peteb

[quote name='The Burpster' post='448507' date='Mar 29 2009, 08:38 AM']Pete, If you beileve my g'tarist there has been little 'talented' music made since 1975......... In some ways I have an elemnet of agreement with him but otherways, he is sooo wrong. I feel the fundamental differance between now and then was that rather than know the physics of sound creation, artists honed their craft to perfection and played more..... Now music is broken down into channels and frequencies, and can be 'cleaned up' digitally..... negating the need to be perfect craftsmen of thier tools.... does this make young musicians lazy? No just different...... I feel that now is just a diferent time, with WAaaaay more information available, and in some ways its too easy..... Just my view FWIW.[/quote] Just to clarify, we were not saying that young musicians are less creative than they used to be or that they can’t write good songs. It was just a narrow conversation about a general lowering of standards of live performance of young rock / metal bands and the lack of the technical ability these days required to create the type of music that thisnameistaken hates! I’m sure that there are many reasons for this: new technology, emergence of types of music that require different skills, other distractions (games, etc) and just that type of playing going out of fashion. For example, I think that Oasis are a great rock and roll band (you may disagree but that isn’t the point) – exciting, great songs and above all they inspired lots of people to pick up an instrument and play in a band. However, to compare them with say a band like Extreme (to pick a name out of thin air); well there are no Nuno Bettencourts or Pat Badgers in Oasis! If you were motivated to start playing by Oasis it is unlikely that you will aspire to the same level of technical ability than a kid for whom the spark was first lit by listening to Decadence Dance!

[quote name='phil_the_bassist' post='448260' date='Mar 28 2009, 06:13 PM']so the segment of the industry that he's involved in has shown a (perceived) drop in talent, when what he's lookin for is the right haircut, clothing labels, and a sound cloned from the the MOTR bland, soulless, flat-packed indie-pop bile that clogs the airwaves...and NOT the musicians who try and master their instrument and produce different, new, interesting music. ...and he's suprised? It's Darwin on a shorter timescale...reward the safe bets, and the extremes will fall to the wayside.[/quote] He's actually talking mainly about nu metal rather than indie! The industry has always been more interested in image and ambition than in musical ability, that hasn't changed at all!

[quote name='BigRedX' post='448219' date='Mar 28 2009, 05:30 PM']I would to a certain extent disagree. My last band was full of teachers so we played a couple of times during "judges' deliberation" in schools battle of the bands evenings. The technical ability of the musicians that proceeded us was way above what I and most of my class-mates were capable of 30 years ago when we were of a similar age. However what was missing was innovation and musical risk taking. Not one of the bands played an original composition and instead kept it safe by playing well-known covers (even I recognised all of them). Of course I think it's much easier these days to to get technically proficient (if you have the dedication to put in the practice) there's plenty of aids available to show you how to play stuff - tabs, instructional videos etc. If I wanted to learn a song I would have to sit down with the record and my bass and work it out for myself by ear, plus my parents hated that I was wasting my time with such a low-brow for of entertainment as "popular music".[/quote] That’s pretty much what I was wondering. It’s easier now to learn to play for the reasons you mention, but do kids now have the dedication to take it a stage further! I genuinely don’t know, but according to my mate the general standard is a lot lower. Not that he is particularly bothered, he just mentioned it as an observation – he just cares whether they have commercial songs and the right haircut!

[quote name='slaphappygarry' post='448044' date='Mar 28 2009, 01:01 PM']Sweeping generalization from a pleb in a pub.... Wonderful. G[/quote] But a pleb who does this for a living and is in a position to judge! But is he right?

[quote name='mrdirtyrob' post='448120' date='Mar 28 2009, 02:55 PM']Anyone else note the spelling mistake in the title of this thread.... just putting it out there..... [/quote] Sorry about that - corrected!

I was talking to an old friend in a pub the other night who works ‘in the industry’, pretty much as a freelance A&R type (for both indie and major labels) and in artiste management. He was drinking with a guy who manages lots of nu metal type bands (some that you may have heard of) and who has had some degree of success. Anyway, my mate said that I would be shocked at the level of playing of the bands that he deals with (we’re talking about mainly rock and metal here) and that standards have dropped dramatically from when I was around 20 years ago! So, is he right? Is it true that the 20 somethings can’t play as well as their counterparts from 10 or 20 years ago?

I would hope that my rig could be described as 'punchy' (Warwick > Boogie > two SWR 4x10 cabs) I play in a pretty loud one guitar band and I need to get my sound to be heard thru a mix comprising of a loud frenetic guitar player, drums, vocal harmonies, etc I want people to feel the bottom end but hear the top frequencies. My job is to create a balanced sound out front and to fill the spaces left by playing in what is essentially a three piece

My favourite version of Addicted To That Rush - billy and paul gilbert playing in a rehersal room with just a drum machine: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wkh14D_UN4&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wkh14D_UN4...feature=related[/url]

It's a nice piece of music and there's nothing wrong with what you're playing - I suppose that you could perhaps try something that's a bit more like a solo or a few Stu Hamm type tapping chord things if that is what he wants? However, it does remind me a little of Vai’s acoustic stuff from ‘Passion & Warfare’, and Stu Hamm very definitely does not over play at all on that album!

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='425448' date='Mar 4 2009, 07:22 PM']IMO, that's exactly why it worked. If Sting had overdone it, it would have been unlistenable.[/quote] Very true - the reason that it all worked so well.....

I've always found the Rock Factory to be friendly and generally good value Try Electro in Doncaster, one of the few big shops left with lots of gear - friendly staff, sometimes prepared to do deals if you ask nicely!!

[quote name='yorick' post='418235' date='Feb 24 2009, 11:37 AM']Anyone for Marc Mendoza? except me, that is!!!![/quote] Good call - I will +1 you for Marco

[quote name='BottomEndian' post='413174' date='Feb 18 2009, 03:47 PM']Exactly. I'm a retailer (although not in the music sector), and there's little that irks me more than customers saying, "And what sort of discount can you give me on that price?" They usually end up on the end of a blank stare and an enquiry (polite, of course ) as to why they should get a discount. I have yet to hear a logical response.[/quote] The response is, my friend, once I have tried out the bass comprehensively and made clear my intention to buy, why should I buy from you and not ring round every other music shop in the country / trawl the internet for a better price! The mark up on big name basses is quite considerable (or at least it used to be a few years ago) so there is normally a bit of room to manoeuvre! I appreciate that the low volume of sales these days is unfortunately putting a lot of shops out of business, but then again, the money being paid at gigs is tending to fall as pubs / venues struggle in the present economic climate and you would be a fool not to strike the best deal that you reasonably can!

Cheers matey - very helpful

Does anybody have any suggestions for places to get two replacement pre amp valves for my Mesa Boogie M-Pulse 360? I'm prepared to pay for good quality valves rather than anything cheap, but wonder if there is anything on the market that are top notch without neccessarily paying for the Mesa name stamped on them? Cheers - Pete

Just to add that I bought a rack tuner off Paul a few weeks ago - great sale, no problems at all....

The chuckle brother in question is Steve “Boltz” Bolton, who also played on the Who’s Tommy tour (in the late 80s I think), did loads of sessions and a few bit part acting jobs (mainly TV ads)! I played a few support gigs for his band when he ventured up the M1 in the early 90s! The bass Pino is playing in the clip looks like a Vigier to me – I’m sure someone will correct me if I’m wrong…..

Glad to see that they've kissed and made up - if it is actually true that they are getting back together! I saw them a couple of times in the early nineties (second and third album tours) - they were terrific, one of the very best no frills rock and roll bands I've ever seen.....

Cheers dood – a Schematic would be very helpful if you can get hold of one. I should say that I’ve gigged the amp a couple of times and it sounds fine. I got it pretty cheap from a semi name band via ebay, so it has been toured a lot and I wouldn’t expect it to be like new. It’s just that the fact that the mute doesn’t seem to work doesn’t work doesn’t exactly install confidence……

I recently bought a well gigged SVT5. The amp sounds great but there is a bit of a problem when I start the thing up. The chap I bought it off told me to leave it for five minutes on mute when I first turn it on (I have heard other people say the same thing about similar period USA built SVTs). However, when I do this the amp turns itself on and off a few times causing a pop to come thru the speakers every time it shuts itself down. Presumably this should not happen if the amp is on mute. After a few minutes this stops and it works fine (I have taken to not the plugging the cab in until the amp warms up). Does anyone had a similar problem or know if this is normal? Does anybody have a circuit diagram for a USA built Ampeg SVT5 pro (I guess it would be about 5 years old)? I have taken the amp to a mate who is a qualified repairs guy, but of course he can only work on it for five minutes at a time as this does not occur once the amp has warmed up! Cheers - Pete

Very kind Phil, but I think that I’ve seen a tab of the Andy Fraser solo somewhere I just wondered if there was a clip or tab by someone of Billy’s solo to give me a starter for 10 before I send several frustrating hours with a bass, an ipod and some headphones!

Bit of a long shot but….. does anyone know of a tab of the Billy Sheehan solo on the Mr Big version of Mr Big (the Free song)? Even better, has anyone got a link to a clip of some clever so and so who has worked it out and posted it on YouTube?

I've always just thought of it as 'tapping harmonics' and have used it a lot for many years I know that Stu Hamm used to use it for the intro to his bass solo years ago but unfortunately I can't find it on YouTube or remember the name of the piece when he originally recorded it

My twopenth for what it's worth! I have spent many years playing in hard rock bands (classic rock if you will) and have been lucky to play with several very good players in that particular idiom, in particular guitarists The best guitar players around generally couldn’t read a note! That is not to say that they didn’t have a decent working knowledge of theory, but couldn’t read However, there was one guy who had been to music college, good singer, could play several instruments to a high standard (he was also a session horn player) and was very clever at arranging songs but was a very uninspiring lead guitar player with no real fire or aggression and it was generally acknowledged that there were a few other guys out there who could play rings round him! Years later of course, no one from that scene ever had more than pretty minor success but guess who is the only one to have made a fortune out of music (writing music for computer games) Yep, the guy who went to school and could read…..

How about: Tony Franklin Billy Sheehan Marco Mendoza