GEAR
Basses
Mike Lull BBMF5 5-String (new model soon to be released)
Mike Lull Custom Modern 5-String (BB signature model)
Mike Lull Custom Modern 5-String (1999 era)
Mike Lull Custom P/J 5-string
Spector Alex Webster Signature Euro 5LX(AW)
Spector Forte 5-String (Wide)
Mike Lull Custom T-Bass 4-String
Fender Precision Bass (MIM)
Ibanez SRX505, modified with Carey Nordstrand “Music Man” electronics
Heads, Preamps and Power Amps (Live Rig)
Gallien-Krueger Fusion 550
Gallien-Krueger 2001RB
Gallien-Krueger MB Fusion (first gen/original/500)
Speaker Cabs (Live Rig)
Gallien-Krueger RBH410 (4) or CX410 (4)
Gallien Krueger Neo 112-II (1 – small rig)
Strings
D’Addario ProSteels, 45-65-85-105, with 130 tapered-core B
Main, Live Pedalboard
Boss FV-50 Volume Pedal
Boss TU-2 Chromatic Tuner
Boss OC-2 Octave Pedal
(option: Electro-Harmonix Bass MicroSynth)
Xotic Effects Bass BB Preamp
Digitech X-Series Bass Driver
Darkglass Vintage Microtubes (or Vintage Microtubes Deluxe)
Aphex Bass Exciter
Dunlop Crybaby Bass Wah
Boss CE-2B Bass Chorus
Boss DD-3 Digital Delay
tc electronic Hall Of Fame Reverb
tc electronic Flashback Delay
Demeter Opto-Compulator
Xotic Effects EP Booster
Voodoo Labs Pedal Power 2 Plus
G Labs Power 8
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STEEL PANTHER'S NEXT BASSIST: Made you look, right? š OK but seriously you guys, how is it possible that I didn't know about this whole "Steel Panther Bass Audition Tournament Of Champions" thing until today? I mean, I should have auditioned, right? Right?! I had a character ready to go and everything (see first comment)...
VAI TIME: Looks like Steve Vai is gearing up to release his next album. I'm on the third track, "Little Pretty". It's a wild and dense yet melodic and beautiful tune, a fun and worthwhile challenge to get my mind around. I haven't heard the rest of the album. Perhaps you should. šYup, itās ready. And it drops on January 28th, 2022. Itās called āInviolateā. Enjoy the ride.
GETTING BACK (or, HOW I GOT RETWEETED BY THE BEATLES): So, on Friday night, right after I watched Part 1 of The Beatles doc āGet Backā and was already once-in-a-lifetime floored by it, I posted the following, only on Twitter, just as a snap reaction:
****āMOVED TO TEARS: I can't believe how wonderful and mindblowing The Beatles "Get Back" is. If you've ever been in a band & you're a Beatles fan, it's startlingly intimate and moving. To describe it is to defile it. Something to be grateful for in these crazy times. Happy Gobble!ā****
And then, believe it or not, The Beatlesā twitter account *retweeted* it, resulting in the tweet then - as the kids say - blowing up. My one and only truly viral tweet, and really all because The Beatles were my parentsā favorite band and they had every album on vinyl and I listened to them all over and over before the age of 10. Weird, and fun!
Anyway, I finished watching it over the weekend, one night at a time, and I just keep thinking itās a miracle that it even exists. I know a lot of people following me are musicians. We have to remember that, for the overwhelming majority of people who are *not* musicians, no movie or TV documentary has ever really captured the group creative process - which always, always has personal overtones - of working through new material. Not *really*, and certainly not any material that nearly everyone knows.
Now, one has, and because The Beatles still in many ways are the biggest band in the world in terms of the number of living fans, weāve just experienced a true mass-consciousness-shifting event: Now people know what itās like to be in a band, deal with each other, and write and record new material under pressure. Remember, before digital home studios, going into the studio was very expensive and there was always pressure to deliver the goods!
Most people didnāt really know what that was like, except for us. Before they didnāt, now they do.
That alone is miraculous. The fact that itās The Beatles - the worldās biggest band, under the most pressure imaginable - who ended up being the teaching example is simply otherworldly, indescribable.
But this article does a pretty good job of it.
Why the Beatlesā āGet Backā May Stand as the Best Rock Doc Ever (Column)
A moment of silence, please, for āThis Is Spinal Tap,ā as that satire formally abdicates its title as the best and truest movie ever made about what itās like to be in a rock ānā roll band. There wā¦CAPTION THIS: Iāll go first - Professor Purple always checks with his trusted quality-control expert (and best girl) Eagle-Eared Ellie to ensure chart-reading excellence and accuracy on his last take.
FOR THE ROCKSTARS OF TOMORROW: Hey, maybe thatās you! Iāll be at the Rockstars of Tomorrow Norco CA this Sunday at 2pm for my first SoCal clinic in many years. Hereās a little promo video I did to hype it up. No shame, my game, etc. Also, itās free with RSVP. And Iāll be doing a couple of tunes Iāve never done before in this format, including one very special cover. š
This event is sponsored by Mike Lull Custom Guitars & Guitarworks and D'Addario and Co. . Many thanks to those fine makers of extremely excellent gear!
RSVP here: www.rockstarsoftomorrow.com/bryan-beller-clinic
STEEL PANTHER'S NEXT BASSIST: Made you look, right? š But srsly u guys, how did I not know about this whole "Steel Panther Bass Audition Contest" thing until today? I should have auditioned, right?! I had a character ready to go and everything...
https://t.co/txGRZ6FMaL
