Tele me you're kidding!
Current mood: indescribable

Remember back in the day when all you wanted was that pair of roller skates? You bugged, begged, bargained, and pleaded with your parents. Wearing the rental ones at the rink were gross!!! You put forth your best, academy-award winning, life-or-death arguements but all you got were responses like "You'll only be wearing them at the roller rink - why not just use the ones there?" or "You'll grow out of them before you even break them in." GAh!

Finally, FINALLY, you get those skates. And they're all stiff and smell brand new, and they're yours! You're going to skate the shit out of them, Dammit! So you wait with anticpation for your next trip to the rink.
But when you get there, you look around and see...you see the only thing that could have stolen your thunder. A sea of ROLLERBLADES!!! Nooo!

..Well, I'd like to thank the kind people at Fender guitars for bringing back that "Guess what kid, there's always something newer and shiner right around the corner" feeling. Only days after the "Annatomik 13" bass was completed, the release of the " John5 Triple Tele® Deluxe" model was announced. More chrome!! More pickups!! More...NEW!!


Now, don't get me wrong. I'm still gonna play the shit out of my new gorgeous, kickass Tele. AND to be quite honest, I don't know if that much chrome would look good on a bass (wouldn't hurt to try someday, though...hint-hint, Scott). It's just the principle of the thing. 

Oh, and for the record...quad roller skates have proved to be cooler than blades. Standard issue for those tough, sexy, roller-derby chicks. What other proof do you need??

7:04 PM - 2 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Tele me you love me. (Part 2 & 3* of the Tele-novela) *Part 3 added 1/7/07
Current mood: giddy

01/07/07

Well Kats and Kittens, it's finally done! This thing couldn't be any more perfect - sexy as hell with a growl to match. The T-bird pickups sound amazing! Scott basically had to reinvent the wheel for the rest of it though. This whole project was conceived because I loooove the Fender John 5 Telecaster, but I doooon't play guitar very well. Fender does not make a bass model of this particular design - but we decided it would be hella cool to create a unique model that would emulate the John-5 style, but still be practical in design and kickass in sound. 

(Actual John 5 Telecaster made by Fender)

Ordering a body with double binding was easy, as was obtaining the neck (it is a real Fender neck, by the way). There were 3 pieces of hardware that were just beastly, though. You can't just call up Fender or any guitar parts place and say, "Hey could you send me a chrome Tele pickguard that's scaled-up  in size for a bass with T-bird pickups?" - or "Yeah, I'd like to order a 3-holed (evenly spaced) chrome control plate?" Scott was able to cut the pickguard out of brass and the control plate cut out of steel, then both were triple-chromed to a mirror-like finish. Scott also installed a 3- way switch to select either the neck pickup, the bridge pickup, or a blend of both. Slap on a shiny new coat of black lacquer, and there ya go.

Hoping to post some better pictures soon, but here's what I have for now:

Ok. starting a new blog. 7/3/06:

The routes for the pickups and controls have been completed. Yep, those are Thunderbird pickups you see. -And yep, one is chrome and the other is black. No cutting corners here! The templates for the pickguard, bridge pickup surround and control plate have been made out of plexiglass. Everything seems to be falling into place. Scott is so clever.

3:33 PM - 6 Comments - 6 Kudos - Add Comment

Ramblings on Bassgirls.com
Current mood: nerdy

This is why I don't do many interviews on behalf of 13 Stars: http://www.bassgirls.com/bass_tomkowiakanna.htm 

12:11 PM - 5 Comments - 8 Kudos - Add Comment

Dahling, could you switch on the Tele? (Part 1 of the Tele-novela)

So here's the next li'l guy in line for modification. The "caterpiller" form, if you will - Just a plain old Mike Dirnt for right now. Still waiting for it to pupate. But believe me, when it's done it will be pretty dern cool. More to come...

6/2006 - Whoo! The headstock is sanded down! _ Got the new body, but no pics yet. :(

6/19/2006 - Check out my sexy bod. Ha! Double-bound ash Big-T with the Badass Bass II bridge from the Dirnt. No routes yet, but we made a little contraption to test the pickups and I have decided on the Thunderbird variety - they sound f'n awesome.

6/19/2006 - I squealed with delight when I saw this. Since this is a one-of-a-kind-only-to-be-used-by-me custom bass, Scott had the kind people at the vinyl sticker shop design this badass chrome-colored decal. It is, after all, a Fender neck on a Telecaster-shaped body.

Currently listening : Songs for Sanity By John5 Release date: 13 September, 2005

10:23 PM - 3 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

Getting to First Bass

But you can forget about getting to second bass, third bass, and fourth bass. Those all sucked and I sold them many moons ago.

So...the little '77 Mustang is getting a much-needed facelift. This is my first bass - my dad bought it for me years and years ago to give me something to do. Who knew it'd stick?

I'm a giant jackass and didn't take a proper picture prior to the dismantling and paint-stripping. This'll have to suffice as the "before" picture. The neck is almost done - Scott has it right now; the frets have already been yanked and he managed to refinish the headstock without damaging the original decal and serial number. Pretty smooth moves, James Bond.

The pickguard, bridge, controls, and control plate will obviously need to be replaced, but the pickups should be salvagable. The tuning keys shined up real nice, so I get to keep those too.

9:25 PM - 3 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Xtreme Bass-over
Current mood: giddy

Things here in bassland have been pretty Fender-y lately. Nothing wrong with the Fender...heck, my first bass was a little Fender. But Rickenbacker...that's where it's at.

"Where has that lovely beastie been lately?", you ask...

Lets just say it involves lots of glitter, pink, stars, kittys, and one incredibly talented guitar artist (with magic hands)...Oh, and mah-jor segsyness da-ling...

It's almost done and ready for the unveiling! Oh the anticipation!

7:26 PM - 5 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Oh snap...shot.
Current mood: pleased

Today Scott M. posted our band pictures (that he took lfor us last week) on his website (www.tapdig.com). I am extremely pleased with the results, plus the guy was hella fun to work with. Buzz from Buzz's Subs was very nice and let us have run of the place, and we also went to a bar called Opie's in Norman. This was the band's first experience with the establishment, and lemme tell you Opie makes a wonderful first impression on his guests. He stands there and greets his customers at the door, walks around and makes sure everyone is having a good time, and was very cool about us taking pictures there. I also must note that they pour a fine drink at a reasonable price. So finally finally finally we have pictures to put in the EP. Joy!

I've also been making some headway on this gigantic painting project i started in September. It's my tribute to the kind people at RJ Reynolds who send me presents in the mail, and continue to produce fancy limited edition Camel cigarettes. They're way cooler than the stuffy bastards at Phillip Morris. Anyway, I've got 7 of the 12 pieces done. Woo Hoo! It's all down hill from here. Right, right, we all know "The Truth" about the tobacco peddling industry, but those little decorated tins of Champagne and Pina Colada and Fruit-flavored smokes are just so precious.

Currently listening : Peep Show By Goudie Release date: 11 July, 2000

5:41 PM - 2 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

It's Still Up
Current mood: crappy

How lame am I? My tree is still up. Been out of town in Vegas doing constructive things like drinking adult beverages and spending money on even-more-adult videos.

Alucard died today from what I presume to be an eating disorder. His babysitter said he wasn't eating, but I thought he was doing that because he was "hibernating" and using reserved energy for winter-time. Guess not. I should have paid attention to his cries for help. What a bad mommy I am. Maybe I'll rethink the whole idea of getting a puppy until I can keep a fish alive for more than a year.
Even sadder, I can't flush him right now because the camode is clogged and my plunger is currently loaned-out. (must've been the maintenance man who came to replace the hot water heater today...yeah...that's it...he probably took a manly dump in my pot when I wasn't here...some people..sheesh) So now Alucard's little ghost is going to haunt me until I get that taken care of. Crap. I'll be sleeping with the lights on tonight.

11:01 PM - 4 Comments - 1 Kudos - Add Comment

Oh my god, its so small!!!!
Current mood: thirsty

Aarghh... not enough room for a big tree this year. Boo-hoo for me. Found a 3-foot tinsel fiber-optic setup at Target that seems to do the trick when perched atop the tv-shelf. Needed a little assistance trying to figure out how to attach the big-ass tree topper, but it's under control and looks quite fabulous. I could sit and watch the pretty changing colors for hours and hours. Still wish it was bigger.
There is nothing more fun than finding treasure in your own apartment. Was digging out the big box o' christmas stuff and found all these other items that i had assumed to be MIA. Found my mixer beaters, so now I can make christmas cookies without the risk of accidentally burning a calorie by hand-mixing anything. !!god forbid!!! Found my apron and 9x13 glass baking dish too. I'm gonna martha-stewart the fuck out of this holiday.
Working 6am-3pm all week. This should be interesting.

9:16 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment