BEE Basses
THEMANBEHIND
I started playing bass in 1978. Typical deal... in a band... bass player quits... "hey, can anybody play bass??". I had dabbled in guitar, so I stepped up to the plate. Was it destiny?
My first real bass was a Music Man Sabre. I wanted a Stingray, but no, in Yakima WA, the only MM bass that could be found was a Sabre. It had a Stingray neck though. Dang, that was a cool bass.
At first, playing bass was actually a little disappointing. It seemed to be so much in the background. I had trouble hearing bass lines on records. Then one day I was at a friends house and there was a band on TV (I cant remember who it was) and the bass player did a slap solo. Imagine 1979, and hearing slap bass for the first time. That's when I realized I was a bass player.
I made a living playing top 40 in clubs during the 80s. I'm amazed at how much money we made back then, and how little money bands make now.
In the mid 90s I met this cat who built basses, guitars, and anything else you can imagine, in his basement. Truly a mad scientist. Being a gear head, I wondered if I could actually build myself a bass. My first try turned out to be surprisingly good. One bass led to another, and I kept hearing the comment "you should do this for a living".
So here I am.
You can call me Fred.
BEE Basses
THEBASSUPFRONT
The idea behind the BEE Bass is this:
Take all the things I liked from the multitude of basses I've owned and played over the years (G&L, Fender, B.C. Rich, Kramer, Guild, Alembic, Steinberger, Warwick, Lakland , and too many Sting Rays to count), put them all into a big pot, stir it up and pour it into every bass I build.
At the top of my priority list are clean focused pitch, gut level punch, and a very lively feel. Once these things are dialed in, I know I've got a happening bass on my hands. The rest is just icing on the cake, and I know how to ice a cake.
If you look around, you will find that BEE offers basses for virtually any player or venue. From the jazz club to the rock show, from the soloist to the foundational groove player, I have the experience to create an instrument suited to your needs.
In the words of one of my first customers,