Philip,
Is that where Pete Townsend got the idea?
OLP 5-String Bass
-
mortivan
I heard Lud was also a major inflence on Jerry Lee Lewis.
Phil, for a decent upright expect to pay 1000.00 minimum used, unless you are lucky and that would be a plywood one, which actually most touring bands usually use since they are less prone to feedback are are more hardy on the road. All the jazz guys use carved tops as they are much more resonant and sound much better, but because of the resonance the top feeds back terribly.
Back in the 70's in my bands anyway, the roadies made as much if not more than the band members, so they didn't mind lugging the SVT's and B-3's. And they actually are not that bad to move (SVT's), (B-3's are terrible, takes four guys, one on each corner), I move mine myself except up and down stairs. You just learn to work with them.
Phil, for a decent upright expect to pay 1000.00 minimum used, unless you are lucky and that would be a plywood one, which actually most touring bands usually use since they are less prone to feedback are are more hardy on the road. All the jazz guys use carved tops as they are much more resonant and sound much better, but because of the resonance the top feeds back terribly.
Back in the 70's in my bands anyway, the roadies made as much if not more than the band members, so they didn't mind lugging the SVT's and B-3's. And they actually are not that bad to move (SVT's), (B-3's are terrible, takes four guys, one on each corner), I move mine myself except up and down stairs. You just learn to work with them.
Jerry, I heard that Pete was ****** at his Vox amp for blowing up on him like several Vox before had done, so he decided to send Vox a message by trashing them on stage. They were bound by contract to use them on stage, so he decided to REALLY use them. When the crowd went wild, the band decided to keep trashing gear for a while longer.
The best story I heard about The Who is when John and Keith would get tanked up and drive around town in their chauffer driven Bentley. Keith liked to do things like pull up to a crowd and announce over the car's PA system that a truck load of highly poisonous snakes had overturned at a nearby intersection and everyone should clear the area, or some similar nonsense. On the night before a major election, they wanted the Conservative candidate to win because of the high taxes imposed on rich people like rock stars. So they cruised around town in the wee hours of the morning waking up people with the car's PA system saying something like "This is your Labor candidate, please vote for me tomorrow morning". The people they woke up were less than friendly toward the Labor candidate the next morning. Fairly normal behavior for a guy that once jumped into a drained swimming pool without checking for water first. John and Keith also just liked to stand up though the sun roof as the car cruised around. Smashing guitars on stage was probably a bit anecdotal compared to the rest of their life during their early band days. They were totally banned worldwide from one particular hotel chain. They had one act where Keith, Roger, and Pete would party with girls in one hotel room while John would throw things about in the room next door. The band members would play off that saying John was pretty mean at times as John continued to trash the room, then he would burst into the party room looking enraged and the girls would run out screaming which amused the band quite a bit. I got these bits from John's last magazine interview before he died.
Ludwig just wanted to get the emotion of his music out, he never intentionally tried to break pianos, they just broke from the dynamic stress he placed on them due to his "enthusiasm" in getting the emotional content across. Ludwig had a fiery temper, but his apologizes were just as profuse, heartfelt, and sincere as his cussings. You were not considered of much importance in the local aristocracy if Beethoven hadn't even bothered to cuss you out, and many wore their cussings from Beethoven with pride and joked about them in private. He loved to play practical jokes on people. Beethoven had a big, big heart. He was the first major composer to make most of his money from public concerts that the general public paid money to see, and it made him financially independent unlike his predecessors like Mozart who had to kiss aristocratic *** and make music they liked instead of the way he really wanted to. Beethoven did his own thing. When you come to Beethoven, classical music just makes a radical change. The Eroica Symphony (#3) is where the big change really hits you in the face. It's the one that turned me on to Beethoven and is unlike any symphony that ever came before. Western music changed forever on the night it premiered. Several instruments would complete a line of music by each taking only a few notes each. He probably got that trick from songbirds, who sing only a few notes in their songs, but do it very, very well. He said he learned a lot about music from listening to songbirds in the forests. He said he didn't learn anything from Haydn.
The best story I heard about The Who is when John and Keith would get tanked up and drive around town in their chauffer driven Bentley. Keith liked to do things like pull up to a crowd and announce over the car's PA system that a truck load of highly poisonous snakes had overturned at a nearby intersection and everyone should clear the area, or some similar nonsense. On the night before a major election, they wanted the Conservative candidate to win because of the high taxes imposed on rich people like rock stars. So they cruised around town in the wee hours of the morning waking up people with the car's PA system saying something like "This is your Labor candidate, please vote for me tomorrow morning". The people they woke up were less than friendly toward the Labor candidate the next morning. Fairly normal behavior for a guy that once jumped into a drained swimming pool without checking for water first. John and Keith also just liked to stand up though the sun roof as the car cruised around. Smashing guitars on stage was probably a bit anecdotal compared to the rest of their life during their early band days. They were totally banned worldwide from one particular hotel chain. They had one act where Keith, Roger, and Pete would party with girls in one hotel room while John would throw things about in the room next door. The band members would play off that saying John was pretty mean at times as John continued to trash the room, then he would burst into the party room looking enraged and the girls would run out screaming which amused the band quite a bit. I got these bits from John's last magazine interview before he died.
Ludwig just wanted to get the emotion of his music out, he never intentionally tried to break pianos, they just broke from the dynamic stress he placed on them due to his "enthusiasm" in getting the emotional content across. Ludwig had a fiery temper, but his apologizes were just as profuse, heartfelt, and sincere as his cussings. You were not considered of much importance in the local aristocracy if Beethoven hadn't even bothered to cuss you out, and many wore their cussings from Beethoven with pride and joked about them in private. He loved to play practical jokes on people. Beethoven had a big, big heart. He was the first major composer to make most of his money from public concerts that the general public paid money to see, and it made him financially independent unlike his predecessors like Mozart who had to kiss aristocratic *** and make music they liked instead of the way he really wanted to. Beethoven did his own thing. When you come to Beethoven, classical music just makes a radical change. The Eroica Symphony (#3) is where the big change really hits you in the face. It's the one that turned me on to Beethoven and is unlike any symphony that ever came before. Western music changed forever on the night it premiered. Several instruments would complete a line of music by each taking only a few notes each. He probably got that trick from songbirds, who sing only a few notes in their songs, but do it very, very well. He said he learned a lot about music from listening to songbirds in the forests. He said he didn't learn anything from Haydn.
-
ricnvolved
Beethoven's favorite composer was George Frederic Handel, because he got the most music from the least complexity. I bought a couple of Haydn CD's, and after that I lost interest in Haydn. The recordings I have of Handel's music are quite good. Handel's Water Music suite is always a classical favorite. I read where Haydn is considered one of the top four classical music composers (Beethoven, Mozart, Bach and Haydn), but I personally think that Haydn should be kicked out of the top four list, and Tchaikovsky or Rachmaninov should take his place. I think of a guy writing for upper class musical taste when I hear Haydn's music. Guaranteed not to offend their taste. Nobody wrote melody like Tchaikovsky, and nobody could beat Rachmaninov when it came to infusing music with emotion. Listen to his 2nd Symphony and hear the music paint an emotional landscape of Russia. Mental images of Russia automatically appear in my mind when I listen. After I had major surgery and had trouble sleeping, Rachmaninov's Vespers was in my CD player all night on endless repeat and that got me through the ordeal. Haydn's music produces no such feelings for me. Only the two Russians match Beethoven for emotional energy.
Maybe Beethoven meant he didn't get anything from Haydn that he couldn't have gotten from a number of other sources. Still, I think he learned more from songbirds in forests and meadows when I hear his music. The numerous mockingbirds around here are fantastically good singers, and I often stop and listen to them myself.
The way they change quickly from song to song reminds me of Beethoven's Eroica. Lucky for us that Beethoven had respect for songbirds.
Maybe Beethoven meant he didn't get anything from Haydn that he couldn't have gotten from a number of other sources. Still, I think he learned more from songbirds in forests and meadows when I hear his music. The numerous mockingbirds around here are fantastically good singers, and I often stop and listen to them myself.
The way they change quickly from song to song reminds me of Beethoven's Eroica. Lucky for us that Beethoven had respect for songbirds.Where else could we start by discussing a Chinese bass and proceed to giving Hayden the boot from the A list? It's probably just as well that we're sitting around computers rather than sitting around a bar, who knows where that would lead?
Talk about change hitting you in the face, I've heard that the audience rioted at the premiere of Stravinsky's Petrushka...although that used to happen with Guns N' Roses so I'm not sure if it means much.
Talk about change hitting you in the face, I've heard that the audience rioted at the premiere of Stravinsky's Petrushka...although that used to happen with Guns N' Roses so I'm not sure if it means much.
-
shamustwin
- Senior Member
- Posts: 5287
- Joined: Tue Apr 29, 2003 5:00 am
They rioted at the premier of the movie Frankenstein. My great uncle, Clarence Kolster, was the editor on that movie. I guess there weren't many monster movies before it. Women fainted and some had miscariages. People stormed out of the theater to the lobby demanding to know who was responsible for this. The theater manager pointed to my great uncle and said "he is". They promptly marched over to him and beat him up.
-
mortivan
I love it!I read that when the Eroica Symphony premiered, the people leaving the concert hall were divided into 3 groups: 1) Those that thought it was the greatest piece of music they had ever heard (probably the least "musically educated" ones in the audience), 2) Those that hated it and thought Beethoven had gone insane, or had meant to offend the audience, 3) Those that didn't know what to make of it one way or another.
I'll vote for Rachmaninov to be put in the A list. He hated the Communists and chose America to be his home in exile after trying to live in western Europe for a while...........it shows he had a brain. He is the favorite composer of two Russian musicians I have spoken to as well, who were both co-authors of one of Russia's best-selling musical instruction books.
Now back to the main topic, the OLP basses. These basses are so good for so little cost that they may develop a cult following. I'm looking for a low cost amp to pair with my OLP bass that blows away the similarly priced competition in the same manner. My little Marshall AVT20 amp conversion project yielded a good bass practice amp that works well for bass OR guitar, so that makes it a best buy as well. If you use the emulated DI feature and run the amp into the house PA system, it turns it into a gig amp as well. The external speaker jack let's you hook up a 1x15 cab and boost the bottom end enough for a small club gig at moderate levels. The problem is that you have to do the conversion yourself and it sets you back $125 over what you pay for an AVT20. My total bill was $350 with a used AVT20, almost out of the OLP MM2 price class and 50% more than I paid for my bass. The Behringer Ultrabass BX1200 combo looks like a potential mate. 120 watts and a 12" speaker with an aluminum cone. It looks like a ripoff on a Hartke Kickback 12 combo, and if it sounds almost as good as the Hartke it would be a great amp for OLP bass fans and cost them about as much as they paid for their bass. It costs $250 from Musician's Friend, and I may decide to order one just to see if it might be a giant killer just like my MM2 bass is. About $500 total cost for a new bass/amp package that equals the quality of my MM2 would be a steal, and good enough for a gigging musician. The BX3000T Ultrabass head at $200 with 300 watts of power is also a potential candidate for those who like separates and have access to a good speaker cab.
I'll vote for Rachmaninov to be put in the A list. He hated the Communists and chose America to be his home in exile after trying to live in western Europe for a while...........it shows he had a brain. He is the favorite composer of two Russian musicians I have spoken to as well, who were both co-authors of one of Russia's best-selling musical instruction books.
Now back to the main topic, the OLP basses. These basses are so good for so little cost that they may develop a cult following. I'm looking for a low cost amp to pair with my OLP bass that blows away the similarly priced competition in the same manner. My little Marshall AVT20 amp conversion project yielded a good bass practice amp that works well for bass OR guitar, so that makes it a best buy as well. If you use the emulated DI feature and run the amp into the house PA system, it turns it into a gig amp as well. The external speaker jack let's you hook up a 1x15 cab and boost the bottom end enough for a small club gig at moderate levels. The problem is that you have to do the conversion yourself and it sets you back $125 over what you pay for an AVT20. My total bill was $350 with a used AVT20, almost out of the OLP MM2 price class and 50% more than I paid for my bass. The Behringer Ultrabass BX1200 combo looks like a potential mate. 120 watts and a 12" speaker with an aluminum cone. It looks like a ripoff on a Hartke Kickback 12 combo, and if it sounds almost as good as the Hartke it would be a great amp for OLP bass fans and cost them about as much as they paid for their bass. It costs $250 from Musician's Friend, and I may decide to order one just to see if it might be a giant killer just like my MM2 bass is. About $500 total cost for a new bass/amp package that equals the quality of my MM2 would be a steal, and good enough for a gigging musician. The BX3000T Ultrabass head at $200 with 300 watts of power is also a potential candidate for those who like separates and have access to a good speaker cab.
It looks like the cult following for OLP basses is developing as I predicted. There has recently been created a discussion forum on Yahoo for OLP bass users:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/olpbassplayers/
I like the looks of the new OLP SB4 bass. I will be checking how it compares to the Peavey Grind 4 NTB as a possible 24 fret necked bass for me. If you want this feature in a backup bass for your RIC bass, or just like a lot of different basses in your tone arsenal, then this is a likely budget candidate. I'm no expert on Warwicks (and will probably never buy a real Warwick), but it looks like the SB4 is a copy of one of the Warwick bass models. I'm going to check it further, and I'm sure there will soon be reviews on it all over the internet. There is already MUCH more info on the MM2 and MM3 than there is on my 4004 bass. No surprise, as the OLP basses are like 1/5 the price of new Rickenbackers. I'm waiting for RIC to introduce a 24 fret bass with graphite neck reinforcement, and until they do, I will make do with these cheaper basses as backups.
If you read the posts on the OLP forum, you will discover that it is common for OLP players to prefer the OLP basses over their Fender basses, the same as I prefer my MM2 over my previous P-bass. No RIC bass owner has yet to prefer one over a RIC bass, where cost is no issue and tone is the deciding factor.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/olpbassplayers/
I like the looks of the new OLP SB4 bass. I will be checking how it compares to the Peavey Grind 4 NTB as a possible 24 fret necked bass for me. If you want this feature in a backup bass for your RIC bass, or just like a lot of different basses in your tone arsenal, then this is a likely budget candidate. I'm no expert on Warwicks (and will probably never buy a real Warwick), but it looks like the SB4 is a copy of one of the Warwick bass models. I'm going to check it further, and I'm sure there will soon be reviews on it all over the internet. There is already MUCH more info on the MM2 and MM3 than there is on my 4004 bass. No surprise, as the OLP basses are like 1/5 the price of new Rickenbackers. I'm waiting for RIC to introduce a 24 fret bass with graphite neck reinforcement, and until they do, I will make do with these cheaper basses as backups.
If you read the posts on the OLP forum, you will discover that it is common for OLP players to prefer the OLP basses over their Fender basses, the same as I prefer my MM2 over my previous P-bass. No RIC bass owner has yet to prefer one over a RIC bass, where cost is no issue and tone is the deciding factor.
Oops! I should have checked out the SB4 closer before posting the above. It is based on the Spector 2+2 bass rather than any Warwick bass model. That's OK with me, as the "broomhandle" upper horn of Warwick basses with their straight design never appealed to me. I like the Spector shape a bit better, but I must admit I know even less about them than I do Warwicks. I DO know this, however. The SB4 comes in a transparent red finish with figured maple cap over a basswood body, a maple neck with rosewood fretboard, and two EMG SSD (Stuart Spector Design) pickups for the paltry street price of $299.99. That sounds like a heck of a good deal, and the maple/basswood combination is considered one of the hottest tonewood combinations of all time. It also makes for a lightweight bass, which I love in my OLP MM2.