bluesparky

[quote name='iamapirate' post='572968' date='Aug 18 2009, 02:56 PM'][url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_X7mMU6Gb0&e"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_X7mMU6Gb0&e[/url] oh... dear...[/quote] Ha ha ha haaaaa!! I bloody love the internet!! Ha ha!!! But seriously, what the hell was that all about?!!! There aren't that many things in this world of which i at least don't have a basic grasp of the concept..

[quote name='spacecowboy' post='570970' date='Aug 16 2009, 07:47 PM'] Tye Zamora - Alien Ant Farm..... An awesome nut job.[/quote] Top player, i saw Alien Ant Farm at a festival at Knebworth i was working on a few weeks back.. Awesome musicians, all of them. They ended their set (rather predictably) with smooth criminal, but at an even fast tempo than their recorded version. He spent most of the time either bouncing around or stomping across the stage all hunched up. Great fun.

[quote name='3V17C' post='567436' date='Aug 12 2009, 10:52 PM']just back from the Colchester clinic - pretty good to see/hear him up close, though as others have said sound wasn't all that, especially from the hydrive combo he used for a bit - seemed to be breaking up a little?! Always prefered his old Kubickis over the Urge basses but did like the gold sparkly paint!! as an aside, was my first visit to the bass merchant - lots of nice stuff in there - think i may need a Spector now! D'oh! Will have to pay another visit when i've got some funds!!! peace c[/quote] Yeah, i noticed that too. I was tempted to turn around to see if the Hartke reps were cringing about it! The combo certainly didn't sound as good as it should have done. Good fun though, and lovely bloke, and worth every penny!. Funnily enough, the fill in Blue Powder (Steve Vai - Passion & Warfare) was the very bit of music that first made me notice his playing and who he was and become a fan about 15 years ago. When he got to the Q&A bits he said "don't ask who plays faster, Joe or Steve, and don't ask me to play the blue powder fill" which he promptly did anyway - it certainly made me chuckle...

I'm going tomorrow night, can't wait! I love Stu Hamm. Hopefully my other Aguilar cab will have arrived by then too.. Happy days..

Done, Good luck with it all!

[quote name='molan' post='535185' date='Jul 7 2009, 10:01 PM']Great pics & thanks for the show timings, my daughters were very appreciative (and loved the show too!) [/quote] No worries, glad they had a good time. BTW, the last photo has me in it, i'm the one on the left. It looks like I'm playing my PSP against the bloke next to me - there's not a lot for us to do during the first half of the show...

[quote name='tauzero' post='534688' date='Jul 7 2009, 02:08 PM']With the clothing shown in that photo of the video screen (which looks just like the Joker's stooges in the first Batman film) and that big inflatable figure on the stage (just like the Joker's inflatable figures), was there actually some deliberate reference to Batman going on or is it just the voices in my head suggesting it?[/quote] Funnily enough, when we were rehearsing in the airship hanger, there is another similarly enormous one next to it. Warner brothers own that one, and the most recent project in there has been a Batman film and there were a bunch of Gotham City SWAT vans parked behind that hanger! More pics when i get time. Glad you like 'em!

[quote name='grimbeaver' post='534506' date='Jul 7 2009, 11:03 AM']wow so your in take that ? lol[/quote] Yes, i am in Take That and so's my wife!

The above pics are of: The airship hanger where the production rehearsals were, show photo's from my point of view above the stage, a couple from out front and signs they laid out on the seats for the DVD shoot.

Right, here we go, It's all done, it's all over i'm home and currently enjoying my 2nd day off in 2 months. So now it's time for some photos. I'll put some more up once i've had breakfast and started work on the monstrous pile of laundry that i've now got... :-(

[quote name='Killstarz' post='527847' date='Jun 29 2009, 03:58 PM']+ my 2 = 1609[/quote] 1609 + my 6 = 1615

Whilst talking about L42, i had a funny moment when i used to own a Sony Ericsson phone, and one of it's factory in-built ringtones WAS the leaving me now piano outro (which is very pretty!). Not just a similar tune, it WAS the tune! It made me laugh when i heard it on there...

[quote name='crez5150' post='522111' date='Jun 23 2009, 10:11 PM']The Sunbed Song.... they do a very funky live version.....[/quote] +1, i'm fortunate enough to do a lot of work with level 42 and i always enjoy it when they play the sunbed song Hot water is also a fave, as is Sleep Talking and Chinese Way. Lessons in love will give your galloping thumb a work out...

FYI, All going well. I'll post some pics at the end of the tour (i don't want to ruffle any management feathers mid-tour). In a nutshell it's wet, oh so very, very wet - i just long to work a gig with a roof again - far too much rain. It's been a long time since i've been soaked this much so regularly. Factoid: The tour will also apparently use 20% of the nations Helium stocks, which has pushed the price up! (so i've been told). We've also had the joy of a bus crash (truck intentionally cut us up and mashed up the front of our sleeper bus - Not at all as bad as it sounds, all ok though, and we were picked up by another of our tour busses following us). I've never seen so many women in one place at a time either, talk about being intimidated - however the highlight is watching the daily race of the crowd racing and sprinting desperately to get to the front row at the barrier when the doors open. I know it maybe a bit mean to find it amusing, but in my twisted little mind it is... Cheers, :ph34r:

Yup, i know what you mean, For me it's Extreme - Cupids Dead I love that song, great middle break. However i just CAN'T nail it on demand. I can comfortably play the intro, verse, chorus, middle riff, solo etc, but I just can't pull it together all at once. It's so annoying when you know it's within your abilities yet for some reason you can't do it. But then again, half the fun of trying is finding it hard. Maybe like the Frasier episode where it's on about the first time you beat your Dad at something and you feel like you can't respect him anymore.. (am i waffling?).

[quote name='leonshelley01' post='515491' date='Jun 16 2009, 05:14 PM']Have you tried plugging in different instruments to make sure it is the Toneport? If it is broken, you can still find them on the web for about £40 (I know Bonners still has some), or the new Studio GX is about £55.[/quote] I've not tried another instrument, but in my "travel pack" i've also got a Korg pandora, and everything works fine through that. I'll have a nose around the line 6 monkey forum and see what they say. The new stuff is good value, but i'm obviously reluctant to shell out on new stuff if my current equipment can be salvaged. Cheers,

Hi all, My trusty travel Line 6 Tone Port GX has just started to die on me. When i'm hooked up with my Sinsonido into Line 6's Gear box, all i get is distorted non pitch related noise. I've done the obvious - changed cables, batteries in my bass and also re-installed the program drivers and software but it hasn't solved the problem. This leads me to believe that it's a hardware issue with the Tone port GX, which is potentially a pain as they don't make them any more (annoying 'cos it's only 18 months old) so i don't know if anyone will be able to repair it or get spares for it. It wasn't over expensive in the first place, but i don't really want to buy a similar product if i don't have to. Has anyone had an issue with a similar device and found out a solution for it (e.g. opening it up and doing a quick chip press / dry joints / hitting it with a large rubber mallet). I've not had time to look inside yet though. Any thoughts? Cheers all. Mark

I took a 10W practice amp to uni, was perfect for halls. I'm away a lot and when i need to practice in hotels etc, I use my line-6 Gearbox Tone Port GX. Perfect for my needs, and if room size, hassle of moving etc is key to you, then it could be up your street too.

[quote name='JJTee' post='502483' date='May 31 2009, 07:08 PM']Flea on a fretless stingray I believe on that track. Fantastic fun to play: a typically aggressive, muscular and funky bassline from Mr Balzary. There's an alternative version on the album, with some nice sliding octave work on the intro.[/quote] Yup, good choice. I've played that song to death over the years, some cracking little runs and fills - and complete with the token one slapped note! Dave Navarro played on it too. Another song with a fun bassline yet a naff(ish) song is Just A Girl, by No Doubt - who in a rather nice segue, supported the Chilis when I first saw them in '96. ("Fascinating", i hear you all say!! )

Personally, my fave pedal that i have is the Maxon AF-9, but that's not really suitable for dirty rock / punk that you're playing. The only thing that i can think of along the lines of what you might like that i've owned is the Pro Co RAT, awesome, disgustingly dirty and great fun - as played on Reef's "summer in bloom" and sounds just as filthy in real life... Lovely. I also have and love the Boss BF-2B Flanger, perfect and very effective for anything if used in moderation / hardly ever..

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='499826' date='May 28 2009, 01:24 PM']Yes please, and maybe some photos? Your Queen ones were great. Have fun. For what its worth we are now doing 4 Take That songs in our set and they seem to be very popular (especially with the Ladies;-)[/quote] Sure, we've a photo ban at the moment in case they end up in the bizarre column of the sun, but i'm more than happy to share the photos once we're done and dusted and home. It's nice to know you're interested. I'll be sure to include any random R'n'R tales from the tour too...

[quote name='skankdelvar' post='499779' date='May 28 2009, 12:49 PM']Please do...Have a good one![/quote] Ta!!

[quote name='skankdelvar' post='499766' date='May 28 2009, 12:31 PM']Agreed. Storm > Teacup. But it's a no-win. If he actually [i]was[/i] playing bass for Take That, he'd probably have experienced a 'musical integrity' derailment Good luck with the tour![/quote] It's nothing. Things were taken the wrong way - as it's easy to do with written word, and it's all water off a duck's back. EBS_freak has since been very good about it and it's all sorted now. It's all water under the bridge. If anyone is interested / actually cares, i may post more about it all towards the end of / at the end of the tour - once all of the good bits, key higlights and gags have been splashed over the papers umpteen times.

OK, i think maybe incorrect wordings and phrasings in my intial post-pub-post have made me out to be saying i'm in a position that i'm not. I clearly didn't mean to mis-direct people or make out i'm something i'm not, i only wanted to share something i'd heard, seen and experience, and maybe have a couple of comments here and there about it. If anyone has seen any of my other posts from last year that i've been on here, i've made it very clear that i'm not a professional bass player - i'm not even in a band, but i am fortunate to work in the industry and have a rather pleasant insight to gigs, shows and circumstances which i love to be in. I'd like to think that i'm an honest person and i've no desire to lead people up the garden path by making up huge untruths. I've re-read my posts a hundred times and i don't think i've said anything blatant to make out i'm something i'm not, just that a couple of things could be mis-interpreted if you looked at it from a cynical point of view. However i have added the seemingly key words "as a tech" to the first line of my first post to make it clearer that i'm not trying to BS anyone. Sorry if anyone has been mis-lead, i'll go and lie low now so as not to ruffle any feathers.

[quote name='EBS_freak' post='499399' date='May 27 2009, 10:35 PM']PS - you may want to edit this bit too...[/quote] It's fine, we left there a couple of days ago. The "we" refers to all 100+ people on the tour.