Features
The Chicago Low Down – Interview with Carl Pedigo by Tim Seisser
For this month’s installment of The Chicago Low Down, we switch it up for an interview with one of Chicago’s premier instrument repairman and luthier extraordinaire, Carl Pedigo. Carl built his first guitar at age fifteen and has been working on instruments ever since. Later, he went on to work with two important Chicago luthiers, Ed Reynolds and Hugh McFarland. Dan Lakin and Hugh started Lakland basses and hired Carl to work in the factory. After Hugh went on to pursue his own interests, Carl took over as shop supervisor and as such, designed many of Lakland’s production methods and fixtures that are still currently in use. Carl has since left the factory floor and is in “private practice” building instruments, doing mods and repairing guitars and basses. Carl, a.k.a. “The Chicago Bass Doctor”, is truly an expert luthier and his client list includes many of the biggest names in bass and music including John McVie, Nate Mendal, Tim Commerford, Geezer Butler, Darryl Jones, George Porter, Adam Clayton, Hutch Hutchinson, Mike Gordon, Donald “Duck” Dunn, Rodney “Skeet” Curtis, Chris Squire, Dave Pomeroy, Neil Stubenhaus, Bob Glaub and countless others.
Tim: So tell the readers how you got into doing repairs and building instruments?
Carl: Well, I was a kid, I didn’t have any money and I needed a guitar. I was taking a bunch of shop courses in school at the time and I just sort of made one. I had a few parts from an old Teisco that I used for hardware. To be honest, it came out bad and it was almost tune-able… But our ears weren’t really in tune at the time and we played too loud anyways, so it didn’t make a difference (laughter). But that was the start of it, desperation really.
Tim: When did people start coming to you for repairs?
Carl: That was pretty early on as well because a lot of my friends knew that I was the only person really willing to do work on their instruments. And I admit, at first I really had no idea what I was doing, I just learned by doing it. There were some disappointed people along the way. One time, a guy gave me a guitar to work on and it got stolen from me, along with a bunch of other stuff. But that was definitely all part of the educational experience.
Tim: Did you ever have any formal training with any established repair guys/luthiers or did you learn mostly just reading about it and from the hands on experience?
Carl: Well I just did it by myself, until about the early nineties when I met a guy named Hugh McFarland, who was a local Chicago luthier. I had also known Ed Reynolds, who was another local luthier, for many years. But Ed was in a different class from myself at the time. He was serious, and he had an actual shop. At the time, I had a job that was driving me crazy, but I was making a lot of money so it was really difficult for me to quit. Eventually I passed the threshold and I couldn’t do it anymore. So Hugh told me he would pay me five dollars an hour if I worked for him in his shop. I could already do a bunch of stuff and Hugh trusted me. So I just started doing it eight hours a day, six days a week and I realized that it was something I should have been doing all along. Actually the guy that started Lakland, Danny Lakin, used to bring stuff to our (Hugh’s) shop for repairs. One day he said “Doesn’t anybody make an instrument that doesn’t have these same ten problems?” and so we started thinking about it. Ed got involved and thus the first Lakland instrument was born in Hugh’s shop. We made the first twenty or so over there. Then we found out Dan Lakin’s father already owned a factory building, and there was space available, so eventually we moved over there.
Tim: So you got started as a professional a little later on in your life. After you had already had established a professional life in another field.
Carl: Yeah, I didn’t start building and repairing seriously until I decided to reinvent myself in my forties. I realized there was a need for competent luthiers out here. With Lakland, we were just trying to overcome the disadvantages that were built into the instrument because of Fender’s concession to manufacturing techniques. That was it. We wanted to get a specific sound and we thought Bartolini nailed the electronics requirements. The rest of it was just engineering around the problems that seventy five percent of the bass playing public was willing to deal with.
Tim: When would you say that you guys (Lakland) realized you were on to something? That it was going to be more than just a hundred or so instruments a year out of Chicago to local players and the occasional overseas order?
Carl: Dan and Hugh went to Nashville for the Summer NAMM show in 1994 where they exhibited the instrument for 4 days at Bartolini’s booth. Shortly before Christmas that same year, Fender had written us a letter asking us to stop our headstock design. I think because there was a buzz already starting, Fender pointed a finger at us and said, “Those guys are doing something and we got to make ’em stop”. They sent us a hand drawn picture of one of our headstocks with a little bracket showing the area that we had to change. So we said fine and just flattened it out. I got the distinct impression not that they were afraid of what we were doing but just wanted to manipulate us somehow and make us do something different. However, we took that as a sign that we were on the right track and that people were noticing what we were doing. Even though we hadn’t done anything that we thought was weird or unusual, we were still appealing to that seventy five percent of the bass playing public that bought Fender and MusicMan style instruments.
Tim: You mentioned Bartolini and the electronics. Did the original Laklands have the J/MM pickup setup?
Carl: Yeah, that was the original design. We thought it was the best way to get different sounds out of the bass. It is really all about where the pickup is placed in relation to the string length and the harmonic content that the pickup sees. So we put the MM pickup a little behind the traditional MusicMan position. We wanted to get as close to the MusicMan pickup sound as possible. The front J Style pickup is in the traditional front J position, so we could get that harmonic content as well. So with the back MM pickup with the three way coil tap, it was basically the 60’s or 70’s back J pickup sound, or MusicMan sound, and then the traditional front J pickup location. It was the combination of all of those options that made us put it in that spot.
Tim: When did you become “The Chicago Bass Doctor”? Was it an evolution from working at Hugh’s shop and from people starting to know about you?
Carl: No, actually it was after I had stopped working for Lakland. Dan gave me a space to work at his Dad’s factory. I wanted to keep doing what I was doing. Basically, it was just a continuation of what I was doing at Lakland, building custom instruments and doing repairs. But now it was just my own thing. My daughter actually thought of the “Bass Doctor” name. I am working on my twentieth custom bass now. I spend about half my day working for Lakland and half doing my own thing. It’s perfect and couldn’t have worked out any better.
Tim: Tell me a little bit about your past as a musician. Did you start on guitar?
Carl: Actually I started as a violinist. Then, like most guys my age, I realized you couldn’t get chicks playing violin so I started playing guitar. I started playing bass in the mid seventies. It was one of those situations where this guy would come and jam with our band, he played bass, but a lot of times he would have twelve too many beers. He would be off in some other corner of the studio passed out so I would just pick up his bass and fool around. He had a really, really cool MusicMan bass, which was new at the time. I thought it was phenomenal. The action was so low I could play it just tapping the string with my fingertip and it had such a rich wonderful sound. I fell in love with it. I also had been playing string bass in high school orchestra, so it was really easy for me to make the transition.
Tim: Why do you think more bass players don’t learn how to do their own basic setups?
Carl: Well, this is why I did my setup videos online. This is the reason they are available. I think all bass players should really know how to go at least that far. But I think a lot of players see this activity as something really esoteric. Almost like they think it involves a different level of understanding of the instrument that they don’t want to get involved with. I know some people who are really great players, but they just won’t crank their truss rod. They will adjust the saddles but they won’t touch the truss rod. I don’t really understand why. I think if you are willing to learn the setup methods, you can simply learn them and work towards an anticipated outcome. Different players preferences can seem drastically different but they are all really within well-defined, narrow parameters. Some people like whisper-like action, some people like really high and hard action. The instrument has to be manufactured the same way; it just has to be able to suffer different setups. But I don’t really understand why more players won’t do their own setups.
Tim: Thanks for your time Carl. Hopefully thru this interview more players will see your setup videos and attempt their own basic setups.
For more than basic setups and a list of some of the services Carl offers, you can check out Carl’s website at www.chicagobassdoctor.com.
Bass Videos
Interview With K3 Sisters Band
K3 Sisters Band Interview…
It is very rare when I talk to a band where all the members play bass. The K3 Sisters Band is a perfect example of a group where Kaylen, Kelsey and Kristen Kassab are all multi-instrumentalists and take turns playing bass.
Hailing from Texas, these three sisters have been playing music since they were very young and have amassed an amazing amount of original music, music videos, streaming concerts, podcasts, and content that has taken numerous social media platforms by storm. On TikTok alone, they have over 2.5 million followers and more than a billion views.
Join me as we hear the story of their musical journey, how they get their sound, and the fundamental principles behind these prolific musicians.
Here is the K3 Sisters Band!
Photo, Bruce Ray Productions
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Bass Videos
Interview With Bassist Danielle Nicole
Bassist Danielle Nicole…
Blues music has universal appeal. We all have our ups and downs and this particular musical genre often fits our reality. Just hearing that we are not alone makes us feel a bit better.
Danielle Nicole writes and sings the Blues. She does an amazing job at delivering both exquisite smoky vocals but plays just the right bass line to drive the tune home. Danielle recently released “The Love You Bleed” last January and will be touring the album this upcoming year.
Join me as we learn about Danielle’s musical journey, how she gets her sound, her plans for the future and more.
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Photo, Missy Faulkner
Features
Bergantino Welcomes Karina Rykman to Their Family of Artists
Interview with Karina Rykman…
Karina Rykman…The high-energy bassist discusses her path on bass, her upcoming tour, how she came to find Bergantino through another Bergantino artist, and more!
A lifelong Manhattanite diehard New Yorker, Bergantino welcomes new Artist Karina Rykman. Jim and Holly had the privilege of meeting Karina and her band in Boston to see her perform. She lights up a stage with her charismatic passion as a bass player and singer – a true powerhouse of joy and energy. On stage, she smiles from ear to ear, hopping, jumping, and dancing; the entire room overflowing with positivity! If you don’t know this titan of bass yet, you will soon enough. Karina’s JOYRIDE 2024 tour picks up this month with the debut of her new album. We had the opportunity to ask Karina some questions about her career so far.
You have quite the career that began at a very young age. You have so much going on!! Can you share some of your musical path highlights you are most proud of?
Oh man, thank you! What a long, strange trip it’s been. I’m proud of still being so absolutely enthralled by music after playing in a million bands and finally ending up at this current juncture: being able to make my own music and tour under my own name. It just seems completely surreal – every gig, every recording…I’m on cloud 9 being able to continue to do this, and we’re just getting started. I’m extremely proud of being so young and being able to learn so much from Marco Benevento, without whom I’d be absolutely nowhere. Being put up to a large task with enormous shoes to fill, and stepping in even though I barely knew what I was doing at the time. Every gig with Marco is extremely special to me.
Tell us about your new album release Joyride and your 2024 tour.
Joyride is my debut record! It came out in August 2023, and we’ve been touring behind it nonstop ever since. You only make your first record once, and I’m so proud of this one – it’s fun, searing, lush, with chantable choruses and, of course, incredibly thick bass and infectious grooves. It was produced by Phish’s Trey Anastasio, who also contributes guitar parts to 5 of the 9 tunes.
What makes the bass so special to you particularly, and how did you gravitate towards it?
There’s nothing quite like feeling the subs rumbling under your feet in a venue and being responsible for those sounds is thrilling. I played guitar first, at age 12, but essentially completely switched over to bass when I was 22 and got the gig playing bass with Marco Benevento. I haven’t looked back since, except for a few gigs on guitar here and there (notably in the house band on Late Night with Seth Meyers and on The Today Show backing up Julia Michaels).
People hate this question, but: If you were constructing your personal Bass Mt. Rushmore, who are the four players that would make the cut and why?
Geddy Lee, Cliff Burton, Bootsy Collins, Les Claypool. The list goes on and on, of course, but those four have imprinted their unique styles upon my brain since I was so young, and I’m perpetually learning from them – even in the case of the deceased Cliff (RIP), going back and watching Cliff ‘Em All videos is something I do all the time. Endlessly compelled by these four players and their original takes on the instrument.
How did you learn to play?
I never took lessons, but in middle school and high school, I just surrounded myself with equally music-obsessed people. All we did was play music and go and see live music, which is wildly accessible when you grow up in New York City. I had a really tight-knit crew of amazing players as my friends, and everyone would teach each other riffs and licks. I was fearless – playing with people much better than me and saying “yes” to every cool opportunity that came my way. I essentially learned from playing in a million bands and playing along to Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin records.
Are there any other instruments you play?
I started on guitar, and still love to write on guitar. I can get around on keyboards a bit, but you’d never hire me as a keyboardist. The same goes for drums – I LOVE playing drums but you’d never hire me as a drummer.
Describe your playing style(s), tone, strengths and/or areas that can be improved on the bass.
I play both with a pick and my fingers, depending on the specific needs of / vibe of the tune. I love playing fuzz bass and writing bombastic “lead bass” moments, which are a staple of my live show. I’d say I’m about the least “traditional” bassist in just about every way – which is both a strength and a weakness depending on how you frame it. I play what I hear, what I like, and I adhere to very few rules. I’ve always hated rules, and I didn’t start playing rock n roll to follow them.
How did you find Bergantino Audio Systems?
I’m pals with Mike Gordon, bassist of Phish, and his tech is named Ed Grasmeyer. Ed suggested he bring Mike’s Bergantino for me to try out at a show I was playing in Vermont, and I fell instantly in love.
You have been using the Bergantino Forté HP2 head. How have you been setting the controls on this and what changes to those settings might you make as you plug into your other individual instruments?
I love my Forté HP2! The versatility and headroom are incredible, and I’ve been having a lot of fun dialing it in at home. The real fun will begin this weekend when I take it out for 2.5 weeks of tour – dialing something in an apartment just isn’t the same as on a big stage with a PA and subs and all that good stuff. I like to roll my highs a bit and I keep “punch” on all the time. So far, it’s been a dream.
You are the inspiration behind Bergantino cab the new NXT410-C. Can you tell us more about this cab and your experience so far?
Firstly, I’m beyond touched to be the inspiration behind, well…anything! But this is truly insane, and such an honor. I love this cab. Not only is it light and extremely good-looking, it can handle all my loudest, most abrasive and obnoxious effects. My old amp didn’t come close, and could just fart out or I’d have to turn down to appease it. I’m a big fan of playing at earth-shattering volumes, so this is going to be a match made in heaven.
We all love your custom-made Goldie Hawn bass guitar! Can you share more with us about this bass design and why it is so special to you?
Thanks! That’s made by “Zeke Guitars” – it’s the second custom bass he’s made for me! He reached out in the summer of 2019 and asked what my dream bass would be, and I said it was basically my 1978 Fender P-Bass, but lighter, whiter, with Lindy Fralins, gold hardware, and shorter scale. And, well..he did exactly that! I love that bass so much. And the gold, which is referred to as Goldie Hawn, was born in December of 2022, and has the same specs. I just love it, it sounds amazing and looks, arguably, even better.
Jim and I were lucky to get to meet you in person when you came to Boston with the band. The members of the band are such a great group of people! Can you share more with all about the band and crew.
I’m so lucky to keep such incredible company. My bandmates, Adam November and Chris Corsico, are not only unbelievable musicians but also incredible humans. We just laugh and laugh, and we’re there for each other when the road gets tough or we’re exhausted or whatever life throws at us. It’s the joy of my life to get to tour the world with these guys. And the crew! That night was Connor Milton on sound and Nick Koski on lights – we have a rotating cast of people who play those roles based on availability, and everyone who works for us are absolute consummate professionals and the sweetest humans. They are my team of experts and I just adore them so much. Shout out to Zach Rosenberg, Jeff Volckhausen, Dylan Hinds, Dom Chang, for being the best rotating crew a gal could ask for!
What else do you do besides music?
Not much! I love going to the beach! I love eating dinner!
Because I am a foodie, I always ask people what their favorite food is!
Oysters, caviar, sushi. I’m a raw bar fanatic.
At a very young age, Karina is a diligent hard worker. She juggles many balls managing her business and is savvy beyond her years. We are very happy to be working with Karina and are excited for her continued success!
Follow Karina Rykman:
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Facebook @karinarykman/
Bass Videos
Interview With Bassist Ciara Moser
Bassist Ciara Moser…
Ciara and I sat down for this interview a few months after the launch of her debut album, “Blind. So what?”
Blind since birth, she is a powerhouse of talent; she is not only a professional bassist, but also composes music, and is a producer and educator. I am just blown away by her talent and perseverance.
Join me as we hear about Ciara’s musical journey, the details of her album, how she gets her sound, and her plans for the future.
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Photos by Manuela Haeussler
Bass Videos
Interview With Bassist Travis Book
Interview With Bassist Travis Book…
Bluegrass music has had a very solid following over many years and I am always happy to hear from one of the pioneers in that genre.
Travis Book plays bass for the Grammy award-winning band “The Infamous Stringdusters” and has recently released his first solo album “Love and Other Strange Emotions”. As if he wasn’t busy enough, Travis also hosts a podcast, Plays a Jerry Garcia music show with Guitarist Andy Falco, and is constantly gigging locally in his neck of the woods.
Photo, Seyl Park
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