Grimalkin

A Theatre of the Absurd where no one can actually do anything, they were only entertained for it because they looked the part. But that's been happening since the '80s, a defining era... Or perhaps the existing Trace Elliot gear will discover AI, become self-aware and enslave humanity. I think we are at the theatre stage myself: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theatre_of_the_Absurd https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theatre_of_the_Absurd

They should retire before their driving becomes terrifying.

You mean "Come on, come over." Granted, it doesn't have the same intrigue as yours...

We are certainly a style over substance culture, what Guy Debord termed "The Society of the Spectacle": ""All that once was directly lived has become mere representation." Debord argues that the history of social life can be understood as "the decline of being into having, and having into merely appearing." This condition, according to Debord, is the "historical moment at which the commodity completes its colonization of social life." Merely appearing... However that bass sets up or doesn't, it isn't worth 9 grand. There are plenty of instruments a fraction of the price that set-up well.

It's called satire.

It's nothing you couldn't sort out with a steady hand and a touch-up pen.

"Only the boring and bland shall survive Only the lamest of lameness will thrive Take it or leave it, you won't be alive If you are overtly CREATIVE..."

It doesn't matter about moving the root, it's recognising the interval, from any root. Those songs are not just played in one key.

TBH, a lot of the slap fashion now seems to be: "How many triplets and sixteenths can I fit into this?" I think it was Marcus who said that what he tries to do, is put what he usually plays with the fingers onto the thumb. Playing actual lines with the slap sound, not technique for technique's sake.

I bought a set of DiMarzio Ultra Jazz Pickups only to find the neck pickup was dead on arrival. The tech who was working on the bass for me tested the pickup end to end, it was an internal break in the circuit. I contacted Thomann to inform them and the chap wanted me to provide a video of the testing... I told them it would be pointless. Anywho, all in all it took about a month and a half to turn it around a receive a replacement. This may be an outlier but it certainly wasn't good. The bass was minus string tension for about two months so the neck was curvy. Took about a month of tweeking to put it back into shape.

"There are, of course, those who do not want us to speak. I suspect even now, orders are being shouted into telephones, and men with guns will soon be on their way. Why? Because while the truncheon may be used in lieu of conversation, words will always retain their power. Words offer the means to meaning, and for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth. And the truth is, there is something terribly wrong with this country, isn't there? Cruelty and injustice, intolerance and oppression. And where once you had the freedom to object, to think and speak as you saw fit, you now have censors and systems of surveillance coercing you’re conformity and soliciting your submission. How did this happen? Who's to blame? Well, certainly, there are those who are more responsible than others, and they will be held accountable. But again, truth be told, if you're looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror..."

How did you come up with that one? I agree with Thunes, I'd much rather hear it played on a piano. How that signifies the end of everything I'm not quite sure...

"Everyone's trying to make the bass the voice. Stu Hamm playing the "Moonlight Sonata?" It's an ugly sound-don't do it! Step away from the bass! If you think the sound of the bass is more important than your own personal voice, you've missed the point of music completely." Scott Thunes 1997. I'm aware of Thunes' truculent reputation but I agree with him on this point. Moonlight Sonata tapped on a bass is technically impressive, but it isn't a nice sound to communicate that piece. I'd much rather hear it played on piano. Everything in its right place.

Different techniques are tools for communicating music, there is a time and a place for it but it shouldn't overrule. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

I'm past caring...

I'd much rather the ebony board, I never liked the feel or the slight fretting clack of ebonol or other coated boards. A bit too bright.

Frankly, I think the whole economy is going down the pan...

This was a series of gigs Birelli Lagrene did with his band titled "Remembering Jaco". Birelli is predominantly a guitarist, who played with Jaco back in the day. I love how there are all the Jaco trademarks there but how Birelli expands on them, from the harmonics @ 0.33 and the false fretting @ 1.45 onwards, it's the closest thing I've heard to Jaco in years:

Jaco on intonation/fret markers/difference with double bass scale: 10.00 - 10.35. Alternating and raking: 26.32 - 27.42:

Naughty naughty. Everyone knows that you only need enough technique to play the bass line for Brown Eyed Girl. Gratuitous hedonism.

Geddy Lee I suppose, I still think the Rickenbacker tone on "Exit Stage Left" is one of the best. I dropped all of the rock stuff as soon as I heard Nathan Watts playing on Stevie Wonder's "Songs in the Key of Life", it was a whole different bass scene for me from there on. And then there was Jaco, and that changed everything again.