Bilbo

It's all soooooo rock and roll....

I've said it before here but I think that one credible professional instrument is enough for me. I think a lot of the benefits of this bass over that one are illusory and entirely circumstantial. I have had pretty much one electric bass for 26 years and one combo for 12 and have never felt the need to look elsewhere. For me, it has long been about the music and not about the bass guitar. I think I would probably be perfectly happy with one fretless bass, whatever it was. My double bass is not a great instrument but it does the job and people have been kind about the sound so why worry? I figure that, if I want it to sound better, I should practice more.

More Jazz, that's for sure, as no Jazz gig ever has more than 200 in attendance unless it is a festival where all of the Jools Holland/Van Morrison fans are looking for something to do before the headliners start.

Right, where is the October photograph?

Let's mention Passport, Return To Forever, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Bruford, Brand X, Soft Machine.... all had their strengths and weaknesses but also their highpoints.

I remember erading a thing a thousand years ago when Clarke discussed hus thenrig. He said he had this major rig with crossovers and all sorts of bells and whistles but that, one day, he realised that no-one had ever actually complimented him on his sound. SO he simplified it a lot (can'r actually remember what to, I am afraid). I play mine through my Eden Metro and have no feedback probs (includes a Fishman Plat Pro).

I took my bass to the luthiers today to have the action lowered as I was finding that I couldn't execute things I knew I should have been. He did a grea job and got the action that little bit lower so I can get to the things I am hearing. Then, "WHACK", my high C string broke. $55 for a new Evah Pirazzi C string! THAT hurt

How can someone you've never heard of be forgotten?

There are a few things happening simultaneously. A lot of people have seen pay freezes that mean their pay is not going up whilst things like fuel, utilities, even food, are going up quite significantly. In a nutshell, people's disposable incomes are going down as their outgoings go up. People are also losing money on houses instead of making money so, even if they can sell, they aren't getting those windfalls we had all got used to. I have less gigs as well so any 'top-up' money from gigging is much reduced. Things I used to be able to pay cash for quickly (new tyres, car repairs, materials for DIY jobs etc) now get stuck on credit cards and hang around for months. And we all have gear we can't sell. I would love to buy Beedster's AI gear but the cupboard is bare until some more work comes in. All very frustrating.

[quote name='Dr.Dave' timestamp='1348842360' post='1819022'] Something being crap doesn't make it wrong. [/quote] No, but it does make it crap. But why do people have a problem if I call it as I see it? Infinite tolerance of mediocrity and the uninspired is what makes 'live music' a dubious attraction for many.

Eggsactly. I guess it would be like turning up at the National Portrait Gallery and seeing a load of painting by numbers pictures. Just because someone else likes them doesn't help you if you expect something more. I'm going to start another thread

Yeah, that JP. I think of that as Jazz Rock so don't expect it to swing. It is what it is and I [i]think[/i] it was the first Jaco I ever heard.

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGh43wP_kjE"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGh43wP_kjE[/url]

[sub][sub][url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2BuCBFQnBk"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2BuCBFQnBk[/url][/sub][/sub]

My name's BIlbo and I am a musiclal snob...(as if you didn't know )

But you usually get a mediocre singer doing the same old....... I mnea, when was the last tme you saw Ronnie James Dio doing a BT gig in Lanzarote?

Avoid the Melvin stuff and the Birelli Lagrene stuff. Nice tracks on Al Dimeola's Land of the Midnight Sun, Mike Stern's Upside Downside and one of Airto's cds.

Because I am a miserable ol' barsteward Seriously, though, it is because I am an idealist. I have no doubt whatsoever that my 'values' are self-defeating and the 'real world' doesn't work like I would want it too. I would easily be able to get out there and do a backing tapes thing (I have the kit to do it), or join a tribute band or do 'those' covers in order to increase my 'market share' etc but I just can't do it 'spiritually' (I can't think of a better way to articulate it). Like you implied, my polarised views comes over as overly concrete on here when, in reality, I am much more tolerant of they ways that others function in the world of music. But, if you can't be an idealist on an internet forum, where else, in this day and age, can you be? Besides, someone has to do it

[quote name='Dr.Dave' timestamp='1348736145' post='1817424'] Ahhhhhhhhh....... now I get it. It's not the button's marked 'start' you object to , it's just the one's marked 'play' !! [/quote] Missed the point. It is the difference between 'playing' the samples and having them played for you by a machine. If you start the sample and stop it in real time as part of your performance, it is no different to hitting a cymbal and stopping it; the musicians are responsible for the noise and where it occurs in the performance. If you start the tape and play along with it, and will crash and burn if you don't do exactly the same thing every time, it is no different to playing along with a Jamey Aebersold cd in your bedroom and you are a slave to it. Bores me rigid. A great example woiudl be Bill Bruford's Earthworks 'Up North' (look it up on youtube)., He is playing samples on a Simmons kit and it is a really interesting use oif the technology of the day. If the riffs he was playing were on a tape instead, that would suck. Unless I am missing something, Rush don't play along with tapes, they trigger stuff as they play, be that with a keyboard, bass pedal or whatever. I have no problem with that. But playing along with a recording that contains massive chunks of pre-recorded stuff is [cough] a bit naff, innit? Imagine going to see play where a lone actor performs his lines to a pre-recorded version of the play; a kind of 'Shakespeare Minus One'. It would suck all the life out of it.

Miroslav Vitous borrowed my amp once (Trace Eliot AH250 and a reflex 2x12 TE cab - Brecon Jazz Festival about 1989/90). I didn't wash it for years.

I guess its just us Brits that will settle for these bastardised monstrosities You can fool some of the people all of the time.....

[quote name='Chris2112' timestamp='1348696818' post='1817206'] But then jazz usually lacks the flair and passion of great fusion, that, for me, defined the greatest fusion records. Jazz is all well and good, especially if you're hosting a dinner for old folks at the bowling green.[/quote] Jazz usually lacks the flair and passion of great fusion.... What have you been listening to? [quote name='Chris2112' timestamp='1348696818' post='1817206'] At their closest, the bridge between jazz and fusion can be little more than electric instruments vs acoustic instruments because the music is so similar. But there are extremes at either end, from overly-fanciful fusion records to lazy jazz plodders. That's the thing with jazz, it often seems quite soulless and self-indulgent. [/quote] I don't think there is much room for that kind of product anymore, Chris. There is a lot of variation in Jazz now but there aren't many 'plodders' left. There was a tendency in the 50s and 60s to release lp after lp of standards and blues tunes that were often stale and preditable. I agree, but Jazz woke up a long time ago and those kinds of recordings are increasingly rare, unless you classify that Buble/Peyroux/Norah Jones/Jamie Cullem cabaret stuff as Jazz.

You are moving into the area of being a complete musician and not just a bass players, Steve. Writing (and reading) music brings massive insights into the bigger picture and makes you a better player. Glad to see it's working for you.

Double bass everytime. If you go for an EUB, you will still want a double bass. If you get a double bass, you won't want an EUB.

An L?