skankdelvar

[quote name='Mykesbass' timestamp='1479587513' post='3177731'] So if you remove musical from the last response, are you happy funding education with your taxes?[/quote] Not particularly. [quote name='Mykesbass' timestamp='1479587513' post='3177731']If so, do you really feel that you should be able to pick and choose on such a level as to how education is delivered? [/quote] N/A - see above [quote name='Mykesbass' timestamp='1479587513' post='3177731']Music has a profound effect on literacy, much music theory is intrinsically tied to mathematics, and it has a great impact on the soft skills that children need to learn (the latter being much in demand by groups including the CBI and Russell Group universities). [/quote] Possibly.

[quote name='Mykesbass' timestamp='1479548077' post='3177347'] Why do you begrudge your taxes being spent in this way? [/quote] Because I have different priorities. [quote name='Mykesbass' timestamp='1479548077' post='3177347']How would you prefer it to be spent? [/quote] On things which do not relate to musical education in schools.

[quote name='ambient' timestamp='1479490473' post='3176996'] In the dark days of the Cold War and communism, the USSR placed great value on all of the arts, ballet, opera etc. [/quote] Entirely true. And you had to wait ten years to buy a bass guitar like this: [quote name='ambient' timestamp='1479503306' post='3177147'] Fantastically said ! I can't believe not only this county's attitude toward the arts, but many on this site. You're supposed to be musicians ! Yet you begrudge some of your taxes going to fund musical education in schools. [/quote] I don't begrudge [i]your [/i]taxes going to fund musical education in schools. Just mine. Plenty of [url="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Music_charities_based_in_the_United_Kingdom"]musical charities[/url] out there if anyone wants to send them a tenner. [color=#ffffe0].[/color]

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1479465679' post='3176730'] It's curious that Gibson chose to revive the Epiphone name for their budget line, when they'd already had a line of budget instruments under the Kalamazoo brand from the 30s through to the 70s. [/quote] Indeed so. One wonders why they dropped the Kalamazoo brand. Let us consider the currently available Gibson 'Signature' range of cheapies produced for sale to department stores, Argos, etc. The utter weirdness is that the head-stocks on the 'Signature' Les Pauls and SGs are much closer to the Gibson 'open book' shape than the more expensive Epiphone copies. [quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1479465679' post='3176730']If I ever sell my '36 Kalamazoo archtop (which I won't, 'cos it's lovely), I would absolutely mention Gibson in the advert title. [/quote] Ooh! Sounds nice! The only Kalamazoo I ever played was a bizarrely-shaped plywood solid body electric hanging unloved on the wall of a Dublin junk-shop. It was a complete dog even at 50 Euro.

Gibson and Epiphone were deadly rivals in the guitar market from 1931 onwards. Following boardroom battles, labour problems and declining product quality in the mid 1950's Epiphone approached Gibson to discuss a buy-out. In 1957 Gibson took control and shifted Epiphone guitar production to the Gibson factories. The benefit to Gibson was that it permitted them to establish a second network of dealerships into which they could sell Epiphone archtops and solids. And for a while, all went well. From 1957 until 1970 Gibson made and sold Epiphone archtops to existing and new designs (including the Casino as favoured by the Beatles and the Stones) and solid bodies like the Coronet which filled the Les Paul Junior niche. A typical 'analogy' was the Epiphone Texan to the Gibson J45, likewise the Rivoli bass to the Gibson EB2. In 1970 declining sales and increasing costs ended the manufacture of US Epiphones. Production was switched to Japan where certain popular models were manufactured alongside re-badged existing Matsumoto designs. Sixteen years later in 1986 Henry Juskiewicz ([i]spit[/i]) went to Korea with the notion of mating the Epiphone headstock with Gibson solid bodies (Les Pauls, SG's) and selling them at competitive prices. And that's where we are today, allowing for some nice Epiphone reissues as a sort of sideline.

[b][size=3]U boy, Jaco Pastorius an' Oi be Larry Carlton. Now git orf moi laaand.[/size][/b]

[b]Definition[/b] [i]Gentleman[/i] [u]noun[/u] 1. a chivalrous, courteous, or honourable man. 2. a man who is sufficiently competent to perform a solo or lead bass passage but out of respect for the sensibilities of his audience chooses not to do so

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1478889657' post='3172548'] Very few musicians have the ability or resources to start a rock band. It's why 95℅ of all start ups fail. Blue [/quote] Quite so. In fact, I'd imagine the percentage is substantially higher if one assumes that [i]all[/i] bands are start-ups at some point in their existence. Of the hundreds of thousands (possibly millions?) of 'rock' based bands that have been formed across the planet over the last 60 years I suspect relatively few are still going. Apart from the Stones, obviously. As for the advertiser's self-effacing approach to recruitment: well, it may be better than 'Only apply if you're a toadally rock'n'roll dude who wants to go all the way to the top'. But not much.

I blame the consumers. If only they were better musically educated they wouldn't be misusing their buying power to strangle creativity. The bastards.

Farewell, you intransigent old bastard. We loved you.

Over the years I was accustomed to use Chandlers on many occasions. Then a run of seriously unacceptable incidents, evasion and rudeness led me to take my business elsewhere. No offence intended to anyone here but on a personal basis I'm fairly relaxed that they've gone tits-up. As for the Richmond Guitar workshop, I can testify to Andrew Scrimshaw. He's a lovely guy, faultlessly reliable and did my repairs for many years.

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1478634747' post='3170527'] Surely within the inherent limitations and qualities of the instrument itself..? Castanets..? Difficult to imagine a symphony with only those, no..? Possible, too, I don't doubt, but not as rich a potential as a grand piano. Yes, solo (or orchestras of...) bass is all very well, and feasible, but it has to be admitted that the range is less than some other instruments. Melody..? Fine.Lead..? Why not..? An ideal choice..? Not so often, I'd say. Limited scope, by the very nature of the beast (similarly with many other instruments, of course...). Just sayin'. [/quote] Piffle. One can rewardingly play anything on anything. Need authoritative proof? My bravura interpretation of Mahler's 8th Symphony on paper and comb was awarded 'Best Performance' at The Gramophone Magazine awards in 1954. To my immense pleasure fellow nominee Karlheinz Stockhausen was beside himself with envy. That very night harsh words were exchanged and an unseemly brawl ensued. As a consequence Karlheinz and I broke intellectually and never met again. [size=3][b]Glum[/b]: Stockhausen broods on his failure.[/size]

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1478540461' post='3169743'] They must have known something was going on. The Ed Sullivan didn't normally have 70 million viewers on Sunday Night. Blue [/quote] Agreed, I'm pretty sure they noticed tens of millions of otherwise normal people going crazy f**king apeshit in the streets. They may neither have surmised that contemporary and successor professional musicians would quite so profoundly absorb their output nor that their musical 'relevance' continue to be a matter of debate 50 years after the event. Just as well they didn't chuck it in and become two hairdressers.

[quote name='RockfordStone' timestamp='1478525985' post='3169603'] clearly he wasn't there to witness the impact they made [/quote] FWIW, he's mentioned in several interviews over the years that the whole 'Beatles' phenomenon completely mystified the band, them being - as it were - at the eye of the storm. That said, their 'significance' cannot have completely escaped his attention. At the London press launch of Brian Wilson's Pet Sounds in 1966 McCartney and Lennon were wafted past the waiting hacks into a closed room where they - and they alone - listened to the album in its entirety. At the conclusion of their private audition they appeared before the swooning journos, gave the album the Beatles' regal imprimatur and disappeared into the night.

The more I think about UK punk, the more I think it was a very short-lived blip which cheesily nicked some elements from US musical culture, gave birth to a couple of useful bands but ultimately led nowhere. Consider the facts: UK punk ripped off the Dolls and the Ramones, spawned a hundred cheap copy-cats, descended into a mire of Mohawks, expired three years after it arrived and left the 80's wide open to the New Romantics, Phil Collins and Dire Straits. By contrast US punk is in good health having long ago godfathered the DIY alt- and indie movements which - in turn - have wormed their way into virtually every other musical sub-genre. Over the pond the Punk / Alt / Indie ethic still enjoys currency among the local yoof. Back here in the UK the only people who still talk about punk are (mostly) sporting colostomy bags and about to take delivery of their bus passes. It's like my late Dad and his Glenn Miller fixation. Only worse. [color=#ffffe0].[/color]

[quote name='PaulWarning' timestamp='1478175098' post='3167260'] went to see the Beatles film last night, they showed the Shea Stadium gig at the end, now that rocked, raw, aggressive, everything that Cliff's video isn't, but they were a lot younger and couldn't hear a lot of what they were playing, maybe the problem is with Cliff and his like is they try and get it too perfect, it loses the edginess, but then again I'm an old punk rocker, I would think that wouldn't I? [/quote] Nail > head. While I think it's admirable that Cliff trundles ever onward I would cheerfully concede that his performances lack edginess. In part, this is a case of matching his delivery to his audience. Cliff fans don't want edgy. It's also because Cliff's singing and speaking voices both espouse old-fashioned 'clear diction'. His words are very cleanly enunciated and sit almost robotically on the beat; he does not do the rock and roll 'slur'. A clear example is his rendition of Roll Over Beethoven as posted above. It's the first time I've ever been able to pick out all the words. Here's the conventional way someone would sing it: Yer O, my temrerer's rise' ner jukebok blow'n er fuse Marts bean ri'um m'soul key sing' er blues Rover Bayoven tell Sh'koffski er news And now Cliff: You know, my temper-ature is rising end thee jukebocks bl[u]o[/u]ze a fewser May heart is beating ritherm and may soul keeps on singing thee blues Roll ho'ver Beethoven and tell Chykovskee thee news

Sir Cliff's live version. Nation shocked as 'chicken in a basket circuit' guitarist beats the bollocks off Jeff Lynne while a 75 year-old pensioner grooves around like a man half his age. All hail Sir Cliffington. We are not worthy. [media]http://youtu.be/eDO5TpI6xbY[/media]

[quote name='Kiwi' timestamp='1478077066' post='3166487'] Do you make these words up?! [/quote] [i]soi-disant[/i] Adjective: Self-styled; so-called Now that we've cleared that up, we might also speculate as to whether Mr Richard's 1963 record 'Bachelor Boy' was not so much a song as a coded manifesto.

To be fair, Mr Richard's voice (and demeanour) has always been polite. Even on 'Move It' the Cliff-ster sounds like a bashful, well-spoken schoolboy soliciting directions to the nearest post office. Let us never forget that Lord Cliffington's polite wholesomeness has been the foundation stone of his unfeasibly lengthy career; he is just safe enough to appeal to those people who collect model cottages, clip pictures of kittens from the newspaper and become unmanned at the prospect of loud music in confined spaces. Indeed, were the [i]soi-disant[/i] Bachelor Boy to commence one of his concerts with a shouty exhortation to 'Kick out the jams, motherf*ckers!' the profanity would fly far above the heads of his audience for never before would they have encountered said epithet. If Mr Richard's milquetoast approach to rock and roll meets the needs of a significant minority of record buyers and concert goers, who are we to gainsay them their simple pleasures? There's a place for everything and everything in its place. [color=#faebd7].[/color]

No grounds for compo, whether the buyer is a scammer, a numpty or just your average dopey citizen. A polite but firm rejection is required.

Back in the 1970's The Who used backing tapes when they performed songs such as Baba O'Riley and Won't Get Fooled Again. The tapes had a tendency to stretch in hot environments and Moon (obviously) played without a click track. Disaster was never far away. One night the tapes failed on several occasions and the glowering Townshend completely lost it, launching a savage assault on luckless tape operator and long-time Who roadie Bob Pridden. With this in mind I tend to give backing tracks the swerve, though I'm sure they're very handy for other people and good luck to anyone who uses them

So basically the booker (the landlady) strips the audience out of the venue for her own amusement then only pays half the agreed fee because there's hardly anyone there? That's like the old thing about the definition of cheek as being 'pissing through someone's letterbox then ringing the doorbell to ask them how far it went up the wall'. Unbelievable.

The problem with guitarist tuning issues is that the worst offenders retreat into a huffy sort of bubble and refuse to accept reassurance ('It sounds fine') or advice ('Tune the string [i]up[/i] to pitch, not down'). As Red points out, the problem is rarely the tuning pegs. Most often it's a binding nut, failure to stretch in the strings before tuning, wildly incorrect intonation and (less often nowadays) the 5 / 7 harmonic tuning method. All these issues are surmountable. The other challenge is that electronic tuners are great for some keys and positions but not others. So the guitarist tunes up, everything sounds fine with the guitar tuned to itself. Then he plays a song in - say - the key of C and hears some sour notes. So he re-tunes which - of course - makes absolutely no difference to the greater scheme of things. Rinse and repeat. The really glaring examples of assonance often occur on the G string from about the fourth fret upwards. The only way round this is to start with the basic electronic tuning then adjust individual strings by ear to 'sweeten' the tuning for maximum flexibility. With a bit of simple preparation it's fairly easy to fix the tuning issue. The big challenge is getting the main offenders to listen to helpful suggestions.

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1477000223' post='3159244'] And these guys were all older than me. [/quote] Is that even possible? Moving swiftly on: It sounds like you may be need to go right back to basics. Google yourself a list of every music bar, jam night, open mic, recording studio and rehearsal complex in a 250 mile radius. Then go back online, see what's shaking, invest in some snakeskin boots then go walk through some carefully selected doors looking like a slick operator with something to offer. People will stir themselves and ask 'Who [i]is[/i] that handsome man?' and you will say 'They call me Mister Blue'. Success will ensue as surely as night follows day. [color=#faebd7].[/color]

I think basically you need to get your ass out there, Blue. Possibly beyond the borders of the Great State of Wisconsin, even. I think there's basically two routes to finding the band of yer dreams: i) Audition for advertised vacancies ii) Become the go-to local / state-wide bass guy (with vocals) who works with everyone: turns up, does a great job, totally calm and makes life easy Neither approach is mutually exclusive but it strikes me it's better to be getting the call than placing the call.