Guitarists - Discuss Broom with 6 Strings

[Artman]

Had a bass guitar (low quality Gibson ripoff) - needed new pickups. A roomate had Rickenbacher that I played occasionally.

Didn't perform except on rare occasions, but not pro.

Favorite bass tune is the solo by Jon Camp of Rennaisance on there Live from Carnegie Hall. The track is Ashes Are Burning. Camp plays a Rickenbacher with a pick, and strums and picks the base like some people play a guitar. He does some really smooth chords. To play like Camp really requires greater than normal strength and endurance - the forearms can get really stiff (and can burn) for the novice.

I heard Ashes Are Burning during a live performance in Houston at the Houston Symphony, which was good, but not as good as the performance at Carnegie.

Also, if you want to hear an incredible voice, Annie Haslam sang lead for Rennaisance. Annie has a 5 octave range.

Does anyone have an opinion on or preference for basses by Gibson, Rickenbacher, Fender, or whatever?

I heard that Rickenbachers were hard to play, but have a good sound (I think Paul McCartney used one with the Beatles). A friend of mine has an Ibanez Signature model that seems real nice and a Peavey five string that I like. I have a cheapy bass that I bought to add bass to my recordings. It's a Blake. I've never heard of them before or since. It's not too bad though, it does have EMG pickups. The strings are currently set a little high for my taste. I just bought a Fender Rumble 15 amp to act as a guitar practice amp and a bass amp (you can play a guitar through a bass amp, but not the other way around). Not bad, nice clean tone. Slight natural tube-like tone that gives a little reverb sound (although it does not have reverb). The guitar sounds great through it with a rock distortion pedal, very punchy.

Rennaisance is a good group. I don't think they get enough air play.

 

[Astronuc]

I didn't find the Rickenbacher very difficult, but compared to mine, the strings of the Rickenbacher were more taut, which gives the R a crisp tone, especially with a pick. McCartney may have had a Rickenbacher, but I seem to remember he played piccolo base.

Regarding bass guitars - check this out! - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bass_guitar

Artman, do you have the CD Renaissance, Live at Carnegie Hall. If not, I recommend it, if only for the live version of Ashes Are Burning.

The original group was founded in 1969 by ex-Yardbirds members Keith Relf and Jim McCarty as a sort of progressive folk-rock band. I found out about Renaissance in the mid 70's, after the lineup formed around the core of bassist Jon Camp, keyboard player John Tout, drummer Terry Sullivan, and singer Annie Haslam. I got hooked when I first heard Prologue and Annie Haslam's voice - Incredible!

Unfortunately, Renaissance did not get a broad following (i.e. they are not mainstream pop) and subsequent albums did poorly.

The band's next two albums, Novella and A Song for All Seasons, failed to find new listeners, and as the 1970s closed out, the group was running headlong into the punk and new wave booms that made them seem increasingly anachronistic and doomed to cult status.

Their '80s albums were released with less than global or even national fanfare, and the group split up in the early '80s amid reported personality conflicts between members. During 1995, however, both Haslam and Dunford made attempts to revive the Renaissance name in different incarnations, and Jane Relf and the other surviving members of the original band were reportedly planning to launch their own Renaissance revival which, if nothing else, may keep the courts and some trademark attorneys busy for a little while.

Well I am out of the mainstream anyway

 

[Artman]

Unfortunately, Renaissance did not get a broad following (i.e. they are not mainstream pop) and subsequent albums did poorly.

Well I am out of the mainstream anyway

I don't currently have any Rennaisance recordings. I had one on 8 track and haven't replaced it on a playable format yet. But I remember that I liked their anachronistic sound. Talented group. I tend to like the less than mainstream stuff. Some of my favorite stuff is New Age and Celtic. Like Loreena McKennitt, Enya, even Yanni. Somewhere between that and Pink Floyd lies the sound I want.

 

[Janitor]

...I think Paul McCartney used one with the Beatles...

It is entirely possible that Macca played a Rick at some point. But in the mid-1960s it was Lennon using one. He had it during the famous Shea Stadium concert, if I recall.

 

[Math Is Hard]

Anyone ever played a Chapman stick? I'm pretty useless with those but I have enjoyed hearing some real virtuosos on the instrument.

 

[Astronuc]

Haven't played one. Tried a friends 12 along time ago. Wasn't to good, but I did have any practice.


I like Roger McGuinn and his 12-string Rickenbacker guitar - especially on Eight Miles High.

Also, Leo Kotke is great with his 12. Saw him with Renaissance one time.

Anybody heard Al Dimeola? Some of the fastest fingers around.


Artman, somewhere between (Loreena McKennitt, Enya, Yanni) and Pink Floyd sounds interesting. Have you thought about Yes or Emerson, Lake and Palmer (ELP). Yanni has some nice music, but I find his tunes (phrasing) somewhat redundant (repetitive).

 

[Artman]

Artman, somewhere between (Loreena McKennitt, Enya, Yanni) and Pink Floyd sounds interesting. Have you thought about Yes or Emerson, Lake and Palmer (ELP). Yanni has some nice music, but I find his tunes (phrasing) somewhat redundant (repetitive).

I agree about Yanni. I listen to New Age at work, and I like some of his, but they do repeat phrasing a lot.

I like ELP and Yes quite a bit. Actually ELP and Loreena McKennitt share the same sort of mystery in their lyrics. Yes lyrics are just wierd, but those guys are talented players.

 

[Bladibla]

can play a bit of acoustic, but play flute most of the time (cos I am better with it)

 

[Artman]

can play a bit of acoustic, but play flute most of the time (cos I am better with it)

Have you ever played a wooden flute?

 

[Astronuc]

If you are into New Age or similar music, I presume you know of Windham Hill and Narada. Besides the western instruments, like piano and guitar, I have also been attracted to Asian instruments, like sitar (India), er hu (China), and Koto and Shakuhachi (Japan).

sitar - http://chandrakantha.com/articles/indian_music/sitar.html

Indian classical instruments - http://makar-records.com/siteus/frameinstrument.html

er hu - http://members.shaw.ca/eip14/ , http://www.chcp.org/music/Vmusic.html

Chinese musicians in North America - http://www.melodyofchina.com/01artists/mian_01.html

Koto - http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~np5y-hruc/kt-koto.html , http://www.lindacaplan.com/koto/

Shakuhachi - International Shakuhachi Society - http://www.komuso.com/


Also here are some artists and albums you might want to look into:


Zumi-Kai Original Instrument Group, "Koto Music of Japan", Laserlight, Delta Music Inc., 1999.

Joji Hirota, "The Gate", Real World (Narada), 1999.

"Lullaby for the Moon", Hemisphere, Capitol Records, 1998. (Japanese Music for Koto and Shakuhaci)

Kazu Matsui, "Bamboo", Narada, 2002 (Shakuhachi)

Kohachiro Miyata, "Japan Shakuhachi - The Japanese Flute", Elektra Explorer Series, 1977, 1991.


More Western Oriented -

Bo Hansson, "Lord of the Rings", One Way Records/Silence Records, 1970 - really interesting music (Hansson - organ, guitar, moog and bass).

Der Spyra, "HomelisteningIsKillingClubs," Manikin Records, 2000 ( http://www.groove.nl/cd/4/49050.html )

Cusco, "Ancient Journeys," Higher Octave, 2000.

Jean-Luc Ponty, "A Taste for Passion","Cosmic Messenger", and others, Atlantic, 1979, 1978, Electric Violin

Eberhard Weber, "Silent Feet," ECM, 1977 - electric bass/jazz/new age.

Good source for music for contemporary music from Europe - http://www.groove.nl


As for guitarists, which was the OP theme, you might want to check out Jon Butcher (from Boston music scened in the 1980's). I would put him up there with Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Page, and Trower. Butcher did a really interesing piece called "Holy War" on the album "Wishes". It may be hard to find it though - he was somewhat obscure.

Finally, and interesting group from Texas from 1969 into the 1970's - Bloodrock - first album, Bloodrock. Not what one would expect from Texas.

 

[Gokul43201]

Anybody heard Al Dimeola? Some of the fastest fingers around.

I had (until I lost it...I'm very bad at getting back stuff that I've lent to people ) this recording by McLaughlin, di Meola and Paco de Lucia, titled 'Friday Night in San Francisco'.

Thoroughly enjoyable !

 

[Gokul43201]

The nearest thing to a guitar that I can play, is an Indian classical instrument called the veena.

http://www.silverbushmusic.com/veenadetail.jpg

'Narada' is the name of a God-saint in Indian mythology, who was the patron God/saint of music. He never left home without an instrument called the tampura (below), which is a slightly lighter version of the veena, but only plays like a harp or lute.

http://www.engineering.usu.edu/ece/faculty/wheeler/NIU/Images/tampura.jpg

 

[Astronuc]

Guitarist Al DiMeola first rose to prominence as a blazing jazz fusion player before his playing matured and he began to conquer other styles, such as acoustic Latin music. Born on July 22, 1954, in Jersey City, NJ, DiMeola briefly studied at the Berklee School of Music in Boston during the early '70s before accepting a job replacing guitarist Bill Connors in fusion trailblazers Return to Forever (a group that included such monster instrumentalists as keyboardist Chick Corea and bassist Stanley Clarke) in 1974. It was with DiMeola that Return to Forever enjoyed their greatest commercial success, as such releases as 1974's Where Have I Known Before, 1975's No Mystery, and 1976's Romantic Warrior cracked the U.S. Top 40 before DiMeola jumped ship to launch a solo career.

I really like his solo efforts.

1976 Land of the Midnight Sun,
1977 Elegant Gypsy and Casino,
1979 Splendido Hotel

Dimeola did some projects with Paco De Lucia and John McLaughlin.

They took Dimeola's "Oriental Blue" and came up with -"Orient Blue Suite" with all three playing.

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I should have mentioned another great guitarist, Craig Chaquico, who started with Jefferson Airplane when he was 16. He has done a solo effort since 1993 recording under the Higher Octave label.