Summer 2008 — memories of Keimyung University, Daegu.
Perhaps, as Mr. Ollivander said — that it is not the wizard who chooses the wand, but the wand that chooses the wizard — it is not the player who chooses the instrument, but the instrument that chooses the player.
I bought and sold countless instruments and wandered in search of better ones, but looking back now, the instruments that stayed with me were less ones I chose than ones that found me, each in its own time.
If the first chronicle was about which basses I carried through my life as a player, the second chronicle is about why I started playing bass.
To me, a good instrument means two things: an instrument that literally sounds good, and an instrument that means something.
A good instrument lets you hear its sound, but a meaningful instrument makes you remember time.
These three are the instruments that have left me the happiest, best memories — from the moment I fell in love with the bass to now, after all these years of making music.
DAME JAZZ SPECIAL
This is the instrument that first made me want to major in bass.
In high school I played it in the school band. I played in bands with upperclassmen and took the stage at festivals at my school and nearby schools.
Back then I didn't know whether playing would become my profession, or whether I would keep making music.
I just loved playing the bass so much. And that joy is what eventually moved me.
At the time, arts high schools with contemporary music programs were rare, so commissioned training institutes for high school seniors often served as a kind of stepping stone to university entrance.
After deciding I wanted to major in it, I prepared for three months and took the exam — and the companion I had with me was this very instrument. The piece I played for the exam was Lee Ritenour's “Rio Funk” (BASS Marcus Miller).
Looking back, at that time I just loved playing the bass so much.
And that joy is what eventually moved me.
FENDER JAZZ BASS
AMERICAN DELUXE - Teal Green Z2
Teal Green.
The color was so beautiful.
But thinking about it now, what I remember is less the color than who gave me this instrument.
It was my first Fender, bought for me by my mother.
At the time I was simply happy to have the instrument I'd wanted, but there were things I only understood as time passed.
That even in circumstances that weren't easy, she had done her very best to express her love for her child.
I loved this instrument dearly, but while preparing for university entrance I went through several instruments and switched to a Fender ’78 Original Jazz, and so this instrument receded to the far side of my memory and waited for me.
For a while I bought and sold instruments here and there, trying out so many of them on my instrument journey, yet part of me always felt something was missing.
Around the second half of 2015, in a conversation with a friend who had prepared for the entrance exam with me, the memory of this instrument came back vividly. That was when I resolved that someday I would bring this instrument back.
And that resolve finally came true nine years later, in 2024.
So when I brought this instrument back, it didn't feel like simply recovering an old instrument.
Because all the time I had spent with it came back along with it, all at once.
With this instrument I played in bands with seniors from high school and from Howon University, played my first-ever club show in Hongdae, and, with another group, filmed an EBS documentary.
The pianist I played with then was visually impaired, and perhaps for that reason had an exceptional ear, which helped my playing grow enormously.
(That experience later became one of the reasons I wanted to add a read-aloud feature and premium voice narration to THE STANDARD GROOVE MAGAZINE.)
With this instrument I also entered a contemporary music band competition held at Keimyung University in Daegu.
The piece we played was Scott Wilkie's “In Comes The Ausgang.” I still remember the nights of that time.
The back alley behind the gas station at Exit 2 of Hongik Univ. Station. The people who rehearsed through the night at the Yosulbaem (“Magic Snake”) rehearsal studio, then parted ways, cheering each other on down our own paths.
Strangely enough, we're still getting together.
For about twenty years now, under the name “Yosulbaem Family.”
FENDER JAZZ ’64 CUSTOM SHOP RELIC
This instrument's story begins with the Fender ’78 Original Jazz I used for my entrance exams.
It was an instrument I met on the instrument journey that began after I let the Teal Green Fender go, and it accompanied me through the exams.
I loved everything about it — the sound, the weight, the color — but one week before the exam, a friend who shared my practice room accidentally spilled water on it, and its sound went dull.
That was when my teacher handed down to me the Fender ’63 Original Jazz.
It was a wonderful instrument, but after that accident — watching an instrument get ruined right in front of me — I felt uneasy carrying an instrument I truly loved around as it was.
So, wanting to carry on that character, I chose this Fender Jazz ’64 Custom Shop Relic.
And it was truly the right choice.
Starting with Verbal Jint's band, I did so much work with it — countless shows and recording sessions.
We traveled everywhere together, from every corner of Korea to a North American tour, and went back and forth between broadcasting stations, making so many memories with this instrument.
But my most precious memory isn't the stage in front of 70,000 people, or a live New Year's countdown broadcast.
The moment I played this instrument for my beloved grandmother and took a photo with her.
Of all the memories I've gathered living as a player, it's probably one of the most precious scenes.
THREE OF THEM
In 2024, I brought the Teal Green back from Gimhae.
In July 2025, I brought the Dame back from Samcheok.
And in September 2026, I brought back the final piece, the Olympic White Fender Jazz ’64 Custom Shop Relic, from Gongneung.
It would be a lie to say it wasn't a burden.
But the moment the three instruments were together in one place again, my heart felt strangely full.
It felt like the Dragon Balls, scattered here and there and living only in memory, had been gathered once more.
Looking at these three reminds me of Woody, Buzz, and Jessie from Toy Story.
Once, the Fender Teal Green Deluxe may have been exactly that kind of presence to the Dame Jazz Special.
That moment when a new friend arrives and you feel as if you're being pushed aside.
But I didn't choose one over the other.
I loved them both, and I played them both.
Someone new arriving doesn't erase the meaning of someone who was there first.
Because each holds a different time, and each remembers a different me.
So to me these three are not just a collection.
One remembers the beginning, one remembers family, and one remembers the time I have lived as a player.
And only now do I think I understand.
It wasn't that I was collecting instruments —
perhaps I was bringing back the time I had lived.
- 01 DAME JAZZ SPECIAL
- 02 FENDER AMERICAN DELUXE JAZZ BASS Z2
- 03 FENDER JAZZ ’64 CUSTOM SHOP RELIC
Scott Wilkie — "In Comes The Ausgang"
Summer 2008 — memories of Keimyung University, Daegu.
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