Gear used on Rick Shubb and Bob Wilson's "Bodega Sessions."

Rick Shubb's banjo is the same instrument he's played since the mid 1960s: a Gibson Mastertone much of which was made in the early thirties. It is a tube-and-plate flathead. When he acquired it from Jon Lundberg, it was a plectum. The mahogany five string neck was made in 1964 by Robbie Robinson, and the maple "top tension" style resonator was made in the early 70s by Bob Palmer. It is strung with John Pearse strings (.009, .011, .014, .020, .010). More details about this banjo...

Not surprisingly, Rick uses a Shubb Deluxe capo, Shubb fifth string capo, and Shubb compensated bridge (5/8"). His fingerpicks are Hi Riders from John Pearse, and his thumbpick is a one-of-a-kind oddity from Germany. Never ask him to borrow it.

On some of the tunes (tracks 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11) the banjo's tone is altered by the addition of two wooden clothespins attached to the bridge. The clothespins have been modified so that they lock onto the bridge without buzzing, and have the effect of muting the volume somewhat while increasing the sustain relative to the attack.

The guitar Bob Wilson used on the sessions is, likewise, an instrument he's owned and played for many years: an original Selmer Maccaferri from the early thirties, with a "D" shaped sound hole and a "baffle" inside the body. Opinions of experts vary on the advantages or disadvantages of these internal structures, but Paul Shelasky maintains that Bob's guitar is the greatest sounding guitar on the planet. No one would deny that it sounds great and projects phenomenally. He strings it with Martin light gauge bronze strings, and plays with a small, almost-round, rigid pick.

The bass that Charlie Warren used for Bodega Sessions is a Kay C-1 "genuine" bass viol, strung with Supernil nylon bass strings.

RECORDING GEAR

Rick and Bob's tracks were recorded at Rick Shubb's home in Bodega Bay, California, on an Alesis ADAT 8 track digital recorder using Rode NT-2 condenser microphones and a Pro MPA tube preamp. A single microphone was used for each instrument and voice. Charlie's tracks were recorded by Rudi Ekstein at Foxfire Studio in Van Nuys, California, with a single Neumann tube microphone.

The tracks were mixed on a Macintosh computer using Deck II and Waves plugins. It was mastered using Adaptec Jam, and duplicated by Oasis. The package graphics were done by Rick Shubb on the Macintosh using Macromedia Freehand. The photos of Bob and Rick were taken by Mary Wilson (Bob's wife) and the cover photo of the instruments was taken by Rick.