jff

The question I want answered is - why would Tweedy think this drunken fool would do him any harm?

Because we live in a post-Mark David Chapman world.

I agree that Nels plays his style better than Jay (obviously) and he sounds good in Wilco. It just bothers me that fans of Nels won't admit that he can't play the old stuff anywhere near as good as Jay.

I've been a fan of Nels since before Wilco even existed, and I'll go on the record:

Nels does not excel at country rock guitar playing.

Or Impossible Germany?

If the writer had used "Impossible Germany" as an example he would have failed as a journalist.

Nels has a red Jazzmaster!!!

And a white one, too.

i took a look at the digitech on the website, looks and sounds nice. $40 isnt bad. how is the danelectro?

The Danelectro is worth the $15 they sell for. I've gotten some good sounds out of it. I don't know how long it'll hold up. It's seems fairly solid, despite being made of plastic. However, it'd probably break if someone accidentally stepped on it with all their weight.

That'd probably sound cool. Maybe an overdrive pedal would be good for what you do. I've heard nothing but praise for the Digitech "Bad Monkey" overdrive pedal. They sell for $40.

I also play a Tele, but haven't messed with pedals much. I only have a Danelectro $15 overdrive pedal at the moment. I'll probably get a delay pedal in the near future.

 

My "new" 1996 Fender Mustang. I just got it back from the tech yesterday. I bought it on craigslist for $250. It was abused, needed some fret work, one switch was smashed and hanging loose in the body cavity. The previous owner had spilled something on and into the guitar and it was real smelly. I disassembled it, cleaned it up and took it in for a level and crown. Now with a fresh set up it's ready to go. Plays real nice too. I love the tone, this guitar has serious mojo. I played it for a few hours last night, recorded some solos over some blues backing tracks and it just sounded so beautiful. Great soulful blues axe.

Excellent. Way to bring it back from all that neglect/abuse.

It's an album that needed to be made, but I think they did a horrible job mixing it and basically shot themselves in the foot. Someone went way overboard on the snare drum while minimizing the guitar and it is kind of grating to my ears. Kind of sucks since Neil is one of my all time favorite musicians. If they'd done a little better job in terms of making an album people would want to listen to over and over for years, it wouldn't have fallen off the radar so quickly. Once the CSNY tour ends, you'll probably never hear anything else about the album.

Fender Pro Juniors smite Epiphone amplifiers into the abyss. Just to let you know.

That's probably true, but you're talking about a $300 amp compared to $100 (or $120, i think, for the combo amp). $300 is still cheap, though, and the Pro Jr. is 15 watts compared to Epiphone's 5 watts. Pro Jrs. are great little amps. I almost bought one, but I found a great deal on a Traynor Custom Valve 20 (15 watts, two channels w/ footswitch & reverb compared to the Pro Jr which has volume and tone knobs and that's it). I guess I needed a bit more flexibility for my main amp.

I'll try to post some pics of my gear someday soon.

I have a Valve Junior head. Definitely a tube amp. I run it through a Peavey 112E (the extension cabinet that was made to go with the Peavey Classic 30 combo amp) which I got for a steal at a pawn shop. Sounds great, and even works fairly well as a vocal amp for band practices. Best $100 piece of gear currently available in the guitar industry.

that isn't about coat-tails, but she did have a suit coat and tie on, if that is what you mean.

 

LouieB

What I meant was that Kelly left Atlanta to go to Chicago because she had worn out all the musical opportunites Atlanta had to offer and had nowhere to go but down. It seems odd to me that someone who had been performing her own tunes with great local success would be satisfied to spend so many years as a back up singer.

Where would she be without Neko? Back in Atlanta, maybe, but certainly not on national tv. That's what I mean by "riding her coat tails".

So Kelly Hogan is still riding her coat tails?

An excellent guitarist might not be able to play worth a crap on pedal steel. They're very, very different instruments.

But I'd like to hear that, too. It'd be interesting.

I always liked his band 5style.

Me too Excellent band.

for Smells Like Teen Spirit? then why did it say 'here we are now' when I looked up the lyrics? hmm? so, no it isn't.

My post was in reference to the Monkees, not Nirvana.

It's not "are", it's "come".

"I don't know anybody who's made a record that sounds decent in the past twenty years, really," the 65-year-old rocker said in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine.

Noting the music industry's complaints that illegal downloading means people are getting their music for free, (Dylan) said, "Well, why not? It ain't worth nothing anyway."

Again, I was commenting on how weird it was, in general, to say that you wouldn't take the time away from things you know you'll enjoy to make time for something you don't know.

But I do know. Just as I know that I don't like smooth jazz based on what Kenny G and Dave Koz were doing several years ago. I've heard enough to not have any interest in making attempts to force it. It's simply not aesthetically pleasing to me. Am I missing out on great stuff sometimes? Yes. Is there great music being made by people in Malaysia that I'll might never hear? Yes.

For me, genre doesn't matter as much as the instrument being played. Sometimes I want to hear guitars. Recently I was into violins. Before that I couldn't get enough of Wurlitzers and Rhodes pianos. As a youngster I was mostly into drums. What I listened to was determinbed by what had great drumming, whether it was Tony Williams, John Bonham or Zakir Hussein. (same holds true for guitar, violin, etc.) To me that seems to result in broader musical taste than sticking with rap and rock.

That comment had nothing to do w/ you ever hearing rap or not...you said off the bat you hear it as background noise. Thanks for weighing in though. Awesome.

Hearing music blasting from the cars that drive by when I walk down the street IS noise. It just happens to be rap 95% of the time that is blasting out of cars in Atlanta. That doesn't mean I've never actively listened to rap.

What did calling me "Maynard" have to do with?

that's pretty silly, maynard. how the hell you ever gonna' like something if you've never heard it for the first time? i mean, I get the whole time-crunch thing...i don't get around to checking out 75% of what gets posted on here because I just don't have time. but, i try to make some time whenver possible and the internets have made that a lot easier.

I've heard (and actively listened to) a bunch of rap over the years. I like Public Enemy, Beasties, and some others, mostly early stuff. I don't make time for it in my life, though. It comes into my life on it's own through background noise or whatever might be playing at a friend's house, and that's enough for me.

The only thing silly is that you think I've never heard rap. Moron.

I pretty much ignore rap for two reasons:

I can't escape it as background music in my everyday existence.

I would have to neglect the music I love in order to delve into rap. As it is, I don't have enough time to enjoy what i already like. Denying myself one thing in favor of something else that I might not even like is not a worthwhile tradeoff in my opinion.

I was considering buying one of those, but for $25 (plus a $3 1/8" to 1/8" stereo cable) you can do the same thing with this:

http://www.digitope.com/digitalizer/index.aspx

I'm currently using their free trial period to transfer some important cassette tapes with good results.

Actually, I take this back. I was using this program this weekend and it leaves a LOT to be desired. Having said that you DO NOT need to buy equipment to put albums/casettes, etc. on cd. You only need software.

if you're a computer guy, check out http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/top/usb-tur...ness-141195.php

I was considering buying one of those, but for $25 (plus a $3 1/8" to 1/8" stereo cable) you can do the same thing with this:

http://www.digitope.com/digitalizer/index.aspx

I'm currently using their free trial period to transfer some important cassette tapes with good results.

Interesting, I always had good luck with Sony stereo equipment. My Sony cd player lasted almost 20 years.

I think the Sony turntable would be fine for your purposes.

it's no different than the tens of thousands of young bands who just want top lay music for a living

I think it's a lot different.

The vast majority of people in bands DO have jobs. When they lose a job, they get another one. Thax has been out of work for 9 years, according to the article.

Thax does not want anyone to have any authority over any aspect of his life. He shows up at gigs and does a 30 second reading and then watches bands for free. That's easy.

Bands have MANY responsibilities. They have to maintain respectful relationships with a LOT of people in order to play gigs. They have to follow orders set by club owners, soundmen, bartenders, etc. They have to maintain their equipment and vehicles with which they transport their equipment. They have to buy strings, sticks, heads, cables, and other things that regularly wear out. They have to take precautions to make sure their instruments are not stolen or damaged. That stuff is not easy, and it requires a lot of money...certainly more money than the vast majority of bands make from playing music. Pads of paper and writing utensils cost peanuts.

Thax says he is unappreciated. I wonder how much appreciation he has shown to all the bands whose coattails he has ridden.