We are thrilled to launch our first Player’s Poll today. Many thanks to our good friend Spydah – aka Roger Barlow to “civilians” – for doing such a great job assisting us with the code! (May his strings never rust!)

All kidding aside, David and I have long wanted to do this. David had his first team of field test bassists two decades ago. I know many of the players who took part in those tests back in the beginning – and the many tests since. Back the Dark Ages, when we built our first forum, we asked a lot of questions; we gathered a ton of useful info, but were unable to act on the bulk of it.

If you’ve been keeping tabs on us since we launched, you already know we’ve been talking to a lot of our endorser family. We’ve also been talking to a few other select people who can keep thier mouths shut. But we wanted to take the next Giant Step and talk to all of you directly. We want to know what you think.

While polling and meaningful surveys weren’t possible in our “past life.” they are now. The only thing holding us back was me, or rather, the fact that I don’t do much pure code. Enter Spydah, whom I’ve known for quite a while, both through our mutual respect for David, and our mutual love of Spector basses.

See, Spydah does do code, and he’s the one who built the poll. He’s also going to teach me how to manage them so we can do more of them. Everybody shout out a huge Thank You!! for Spydah…

We’ve got more things in store, so keep an eye peeled and check back often. And, please, if you haven’t already done so, go back to the Home Page and VOTE! Your future may depend on it.

Greetings once again from the Land of Low. This is just a quick note to document the addition of SEAL Team Video Report #031310/A to the web site. A written report will follow soon. This report is an interview with David Hisownself, as he discusses crossovers and tweeter design.

To watch the video, return to the Home Page.

To review the Twitter stream during the test, visit our Twitter page.

Oh, my. I didn’t even know that Sautrday included a 6 a.m. time slot! I’m guzzling my second cup of coffee as I prepare to head north to our undisclosed location for further speaker testing. I need toothpicks for my eyelids.

Today we’re listening to all the 10″ cabinets: DNS-110, DNS-210 and DNS-410. We’ll also give another listen to the cabinets we tested last time. David has installed the final crossovers and we want to make certain that went well.

Tomorrow, I’ll be at the desk most of the day and will begin work on videos. I can’t wait to show you what’s going on.

Hoo boy, what a week it’s been. I apologize for not getting a small update done over the weekend, but I had a minor emergency to deal with. Everything’s cool now, but it took up most of my time.

Much of my time has focused on helping Roy Vogt and the folks at Teach Me Bass Guitar prepare Thunder Row for launch. Thunder Row is a community created for those who want to learn, and connect with other aspiring learners. And while there are some special sections just for TMBG students (like a chat room and a private sub-forum), most of the site is available to anyone.

In order to begin the library of articles, lessons and videos, I’ve been preparing a lot of Roy’s existing content for upload. Moving forward we’ll will be writing new content, including each of us maintaining a blog, and creating some lessons videos. We’re also reaching out to other pro bassists and teachers, and all members can submit content for consideration.

Keep your fingers crossed, and I’ll announce here when we open.

Had a nice 2-cup chat with Sean O’Bryan Smith today. He’s back in Nashville, having survived New York. In fact, he had an extremely productive time, with several successful meetings and a last-minute studio date that was really cool but we can’t tell you until the track drops. It’s always that way with Sean. I never know if I’m talking to a fellow bass player or some doubleOwhatever types.

Sean also did what everyone should do when in The City: have as much pizza as possible, and at least one really good deli run, and a slice of cheesecake.

I saved the best news for last – We’re testing all of the 10″ cabinets this coming Saturday. OhboyOhboyOhboy! Get ready for another video or two, and a lot more fun! (Check out our last test.)

The line includes 110, 210 and 410 designs. David has already done significant testing on all three and made several refinements. I can’t tell you much yet, but I’ll leak one thing now and beg forgiveness later:

At full rated power, the 410 easily and significantly passes the Threshold of Sensibility. We’re talking louder than a pneumatic riveter, and almost as loud as a jet engine! Check out this chart to get idea of what I’m talking about. It’s OK. I’ll wait.

You want to know what scares me? It took almost no time at all to think, “man, I’d love to have a pair of those babies!”

So… think I’m excited about Saturday’s test? Ohhhhhh, yeahhh. Just got off the phone with Jeff Carlson, who’s been testing with us for several years. He’ in, and he’s bringing three basses with him.

Tip of the week: Keep Your Mind Open

Article: Preparing for an audition

That’s it for this time around. Make sure you keep an eye on our Twitter stream on Saturday, as I’ll be blasting updates. See you then!

P.S. – Literally just got off the phone with Angeline Saris. She’s in preplanning stage for an update to her web site and had a some ideas to discuss. Also gave me a really good tip on a Bay area dealer. I’ll be calling him tomorrow. – LB

Good morning! I just wanted to call your attention to our latest SEAL Team video, this one featuring SEAL Team member Jeff Carlson as he performs his first tests of the DNS-112N and DNS-115N. At the end of this video, there is also a bit of footage of me playing a G&L bass that David has used in every test since the beginning. It was on the front page, and it’s also over here in the SEAL Team report, and on the Videos page.

Tomorrow I’ll upload some new articles and other info. See you then!

Hi, all y’all. Just a quick note to tell you two things. First, recapturing the video from the camera worked! This time around, there are no annoying clicks and pops, so it’s easier to listen to the audio.

Second, I uploaded another video using the new, cleaner file. Although there’s a lot of playing on this one, remember that you’re hearing the cabinet – the DNS-112N prototype – recorded off axis with the camera’s internal mic… obviously not the best system. But at least you get a taste, as well as our reactions to hearing David’s new designs for the first time.

On Sunday afternoon, I hope to put together a clip of my co-consirator … uhm, testing partner … Jeff Carlson as he thumps on his Dark Star-equipped P-Bass with “very dead strings.” This bass, and Jeff’s style offer a totally different read. We’ll just have to see how the day develops. I will then re-do David’s interview to get rid of the distorted audio, and post the new version.

Hope you enjoy today’s video. See you again soon.

Watch the video.

Greetings, everyone. Lane (aka Agent L) here with the first (of many!) SEAL Team reports. The short version comes down to this: Hoo-boy!

As I tweeted earlier today, some things really are worth the wait. It’s one thing to “know” David would outdo himself yet again. It’s quite another to actually hear the results. And I’m here to tell you, the results more than met my expectations.

I’ve posted my report, as well as Agent J’s report – without redaction – along with a couple of pictures. I’ll be working through the weekend on the video footage I shot… cutting it down into small bites. And also editing out the things we can’t release to the public quite yet. (See there are some things we don’t want our competitors to know just yet.)

Read the full report here.