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Guitar is a hard instrument to read on. The multitude of different positions, up to 6 notes simultaneously and the strings aren’t the same intervals bottom to top. It’s certainly not like reading on bass!

I kind of know what you mean - but I can see why AL wasn’t happy with the guitar sound and the amount of keyboards. Production-wise, if you compare it to Grace Under Pressure to me it’s like night and day - so much more dynamics, tonal range and despite both albums being excellent, Signals always seems to feel a bit flat and lifeless.

Driven is a great track but the album as whole suffers a bit from feeling like it’s trying to copy grunge a bit. It hasn’t aged that well compared to other albums. i must go find the remixed Vapor Trails as the original mix was poor and ugly on the ear. It’s definitely their strongest album of the more modern era - I tried really hard with the last couple but just don’t like them. For me as a band they sounded at this best with keyboards, as the texture with just guitars (especially since AL went back to Gibson’s) was just too thick and hard on the ear. I can only imagine what Signals would sound like without the flat production, cardboard drums and thin guitars!

Grace Under Pressure. Alex Lifeson was unhappy with being elbowed out of the way a touch by synths on Signals, yet the Waldorf PPG sounds are brilliant. The tension in the band can clearly be felt but that brings an edge that isn’t there in later albums, and this is the real turning point of them moving from progressive hard rock to having a wider palette, but in a more succinct format. From the cover art and the best band portrait shot by Yousuf Karsh, to me the best song and guitar solo in their entire output - Between The Wheels - for me it’s the high water mark of their output.

Giving you the best that I got by Anita Baker - Nathan East with a simple but killing bass line and a nice track. Anita has a fabulous voice!

Gaslighting Abbie by Steely Dan. Some very tasty bass by Tom Barney and a proper 5-string workout. May not be to everyone’s taste.

Whatever you decide to do, make music . So if you find a scale you want to learn, for goodness’ sake make it interesting - learn the basic scale root to root to get it under your hands then take it outside your comfort zone - start it on a difference place on the neck, take fragments of it and relate it to something. The quickest way to give up is to just learn scales up and down and round the cycle of fourths - this is recommended a lot but in isolation is a boring and unmusical exercise. Of all the exercises I’ve seen the most rewarding is the continuous scale exercise from Mark Levine’s Jazz Theory book. The basic idea is to take a chord sequence, start on the lowest note on your bass that fits, then each time the chord changed, keep ascending, picking the next highest note that fits, until you get to the highest note on the bass, then descend back down. It’s pretty hard as it really makes you think, but you can start it off just over one octave instead of the whole range, it will quickly improve fingerboard and scale knowledge and it’s playing real music Having something to play along with - even if it’s just a recorded piano or guitar track, really helps as it gives it context.

Get a set with a tapered B string if you can. It makes a lot of difference with clarity. I use Warwick Black Label which are fairly cheap and the set I use has a .135 tapered B - sounds great and really cleans up the bottom end - especially as your P-bass pickup is a long way from the bridge.

I owned a Pulcinella fretted 5 and later a fretted 6 the 5 was Ash , maple and had EMGs. It sounded fantastic and weighed less than 8lbs. The 6 has Bartolini soapbars and circuit, was much heavier, but wasn’t much good really, a very nondescript sound and the neck wasn’t straight. I think they offer a 14-day return, maybe longer, on used basses.

Whats your point? You don’t know him? Isn’t that the reason for Basschat?

Bought an excellent Fender Dimension V from Stuart. He moved heaven and earth to get it posted next day, and it is immaculate. Thanks for a smooth transaction!

You know what the answer to all this nonsense is? Buy a Fender.

Learn to play jazz. You’ll then have no money and will have to learn to change the strings and set the bass up yourself 😃

I always slacken off the strings a bit when adjusting the truss rod either way. As others have said, basic physics - particularly when the rod is trying to straighten the neck and pull the strings! Something a lot of people don’t know is that wood continues to move long after the rod has been adjusted. A half turn may appear to make little difference, but tomorrow morning the neck will be like a banana! Small tweak then leave it. Also dependent on temp an humidity.

Hmm... interesting video but knowing a little about instrument building I’m not in any hurry to purchase one of their basses!

Every opportunity offered without pay is another nail in the coffin of playing music being a vocation rather than a hobby. The fact they’re upfront about it makes little difference. What a sh*t society we live in.

Clearly the volute didn’t help with strengthening the neck/headstock area. I agree it is unusual and sympathies - hope you get it fixed.

Yes I remember a couple of “interesting situations with the belt hook and not tight enough belt (or forgetting to put a belt on) 😀 Although slightly unorthodox (but then that’s a Stick anyway), a stand makes perfect sense. I spent 20+ practising bass seated only to realise it’s actually much better to stand - the instrument hangs in a far more natural place. At least the Stick is relatively light and with said belt hook take the pressure off your shoulders.

Both times I was intrigued by it but couldn’t get on with it. I think it requires quite dedicated practice, and not coming from a piano I struggled a bit with tapping with both hands. In retrospect I wish I’d kept it (especially the Grand Stick as I paid £2500 for it and ended up selling it for £1200!!) as it is the closest you can get to a keyboard range and facility with a stronger instrument and has a unique sound. Do let me know how you get on - and I will keep an eye out on Stickist. Having got my last Stick from the US, I’d much prefer to source one in the U.K. as import charges really mount up.

It’s a while ago now but I’ve owned two Sticks, one an old Zebrano 10-string and more recently a 12-string grand in rosewood. In terms of action and relief I’d be aiming for an almost (if not totally) flat board - not sure whether the tailboard has a truss rod, but as you’re tapping rather than plucking the strings don’t move nearly as much. The strings should then be basically as low as they can be without buzzing or choking - and a flat board will help with this as more consistent action top to bottom. The lowest bass strings may need a small tweak up given their thicker diameter but not much - the idea is almost to be able to “press” the strings rather than whack them onto the board, and also helps enormously when playing anything legato. If it was set up as matched bass then you may need to request longer bridge pieces as indicated - I believe they use different-length pieces. What tuning are you going for out of interest? One of the things that has held the Stick back IMHO is the large variety of tunings. They’re all great but it makes it hard to get any standardised or common approach (and is not really reflected on any other instrument - whilst there are variations pretty much every stringed instrument has a most popular common tuning). I had lessons from Jim Lampi, who really is excellent (and I believe started out on sax), and, hailing from California, I asked him why Emmett never opened up manufacturing to get a wider audience. I think the gist was that it is his business and he can maintain the quality by doing it all in-house, and didn’t feel the need to embark on “licensing” it or outsourcing manufacture. I don’t have a Stick anymore but would love to get another one. It’s just a shame they’re relatively rare and hard to find.

I thought it was quite amusing and not at all lazy. Stereotypes they may be but quite well-written. Obviously the hep jazz cat wasn’t very good - as we know, jazz is more aimless noodling* rather than odd time signatures - that would be number 14 - the ex-music school fusion nutjob who listens to the Elektrik Band, Tribal Tech, UZEB and the Yellowjackets all day and cannot for the life of them find the “1” * not my phrase but beloved by some on BC...