lowregisterhead

I was gigging on Saturday, so I finally got around to searching for Madonna's performance on YouTube. Spot the difference... The 'original': and Madonna's Vevo YouTube channel version:

It's listed as 'For parts or not working'. "Woven carbon graphite and selected exotic woods are combined to create a bass which sounds even better than it looks. It has a wide, even frequency response with huge dynamics and sustain." Perhaps after you spend another grand on a full refurb. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Status-S2-Classic-Trace-Elliot-Custom-Electric-Bass-Guitar/293040183537

I've owned a few of these over the years, including a very rare 'wide 5', and there's really nothing quite like them if you can get over the look and the lack of conventional body. Huge sound, fantastic clarity, endless sustain, and no dead spots anywhere. For me, the wooden copies seem lifeless in comparison. This one looks like it's been damaged on the bottom wings though. Still tempting, but the ultra-narrow string spacing would flummox my gorilla mitts...

I think you're yanking our collective chains about the surname though, Mr Devlar...

Yup. Knew that. So she really should know better! :-)

At the risk of offending very few people, oh dear... Even my wife, whom I love dearly, but isn't the most musical person in the world, looked up from her laptop and said "Blimey, that was awful - and you can tell they really hate each other". I'm sure a tour with a nice fat cheque at the end of it has helped them get over their musical differences.

Rendevouzed with Brian today to deliver my Status which he bought. We've done deals before, but never actually met - great to finally put a face to the name - and have a long overdue cuppa and a chat about all things bass. Brian knows his stuff! Suffice to say you can buy, sell or trade with Brian in complete confidence. You're a gent, sir. 'Til the next time...

Blogs and personal online content in general can be something of a confessional, but this guy sounds like he should get counselling. A lot of people I've known in music over the years who displayed what might be loosely termed as 'the artistic demeanor' have had borderline personality disorders. It's what makes them (us?) creative / windswept and interesting / sexy / dangerous / nauseating / massive pains in the backside (delete as appropriate). May it ever be so, of course.

The princely sum of £12 a head for a 4-hour session. We're a 5-piece, and it's London prices, but it's a very nice studio. But I don't think it's the money, it's more the principal he objects to, that he shouldn't be putting in what he sees as 'so much effort' for a longer-term return. If he was note-perfect, I wouldn't mind so much, but he drops huge clangers at every gig.

Thanks for the reassurance - there's been a few times when I've thought we might be being a bit hard on him. And yet, it gets murkier - today he WhatsApped us all again - he's only gone and got us a gig!! Still doesn't want to rehearse until 2 weeks before, though. It makes me wonder... was he keeping it to himself and planning to bring in some mates to do the deed until we forced his hand? Seems mighty convenient!

Stinky poo?? My first post that's been obscenity filtered! Hurrah! 🙂

An uneasy silence, but we are rehearsing with another keyboard player next week! Not sure where we go after that, but I have a sense we may be offloading Dr Dentures shortly. Or he may offload himself. stinky poo happens, it's the attitude that nobody needs.

I know the man, I've worked with him. He is exacting and uncompromising, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It won't always win you friends, but sometimes you have to be true to yourself regardless. The whole album that track is from is great, but sadly I suspect it'll never get anywhere.

Blimey. I'm guessing he didn't go on to a wildly successful solo career after the band split? This isn't quite on the same scale, but despite several weeks off after the Xmas period, the keyboard player in a function band I play with announced that he didn't want to rehearse any more, apart from a couple of times just before gigs to refresh his memory, as he put it. As the band only just took on a new guitarist, the rest of us tried to point out that wasn't practical, especially as the said keyboard player was not up to speed himself, regularly going blank in the middle of songs, despite being in the band for over a year. He then proceeded to lecture the rest of us via WhatsApp about how much work he had put in, and how it was totally unreasonable to expect someone of his musical calibre to spend his hard-earned money on rehearsal if there wasn't an imminent gig to offset said outlay. No other bands he knew of worked like this, he went on, and as he gained his "musical satisfaction" elsewhere, he didn't need to "rehearse for fun" like the rest of us! In response, we took a slightly firmer position than perhaps he might have expected, pointing out that we would rehearse anyway, get another keyboard player to come down and help out, and that if the dep knew the set, we were far more likely to call him first when gigs went in the book. There then followed furious back-pedalling (again via WhatsApp) from Dr Dentures about how much we needed him to help with organisation, video editing, and "general musicality". I'm not sure how he thought that last point was going to win any friends, but suffice to say it went down like a cup of cold sick. He followed it up by warning that "an all-or-nothing approach would be making it hard for ourselves going forward"! Bloody keyboard players. They know they're hard to come by, so too often act like prima donnas. Bass players don't seem to suffer from this sort of bizarre egotism to anything like the same degree. Maybe I should form a band of only bass players... I know it's been done already, but it would be good for my mental health...

Did a trade with Alexis, and the whole transaction was as smooth as silk! Great communication, and the bass was just as described. Excellent packaging, too. Thanks!