[Dixielandjazz] Bass Keyboard

[Scott Anthony]

Hello Ed,

I've played bass pedals for over 30 years now, starting with a set called 
"Bass Mate" that I bought at Muscara Music in Belleville, NJ! When Joe Tarto 
quit playing at Rod's in West Orange, my partner suggested I get a set, and 
started then.

In the late 70s and early 80s I got interested in electronics and built a 
set of pedals with 16 notes arranged in a comfortable radius instead of just 
12 like the commerical ones. They worked pretty well for many years doing 
the intermissions for Turk but they finally gave up the ghost a few years 
ago, and I had to find a new set that was reliable, but nothing in one "box" 
seems to be available any longer. There used to be a company (I can't for 
the life of me remember the name) that made a stand-alone set that just 
plugged into an amp, but I think the only thing you're going to be able to 
find now is the Korg PK-5 and Korg PK-7A, both of which are midi pedals that 
require a bass synthesizer.

I have the PK-5 and it works great. I bought an Alesis NanoBass bass 
synthesiser (a tiny little stand alone box) to go with it that itself just 
plugs into my amp. It has all kinds of bass sounds. I mostly use one of the 
string bass settings and the tuba sound. You can even get a passable bass 
sax sound out of it. The NanoBass has 2 knobs that control "program" and 
"channel", and give you a couple hundred built-in sounds, and you can get a 
CD to download hundreds of others if you want. Most of them are great for 
rock, but the tuba and string bass are basically all I use.

The midi-keyboard/synthesizer combo is really not all that more trouble than 
the simpler pedals you are looking for, and the Korg quality is really 
great. They are well built and can stand the beating that feet will cause.

Hope this helps.

Scott Anthony

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <Edmetzsr at aol.com>
To: <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Saturday, October 07, 2006 8:13 AM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Bass Keyboard


> Listmates,
>    For a special need that has surfaced, I'm looking for (in the market 
> for)
> a bass keyboard device. Over the years I've owned bass pedals and other
> synthesizers to allow me to play bass lines in small club date settings 
> (which I no
> longer have). Now, as I search for a new device, I find lots of midi
> controllers, USB port devices for computer interfaces, etc., but no direct 
> "plug into
> an amplifier" and go devices. Can anyone lend a hand?
> I'd be deeply indebted!! Thanks
> Ed Metz
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