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Informal Drop In OT Thread


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  • 3 weeks later...

I have a haunted guitar cord. It works well at home, I use it all the time. I get it outside of the house and it shorts out as soon as I plug it in. I bring it home, plug it in, and it's fine; I wriggle every damn part of the cord trying to make it short out, and it doesn't.

 

Its haunted. Possessed. It's the demon cord.

Things are just the way they are, and they're only going to get worse.

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That was my fear....Originally I learned it just for fun 'cause it's a weird song, but have such fun doing it that I wanted to revisit putting it into the set. I do "Tea in the Sahara" off of that album. And a whole slew of earlier stuff. BUT!!! Most of that stuff needs a band. Walking on the Moon, SO Lonely, Shadows in the Rain, Bring on the Night, When the World...., and the rest just don't have enough going on to keep interest in a solo performance; they're still in the book but have drifted out of the set. Man in a Suitcase almost works, but that's cause it's got a cheesy key modulation 2/3 of the way through to bring the energy back up a little bit. Most of these songs would work if only Sting wrote a third verse instead of repeating the first verse....they just need a 'little more' when you take away the band.

 

Pfffft. Sting. He doesn't know anything. (eye roll)

Things are just the way they are, and they're only going to get worse.

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There are a handful of Police songs that seem to resonate. Was the Police reunion tour a big deal? Sure. To Police fans, at least. As far as their truly classic songs? I think there a handful of truly great Police songs: "Roxanne", "So lonely", "Walking on the moon", "King of pain", "Every breath you take", etc. Personally I don't feel like "Synchronicity II" is one of those great songs.

 

The funny thing is that I used to really like the song, but it just hasn't held up over the years. At least not for me. To my ears it sounds dated. Some of that is the production, obviously. There are things on the Ghost in the machine album that sound similarly dated, and that's probably because of some of the synth sounds.

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"My concern is, and I have to, uh, check with my accountant, that this might bump me into a higher, uh, tax..."

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I've got a cd called The Police Live. It's from a 1983 show.

 

The Police were a revolutionary band. The drumming is unique. The rhythm guitar playing added new chords to the rock vocabulary. They completely turned the idea of a three-piece band (formerly known as a power trio) into something else.

 

As far as classic songs, I think you have to add Message in a Bottle, Don't Stand So Close to Me", and "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da".

 

I have an earlier live recording (a bootleg). They really killed in their early days.

 

Stewart Copeland and I both went to the University of California, Berkeley at the same time, but he did not take any music classes there, so unfortunately I never met him.

 

I'd put him in the hall of fame for drummers just for his snare drum sound.

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i never spent a lot of time with the police. the list of essential tracks (i.e. tracks that i know are by the police and whose melodies i could probably recite) includes only "roxanne", "message in a bottle", "don't stand so close to me", and "every breath you take". of course, they have a pretty recognizable sound, so i'd probably catch on with others.
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I grew up in the 80's and one thing really sticks with me as far as The Police goes. In an area where there were many hard lines as far as musical tastes goes, you can put on The Police and won't hear too many complaints.
If you think my playing is bad, you should hear me sing!
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I've got a cd called The Police Live. It's from a 1983 show.

 

...snip....

 

As far as classic songs, I think you have to add Message in a Bottle, Don't Stand So Close to Me", and "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da".

 

I have an earlier live recording (a bootleg). They really killed in their early days.

 

Stewart Copeland

 

I've got a two disc set of a real early live show and a post-Synchronicity show. I'd love to put a band together to do the newer disc...or both. That'd be a hoot.

 

I'll revisit more Police tunes to do in the solo act. I've gotten better at finding a key that I can sing in, yet still works on guitar. It'd be worth another look.

 

The old bootleg: is that the one they recorded right before their first trip to the U.S. that they recorded in some college in the U.K.? Sting wore a yellow jumper and still had brown hair in that one.

 

Copeland hits'em hard, eh? SMACK!!!!

Things are just the way they are, and they're only going to get worse.

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So in my new amp pics I teased you with a route job I did on a J-bass copy that I had previously made into a five string. Weight was an issue. In addition to the body route, I replaced the metal neck plate with four grommets like the ones on my Cort Curbow. And I cut a new control plate from a strat pickguard to replace the metal one. The tone control got booted also, since I keep it dimed all the the time anyway. I did retain my input jack hack: It has two. One on the control plate and one in the traditional j-bass side of the bass location. IMHO, traditional location works better for playing, but then you can't set the bass down unless your cord has a 90 degree plug. Control plate location involves more stresses unless you again have a 90 degree plug. I don't have a favorite yet, but my next guitar cord will have a damn 90 degree plug at one end.

 

So she's a lot lighter and easier to move about. Two gigs with it, and it sounds the same as before. Ergo, Successful hack.

 

I'd like to replace my control plate hack with a nicer looking one. But finding three hole jazz plates made out of plastic is harder than it looks. Or, one with no holes as I'd rather drill my own. Any ideas?

Things are just the way they are, and they're only going to get worse.

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  • 2 weeks later...

A new record. 2.8 cents a gigabyte.

 

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=8991299&sku=XEA-102409996&SRCCODE=WEM4410TT&utm_source=EML&utm_medium=main&utm_campaign=WEM4410&cm_lm=fretless@twcny.rr.com&SEG=C&lk=7

 

(For those new to this game, my hobby is watching the price of computing fall throughout my life time. Hard drive space is easy to track.)

Things are just the way they are, and they're only going to get worse.

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I was out with friends and was offered to sleep at a friend's place because it was too late to go home. The sofa was comfortable and I could sleep on a stone anyway.

In the morning they woke me up with Walking on the Moon at full volume. I will never forget that major second, and the sound of that bass, and that particular reverberation.

It took me four whole measures to gather the pieces of myself and start enjoying the music.

-- Michele Costabile (http://proxybar.net)
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  • 1 month later...

For sale: Vintage* Epiphone Top Hat Bell Knob.

Distressed crack on the 9 to let you know you're about to hit 10.

$79.99 plus $10.00 shipping.

 

http://i.imgur.com/gs4fKq1.jpg

 

 

* 2006 is a vintage of sorts...

Push the button Frank.
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So here's a little OT morsel.

I had my colonoscopy today. Yes, it should have been done three years ago. Anyway, my low pulse freaked out the doctor and so she lobbied for me to do it without anesthesia. When the aliens come to abduct me, I'll be ready.

 

Things are just the way they are, and they're only going to get worse.

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Oh thank God it was just the chest-burster scene from alien. I was afraid it was video of your colonoscopy.

 

Now of course I thought it might be video of Paul's colonoscopy but I still clicked on it. Not sure what that says about me...

Push the button Frank.
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Big week. I also had a dental implant on Friday. This doc also was freaked out about my pulse rate; so minimal sedation was used. I'm good with that 'cause you bounce back quicker. As such, I got a way lot more done than I expected; those charts are almost done and more important:

 

My Taxes Are Done! Scotch is in hand!!!

 

(Cue the brass band playing John Philip Souza marches)

 

Things are just the way they are, and they're only going to get worse.

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  • 4 months later...

Here's something weird. I booked a gig for a night while I'm away on business. No electronic devices are allowed were I work, and I check in at 7:00. The gig contact shot me an e-mail at 8:00 canceling the gig due to cool upstate NY weather. I didn't get the message 'cause I had to scoot from the facility to the restaurant ASAP to make 5:00 downbeat. The gig contact wasn't at the venue, and the manager in charge didn't tell me anything. I set up, played my thee hours, got paid, went back to the hotel. That's when I got the e-mail.

 

So. Either good on'em for honoring the verbal contract, or the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. Let's see if I book that place again.....

 

Things are just the way they are, and they're only going to get worse.

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Ha that's great.

 

You don't even have to book that place again. Just show up and play...

 

 

Ha! Great idea. Also about the gig: Dinner wasn't included. I'm OK with that since I can't sing and play on a full stomach, but they did seem miffed when I asked about it.

Things are just the way they are, and they're only going to get worse.

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