ambient

I’ve just bought the three concert thing ‘different stages’ they’ve got out, not listened to it yet though. That’s going to be Rick, Wal and Jazz. The tours are 94s counterpoints, 97s test for echo and 78s farewell to kings. I’m not really much of a fan of their early material, it’ll be interesting to hear him playing the Rick though.

Ever so slightly off topic. I used to play in a band with a guitarist who played a Rickenbacker guitar, that really was the most beautiful looking guitar. A very distinctive sound too.

I totally agree, I think heavier gauge strings with more tension bring out the tone of the wood more.

Wasn’t that what he wanted? I seem to remember him using very narrow gauge 030 - 090 Rotosound strings then, the same as Mark King. His worst sound for me was the later jazz bass. I was listening to a live album a few days ago, the bass sound got annoying after a while.

Maybe not so good on a gig though?

Jerzy Drozd are beautiful instruments. What preamp is installed? If it has a gain control inside, has it been turned up too much?

As above, TC Polytune clip.

You tapping on it?

You’re absolutely spot on. I think it’s one of those instruments that in the right hands and playing the right music sounds perfect. I’d forgotten about Geddy Lee playing one. My favourite bass period of his was the Wal era.

I’ve never played one, I’m not even sure I’ve seen one in real life up close. I think they sound incredible in the right context though. I’ve heard Nick Beggs playing one with Steven Wilson and it sounded brilliant, perfect for the music being played.

Do you mean Billy Sheehan?

I have Aspergers, I’m sure I come across as exactly the same as you. 😊

I keep seeing this thread, and reading through it. I really find it genuinely, totally confusing, particularly posts by the OP. Who is he? I'm sure I've read more than once that Mark King's introduction to slap playing was seeing an American bass player who visited the shop that he was working in.

McCartney does use a double. I had a tutor at uni who was working with McCartney in a studio somewhere. She was shocked when she walked out of the room to go to the loo, leaving McCartney behind her, only to bump into him coming out of the gents. Apparently it’s for security since Lennon was shot. The real one goes out the back door, the double out through the front door.

No, that was a guy calling himself Derek Pinkham and Jack Chicago.

The monitors are hopefully sold now, and to Paul McCartney from a Beatles tribute; a very realistic looking Paul too. :)

Written musical notation is essentially a means of recording and communicating a musical idea. Sometimes it just won’t work though. This is my score for a concert at University of Birmingham next week. I have excellent sight-reading ability, but standard notation doesn’t work in the context of the work I’m performing.

Totally.

Being totally honest, apart from a strap last week, I’ve not had much luck on here.

Threads like this often revert to disagreement 😁. Like I said at the beginning of the thread, it’s a useful skill to have, it’s also a quite separate skill from theoretical knowledge or the ability to busk or improvise. It’s usefulness depends entirely on what your personal ambitions and playing requirements are though. As has been said, players like Pino don’t read, but they have a sound and style that gets them gigs, other players like Dave Swift do read well and are booked because they have that ability. If you’re playing original music, or are a member of a function band that has a set of songs that you’ve learned, then it’s something that’s not really necessary.

It's a good way to improve your own lines though, it moves you away from playing what you feel comfortable with, playing the riffs or patterns that you'd generally play.

I had plenty of ridiculously low offers, I expect those though, I had someone text me about 2am last week offering me a price £200 lower than what I’m advertising them for. On the other hand I sold a cassette portastudio last Saturday, I agreed to meet the guy at new street station to deliver it, this was fine and no problem; I was passing through there on my way to UoB anyway, it just meant getting off the train there instead of going straight through. He didn’t quibble at all over the price, and gave me an extra £5 for my trouble.

Local music colleges can be a good source for finding talented musicians, especially if you’re gigging regularly and getting paid.