Hahahahahahahahahahaha


I do plan to steal it and turn it into a song eventually though.

My mates and I doing an Octoberfest show at a local conservatory. Me on the electric upright.

I *so* want an upright bass, electric or otherwise. How much greater difficulty do you find in playing that over the electric bass Dar?

The one in the picture is the same scale as a standard electric bass ~36 inches. I find it easier to play than a regular electric bass.

I've been taking lessons since June on a real doghouse. Real double basses and most electrics that mimic them are ~ 41 inch scale. So the strings are longer and they're also thicker. Because of the longer scale, the fingering is different from electric bass.

Both are a heck of a lot of fun.

I fear that I won't be able to play one without cheater marks. You probably call them "frets". :redface:

Then you want one like the Dean in the picture. They've got little dots on the side where the fret would be for 3,5,7,9,12 etc. -- the same frets that have mother of pearl markers on an electric bass. You can see them here. See the little white dots on the side? That's your virtual fret.

I'll be selling mine eventually, but probably not until next spring or summer when I get completely moved over to the big dog.

Dean makes that? Cool. My cheapass electric bass is a Dean Edge One. Plays great, but I have a lot of trouble with the highs being too bright compared to the lows. I've tried EQ and compression, but I just can't seem to find the right combination of processing to even it out a bit. String suggestions? And how much does that Dean standup electric go for, anyway?

Cheap drums have the same problem, in that case you have to put on thicker heads (it doesn't enhance the low, but it kills the high).
Apparently low-end is expensive to manufacture.

I play a mean jaw-harp.

I wish I could understand half of what Jeff Porcaro plays. Right now I'm just trying to figure out what the hell he is doing on Africa - and I know what he does on Rosanna, but it's frickin' impossible! The guy was as smooth as Bernard Purdie. This is one of those deals where I pick apart a Steely Dan song or something for years, and I never quite nail it, but I develop my own little thing based on the idea.

I wish I could play geetar like Paco De Lucia.

I got that De Lucia, McLaughlin, DiMeola live in (acoustic) concert CD.

You are one cruel bitch. I have Zyrab and Castro Marin.

sure sure ::: pretends to know who that is :::

Titles of his cds.

I use Rotosound 88s to get a woody sound out of it. I hear there is a La Bella set that also works well.

I think I paid $660 for it on sale. The current sale price at Musician's Friend is $729.

Is the body of the Dean standup bass an actual resonant chamber, or just a solid block?

If memory serves, Rotosound 88's have a fairly "loose" sort of tone, kind of a rattly intonation. I'm wondering how different the sound is between the standup and my standard bass using the same strings.

No chamber. It's a stick with strings.

I don't know what you would get from the 88s on a standard bass. This thing is fretless and has the piezo pickups instead of the standard magnetic jobs.

Today's the big day!

Our drummer bailed on us YESTERDAY, the day before the fucking gig, but we've found a last-minute replacement, so it's still on. We're meeting at seven to practice for a few hours, then the drummer has to work at the food fair, then we go on at 2.40ish.

Oh man its gonna be sweet.

Break a leg, Ib. Don't forget to flip some picks out into the audience, and make sure you've got a sock tucked down in your jeans for that "enhanced" profile.

Rock on, dude.

Psh, I dont play with a pick, and I dont NEED the sock.

Well, damn, man...you've got to have *some* rock star affectation. Do you have time to get hooked on heroin, or at least get ten or twelve really rad tats?

How's a totally ridiculous pink jacket and a Roseworthy voice?

HOLY FUCKING FUCK I LOVE YOUR SIG!
Fuckin' Zevon pwnz.

Tear it up Ib!

We rocked. The singing was terrible, but I was singing so nobody expected better. We couldnt really hear eachother, we were playing outside, but we were all together and playing the right chords. I even nailed the solo from Kids Arent Alright.

My latest acquisition -- an Eminence electric upright. A doghouse without having to carry around the whole house.

I'm green with envy. Nice.

Nice! Is that solid bodied or hollow?

DAR, get that damn thing off my clean valance lace or you'll be sleeping on the couch! :lol:

It is hollow. It's essentially an undersized plywood bass.

Have no idea if this is relevent, but here's my latest toy.

Um...that's gorgeous! Source? Price?

The wife and I have often toyed with the idea of getting squeezebox of some sort. That one's awful purty.

Homewood, Alabama. I'd recommend going with a standard C/G anglo to start with (the pic is of a rather more rarified instrument) ... Or go and visit Bob and see what he's got ...
Price on application ...
Oh, and if'n you want lessons, come to my island in October next year ...

Yow! $1800? :eek: I believe I *will* look for something a bit less rarified at that.

You've gotta admire the fine woodwork, though.

Limey is that vintage? You don't see nice scrollwork like that anymore.

Is this what you had in mind? ;)


Mama's got a squeeze box
She wears on her chest
And when Daddy comes home
He never gets no rest

'Cause she's playing all night
And the music's all right
Mama's got a squeeze box
Daddy never sleeps at night

Made for me by Mr Tedrow this year, dar. Hence the price tag (there's a lot of fiddly stuff inside, too, springs'n'levers'n'valves'n'all ...)

That is a thing of beauty, thanks for sharing limey!

No, I was actually thinking more along the lines of a musical instrument, but then Mrs Els *does* often say:

"Squeeze me...c'mon and squeeze me
C'mon and please me like you do
I'm so in love with you"
Mama's got a squeeze box, daddy never sleeps at night

Why thankee Griff! I have a couple of vintage instruments which I'll get round to posting at some point ... they're fab, too!

Why wait, eh? This one's about 100 years old (apart from the hand-straps):

Very pretty! How long have you been playing?

Since 1999. What you see before you is a concertina, an "Anglo-German" concertina (there are many systems and you don't want to get me started on all that ;) ). It's basically a couple of harmonicas stuck together and bellows- (rather than lungs-) operated.

Beautiful. Stunning. Wow.

Thank you. I'll take a pic of the insides, too, at some point - though once you get the end off it's more of a dodad than a musical instrument somehow ....

What kind of music do you play on them, Limey?

Most people associate this type of concertina with Irish Traditional Music, but I'l go for any folky tune that I like, largely from the British traditions, though I have a Flemish tune, too, and a Russian one or two (natch). I'm currently working on a couple of ragtime tunes, and there's a great (classical) song by Russian composer Cui that I'd like to have a crack at.

I am completely green with envy. Gorgeous instruments, both.

Thank you.

http://www.garageband.com/artist/slurry

last band was in..

Gig friday, playing at the Amnesty International Annual Cafe.

If we can find a drummer, Blitzkrieg Bop and The Kids Aren't Alright.
If we can't, acoustic American Pie.

Whoaaaa, I go on in about ten minutes!

Ohhhhh man.

Every other act had come on and done slow, sad, lame emo-y songs... Then we got on.
"Man, aren't ya'll tired of all these slow songs?! How about something to bring some LIFE inta this party!?"
"WHOOO!"
Aside from the sub-par drums, we kicked ASS. Got on and led with a rad riff and sped it up until we were all over the place, just to get them pumped.
"D'ya think my gittar's loud enough?!"
"NO!"
*screeech of feedback as I turn it up to eleven*
"What about NOW?!"
"WHOOOO!"
We launch into Blitzkreig Bop and pwn. The drums were near-perfect (at least as good as Tommy ever was...), the instruments were perfect, and the vocals were...good enough. I got at least half the audience singing along.

Then into The Kids Arent Alright. I nailed my solo (aside from the drums going all over the place), we kept in perfect time (aside from the drums going all over the place), and we got the audience singing along the "whoa-oh!"s too. Ended with a dramatic hammeron/pullof for the outro, with my pickin' hand in the air, bringing it down for the finale.
"WHOOOOO!"
"THANK YOU GOODNIGHT!" *devilhorns*

Sorry about the shit drums, man. I'd do 'em right for ya. (Step #1: listen!)

I gigged Friday and Saturday on the new bass. Man was that a workout.

I love the way this thing sounds. It was a big hit with my mates and the audience as well.

Now back to my scales...

We did a gig Friday night at the Kansas City Museum, all acoustic. Interesting, that. The highlight was some drunken ex cheerleader type in white stretch pants and a cowl neck angora sweater who was hanging all over people while carrying her Pomeranian, breathing vodka fumes into their faces. Later, she thought our harpist had dissed her with a look, grabbed her hair and started harassing her. And this over the hill deb (actually, she said she was a "professional dancer") was a member of the Board of the neighborhood organization that put on the event for which we were playing.

Ah, the glamorous musician's life.

Aw, man. I never get the good gigs. :rolleyes:

On the other hand, I've never had beer spilled on my stuff either, so I guess it's a wash.

Sounds like one of my gigs... (drunken keyboardist's gf catapults entire pitcher of beer across the whole stage)

Who was drunk,the keyboardist or the girlfriend? Whatever, speaking as a keyboardist's ex-wife, it's still REALLY charming. :right:

I LOVE that instrument.
Do you have the Dan Zane's sea shanty CD? If you want it I'll mail it to you.
I also knew a guy that had one that I am buying. He passed away not too long ago (I miss him a LOT). Sailorman was a very hip, no-bullshit, kinda' guy who taught me a lot of what I knew about pipes and pipe smoking. I try to keep his legacy alive. His music (I have heard it on-line) is cool.

No one was impressed with my jaw-harp chops...:sniff: