anyone play bass guitar?

[Bill Dedman]

Well, I play rock covers and mess around with my own stuff. The fifth string is a low B string.

Todd Johnson is amazing. Not really my style of music, but I can certainly appreciate the skill and talent that goes in to that. The MIDI arrangement on the higher strings works well for what he's doing.

Nice Valiant. Mine's far away from being on the road again...

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Thanks for the comments. He IS an amazing bass player!

I started looking for bands who cover Steely Dan stuff, and there are actually several. One of the best is called "Pretzel Logic"...

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHfr7W-lQOE"]Steely Dan Tribute Band Pretzel Logic - YouTube[/ame]

They do a fantastic job, I think, of covering some really difficult charts with a laudable degree of accuracy... Steely Dan's music has always been hard to play (for me, anyway.) Covering it (including accurate renderings of the instrumental solos) is doubly hard.... They must rehearse a LOT, or they're awsome "readers." More likely, the latter.

I am vitally interested in your Valiant project and will be watching intently, as it progresses. A '67 V-8, 2-door Sedan has a shipping weight of only 2,830, so it should FLY.... :cheers: depending on what kind of motor you choose. Like I said, I'll go read the whole thread.

Thanks again for the kind words, and good luck with your Valiant project!

P.S. Have you decided on a powerplant for this little jewel???

 

[jtolbert]

Pretty great Steely Dan covers. I've been thinking about trying my hand at the 'Peg' bassline for a while.

Ideally, I'd love to put a modern hemi in my Valiant. Second would be an EFI 360, then a carbed 340 or 360...It all depends on how the money situation looks when it comes time to pick an engine. I can get a lot done without having an engine/transmission, so that's what I've been working on.

 

[Bill Dedman]

Pretty great Steely Dan covers. I've been thinking about trying my hand at the 'Peg' bassline for a while.

Ideally, I'd love to put a modern hemi in my Valiant. Second would be an EFI 360, then a carbed 340 or 360...It all depends on how the money situation looks when it comes time to pick an engine. I can get a lot done without having an engine/transmission, so that's what I've been working on.

The bass player for "Prezel Logic" (the cover band) is Jake Feldman; his dad (Victor Feldman) was a well-known and much-recorded vibes player and drummer. As a matter of fact, he's on Steely Dan's "Aja" album... I think Jake does a really good job, though, playing with that band. He's got some really large shoes to fill... as his dad did a LOT of recording with the best of the best of Jazz musicians while he was alive.

The acorn never falls far from the tree...

It's fortunate that you have a timeframe for this build that allows you some opportunity to examine closely, the vagaries of several different powertrain options. There are lots of possibilities, here... almost anything will "fit" the engine compartment, so the imagination runs wild... LOL!

I have lately become enamored of turbocharged slant sixes, an oddball choice that can make 500 streetable horsepower without breaking the bank, and is high on the "AA/Different" hierarchy of motors.

Ryan Peterson's '66 Valiant runs 127 mph in the middle 10's, with one of these motors (single 4-bbl 225 slant six) and it's has good steet manners.
Another plus is, it does that with a 2.76:1 final drive ratio... he rtried nigh numeric ratios, and it runs its best with the 2.76... 60-foot and all.

Here it is: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QzUfV8iTpQ"]Turbo Slant Six 10.74 @ 127 mph 7-19-10 - YouTube[/ame]

So, he has a car with decent street driveability, 500 horsepower, a mid-10 second capability and a highway gear all wrapped up in one... :blob:

I was so impressed that I and a friend, built a copy-cat car, but this one won't see much street action. We're not finished with it, but it should be ready for strip action by the first race of 2012, here in Arkansas.

We hope... rayer:

Here are a couple of pics of THAT particular build...
I'm the idiot in the white coat...