StickyDBRmf

If you can't take full pleasure in the present you may already be imagining being nostalgic for the future!

Actually I'll be taking my mid-80's Chapman Stick to the luthier to have the frets I had removed re-fretted, (fretless was an unwise decision for it, hence "worst" bass decision)). With the $ from the Stimulus Check, from April, haven't touched it. The Sticks have stainless steel fret"rails" these days, mine had jumbo nickel bass wire, what Emmett used from first production till he started playing with s.s. fabrications. My '08 has s.s. "rails". I'll talk w/ the luthier about it. He's well-known in this . neck of the woods and runs a school of guitar repair. I also may check out a Peavey Bass Combo - the relatively "new" Max series...like the 2x10 (or 2x8). I have 2 JBL-EON 515s that I thought would be a great idea for stereo Stick reproduction. It does work, if you're a Stick player that plays kinda "normal"...solo two-handed arrangements of Bach fugues (not that there's anything wrong with that). But for two-handed low-end altercations they just don't cut it. Not competing w/ a drummer and/or guitarist. When the day comes thru to get in a room and throw down, the JBL's won't satisfy. You can certainly HEAR them, but they'r not bass drivers (hence "worst gear" post...even tho it's been years). The only thing that would work w/ the JBLs would be an 18" sub and this 63yr old back ain't doin' THAT. Over-kill anyway. These days backline & line-out. There I've written it down now I'm committed...

He might of caught me poking a box, though...

Quit raggin' on him guys! When you've been playing music, you're in another mental place, you don't remember that the only low ceiling you've ever encountered happens to be your practice room. The double sock, tho not elegant, sounds good. The pipe cover might not stay in place w/out securing but it might stay in place inside a sock. I use "pool noodles" for all kinds of bumper things in my studio (really cheap pipe covers) Are you worried your wife/gf/kids are gonna make fun of your bass? (mine just make fun of my playing). The little hat is the cutest thing, probably get a cheaper one at the pet store. Maybe even with your name on it...talk about ridicule

You lucky devil. And for me this is not something that has developed as I've gotten older (or the result of drinking and drugs, which were in play). And I did well in school in tests. Like, I could "cram" the night before, or, usually, the study period before the test. Ahhh

Aw but it's so purty! (I'm really digging this...how much$$$?

4000 - Fretted. Fretless. The bass range of Stick in 4ths/5ths. And I play harder on the acoustic bass guitar than any other instrument. That was the latest addition to the arsenal. Yeah I sound different on different instruments. To a degree. Then there's cassette tapes of my '80's band in rehearsal space where visiting musicians, or our very accomplished guitarist, would pick up any of my basses - fretless, fretted, 8-string - thru my rig and you knew it wasn't ME.

Robert Fripp being the anal-retentive kept and keeps meticulous journals to this day. To the point of who he's shagged when and where. I think that part was because of his early competitions with Greg Lake. And then Tony Levin likes to take photos so you got one heckuva diary of Crimson '81on.

King for a Day - XTC

So at 12:27 he sucks all the oxygen out of the room and the fire sparks and almost goes out...

Take my word for it Leslie West is unheralded in the US also. And the band. They were a cohesive unit. Only guitarists will cite Leslie, and then, the band. The songs, the performances, studio and live, I mean, c'mon. West Bruce & Lang were decent - look at the particulars - but Mountain? With Felix Pappalardi they ROCKED. Leslie West really played tasty from first note and chords to last. A force to reckoned with, a sound immediately identifiable. THAT'S the definition of greatness. First rock band I was in, as a teenager, we did a lot of their tunes. It took two guitarists to re-create his parts! And we did Mountain's tunes because we loved the band, not because they were popular. (we did a lot of Joe Walsh/James Gang too!)

All my basses are odd. (heehee). Due to many factors, mostly being broke after The Last Major Purchase - Chapman Stick 12 string Bamboo DBR with PASV-4 p.u. and MIDI p.u. - just shy of 4 thousand US - I wound up selling my Pedulla 5 string fretless - no "Buzz" finish on the fretboard and no markers, P/J Bartolini Active, for a pair of powered loudspeakers. Now here's the thing. I sold the bass because I wanted to focus on being a STICK player. After a while, a drummer friend nudged my thinking during a session where I insisted on playing Stick and said, "Marty, you're a great bass player, and the song would be better served if you played this BASS sitting here." It was some kind of 5 string active some-thing-or-other that wasn't set up right (it's intonation was good though), and I reluctantly plugged it in and NAILED it. First take, first interpretation, the engineer is booking me for his next project... So the next time I'm in my local music store - the one who's owner is my go-to guy for anything I can't do myself, he has used instruments and etc., there's a used 4 string ESP LTD active EMGs neck-thru hanging there, and I check it out. One setting I dial in Stanley Clarke, another Squire, another Jaco, Wetton,...you get the picture. "How much?" "Two hundred." "Too much." "Two hundred." No tax, right?" "OK." "I don't like the strings. Gimme a set of D'Addario's and we got a deal." "OK." Another time, there's this Hartke PJ bass hanging there, Black finish scabbing off, no strap buttons, "$30, as is". So I grab it, it's playable, the neck is DEAD STRAIGHT. "What's the deal, did the guy kill someone with it?" "Close. The guy was living in a room-for-rent in a bad neighborhood and was worried about getting ripped off, bad period of his life, want's nothing to do with it." "Deal. It's worth more in parts, but I'm gonna rip the frets out." I took it home, the P p.u. shorted out, ripped the frets out, put buttons on it, right now it's "All Jaco, all the time" until I find something CHEAP to stuff in the cavity. I have a few other "odd" basses, stuff given or bought cheap, one's a science project, an Ibanez 8 string from the 80's that I bought new for $750 and eventually ripped the frets outa, right now it has hum issues (it's active). A Danelectro Longhorn - Now That Doesn't Sound Like Anything Else - and an Ibanez acoustic. But unless I find something cheap&odd, I think I got the "basses" covered. You guys have a Merry Christmas!

I like NIN. Might have to give it a spin...

A couple guys went with this: my Dad was always very supportive in ANY endeavour - supported my music aspirations ("as long as you take lessons"), drove me to and from rehersals with the amp barely fitting in the trunk...he was a truck driver, local, always home for dinner. Said he loved his job, it was different every day. Told me "whatever you do in life, I don't care if it's riding on the back of a garbage truck, as long as you enjoy it, persue it". I said before, I cooked for a living. I really enjoyed it, not for everyone, fast-paced, long hours, hard work. But at the end of the day, I knew i had put smiles on peoples faces. "With passion". Same as the music. One for my my soul, one to pay the bills. (and buy strings) All that matters.

Those are really good lyrics! Wish I could remember them...

I've never played one. Silly questions: Are they comfortable? How's the neck? Do they sound good?

I bought a Chapman Stick to sound like Tony Levin. I'm resigned to the fact I sound like Marty Pirint (my real name). Seriously, it's the attitude, not the instrument. Confession: I have all the different pickups available on two different Sticks. And several basses. So I'm just being snarky.

Whether 4 or 5 string Yammy is stupid sounding.

Hot Buttered Soul - Issac Hayes

Trade the gf for a quieter model.

I have to try before buy. I went to Staples (USA) and tried about 16 chairs. Went with a "gaming" chair, but that wasn't the deal-breaker. I've got a bad back, etc., I'm 62 and I play the Stick sitting down, do the laptop in it, watch TV, read. The armrests go up (for Stick/bass playing). It's just comfortable and modifiable. I put a cushion behind my neck and a foam roll for additional lumbar when needed. They had one with those that was $25 more. I already had cushions. It was $150 US. "Office" chairs didn't cut it, even ones hundreds more. The last chair I had was $99 and one of the cheapest they had. I wore that one out after several fixes. So yeah, for us old codgers TRY BEFORE YOU BUY.

Really bad. The thing is, I write poetry, and song lyrics. I just can't remember them. It's a bit of an embarrassment. I mean they're MY WORDS. I'll say to someone, "I wrote a poem/lyrics about that. But I can't remember how it goes. But it's really good." How bad is THAT. They go, "Sure, sure, Marty." I can remember music well. So, I don't get it. It's sad.

The craziness of The Musicians (I mean ALL of us) is that no matter how much we may hate each other's guts when it comes down to playing in the same room at the same time we can't help but enjoy it. Music does that. Fripp would say the music came down and played US. Being a child and teenager during The Beatles era I only know how the music affected me, not what the guys were like or the personal interactions. And I either liked or didn't like the music - I was definitly a "pick&choose" fan from beginning to end. Except for the white album. That blew my mind from start to finish. So I never put 'em on a pedestal. I've had to go back to figure out (academically) what was what I liked about them. I think most of it was the passion they brought to it. Again, that's something you can't fake or manufacture....Looking forward to it either way I find it (now) fascinating.

Anyone with a Chapman Stick and Emmett's "Free Hands" book probably learned this as one of their first song accomplishments on Stick. (Lesson 5 A Pop Baroque Technique). Not me. I was trying Elephant Talk. It probably would have taken years off the learning curve, now that I look at it. Never too late, I suppose, even though I don't like the song, or the band. (I know, I know...What is WRONG with ME?)

The Brand New Heavies. First time I've listened to them... I quite like it. The Taylor Swift post, the "YouTube Play" icon is on her upper lip. Looks like Hitler