BUILDER PROFILE > EPIFANI
than with an 18", and that means you can
move more air. But, more importantly, it
was tuned at a frequency that was better
suited for the time. Sadly, the tuning of bass
cabs remained unchanged for a number of
years, so I adjusted the tuning frequency
to get out of that 70-80 Hz range that was
standard back then.
One night, I took a cabinet down to
the Blue Note, where Lincoln Goines was
playing. I dropped off the gear, parked
the car, and walked back to the club. In
the time that took, Lincoln had already
played through it, and he said “I want
it.” Lincoln said he knew in the first two
notes. He was my first client. The speak-
ers were very fast, very accurate—perfect
for that Jaco sort of playing. I think that
was one of the best designs, acousti-
cally and technically, but I couldn’t keep
it because of the dimensions. It wasn’t
made for a line of speakers. When you’re
asked to make a line of cabinets, you
sort of become restricted in what you
can do—because stacking and keeping
things uniform aren’t the best formulas
for all cabinets.
Can you talk about your relationship
with the great Anthony Jackson?
Anthony Jackson was a monster player
that everybody respected. In the beginning, I thought he was full of . . . well,
you know—because he is literally a
genius, and I thought “Nobody is this
smart.” I used to mess with him—not
in a bad way, but to see if he was full
of shit or not: While he was playing,
I would turn a knob, like, an eighth
of an inch, and he would turn around
and say “You touched 450 Hz! I told
you I don’t like that!” I had never met
someone like that before. He would
always be pushing the envelope of
knowledge—not just on the surface,
but literally seeking knowledge worldwide, requesting special components
like imported speakers and silver speaker wire. His cabinets weighed a ton
because he wanted 1" wood instead of
3/4". Things like that kept me pushing
forward and experimenting.
He was the inventor of the 6-string
bass. Did you see a future in this
instrument, and how did it change
your thinking?
At the time, any 2x10 had a hard time
keeping up with a low B. With my cabinets, you can slap the low B without it
farting out. Again, it goes back to tuning. Other manufacturers weren’t tuning cabs for that. Because of this, a lot
of players were trained not to play the
low B string so hard. Now you can play
with continuity because of the developments we changed early on. If you have
ever seen Anthony play, then you know
how hard he can play. Right away, I
knew I would have to change the suspension, make a bigger voice coil, etc.
When you work with players, perfecting
according to styles and needs, you learn
so much about your craft, while pushing new innovation.
I am constantly talking with working musicians about development and
needs. It’s the guys who are the weekend
players that I listen to. Honestly, professionals don’t spend much money on
gear—it’s the working players who do.
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