molan

So we went to see Incognito again last night and, as seems to be the case these days, came away vaguely frustrated with them. When they are good they can be just so funky and cool but their overall 'show' just seems to leave me colder each time I see them (I must have been to see them at least once a year for the past 6-7 years). Probably the most irritating thing last night was the bloody sound man! They were playing with a 10 piece string section for much of the gig which meant there was a minimum of 20 people on stage at any time (3 horns & 4 vocalists plus usual core band members). The sound man decided to handle this multi-instrumental environment by jacking everything up to max volume so that it became a complete cacophonous racket The clashing sounds at the higher end of the register like horns / strings / vocals were really fighting for space and the sheer volume of everything made it sound like there was distortion kicking around (I don't think there was, it was just a kind of distorted effect). People all around me were grabbing their ears at various points, it was genuinely hurting a lot on some notes. The crazy thing is that when the strings first came in the sound was fine and everything seemed to fit pretty well. It was just the sound guy decided to turn everything up to 11 & that's when it all fell apart. It really was so bad that we had to retreat to the back of the hall where everything fell back into place again. I know this sounds like a bit of an 'old bloke's whinge but I've seen many a metal band that didn't ahve this sort of effect. It was those high end frequencies at such volume that were killing me! As ever some of Bluey's rambling between song 'chats' to the audience were a bit dull and his attempts at humour weren't particularly funny. I have huge respect for him and everything he's achieved but as each year passes it seems his rambles get longer (and more repetitive). Some of the guests coming and going throughout the night added very little to the sound or show and just gave Bluey an opportunity to tell a story about why it was so important they came on for just one song. Meanwhile there was loads of great stuff going on as well. By the end of the evening the horn section were really kicking and even throwing in some great dance routines, lol. The harmony vocals (when not screeching at max volume) were fabulous and then band were as tight as a very tight thing indeed. It was great to see Jocelyn Brown & Maysa on vocals as well (although it was when JB first came on that the sound guy started whacking the volume up). Francis Hylton was on bass most of the evening and was as cool as ever however the main event of the evening for me was when Randy Hope-Taylor came out for a few songs. They had almost a complete band change for the first song he played on and it kicked off with RHT playing some nice chordal stuff on a Fender Marcus Miller 5. The song moved into a realy nice modern jazzy feel with some great playing from Randy. He probably stayed for 4-5 songs and some of the stuff he was doing was just fantastic. Keeping the core groove going all the time but throwing in little tasteful fills and slides here and there to augment the song. When you consider the number of instruments on stage it was amazing that he could find space to do this without sounding overly intricate. So - there you have it, mostly good, great band but all a bit over the top at times. Not sure I'll be going to see them next year - unless they guarentee RHT will be with them

Is Jim OK and playing again? I try to see Terry Callier most times he comes over and Jim is his first call guitarist - in fact so much so that if Jim isn't available Terry just plays without a guitarist I love Jim's technique, I could happily go to see him just to watch 'how' he plays as much as to listen to what he's actually playing

Are you going to vent the installation somewhere to let the heat out?

Was that a list price or a genuine 'street' value? £2,400 must be pretty close to what you could get a US made Spector for?

I've had a couple of basses with these - seemed to work pretty well but I did notice one of them weighed a ton & helped to make, an already neck heavy, bass dive a little I'd go for the lightest (matching obviously) you can get

Watson 5 String Deluxe neck-through active bass. (Serial 06B004) Materials: Sapele, Bloodwood and Flamed Redwood with Hawaiian Koa veneer between laminations. 7 piece neck has tapered stringers, 2 truss rods and 2 carbon fiber rods. Fingerboard: Macassar Ebony bound with Koa Veneer and Bloodwood Pickups: Bartolini Electronics: Aguilar OPB-3 5-Band with mid-range selector switch Bridge: Hipshot-A 19mm spacing Finish: High Gloss Polyester Resin by All Wood Finishing Weight: 8.5 lbs. The core of the body is made from alternating pieces of Sapele and Bloodwood sparated by Hawaiian Koa veneer. The neck is a 7-piece laminate of Sapele and Bloodwood with tapered stringers and Hawaiian Koa veneer between each laminate.

[quote name='Linus27' post='571685' date='Aug 17 2009, 03:00 PM']Don't talk to me about your '75 RI Jazz. I have played it, love it and want it with a passion. It was one of my dream basses. However, I can't afford it and I can't justify having another Jazz bass. I already have a Lakland Darryl Jones as my main bass, an ESP 400 Series Jazz as my backup which is amazing and a Squire VMJ fretless. So the less we say about your '75 RI Jazz the better :) Of course, I am willing to carry out certain jobs but refuse to work with goat, small children and insects. After that, anything goes [/quote] That made me smile (and I need all the smile I can get at the moment!). The '75 really is very nice, I hadn't ever really put it up for sale and will probably hang on to it for a while. In fact one of the nice things about loaning out basses is that when they come back home it feels like you're getting something new again

[quote name='Linus27' post='571540' date='Aug 17 2009, 12:45 PM']my Lakland Duck Dunn is on loan to Old Horse Murphy at the moment.[/quote] He's got my '75 RI Jazz as well, do you think he's stockpiling them

[quote name='RhysP' post='571025' date='Aug 16 2009, 08:35 PM']As much as I love Squires sound on the earlier albums, my favourite sound of his has to be the Harmonised (via an Eventide Harmoniser) Rickenbacker used on the "Tormato" album. The sound on "Future times/Rejoice" & "On the silent wings of freedom" is just awesome, and I've never heard anything like it anywhere else.[/quote] Checking it out right now Ok - so I'm not 100% sure about Yes from this era. Sounds a bit over-processed to me & missing that classic Squire tone - probably need to listen a bit more though Don'tcha just love Spotify though

[quote name='Hamster' post='571006' date='Aug 16 2009, 08:18 PM']Loved it from the first day I heard it [/quote] Check out the expanded Close to the Edge for some interesting mixes of SK & And You and I

If anyone does try out Spotify then have a listen to the studio run-through version of Khatru on the Expanded Close to the Edge. Obviously lacks all the multi-part harmonies and smooth gloss of the final version but bass is therefore higher in the mix - and still sounding pretty damn impressive

Just been listening to Planet Rock's review of 1972 and they played Siberian Khatru in its entirety (preceded by Watcher of the Skies - prog heaven!). It's a while since I listened to the studio version & I'd forgotten just what a great bass sound Squire has on this. When I was an impressionable teenager this was always my least favourite track from Close to the Edge but I love it now Couldn't find the studio version on YouTube anywhere so if anyone hasn't heard it & wants to hear Mr Squire's mastery of prog bass then Spotify is your friend. . .