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02/07/2007 Entry: "Slabby Joe"

I don't think I've mentioned it here, but Paddy, my friend and bass player, is moving. He and his lady friend are packing up the car, and heading west. Where? They're not really sure. They're on an adventure! Drive towards Texas, head to Mexico, up to San Fran, maybe to Seattle. No time lines, no plans--just go. (I must say, it's something I wish I had done when I was younger.)

In any event, Paddy's selling a lot of his belongings. I already bought a ton of CDs from him. Last week, I bought a coffee table and a folding ladder. On Monday, he showed me where he had listed two of his three basses on ebay. One of the basses set to sell was Slabby Joe. There's some history with Slabby and Paddy. I seem to recall that a '51 P Bass was on the list of Paddy's "basses to own." And when we started Three Button Deluxe, that gave him the opportunity to buy one. So he did. They come from the factory without the bridge cover ("the ashtray") or the pick-up cover ("the bell"). So Paddy ordered those parts separately, and added them on. Slabby was then just like a real '51 Fender Precision as she would have come from the factory. (The P was the first viable solid body electric bass guitar, btw.)

Anyway, Slabby was for sale. I jokingly said "I've got $300 if you sell 'er to me right now." The bidding on ebay was already at $305, and they routinely sell for over $500. So it didn't look like it was going to happen.

At the end of the auction, it hadn't met reserve price. Some jerk earlier bid the price up, and then emailed Paddy and basically said "If I win, I won't pay for it." By the time his bid was canceled, there was only about 8 hours left in the auction, so I think many potential bidders were thrown off by that. Anyway, Paddy said to me Monday night "You can buy Slabby for $300." His attitude was basically to sell it to me for less then he would've gotten on ebay, but he knows it's going to a good home. And, I had been looking for a bass for a while. (If I weren't a drummer, I'd be a bass player.) Fender's new Squire Jazz Bass was about $300, and I almost bought one at Northern Kingdom. But then I decided that rather than learn bass, I should devote what little free time I might use to practice bass to practice the drums. But it seems it all just fell into place on Monday, and now Slabby Joe lives with me.

Replies: 1 person has rocked the mic!

And to a fine home indeed ... with visions of snare drums that dance in his head ...

Posted by Paddy @ 02/08/2007 09:38 AM EST

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