On Mon, 10 May 2004 02:55:09 GMT, cowboy6591

That, and a plywood bbutt has a more authoritative "Thump" to it, at least compared to the only two carved bbuttes I've heard up close at length. "Bessie" (Tom Gray's bbutt, he being my dad, I know that one very well) tends to "sing" more than "thump", and in many situations you want that more percussive bite to set the rhythm, since we eschew the guys with the drums. In bands that do quite well in making sure the rhythm gets established without the thump, the bbuttman gets freed to contribute melodically (see, for instance, the following cuts from the Scene: "Small Exception of Me", "Hickory Wind" and "Wait a Minute")

Funny, I don't recall Bessie getting any cracks.

And a prettier tone when played pizz. It's just bluegrbutt and rockabilly count on the thump.

The Pizzicato warlock could not be reached for comment.

I suppose someone could talk to Tom, to make sure, but I don't think Bessie sustained much in the way of damage, and he frequently entrusted the carriage of same to me or my brother, and she traveled with a family of five in the back of a Chevy Impala wagon (I probably spent a couple of hundred thousand miles with the neck of that thing on my shoulder) in nothing but your flat-standard padded bag.

I'll sit corrected. Nearly everyone plays ply. I think it's from the thump. And I don't think that the carved-wood bbuttes have the fragility that Cowboy credits them with.

-- Lane Gray Due to intense mind fog, all thoughts have been grounded. remove the .lead from my address