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Thomas Wictor
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NEWS

Jul 04, 2013

As I noted previously, when I found out that Ernie Ball MusicMan had re-issued the Sabre bass, I got all excited and planned to buy one. I'd always wanted one but had seen a left-handed version only once, in an Edinburgh pawn shop in 1982. I couldn't afford it, and I didn't bother asking my parents. We were on vacation, and anyway, they weren't in the habit of shelling out hundreds of dollars just because one of their children wanted something. The Sabre was in this finish, whatever it's called. I think it had a rosewood neck, though I can't be sure.

That bass haunted me for thirty years. Therefore, when I saw that Ernie Ball MusicMan had re-issued the Sabre, my first thought was to buy one. I completely forgot that I can't play anymore. When I remembered, it plunged me into a mini-depression. That was very surprising. It lasted only a few minutes, which is good.

I mentioned the dashing of my Sabre fantasy to Scott Thunes.

"Wait." he said. "You're not getting a bass because you can't play? I've got a great solution. Buy the Sabre and lend it to me. That way it gets played, doesn't just sit in a corner, and you get to see it grow old and decrepit like you and me."

And that's exactly what I did. I bought a new Ernie Ball MusicMan Sabre, and Scott has generously agreed to play it for me. As soon as it arrives at his place, I'm going to demand a photo of him with it, and when he plays live, he needs to get someone to film it so I can hear how it sounds. He did the same with a Rickenbacker bass. I was never able to get my Ricky to sound good. Scott made his borrowed Ricky sound like Paul McCartney's on "Hey Bulldog."

I had a wish, and Scott granted it. That's happening a lot lately. It wasn't a desire-wish, as in "I wish I could buy a Sabre and have someone play it for me." It didn't even occur to me to do that. The idea was all Scott's, but I still had a wish granted. I bought a Sabre after all these years, and soon I'll get to hear it played. It doesn't matter to me that my hands won't be the ones producing the notes. I now play the bass through Bryan Beller and Scott anyway. For all practical purposes, I'll finally get to play a MusicMan Sabre. A lifetime ambition has been fulfilled; a void no longer exists.

Another huge wish was granted today. I won't mention it publicly until it's been formalized. But it's really, really good. Like the Sabre wish, I didn't ask for it. Instead, it came about through a series of actions I took with the intention of going in a different direction. What I thought was good turned out to be horrible, and what is good was under my radar until I came across it purely by chance. But the end result is a wish granted.

As an experiment, I'm going to post a link to "Lament," by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Michael Brook.

Here are the lyrics:

Dusk has fallen without you
Come home swiftly my love
Dusk has fallen without you
Come home swiftly my love
I weep and call for you
Come home swiftly my love
Dusk has fallen without you
Come home swiftly my love

Let's see what happens...

And happy Independence Day.