oldbass

Nothing profound here.....but Ian Hunters mastery of indecipherable language and picture building is insane....ive edited this down a bit. Alice. Now Alice needed money I put $10 on the breeze As the wind died away she sank way below her knees And as a hurricane passed by she clutched the money from the sky She must have been at least a fathom high She works the 42nd beat on 42nd street With all her golden ambitions and dead rhinestones in her feet And when a stranger said she sucked she just smiled believing luck As she climed into his truck to make a buck Me and my camera eyes sitting on a fence Laughing at the lights of New York City Alice..... you remind me of Manhattan The seedy and the snaz, the shoeboys and the satins Like a throne made of gilt that too many johns have sat in Oh, I got my eyes on you ROLL UP! See Alice on the palace where her name adorns the boards Ain't no flash in her Cannes, she got the willpower of a horse And it's a long way to Broadway from a 42nd lay Or is it really just a couple of blocks away Me and my stupidity sittin' on a fence And digging what I thought was New York City

Only three this year but then we have stopped doing pubs/clubs in favour of private parties and corporate do's etc.

57 here pushing 58. On Friday nite I did my first "posh corporate" gig for 25 odd yrs for 150+ with the 7 piece I hang out with and yes it was very exciting with guest singers etc and everyone dressed up and having a good time. It seems to me it doesn't matter how old you are, the fun is still there to be had....at any age, though I make sure my gear is the lightest I can afford. If one thing can ruin a gig at my age its schleping heavy gear at 1.00am in the morning....

I think I need to have a lay down..ha I've been to a few shows this year and at everyone the bass was either inaudible against the ever increasing trend for a louder and fuller kick drum or the tone was just turned to mush anyway, and Im talking named musicians playing active J's, to passive P's and just about everything inbetween. In fact at one very large prestigous outdoor festival I was seconds away from making my way to the desk to "making a suggestion" etc.... So, be subtle, play softly and if you think its making any difference to what the audience are getting then best of British etc...

Interesting. But the audience after the sound guy has tweaked you into oblivion cant hear the difference anyway....bass is already subtle ie its not a lead instrument..so why would we try to make it even more subtle. Those who do this are literally pricing themselves out of the tonal spectrum until someday an MD turns around and says, "Im not paying the bass player he's playing so softly I can't hear him.

I seem to waste endless hrs thinking of the nearly new late Ampeg V4B and Orange 120 heads and bouncer bins I had back in the day....oh would I love to have them back now but only to look at of course...no way could I lift them.

Well it's a weird one alright. James Brown appeared a couple of yrs ago on a tiny outdoor stage in the little ole town of Gosport in Hants....yep, you could not make it up. Band was the tightest punchiest live unit I think Id ever seen, and playing to a few dozen locals. It really was a treat.

Only ever heard one person play that spot on and it was down at my local on the Isle of Wight many, many moons ago. Mark Kings bro..Nathan. I could not beleive what I was hearing...guy was as good as his brother if not better.

......Bach

double post

Here's a true story which completely killed my interest in gear and gig/stage tone in a sec. My home practise tone is another matter entirely. I was doing a minor outdoor festival..vintage P, old flats, tone rolled off a hair, light touch and let the amp do the work. On stage sound seemed nice and thick with plenty of crisp low mids, spot on I thought but the tone on the video play back was that of an Alembic wearing fresh rounds......bright, gnarly, clangy. I've seen the reverse too. Name funk band. Active Jazz Bass..probably wearing rounds...FOH sound, a boomy indestinct mush.

Ok guys, well Im clearly in a minority of one here...probably something to do with age I guess..but to me a, it just it just doesnt look cool and b, sounds too subtle for its own good....I play fingerstyle only and if I want to go quiet..well I simply play quiet, if I need to dampen I do it Bernard Edwards style...etc. Different strokes I guess.

Not sure what ur musical ability is but Ive just recently got into Jazz in a huge almost obsessive way and it happened because I became so sick of playing the same old pub standards and the same old riffs that I couldn't find a way to break free..I even had some lessons with a brilliant young guy a couple of yrs ago (I'm 57 lol...) which didnt really help cause I couldn't read well enough. Anyway I've been hitting the dots hard for the last few years and having a ball. This is the type of thing I cant stop playing.

Fantastic as always, though don't like his tone much, too scooped for my liking but boy I wish I could read that fast...he's the boss alright. But it's Igoe thats the draw for me. Widdly little kit and such a lazy action but a huge sound ..amazing.

Ha...dont get me started. I can understand the fact that he's a really nice bloke and that his life took an unbeleivably lucky turn when he was a teen but how exactly does he inspire a young person to become a "musician", his playing is erm.....pretty basic.

There's not much in our beloved bassland that pokes me in the eye but the following ..well, does. What irritates me more than nails on a blackboard is this latest craze of ever so gently playing fingerstyle using the thumb.....in a picking mode. Aaagh! why do u guys do it as it seems to me to make the bass tone soft, indistinct and mushy, ...how is that good. Even UB players strive for clarity. Strange indeed. Ah..that's better. Hat, coat, door. .

Your all missing the point. When he hit back in 70's it was like hearing something from Mars. Like it or not he was then totally unique, mind blowing and individual..trouble is now there's a whole room full of players who basically copied him..that's why unless you were there he now seems slightly meh...if still not brilliant.

In fact I think there is something strangely satisfying about a drummer sitting there with a very sparse kit...he's got nowhere to hide and with a simple set up they have to deliver. Having said that I once played with a guy who had a tidy small kit but who played 4 on the floor to every song on the list....excruciating! He didn't get the gig...

Thanks for that..nice but sad trip down memory lane..anyway reckon we ought to get back to the thread...ah yes now drummers....

Sorry for the derail but amazing!..small world eh.....I think he was pretty new to it all when I did a couple of summer seasons with him back in 83 but he was def destined for greater things. And yourself?

This. Turns up with ...One bass drum...One snare....One h-ihat.....One floor Tom....One overhead tom...one crash and a ride. Anything more and I walk. I've had a lifetimes fill of "drummers" who turn up with double this, extra that, walls of rotos that they can hide behind..etc etc... I can remember one rehearsal where 3/4 of our time was taken up with the guy setting up the biggest kit Id ever seen..none of us could beleive it.

Sfunny but I'm actually going the other way so to speak. My dream set up right now would be to find a local jazz quintet or similiar but it ain't gonna happen so I help out now and again with a below par function band who are the most disparate group of muso's I've ever played with ranging from a drummer who plays with his index finger clamped to the top of the sticks, his timing is the worst Ive experienced in 40 + yrs through to an ex pro keyboard wizard and all levels of ability between. Thing is none of it matters as there a brilliant bunch and a lot of fun.

My thoughts exactly. eg. depping for a functions outfit at the mo and they do Queens Crazy Little Thing etc. The Bb rundown after the bridge goes straight across the open strings, lovely and sooo efficient. As they used say there aint no money above the fifth...