StickyDBRmf

All my basses are odd. (heehee). Due to many factors, mostly being broke after The Last Major Purchase - Chapman Stick 12 string Bamboo DBR with PASV-4 p.u. and MIDI p.u. - just shy of 4 thousand US - I wound up selling my Pedulla 5 string fretless - no "Buzz" finish on the fretboard and no markers, P/J Bartolini Active, for a pair of powered loudspeakers. Now here's the thing. I sold the bass because I wanted to focus on being a STICK player. After a while, a drummer friend nudged my thinking during a session where I insisted on playing Stick and said, "Marty, you're a great bass player, and the song would be better served if you played this BASS sitting here." It was some kind of 5 string active some-thing-or-other that wasn't set up right (it's intonation was good though), and I reluctantly plugged it in and NAILED it. First take, first interpretation, the engineer is booking me for his next project... So the next time I'm in my local music store - the one who's owner is my go-to guy for anything I can't do myself, he has used instruments and etc., there's a used 4 string ESP LTD active EMGs neck-thru hanging there, and I check it out. One setting I dial in Stanley Clarke, another Squire, another Jaco, Wetton,...you get the picture. "How much?" "Two hundred." "Too much." "Two hundred." No tax, right?" "OK." "I don't like the strings. Gimme a set of D'Addario's and we got a deal." "OK." Another time, there's this Hartke PJ bass hanging there, Black finish scabbing off, no strap buttons, "$30, as is". So I grab it, it's playable, the neck is DEAD STRAIGHT. "What's the deal, did the guy kill someone with it?" "Close. The guy was living in a room-for-rent in a bad neighborhood and was worried about getting ripped off, bad period of his life, want's nothing to do with it." "Deal. It's worth more in parts, but I'm gonna rip the frets out." I took it home, the P p.u. shorted out, ripped the frets out, put buttons on it, right now it's "All Jaco, all the time" until I find something CHEAP to stuff in the cavity. I have a few other "odd" basses, stuff given or bought cheap, one's a science project, an Ibanez 8 string from the 80's that I bought new for $750 and eventually ripped the frets outa, right now it has hum issues (it's active). A Danelectro Longhorn - Now That Doesn't Sound Like Anything Else - and an Ibanez acoustic. But unless I find something cheap&odd, I think I got the "basses" covered. You guys have a Merry Christmas!

I like NIN. Might have to give it a spin...

A couple guys went with this: my Dad was always very supportive in ANY endeavour - supported my music aspirations ("as long as you take lessons"), drove me to and from rehersals with the amp barely fitting in the trunk...he was a truck driver, local, always home for dinner. Said he loved his job, it was different every day. Told me "whatever you do in life, I don't care if it's riding on the back of a garbage truck, as long as you enjoy it, persue it". I said before, I cooked for a living. I really enjoyed it, not for everyone, fast-paced, long hours, hard work. But at the end of the day, I knew i had put smiles on peoples faces. "With passion". Same as the music. One for my my soul, one to pay the bills. (and buy strings) All that matters.

Those are really good lyrics! Wish I could remember them...

I've never played one. Silly questions: Are they comfortable? How's the neck? Do they sound good?

I bought a Chapman Stick to sound like Tony Levin. I'm resigned to the fact I sound like Marty Pirint (my real name). Seriously, it's the attitude, not the instrument. Confession: I have all the different pickups available on two different Sticks. And several basses. So I'm just being snarky.

Whether 4 or 5 string Yammy is stupid sounding.

Hot Buttered Soul - Issac Hayes

Trade the gf for a quieter model.

I have to try before buy. I went to Staples (USA) and tried about 16 chairs. Went with a "gaming" chair, but that wasn't the deal-breaker. I've got a bad back, etc., I'm 62 and I play the Stick sitting down, do the laptop in it, watch TV, read. The armrests go up (for Stick/bass playing). It's just comfortable and modifiable. I put a cushion behind my neck and a foam roll for additional lumbar when needed. They had one with those that was $25 more. I already had cushions. It was $150 US. "Office" chairs didn't cut it, even ones hundreds more. The last chair I had was $99 and one of the cheapest they had. I wore that one out after several fixes. So yeah, for us old codgers TRY BEFORE YOU BUY.

Really bad. The thing is, I write poetry, and song lyrics. I just can't remember them. It's a bit of an embarrassment. I mean they're MY WORDS. I'll say to someone, "I wrote a poem/lyrics about that. But I can't remember how it goes. But it's really good." How bad is THAT. They go, "Sure, sure, Marty." I can remember music well. So, I don't get it. It's sad.

The craziness of The Musicians (I mean ALL of us) is that no matter how much we may hate each other's guts when it comes down to playing in the same room at the same time we can't help but enjoy it. Music does that. Fripp would say the music came down and played US. Being a child and teenager during The Beatles era I only know how the music affected me, not what the guys were like or the personal interactions. And I either liked or didn't like the music - I was definitly a "pick&choose" fan from beginning to end. Except for the white album. That blew my mind from start to finish. So I never put 'em on a pedestal. I've had to go back to figure out (academically) what was what I liked about them. I think most of it was the passion they brought to it. Again, that's something you can't fake or manufacture....Looking forward to it either way I find it (now) fascinating.

Anyone with a Chapman Stick and Emmett's "Free Hands" book probably learned this as one of their first song accomplishments on Stick. (Lesson 5 A Pop Baroque Technique). Not me. I was trying Elephant Talk. It probably would have taken years off the learning curve, now that I look at it. Never too late, I suppose, even though I don't like the song, or the band. (I know, I know...What is WRONG with ME?)

The Brand New Heavies. First time I've listened to them... I quite like it. The Taylor Swift post, the "YouTube Play" icon is on her upper lip. Looks like Hitler

Wider neck? I play a 12-string Chapman Stick! HAHA. Seriously, when I bought my first 5-string it was a custom Pedulla fretless & I ordered it no markers, no finish on fretboard, and high C because I always de-tuned (to D) when I played my P Bass. I wanted to go HIGHER. I had a Yamaha 6-string Patitucci model and had no problems. I have small hands. I think anyone who thinks they need more strings to get their point across needs more strings. Anyone who doesn't, doesn't.

Ken Burns stuff has it's critics, esp. the Jazz series, but it's very good just the same. I really enjoyed the Country one, not "into" country per se, but the bluegrass & Hank Williams were jolly fun.

Wanted to be a Park Ranger. Then a Marine Biologist. (before those, an astronaut. But I'm near-sighted) Then my sister came home from summer@ the beach w/ a load of 8-tracks and I heard Jimi Hendrix. Got a Fender Mustang and didn't sound like J.H. Bought a Fender Jazz Bass 'cause my guitarist friends needed a bass player (stop me if you've heard this one before). Grades went down, went to Berklee College of Music, been cooking in restaurant bizniz ever since (Oh, you're a musician. What do you do for a living?). Retired, still plucking, mostly tapping (Chapman Stick) ever since. The Stick was my solution to not being able to play the guitar. HAHAHA

Welcome! Slapping is over-rated, save the occasional derriere...

Welcome from Jersey! (the State, not the Isle). Much better lads than TalkBass, in my opinion. Just get used to the word "whilst".

TheLowDown, is it "many", or "some"?

Welcome. Is your moniker some Mozart reference?

Who's Dave?

I have the Roland Microcube. I bought it 'cause I wanted a battery amp. Sounds great but it's only 5 watts. (2.5x2.5) - true Jazz Chorus Effect. I could have/should have done better. Lotta $ for the convenience to play by a campfire w/ an acoustic guitarist. And if he plays hard or a jet flies overhead...

I only opened the post 'cause of the joke - I'm in the USA - thank you fer the chuckle

What will I be doing in May? Probably what I'm doing now, playing with myself