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Bass Musician Magazine’s Year of the Luthier – Harold Cagle
HJC Customs Signature Guitar, built for Richie Yeates of Grim Reaper
Bass Musician Magazine’s Year of the Luthier – Harold Cagle…
How did you get your start in music?
I started playing violin and then cello in orchestra as a youth, getting my first bass guitar at 12. After that, it was all Bass all the time.
Are you still an active player?
Not really. Due to being a one-man shop and real help/apprentices being non-existent in my area, time to actually keep up on my playing chops has kind of dwindled. I care for my elderly mother and work, so playing time is a true luxury for me anymore.
How did you get started as a Luthier? When did you build your first bass?
I got my start sweeping up at Gibson as a kid and working my way into a job just as they were shutting down and moving. It really peaked my interest and I started dabbling with parts builds. I built my first parts guitar in 1983, and kept refining and learning until 1986 when I decided to take on a complete build of my own design. So I carved my first neck and body wings. I carved into the truss rod cavity and had to scrap the neck and start over. I bought a dial caliper and made sure of my tolerances after that to make sure not to carve too deep. In late spring 1987, my first all-original build was complete. It was pretty good and sold quickly. I was hooked. Note: I actually just acquired this instrument again and am repairing and refinishing it for Summer NAMM!
Instruments in the spray booth ready for finish
How did you learn the art of woodworking/Luthier? Who would you consider a Mentor?
I learned from watching at Gibson, asking questions there and of my woodshop teachers in Junior High and High School. I had the greatest mentor, a very well know Gibson specialist repairman named Pete Moreno. Pete has been written about in many instrument rags and is referred to for Techniques in Dan Erlewines first few books on repair. Pete let me hang around his shop for hours on end from the time I was about 15 until I was 19 and left for college. I can’t explain the amount of information Pete gave to me, explaining and showing me what he was doing and why. From Mandolins and Banjos to Doves, 00’s, and Les Pauls, along with odd stuff like Zithers, lutes and classic viols, Pete was a true luthier who did it all.
HJC Customs Aran 7 string
How do you select the woods you choose to build with?
I have a couple wood brokers within an hour or two of me where I can hand-select all my woods. I am a disciple of Bruce Hoadley, author of “Understanding Wood” and “The Encyclopedia of Wood” among many others. These reference books explain properties of woods you don’t find anywhere else, such as torsional properties (flexibility), specific gravity as opposed to Janka hardness and why Janka is useless in instrument building, grain structure, weight per board foot, and resonant properties, along with why and how grain orientation helps or hurts your construction. I have become a wood junkie.
Tim Brouhard (studio musician) checking out an Alchemy 9 string at the shop
How about pickups? What pickups did you use in the past? What electronics do you use right now?
Kent Armstrong wound my first custom set of pickups in 1984, and I have used his handwounds ever since. I used to use Adder Plus (APC) and Schaller Actives back In the 80’s until I got hooked on Bartolini and EMG. Now I use exclusively Made in the USA products from Armstrong, Bartolini, Nordstrand Pickups and Preamps, Audere Preamps, and Sentell pickups. Dimarzio and Seymour Duncan also.
Who were some of the first well-known musicians who started playing your basses?
I have no association with any big name musicians, as I am not able to give away instruments for endorsements, so I cannot drop names. I have had a few well know players buy instruments from me but it is really rare. I am not an aggressive salesman and do not chase names. I like working and building for the common player who came up like me, dirt poor. It’s so cool having a young player realize my prices are accessible to them and the instruments are of boutique quality without the boutique price point.
Myself with the 80’s metal band “Grim Reaper”
Vuyani Wakaba with his HJC Customs Alchemy 5 fretless
How do you develop a signature or custom bass for an artist?
I try and work directly with the player to achieve the feel they want. BMM’s Vuyani Wakaba is a great example. I designed a bass body for him, and we worked with a premise of using all African woods (as Vuyani is from South Africa), worked the neck to medium thin, a shape he was comfortable with, and built the instrument. I really try to build what the player wants through listening and asking crucial questions to gain a perspective of their tastes
What are a few things that you are proud about your instruments and that you would consider unique in your instruments?
My body styles are all mine. I rarely do clone builds, but do have a Jazztype I will do for customers.
Which one of the basses that you build is your favorite one?
My Prodigy body style. It was my first original design I did in High School in 1982, so it holds a special place.
Can you give us a word of advice to young Luthiers who are just starting out?
Read everything, study everything, learn from as many people as you can and avoid buying into all the myths about instruments. Use your own mind and ears.
Chaz Grimaldi of Grim Reaper on tour with his HJC Customs Alchemy 4 “Lemmy Tribute bass”
What advice would you give a young musician trying to find his perfect bass?
Play everything you can, there is a holy grail for everyone, but you really need to play as many different instruments as possible to find the things you really like, sound and feel wise.
What is biggest success for you and for your company?
Being around over 30 years, and still enjoying building even though the internet makes you a target as much as a destination.
Chaz Grimaldi of Grim Reaper on tour with his HJC Customs Alchemy 4 “Lemmy Tribute bass”
Are you preparing something new, some new model or new design? Or maybe some new gear amps, etc.
I have a new line of low cost small cabinets, low cost cables, a travel bass and a semi Acoustic line all in the works. I hope to have at Summer NAMM in my booth.
What are your future plans?
Hopefully find Apprentice or shop help so I can expand the business a little. I would like to build 100-120 instruments a year rather than 40 or 50. I’d also love to do a booth at Winter NAMM again someday.
HJC Customs Signature 5 SC
Is there anything else you would like to share that we have not included?
I hope people will take the time to look at small builders and see what they have to offer. There are a bunch of excellent builders out there that never get noticed or overlooked because they can’t afford an advertising budget or to give away instruments to get publicity. Not many of us have friends who are writers, big name players or people with influence in this business, and getting stuff out there for others to see is sometimes very hard. We hope players will come through on promises to do videos and talk about their instruments, but this is rarely ever completed so we are left to toot our own horns which drives more people away than it attracts. I hope players explore, because we as builders have a very limited reach by ourselves.
Visit online at:
www.facebook.com/HJCCustomsUSA/?fref=ts
Bass Videos
Interview With Bassist Erick “Jesus” Coomes
Bassist Erick “Jesus” Coomes…
It is always great to meet a super busy bassist who simply exudes a love for music and his instrument. Erick “Jesus” Coomes fits this description exactly. Hailing from Southern California, “Jesus” co-founded and plays bass for Lettuce and has found his groove playing with numerous other musicians.
Join us as we hear of his musical journey, how he gets his sound, his ongoing projects, and his plans for the future.
Photo, Bob Forte
Featured Videos
Visit Online
www.lettucefunk.com
IG @jesuscsuperstar
FB@jesuscoomes
FB @lettucefunk
Bass Videos
Working-Class Zeros: Episode #2 – Financial Elements of Working Musicians
Working-Class Zeros: Episode #2 – Financial Elements of Working Musicians
“These stories from the front are with real-life, day-to-day musicians who deal with work life and gigging and how they make it work out. Each month, topics may include… the kind of gigs you get, the money, dealing with less-than-ideal rooms, as well as the gear you need to get the job done… and the list goes on from there.” – Steve the Bass Guy and Shawn Cav
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This Week’s Top 10 Basses on Instagram
Check out our top 10 favorite basses on Instagram this week…
Click to follow Bass Musician on Instagram @bassmusicianmag
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Bass CDs
New Album: Jake Leckie, Planter of Seeds
Bassist Jake Leckie and The Guide Trio Unveil New Album Planter of Seeds,
to be released on June 7, 2024
Planter of Seeds is bassist/composer Jake Leckie’s third release as a bandleader and explores what beauty can come tomorrow from the seeds we plant today.
What are we putting in the ground? What are we building? What is the village we want to bring our children up in? At the core of the ensemble is The Guide Trio, his working band with guitarist Nadav Peled and drummer Beth Goodfellow, who played on Leckie’s second album, The Guide, a rootsy funky acoustic analog folk-jazz recording released on Ropeadope records in 2022. For Planter of Seeds, the ensemble is augmented by Cathlene Pineda (piano), Randal Fisher (tenor saxophone), and Darius Christian (trombone), who infuse freedom and soul into the already tightly established ensemble.
Eight original compositions were pristinely recorded live off the floor of Studio 3 at East West Studios in Hollywood CA, and mastered by A.T. Michael MacDonald. The cover art is by internationally acclaimed visual artist Wayne White. Whereas his previous work has been compared to Charles Mingus, and Keith Jarrett’s American Quartet with Charlie Haden, Leckie’s new collection sits comfortably between the funky odd time signatures of the Dave Holland Quintet and the modern folk-jazz of the Brian Blade Fellowship Band with a respectful nod towards the late 1950s classic recordings of Ahmad Jamal and Miles Davis.
The title track, “Planter of Seeds,” is dedicated to a close family friend, who was originally from Trinidad, and whenever she visited family or friends at their homes, without anyone knowing, she would plant seeds she kept in her pocket in their gardens, so the next season beautiful flowers would pop up. It was a small altruistic anonymous act of kindness that brought just a little more beauty into the world. The rhythm is a tribute to Ahmad Jamal, who we also lost around the same time, and whose theme song Poinciana is about a tree from the Caribbean.
“Big Sur Jade” was written on a trip Leckie took with his wife to Big Sur, CA, and is a celebration of his family and community. This swinging 5/4 blues opens with an unaccompanied bass solo, and gives an opportunity for each of the musicians to share their improvisational voices. “Clear Skies” is a cathartic up-tempo release of collective creative energies in fiery improvisational freedom. “The Aquatic Uncle” features Randal Fisher’s saxophone and is named after an Italo Calvino short story which contemplates if one can embrace the new ways while being in tune with tradition. In ancient times, before a rudder, the Starboard side of the ship was where it was steered from with a steering oar. In this meditative quartet performance, the bass is like the steering oar of the ensemble: it can control the direction of the music, and when things begin to unravel or become unhinged, a simple pedal note keeps everything grounded.
The two trio tunes on the album are proof that the establishment of his consistent working band The Guide Trio has been a fruitful collaboration. “Santa Teresa”, a bouncy samba-blues in ? time, embodies the winding streets and stairways of the bohemian neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro it is named for. The swampy drum feel on “String Song” pays homage to Levon Helm of The Band, a group where you can’t always tell who wrote the song or who the bandleader is, proving that the sum is greater than the individual parts. Early jazz reflected egalitarianism in collective improvisation, and this group dynamic is an expression of that kind of inclusivity and democracy.
“The Daughters of the Moon” rounds out the album, putting book ends on the naturalist themes. This composition is named after magical surrealist Italo Calvino’s short story about consumerism, in which a mythical modern society that values only buying shiny new things throws away the moon like it is a piece of garbage and the daughters of the moon save it and resurrect it. It’s an eco-feminist take on how women are going to save the world. Pineda’s piano outro is a hauntingly beautiful lunar voyage, blinding us with love. Leckie dedicates this song to his daughter: “My hope is that my daughter becomes a daughter of the moon, helping to make the world a more beautiful and verdant place to live.”
Bass CDs
Debut Album: Nate Sabat, Bass Fiddler
In a thrilling solo debut, bassist Nate Sabat combines instrumental virtuosity with a songwriter’s heart on Bass Fiddler…
The upright bass and the human voice. Two essential musical instruments, one with roots in 15th century Europe, the other as old as humanity itself.
On Bass Fiddler (Adhyâropa Records ÂR00057), the debut album from Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter and bass virtuoso Nate Sabat, the scope is narrowed down a bit. Drawing from the rich and thriving tradition of American folk music, Sabat delivers expertly crafted original songs and choice covers with the upright bass as his lone tool for accompaniment.
The concept was born a decade ago when Sabat began studying with the legendary old-time fiddler Bruce Molsky at Berklee College of Music. “One of Bruce’s specialties is singing and playing fiddle at the same time. The second I heard it I was hooked,” recalls Sabat. “I thought, how can I do this on the bass?” From there, he was off to the races, arranging original and traditional material with Molsky as his guide. “Fast forward to 2020, and I — like so many other musicians — was thinking of how to best spend my time. I sat down with the goal of writing some new songs and arranging some new covers, and an entire record came out.” When the time came to make the album, it was evident that Molsky would be the ideal producer. Sabat asked him if he’d be interested, and luckily he was. “What an inspiration to work with an artist like Nate,” says Molsky. “Right at the beginning, he came to this project with a strong, personal and unique vision. Plus he had the guts to try for a complete and compelling cycle of music with nothing but a bass and a voice. You’ll hear right away that it’s engaging, sometimes serious, sometimes fun, and beautifully thought out from top to bottom.”
While this record is, at its core, a folk music album, Sabat uses the term broadly. Some tracks lean more rock (‘In the Shade’), some more pop (‘White Marble’, ‘Rabid Thoughts’), some more jazz (‘Fade Away’), but the setting ties them all together. “There’s something inherently folksy about a musician singing songs with their instrument, no matter the influences behind the compositions themselves,” Sabat notes. To be sure, there are plenty of folk songs (‘Louise’ ‘Sometimes’, ‘Eli’) and fiddling (‘Year of the Ox’) to be had here — the folk music fan won’t go hungry. There’s a healthy dose of bluegrass too (‘Orphan Annie’, ‘Lonesome Night’), clean and simple, the way Mr. Bill Monroe intended.
All in all, this album shines a light on an instrument that often goes overlooked in the folk music world, enveloping the listener in its myriad sounds, textures, and colors. “There’s nothing I love more than playing the upright bass,” exclaims Sabat. “My hope is that listeners take the time to sit with this album front to back — I want them to take in the full scope of the work. I have a feeling they’ll hear something they haven’t heard before.”
Available online at natesabat.bandcamp.com/album/walking-away
Interview With Bassist Erick “Jesus” Coomes
Working-Class Zeros: Episode #2 – Financial Elements of Working Musicians
Tour Touch Base (Bass) with Ian Allison
New Gear: Spector Woodstock Custom Collection Volume II
New Gear: The Dingwall John Taylor Signature Model
This Week’s Top 10 Basses on Instagram
Working-Class Zeros: Episode #2 – Financial Elements of Working Musicians
New Gear: Esopus Guitars Launches New Acoustic/Electric Bass
Interview With Bassist Erick “Jesus” Coomes
