Stanley Jordan..

[bubinga5]

If you have never heard if him, here he is way back when he was in his 20's. For those who might not know he uses a hammer technique for the chords on his left hand, and improvises on his right hand through some sort of effect going through his guitar.,. Hes pretty mind bending. 

[Staggering on]

Love the guy, he has a lot of amazing videos including one with Chet Atkins.

Lovely bass in this one.

[HowieBass]

I heard Stanley Jordan when he first became known in the mid 80s and I bought his first album 'Magic Touch'. I've been upgrading my hi-fi the last year or two and hadn't listened to Magic Touch in ages... so I decided to play it again to hopefully be astounded at how much better it'd sound with my much improved system. 

Couldn't stand it, his guitar tone sounded horrendous so I took to my local charity shop! 

Ah well... 

[Baxlin]

4 hours ago, HowieBass said:

I heard Stanley Jordan when he first became known in the mid 80s and I bought his first album 'Magic Touch'. I've been upgrading my hi-fi the last year or two and hadn't listened to Magic Touch in ages... so I decided to play it again to hopefully be astounded at how much better it'd sound with my much improved system. 

Couldn't stand it, his guitar tone sounded horrendous so I took to my local charity shop! 

Ah well... 

Please clarify - which went to the charity shop, the album (which hadn’t changed), or the "improved" hi-fi?

😟

Edited July 13, 2019 by Baxlin

[lowdown]

When he first appeared in the mid 80's, I think it was was one of those mouth open moments for a lot of musicians (his Guitar was tuned in 4th's all away across as well, IIRC). 

The late, great, Wayne Braithwaite was on Bass on a couple of tracks on the 'Magic Touch' album. That album was also #1 for about a year in the Jazz albums in the States.

 

 

 

[HowieBass]

Magic Touch had lost its magic! 😅

[gjones]

His tuning method is very logical.

 

 

[pineweasel]

I went to his debut UK show back in the day, and the audience was full of musicians in awe of his technique. But it wasn’t a great gig. Once you looked beyond what he was doing the music was pretty bland, and I felt he didn’t really swing or groove at all. 

[pete.young]

I have a copy of Magic Touch. The first time I saw him was on 'The Tube'. Jools said 'here's Stanley Jordan, who is going to play a tune on his guitar'. Geniune jaw-drop moment for me. I think he got his break when someone spotted him busking on the NY Metro - image that!

[leftybassman392]

3 hours ago, gjones said:

His tuning method is very logical.

 

 

I experimented with permanently tuning one of my guitars in fourths across the board a few years ago. Chords need a complete rethink (more logical once you get your head around them though), but the melodic side works brilliantly - for me at least - once you learn to make the adjustment at the 2nd string/3rd string crossover. Knowing what I know now, if I were learning from scratch over again I'd do it that way. Just ask any 7-string bass player (paging @Bilbo).

[Bilbo]

Interestingly, if I understand the implication of your reference to me, I tune my seven string bass BEADGBE not BEADGCF. It is essentially a guitar with a low B tuned down an octave. The opposite of what you are doing. 😀

[SICbass]

47 minutes ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

I have a vague memory of this. Was it Eleanor Rigby?

Yes, it was.

[leftybassman392]

2 hours ago, Bilbo said:

Interestingly, if I understand the implication of your reference to me, I tune my seven string bass BEADGBE not BEADGCF. It is essentially a guitar with a low B tuned down an octave. The opposite of what you are doing. 😀

Have you ever tried it in fourths? I've never owned a 6-string bass - never mind a 7 - but they're normally tuned in fourths I believe...? If so, that would actually make your tuning a bit unusual for a bass would it not?

I found it fascinating. In fact I'm going to retune one of my guitars in fourths and leave it that way for a while just to remind myself how it goes.

Edited July 13, 2019 by leftybassman392

[SICbass]

Please excuse a thread derailment, but does anyone remember Nick Heyward and Pino Palladino performing Whistle Down the Wind as a duo on The Tube? And, if so, where I might find it on the web? I tried YT etc. and had no luck.

Edited July 14, 2019 by SICbass

[Bilbo]

17 hours ago, leftybassman392 said:

Have you ever tried it in fourths? 

I had a six string once. I got the seven specifically to try the guitar tuning thing.