Anyways, I took a class my senior year called Beginning Instrument. This was one of the best classes I had in high school. The teacher was cool as hell and we got away with a lot. We would sit around and play piano and acoustic guitar and talk about music. The class was serious for about a week and then we just did whatever we wanted to do. We would wander around the big band room and play the crazy percussion instruments and touch everything till we got yelled at. We'd smoke weed in the little practice rooms and in the bathrooms. There was a separate boys and girls room connected to the band room and we'd usually go in the girls room and smoke up so we'd have someone sit out and guard the bathrooms and if Mr. Budzik came, they'd start jamming the guitar and sing loudly so we knew he was coming to check up on us. I had Joe Reid and Rocky Renghinni in that class so we fucked around everyday. Joe Reid and I actually stole 2 or 3 acoustic guitars from that class. We'd just run out the back doors to his car and stash shit till after school. I stole an instrument tuner and some other worthless junk.
Then one day I was exploring the band room and there was always this door that was always locked and one day it was unlocked so of course I had to go in. There were a bunch of instruments in there. Tubas and trumpets and drums and keyboards and then there was this guitar case so I opened it and there was the Washburn bass. I got all excited that I could now play bass in class instead of playing bass on an acoustic guitar. So I got Joe Reid and we plugged it into a keyboard amp and it sounded like shit. The electronics were fucked up. So I would just play it cause it was a bass.
Then on the last day of school, I brought an empty guitar case and put the Washburn in it. I took the guitar up to the English Department where the English teachers would sit and relax and grade papers and I put it by my English teachers desk who was not there that day and I knew no one would touch it. Then after the final bell rang, I was walking to the English Department with Eric's brother Mark and I was all nervous about getting it and Mark said "So do u want the bass" and I said yeah. "This is your only chance to get it, fuckin do it. Its yours." That was all I needed. I wanted the bass. I wanted it to be mine whether it worked or not so I walked in, grabbed it in front of a bunch of teachers and Mark and I walked the block to my house. Now thats a historical event.
I need to get new pickups in this bad boy and get it to work properly. I've been saying that since I got it. One day it will work and you'll see pictures of me at a show playing it. I promise.
washburn update 8-2-06
yup. i got the Washburn up and working. i took it in to Park Place Music and had the guy put in new EMG Select pickups. then i had him disconnect all the knobs and install a toggle switch that just turns the pickups on or off. no tone. no volume. just on or off. it's that simple. and it rules. i played it at the Mutiny this past Saturday and it was sounding pretty good. after playing EB MusicMan basses though, it was pretty uncomfortable and slow feeling. i might bust it out at another show sometime in the future. other than that, it's a house bass to just jam at home. i've had it since i was 17. and just got it goin. finally.
-ERIK