Bilbo

Haven't bought a bass magazine for years. Gave my back issues away years ago. They have a place and it is great to share one's enthusiasm for our chosen instrument but one magazine is plenty.

They lost me at 90125.I recently revisited Big Generator and it does nothing for me. I have not heard anything after that. I keep thinking I should be never get to it. Howe is a scrappy guitar player but somehow it works. Like Steve Hackett.

The problem I have with things like Moondance is that they are discussed by uninformed people as being representative of the genre which is, to my mind, a distortion. Add the fact that the original performance of the tune by VM is very weak and you can see why it draws criticism. The truth is, VM has made millions out of it and there are 1000s of covers. Why would he give a rat's what I think?

I think you damn well should be the Emperor of the Universe, Dad. You could sort it all out once and for all.

Jazz, like all genres, is a broad church. I like what I like and don't like what I don't like. Sometimes I listen to things that I might like but then don't. Other times, I listen to stuff I have never heard of and love it. Sometimes, I listen to stuff I used to like and find that I don't like it anymore. I even listen to stuff I didn't used to like and find that I now do. It's complicated being me. What I don't like is non-Jazz being called Jazz e.g. Moondance. I personally don't like the 'Jazz as nostalgia' movements e.g. Buble et al or 'X plays the music of long dead Y'. Trad Jazz can be OK but can also be a bit icky. The most important thing is that none of this matters because I am not the King of Jazz or Emperor of The Universe. So carry on liking whatever you want to like without fear of censure from the arbiters of taste. Even if it is not Jazz at all but cabaret with a saxophonist involved.

I like good Jazz but I don't like bad Jazz. The best thing is, I get to choose.

I have modelled my sound on the sound JB had on Cozy Powell's Over The Top LP. Bought an Aria SB700 because he endorsed the range (before I knew how all THAT works). Just a lovely musician.

That's just greedy.

Reading dots can take you to places you might otherwise never go. I value it considerably as a learning tool, for recording compositions and for reducing wasted time in rehearsals.

Mods have opinions too. Some of them are unpopular (the opinions not the mods. Although.....)

Apparently Iron Maiden at Donington in 1988.

I don't think I ever made a live album but I am in the audience of a couple of Live at Brecon Jazz videos of the Pat Metheny Trio and Vital Information.

I used Hell zero's link and ordered the tape from the US. I just received this..... Rob, re: Order #198237 1 K&K Double Sided Adhesive Strips for Contact Pickups This item is very small and will fit into a standard envelope. We can ship this to the UK for $3.25 via USPS First Class Letter International (you paid $14.00 for USPS First Class Parcel shipping). The shipping time should be about the same, but there is no tracking for letters. We will update your order for First Class Letter shipping and ship this out tomorrow (Tuesday, Aug. 13th). We will also refund the difference in shipping costs to your PayPal account after we ship this item. If you prefer to use First Class Parcel shipping please let me know before then, thanks! Ted Blue Blue Star Music 858-312-1174 (M-F, 9-5 Pacific time) 800-581-STAR (toll free within U.S.) http://www.bluestarmusic.com Kudos to these guy!!

Let's be clear. I KNOW that Jazz standards are a bit stinky poo and if I had to never play another one it would be fine by me. But playing Jazz standards is completely different to reproducing a Rush set. When I play Autumn Leave (which I try REALLY hard not to), I am not thinking 'what did Miles play'?, 'have I got the right gear'? 'is my hair 'authentic'? The only 'tribute' is to the concept of playing Jazz standards (which I refer to as 'the increasingly tedious American Songbook') and the tune's core chord sequence. Everything else is up for grabs (actually, thinking about it, even the chord sequence sometimes! A passing reference to the melody is all you need really ). Why? That's easy. Because most Jazz 'bands' are scratch bands made up of people who have never met before let alone rehearsed so it's a means of getting a credible set together without the need to read or rehearse. When players know each other and can play together a lot, the standards quickly ebb away in favour of more and more eclectic stuff. The concept of Jazz standards is, for me, a manifestation of the chronic unpopularity of Jazz and the impossibility of funding anything in the way of a rehearsal or composition (one guitarist friend of mine once said 'I like Jazz but it's just not worth the amount of work involved'. If you do it for the money, you don't do it. It's not often that three player who have never met before turn up and say 'does anyone know La Villa Strangiato'?

I don't have any opinions about people who are entertained by Rush tribute bands. My point was simply that, whilst I can accept the amount of work involved to achieve the result and accept there is a lot of skill involved, I cannot but wonder what that amount of effort may have achieved were it focussed on something original instead of a tribute. I think it's like these pencil drawings that look like black and white photos. Superb technique but why?

Hondo II Precision copy in black. Tried to turn it into a fretless but failed. Got skipped.

So did Love Island...

Agreed

The term you are looking for is conflicted. Someone offered me money to play with some bloody marvellous musicians and I bloody well agreed to do it. I hate myself.

Although, that does sound lush.

That's interesting. The description talks about 'acoustically transparent' adhesive. I suspect the stuff I used was not transparent so I have effectively put a block on the signal. That might explain things. I will get some of that and try it before I go and spend £600 on a DPA 4099B!!

This pick up doesn't use the wing slots, it is the one with piezo pads stuck on the underside of the bridge. I think the problem I have is that the adhesive that is sticking the pads onto the bridge is not providing a solid enough seal to allow for a string signal. The adhesive pads provided when you first buy the pick up cannot be re-used so I had to just glue them on but the glue used appears to interrupt the signal rather than facilitate it's passage. That's the only explanation I can find for the difference between the sound I had before the bridge was changed and the sound I have now (I have to put ALL the bass on the Clarus and roll off ALL of the mid-range and top and it STILL doesn't have the warmth I need.

That's not what I struggle with, WoT. it's the 'tribute' thing (you all know I struggle with this - I was talking to a guy just yesterday who I respect but who plays in three or four top quality tribute acts. My idea of hell; his idea of making a living). I just don't get why people put that much effort into reproducing something that is already out there. I feel the same way about Jazz tributes (and anyone who knows me personally will know that). 'X plays the music of Horace Silver', 'Y plays the music of Miles Davis' etc. I play with some of these things as a dep occasionally (got a Miles one coming up soon) but these are 'read the dots' gigs so you just turn up and play. To prepare and rehearse a whole evening's music as a note by note reproduction/soundalike project, even to the point of the bass player using the same basses, playing the same keyboards and having the same hair, always strikes me as clever, even admirable, but, in the end, utterly, utterly ridiculous. As has been said, however, this is nothing more than an opinion and there is a small chance, just a small one, that Felixstowe's third best bass player may be completely full of doo doo.

Hey, guys. I have a problem you may be able to help me with. I have just had a new adjustable bridge fitted which has made my bass much easier to play but, an unforeseen problem has arisen in that the pick up I was using, a K&K Double Big Twin, now makes a previously lush sounding bass sound bloody awful (thin, boxy and generally nasty)!! I think it is because the pads that are stuck to the bridge are not getting a proper connection so the signal is weak and the eq possibilities limited (I use AI Clarus so it's not the amp/cab). I have come to the conclusion that I need a new pick up arrangement so wanted some advice. The sound I am looking for is Charlie Haden rather than Ron Carter - think wood rather than string/bridge; woody rather than bright. Any recommendations/experiences with the other pick ups on the market. Budget is 'I can't afford anything but will find a way'!!