| Author | Message | ||
| estring
New Username: estring Post Number: 2 Registered: 9-2003 |
does anybody know what type of wood top is on tom fowler's alembic series one? thanks | ||
| malthumb
Intermediate Member Username: malthumb Post Number: 102 Registered: 5-2002 |
I'll ask this question and then I'll duck....... Who is Tom Fowler? | ||
| dadabass2001
Junior Username: dadabass2001 Post Number: 49 Registered: 6-2002 |
Tom played bass with Frank Zappa in the mid 70s. See "Overnite Sensation", "Roxy & Elsewhere", "Apostrophe", "One Size Fits All", and "You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 2 - The Helsinki Concert" (some of Frank's better bands). I believe he's also brother to sax player Walt Folwer and trombonist Bruce Fowler. I was never sure what brand his instrument was, just that I liked his tone. He used a pick mostly with Frank. P.S. I just turned 52 yesterday. wheee! | ||
| davehouck
Intermediate Member Username: davehouck Post Number: 140 Registered: 5-2002 |
He also did a couple albums with It's A Beautiful Day (1971-1972) and with Jean-Luc Ponty (1975-1976) some session work and a number of things with his brothers. http://www.fowlerbrothers.com/tom1.htm Happy Birthday! | ||
| palembic
Senior Member Username: palembic Post Number: 595 Registered: 9-2002 |
I was constantly asking me this question: where did I heard that name! Got it: the records (those vynil diskshaped things with a whole in the middle, coming in 3 diameters, the large ones we called LP's LOL)of FZ we used to have at home, turning them late at night. Paul the bad one HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIKE! BTW: nice basses you hold there on your profile. Congrats | ||
| s_wood
Member Username: s_wood Post Number: 59 Registered: 5-2002 |
Tom Fowler? Wow! Tom Fowler is my all-time favorite bass player, and he is why I play Alembics. My first experience with Zappa and Tom Fowler was at the old Capitol Theater in beautiful Passaic, NJ on November 8, 1974. It was one of the most important experiences in my musical life. I had been playing bass for about a year...I was using a Gibson Ripper (ugh!) with flatwound strings, and my "tone," such as it was, was a muddy, punchless mess. I had a vague feeling that something was wrong, but I wasn't sure what , or why. All I knew was that the sound I heard in my head was nothing like the sound that Ripper made. Anyway, at this Mother's show, I was close to the stage, the hall had good acoustics, and the FOH sound was great...and the bass player (whose name I didn't know then) was playing this large, sorta ugly bass with a funny point at the end of the body...and it sounded like diamonds!. I mean, Fowler's tone was a full-ranged piano-like sound , but with punch! As I heard it, I knew that it was the sound I heard in my head, and , coupled with Tom's wonderful sense of rhythm melody and harmony, the whole experience forever changed my feelings about what a bass could sound like, and about what kind of music it could make. A few months later, in a Guitar Player story, I learned that the bass was an Alembic. I knew I had to have one -- and then I found out how much they cost! It took me damn near 20 years to afford one, and I've got a bunch now -- and they still sound as good as they did that night in Passaic! A 20 year GAS-attack! I have been on a 10 year quest to find Fowler's old Alembic, which I am told he sold years ago (BTW, he is Ray Charles's bassist these days). Any help would be greatly appreciated! (Message edited by s_wood on September 17, 2003) | ||
| alemboid
Junior Username: alemboid Post Number: 14 Registered: 5-2003 |
Steve, I love your story. It was almost the same thing for me. I had an old Japanese plywood bass with pot metal strings and it sounded well, like an old plywood bass with pot metal strings!!! I was classically trained on piano, and I used to play the lower register notes on the piano because I loved the woody, ringing, bell like tone. I new basses could sound different because of players like Geddy Lee & Chris Squire, but nothing prepared me for the 10 minute bass solo I saw Alphonso Johnson perform with the Crusaders back in 1978. After I was revived, I asked every body what kind of bass he had. Sorry to say, observers insisted it was an "Olympic" (bleah!). I searched high and low for "Olympic" basses, and found none. I forgot how I learned it is Alembic, but I never forgot how his two short scale series ones sounded! 15 years later, I am the proud father of 3 Alembics, and the sound.... Bryant | ||
| s_wood
Member Username: s_wood Post Number: 60 Registered: 5-2002 |
With Hurricane Isabell getting ready to kick my ass, what else is there to do save to watch Frank Zappa'a "Dub Room Special" video (with features Tom Fowler and the rest of the '74 band) a bunch of times in slo-mo. My conclusion: the top of Tom Fowler's Alembic is made of either zebrawood or bocate. The pickup covers are tan, and there's no "Alembic" logo on the headstock. I WANT that bass! (Message edited by s_wood on September 17, 2003) | ||
| s_wood
Member Username: s_wood Post Number: 61 Registered: 5-2002 |
With Hurricane Isabell getting ready to kick my ass, what else is there to do save to watch Frank Zappa'a "Dub Room Special" video (with features Tom Fowler and the rest of the '74 band) a bunch of times in slo-mo. My conclusion: the top of Tom Fowler's Alembic is made of either zebrawood or bocate. The pickup covers are tan, and there's no "Alembic" logo on the headstock. I WANT that bass! (Message edited by s_wood on September 17, 2003) | ||
| jlpicard
Member Username: jlpicard Post Number: 65 Registered: 7-2002 |
I had the good fortune to meet Tom Fowler many years ago at the '85 NAMM show in Anneheim.I was noodling around on a bass at the Gallien-Krueger booth when this stranger walked up and told me he really liked what I was doing. I thanked him and introduced myself and when he responded"Tom Fowler",my jaw about hit the floor! He turned out to be a very nice guy,very down to earth,not at all what you expect from Frank Zappa's bassist! | ||
| davehouck
Intermediate Member Username: davehouck Post Number: 154 Registered: 5-2002 |
Nice story Michael; that's pretty cool to have someone like Tom Fowler walk up and tell you he likes your playing! | ||
| s_wood
Member Username: s_wood Post Number: 66 Registered: 5-2002 |
I just say Tom Fowler on TV! He is a member of Ray Charles's band. Ray and the boys are featured in a lottery commercial currently airing in the Philadelphia market, and perhaps in other places where the state sponsors "Powerball" There are a couple of shots of Tom in the background. No Alembic, though  | ||
| s_wood
Member Username: s_wood Post Number: 68 Registered: 5-2002 |
Here's a decent picture of FZ with Tom Fowler and his Alembic, taken on tour somewhere in 1974.  | ||
| dnburgess
Intermediate Member Username: dnburgess Post Number: 111 Registered: 1-2003 |
Was that the Roxy & Elsewhere tour? That was the first rock concert that I ever went to. Its been down hill ever since. LOL. |
