Mass Resonator

The Drake 'Rita' Bass!

A good friend of the store tipped off Matthew K here to check out Drake Basses – “You’ve gotta check ‘em out, they’re the best I’ve ever played,” he said. Matthew, being a total bass-head, checked Drake out and we ended up ordering one for the store. The Drake Rita Bass arrived just a few days ago, and we peeled it out of Matthew’s hands long enough to photograph it and even had the repair shop take a gander at Andrew Drake’s luthiery work. Fans of Warwick and Alembic basses will find these Drakes to be almost a hybrid of the two, yet really on a whole new level. If you’re into rock, jazz, funk or just about any genre, we think you’ll find this to be a really great new, hand crafted line.

Josh loves the design, a subtle illusion of a neck through

The build is fantastic, resulting in a super comfortable bass that plays incredibly well. Josh in our repair shop said, “This plays really great with low action – plus Drake has a great eye for design. I love how the center wedge of the body matches the taper of the neck instead of a block. It’s a nice, congruent design that gives the illusion of a neck through.”

There are lots of things to love about this hand crafted bass – the organic style which is a result of Drake using elegant, resonant woods finished with a hand-rubbed oil varnish. Tonally, it’s spectacular – clean but not overly cutting, and not muddy at all. “It’s like the best J bass you’ve ever played,” Matthew said, “Really nicely balanced too.” For the price, and all the craftsmanship that has gone into them, we think Andrew Drake and his incredible bass creations are one to watch and we’re proud to have them at Mass Street Music.

It goes to 11! No, really, it does...

Just this week we received our first batch of TC Electronic’s new compact effects pedals and after giving them each a spin, we can honestly say we’re totally impressed! TC has long been known for impeccable studio and high end pedals, and they’ve thankfully put live players at the forefront with these compact powerhouses – and at competitive prices. The TC Electronic Flashback Delay is one of our favorites…this gives you a truly dazzling variety of delays to choose from, with stereo in/out, true bypass and more. It also doubles as a looper, and you can set the tempo by simply strumming, plus a there’s a toggle to completely hone in on exactly what you want.  This is a really innovative delay with 11 types – yes it ‘goes to 11!’ Technically 10, with the 11th being TC’s very cool TonePrint which opens up a whole new world – just hook up the pedal to your computer with a usb cable, go to TC’s site and download a preset from a variety of artists – Steffen Schackinger’s or Doug Aldrich’s for the Flashback, John Petrucci’s for the Vibrato, Orianthi’s for the Corona Chorus and tons more.

"By far, one of the best reverb pedals under $200..."

The TC Hall of Fame Reverb was another that really grabbed our attention – our own Matthew K said of it, “Extremely versatile, its reverb settings are all distinctly different. The stereo output is great, well worth it, and makes the sound that much cooler.” It offers 10 types of reverb that are super easy to tweak and hone to your exact needs, plus it has the killer TonePrint for even more customizations and artist presets, easily accessed through your computer and TC’s site. This Hall of Fame can really cover a lot of bases no matter your playing style. Ambient, overly saturated reverb just flourishes here but it’s equally perfect for those wanting something very subtle. Great pedal.

TC’s Corona Chorus brings an impressive array of chorus possibilities, again, easily tweaked to just what you need. It also offers true bypass, stereo in/out and the amazing TonePrint in addition to everything from a little shimmer to a speeded up Leslie, major swirl and more. Speed, Depth, F/X and Tone controls let you quickly hone it all to perfection. We’re also expecting the MojoMojo Overdrive and (Matthew can’t wait to get his hands on this one…) the Dark Matter Distortion any day now.