So. Central Rain (I’m Sorry) Bass Cover

“So. Central Rain (I’m Sorry)” by R.E.M. off of their album, “Reckoning” which came out in 1984 and features Mike Mills on bass.

I can’t say that I’m much of an R.E.M. fan, but I don’t dislike them either. I’ve mentioned Mike Mills before because of a quote of his that has always stuck with me and is something I still refer back to. The quote is, “What would John McVie do?”
I did a quick search and found this video of him repeating that quote -    • What Would John McVie Do? Mike Mills ...  .
Like John Mcvie, Mike Mills’ bass-lines truly serve the song…sometimes the anchor, sometimes more melodic. I think the line in this song is a bit of both. Also, I think the song itself has a hauntingly beautiful quality and an awesome vocal melody.

Ah, the riff during the chorus! I couldn't decide which was correct, so I played both parts alternately.

Someone recently asked about this bass, so here's the story. I bought it last July. It is a 1982 Peavey T-45 which is the single pick-up version of the T-40 bass. I really like my T-40’s but have become a big fan of the more focused sound that I get from my single pick-up basses, so I thought this one would be a perfect fit. Unfortunately, I did not really bond with it. It’s sound is much broader and warmer than I thought it would be. For what I do, I like my basses to have a really clear, focused voice. It just makes it easier for my bass to be heard and cut through when I’m playing along in the videos. This way I can just plug in and play as opposed to working on the EQ and trying to get it to stand out. This bass seems to really want to blend in more than I’d like it to which isn’t at all a bad thing, it just doesn’t suit my needs. It’s been sitting in a stand behind me for some time and I’ve been thinking of selling it so I figured I’d do a video with it beforehand. I just learned this song and thought this bass might suit it. When I got the bass, the action was really high. I had my guy, Joe at MBJ, work on it. As with my other Peaveys, he had a really difficult time finding a wrench to reach the truss rod. Of the 2 - T-40’s I have (and one I returned), I found that they each require a slightly different tool. For one of the first instruments in America to be made with a CNC machine, it’s amazing at how random the truss rod access channels are. It looks as though they are chiseled out by hand and are different widths and depths from bass to bass. On one of my basses, a right angle 5/16th tool works fine. On 2 of the other ones, that wrench will not reach the truss rod nut, so I got a straight tool which works fine on one bass but, for the other, I needed to grind some metal off the tip to get it to fit. Anyway, Joe suggested removing a bit of wood in order to make it easier, which he did. It also involved lengthening the channel so he made a new, and longer, cover. Should I ever bring my other Peaveys to him I will probably have him make the same mod.

With the thought of selling the bass in mind, I played a bit at the end of the video to demonstrate a bit of how the bass sounds. In addition to the volume and tone controls, this bass has a knob that controls the function of the pick-up. At the end of the song, I start with the setting I used in the video which is in “humbucker mode” or about 8 on the knob. When this know is on 10, the pick up is a single coil (the second bit of playing). As you back the knob down from 10, another coil in the p/u is activated and it becomes a humbucker. The last bit of playing, the knob is on about 6 and the tone continues to change the lower you go, the output drops off as well. All of this was done with the SansAmp on as well.