Quick story from this afternoon's gig with the community band I play in.

Our band leader went down a week and a half ago with a detached retina, and has since been on pretty much "zero activity that even remotely involves the eyes" orders from the surgeon. So one of the other band members who is also a conductor, who I'd never met or talked to, was filling in. After the performance was over, as he was leaving, I approached him to shake hands and offer a few words of appreciation.

In politeness, he asked about the "custom bass" I play. When I told him it's a Chapman Stick, his expression took on a look of, "I've heard those words before", for ~5 seconds. Then it switched to 'Aha!' He then said, "Really? That's a Chapman Stick?" A moment later I was giving him a closer look at it. Turns out he's always wanted to see one first hand. Not necessarily to play, but because of the novelty and coolness factors.

I asked him how he knew about them. Judging by his having to reach into the corners of his mind to recall the instrument, I was expecting a King Crimson reference, or perhaps Blue Man Group. Nope. As it turns out, the only time he'd ever seen one was on "What's My Line".

Of course I have seen Emmett's "What's My Line" appearance, but that was on the internet decades later. This is a dude who saw the episode when it originally aired (probably a teenager at the time). With apparently no other reinforcement, the impression is still there.

We all know our instruments attract attention any time we play out with them, and today was no exception, with several folks stopping by to ask about mine. However this particular conversation with our fill-in conductor was a little extra cool in a slightly different way. "What's My Line". Nothing else.

Upon reflection, it is absolutely believable that Emmett's appearance would have left such a strong impression on someone musically inclined.

Any news about the bass amp?

When I saw Steve A. in 2007 at the Montréal jazz festival I had the same reaction...where did I see this instrument before...and it was around '74 or '75 on a tv show. I guess it was Emmett...cannot remember if it was him or not...but I remembered really well the stick. And I finally got mine in 2010...three years after seeing Steve.

The seller of the Backline 110 decided he didn't want to part with it. I picked up a Behringer K900FX off CL. Not as portable as the BL 110, but not a beast either, and it's a step up in punch. I like it. It may end up becoming my "main" Stick amp.