I haven’t seen for years—seeing them all standing around with something in common, a bass or an amp, and playing together and hanging out. And also exploring some new gear that they probably haven’t—or at least I haven’t—seen before. It’s fun to be here.” Bassist Justin Meldal-Johnsen, known for his work with Beck, Macy Gray and Tori Amos, said, “It’s great. It’s like the relaxed version of NAMM, without pesky guitar players (laughs).” “It’s actually a real treat, because at the NAMM show, it’s hard to talk to people about ideas and things. Here, there are people who are willing to brainstorm with you—like, I was talking to Jay (Piccirillo, Fender Bass Amplification marketing manager) about all kinds of amp ideas. It’s just really cool.” The sound room was hopping, swinging and rocking all day. Koch, Beck and Calarco, for example, swung through Wes Montgomery’s “West Coast Blues” and Beck’s own “Cotton” from his new CD, Walk On. “I always like the Fender events,” Hamilton said. “These guys are constantly thinking and working. It’s cool, because (Fender) is constantly focused on helping me to be able to say what I want to say better. And that’s cool, to have somebody like that in your corner. You can’t help but want to do as much for them as possible. I’ll do anything I can that Fender needs me to do. I’m glad to be here” (see related story, "Reggie Hamilton"). Beck, too, appreciated the sense of community. “Some guys, like Chris Maresh, who lives in Austin, I already know, and we hang out some. Other guys, like Reggie Hamilton, I know, but don’t get to see very often—only when I’m here in L.A. It’s such a gas to hear to hear somebody like Reggie play. It’s inspiring, really. To hear somebody like him just makes me think, you know, time to go back to the woodshed; time to do some practicing.” “And I’m happy to say that there isn’t the competitive spirit that you might think would be here at such an event, where it’s like ‘Check out all my chops,’ or everybody trying to cut somebody else. It’s just a bunch of folks showing up and checking out the gear and doing what they do.” Bob Willocks, Fender’s manager of consumer relations, nicely summed up the benefit to the company by noting that “Bass Bash is a great opportunity to bring together some of the finest bassists in the world in order to introduce ourselves and some of our newest Fender and SWR products to a diverse group of players.” “We wanted to take advantage of the moment to create some new relationships and to listen to what these fantastic musicians have to say about the tools they use to create their art,” Willocks added. “It’s of paramount importance to us to learn as much as we can and to get as much feedback as we can from the top artists in the bass playing world about what they need and what they want; what works for them and what doesn’t. This continual quest for more information helps us define the character of the products we develop so that they respond effectively to the needs of players at every level in the bass community. Fourteen-year-old bassist Joshua Crumbly of Palmdale, Calif., there with his parents, Ronnie and Teresa, turned a few heads with his prodigious talent. A Fender Pro series user who started on bass at age 9 and was gigging a year later, Crumbly was cradling a Fender Precision Bass® in the sound room when Koch asked him, “Wanna play something?” With Calarco on drums, the trio launched into a swinging rendition of Charlie Parker’s “Billie’s Bounce,” as Beck and Hamilton looked on like proud uncles. “I love it,” Crumbly said later. “It’s a great atmosphere. It’s great being around other great bass players.” Pink bassist Janis Tanaka said, “I came to listen to the new amps—I played with them at a show and at practice, and I thought they sounded just great.” Maresh, Eric Johnson’s bassist, plugged in a sunburst Fender Jazz Bass® and gestured toward the rig he was sampling that afternoon. “I’ve been using this—the TBP-1 and the power amp—and it really works well,” he said. “Very natural, clean, easy-to-use and rockin’. It’s a good straight-ahead amplifier, and believe me, I’ve played a bunch of ’em. I like it a lot.” Maresh said he thinks the event ought to be held every year. “I think it’d only get bigger,” he said. “This is the first event like this that I’ve ever been to. I think that once more people have heard about it, it’d be a big, big event.” Piccirillo said the event continued a longstanding Fender tradition of learning how to improve products by bringing them straight to the people who use them, and that the Bass Bash was a great way to get many of them—performers and products—together under one roof. “The point of the event is to be able to get a bunch of people in a room, who you couldn’t normally get all together in a room,” he said. “And while there are a lot of different objectives, the main objective is following that Fender tradition of being able to ask the artist ‘What would be the best way to get the job done with this product?’ and being able to put that feedback into the products we’re working on, to make them better. I really do think that’s the best way to make the best product.” See more photos in the Fender Bass Bash online photo gallery. All photos by Bob Burchess   Roscoe Beck, Reggie Hamilton, Joshua Crumbly, Greg Koch and John Calarco. Justin Meldal-Johnsen confers with Fender's Alex Perez. Hamilton and Chris Maresh. Koch, making it hurt Thursday evening. Stephen Bruner and friend. Hamilton and Fender's Jay Piccirillo. Calarco held it down for everybody. David Pastorius slaps around a Jazz bass. Mike Keneally onstage.