| Author | Message | ||
| sonicus
Senior Member Username: sonicus Post Number: 4197 Registered: 5-2009 |
Rusty , I might be a day late , therefore now you get to do it all over again ! Happy Birthday !!! | ||
| 5a_quilt_top
Senior Member Username: 5a_quilt_top Post Number: 523 Registered: 6-2012 |
I bet I know what you did for at least a few minutes yesterday. It involved holding something blue that has a lot of fun knobs to play with... Hope yer B-day was great. | ||
| tubeperson
Senior Member Username: tubeperson Post Number: 514 Registered: 5-2005 |
Playing with fun knobs is good! Rusty, hope turning those knobs doesn't make you emulate your name. Happy Belated Birthday. | ||
| fc_spoiler
Senior Member Username: fc_spoiler Post Number: 1727 Registered: 5-2006 |
Also one for you Rusty! :-)  | ||
| rustyg61
Senior Member Username: rustyg61 Post Number: 1650 Registered: 2-2011 |
Thanks guys! I had a great birthday yesterday! I did get to play my Orca & twist her knobs playing through my brand new Accugroove El Whappo cabinet! It sounds incredible!! Then last night, RUSH played my town so my wife & I went to that. Rush used to be my favorite band growing up & I cut my bass playing teeth on 2112, but they have since been replaced with Dream Theater as my favorite band. I still love RUSH, but the sound last night was horrible! It was just a loud roar, there was no clarity at all to it. I've seen RUSH a dozen times & the sound has always been pristine, so last night was a huge dissappoint sound wise. They played well & Geddy's voice was even better than usual, but the PA did not do them justice. Geddy played about 20 different basses including 2 Gibsons & 2 P Basses which I had never seen him play before, but all of them sounded exactly the same. They were so distorted that every time he played anything on the E string it clipped the speakers. I like the growl he gets on their recordings, but this was like he was just overdriving his preamp. To me Geddy will always be a black Rickenbacker 4001 guy despite the fact that he has played Jazz Basses even longer now, so seeing him play a P Bass was like finding out there is no Santa Clause! No offense to my P Bass friends, it's just so NOT a Rick & to me not at all suited for RUSH material. I miss the long haired kimono wearing black Rick days! He changed basses on every song & only played the black Rick on Tom Sawyer. He did play a doubleneck Rick on Xanadu though. | ||
| davehouck
Moderator Username: davehouck Post Number: 11760 Registered: 5-2002 |
Happy Birthday Rusty! | ||
| 5a_quilt_top
Senior Member Username: 5a_quilt_top Post Number: 524 Registered: 6-2012 |
Just the opposite when I saw them in Phoenix a few years ago on the Clockwork Angels tour. The sound was great and Geddy played a handful of his signature Fender Jazz basses. The even used a string section for the second part of the show and that sounded great. Part of that may have been due to the fact that they were being filmed and recorded for a DVD that night. I believe that DVD is available - portions of the Phoenix performance and portions of a different performance in Texas were both used. BTW: there's nothing better than twisting a few knobs and having an up close and personal encounter with your own private El Whappo to make your birthday complete. | ||
| mica
Moderator Username: mica Post Number: 8524 Registered: 6-2000 |
Happy birthday, Rusty! May is the best, you know, maximize holiday prezzies as kids, hee hee  I always felt bad for the Decembers that have to get combo gifts. Glad you had a fun day. | ||
| dead_head
Member Username: dead_head Post Number: 90 Registered: 5-2014 |
Happy Birthday, Rusty!! Wishing you good health and happiness!! | ||
| slawie
Senior Member Username: slawie Post Number: 785 Registered: 8-2002 |
Happy Birthday Rusty. I am not late just extending the value of the day. slawie | ||
| bigredbass
Senior Member Username: bigredbass Post Number: 2375 Registered: 9-2002 |
Happy Birthday Rusty, from one East Texan to another. May I suggest either Chicken-Fried Steak or Brisket tacos to go with the cold Lone Stars? Or let's run down to Galveston and have raw oysters on the seawall soon as we get back to the 'R' months. I totally prefer these options instead of . . . . birthday cake. Congrats again on that terrific axe, and all the best to you and yours. Joey | ||
| rustyg61
Senior Member Username: rustyg61 Post Number: 1651 Registered: 2-2011 |
Thanks so much everyone! My birthday this year has lasted several days. My son is a Jr High band director, & last night we went to his final concert for the year. Not only was the performances great, but I got to hear him tell all the parents about their accomplishments for the year in contests including winning Best In Class in 2 different contests, & winning the "Grand Champion" overall award at one contest where they beat all the other bands, choirs, & orchestras, including high schools! Then during the concert, 2 different groups of kids got up on the microphone & told my son what a great teacher he was & how he had not only impacted their musical lives, but their lives in general. He taught them life lessons they will carry throughout their lives. There were a lot of tears from the 8th graders who will be moving on to high school next year, but many of my son's former students come back to his concerts to see him. We spent the night at his house last night & today are spending the day watching our grand daughter, so this has been a wonderful birthday week for me! | ||
| sonicus
Senior Member Username: sonicus Post Number: 4199 Registered: 5-2009 |
Rusty, Your son is giving all these Jr. High kids a true gift for life! The skills and interests that develop could leave lasting influences that might also branch out into other areas and musical directions. I played the trumpet from age 10 to the present. My Jr. High School teacher told me one day after class that the trombone section was falling behind and their intonation was embarrassing .One day he asked me one day if I would be willing to play the 1st trombone parts on the baritone horn for the next public performances . At first I did not like the idea but then I went ahead and learned how to play the baritone as he asked. Many of the musical selections were John Philip Sousa marches and had wonderful low register brass counterpoint parts. Playing and hearing those low register parts sparked my interest in also playing the bass guitar around the same time, that was around 1970. I am still doing doing it . Still play the trumpet as well and I even purchased a beautiful old baritone horn about 12 years ago when I saw it at an auction house . | ||
| edwardofhuncote
Advanced Member Username: edwardofhuncote Post Number: 365 Registered: 6-2014 |
Happy Birthday (a little late) Rusty! | ||
| rustyg61
Senior Member Username: rustyg61 Post Number: 1660 Registered: 2-2011 |
Wolf, you are so right! I have always been proud of my son for his accomplishments on French Horn, but now I am even prouder of the man & band director he has become & the impact he is having on his kids. I played trombone in Jr. High & also had an awesome band director who asked me to play my bass on a few songs in concerts. I was so scared & so thrilled to get to stand in front of the band on stage & play a non traditional band instrument that definitely stood out! We played some Carpenters & Simon & Garfunkle (I loved the bass run at the end of Bridge Over Troubled Waters!), & House Of The Rising Sun. My band director was so cool, he let us play many current pop songs along with the traditional marches & band music. He was partial to Carl King marches & we even got the sheet music to Carl's last march from his widow & played it. Of course, being a trombone player, Carl's "Trombone King" was my favorite march we played! That had to be a huge jump from the small mouthpiece of a trumpet to the large baritone mouthpiece! Did it take a while to get your lips conditioned? I still have my trombone & can remember the notes, but haven't played in years so it would take a couple of weeks to get my lip back. Luckily for me, trombone music is exactly the same notes & range as bass music so that taught me to read. Jr. High band was the most fun I ever had in school. Unlike today's bands, we marched at football games, & would always go out to Shakey's Pizza after the games, many of us still in our band uniforms so it felt cool being identified in the large group that was there. | ||
| rustyg61
Senior Member Username: rustyg61 Post Number: 1661 Registered: 2-2011 |
Thanks Gregory! | ||
| sonicus
Senior Member Username: sonicus Post Number: 4204 Registered: 5-2009 |
Rusty . we seem to have that brass back ground in common . way cool ! It did in fact at fist take a few weeks for me to get my brass embouchure correct on the small shank baritone-tenor trombone mouth piece. Currently on trumpet I like a Bach 5B and on Baritone horn a Bach 6 small shank mouthpiece. AND; yes the trombone music seems to be is a blast to play on the bass guitar , but if you get to a glissando on the notation you need a fretless bass. LOL ! | ||
| rustyg61
Senior Member Username: rustyg61 Post Number: 1662 Registered: 2-2011 |
I used a Bach 6 1/2 AL for most of my trombone music, but if I wanted to play high stuff I used a 12C. You are right, the trombone is very similar to a fretless, it teaches you to have a good ear! | ||
| sonicus
Senior Member Username: sonicus Post Number: 4205 Registered: 5-2009 |
I have a Bach12C floating around here as well . | ||
| lbpesq
Senior Member Username: lbpesq Post Number: 6066 Registered: 7-2004 |
Rusty: Happy belated birthday. I don't know how I missed this thread other than I've been cruising the site on my phone the past few days as I've been on the east coast. (Thankfully back home now). Not used to the small screen. Great that you had such a good time spending it with family. Bill, tgo | ||
| rustyg61
Senior Member Username: rustyg61 Post Number: 1663 Registered: 2-2011 |
Thanks Bill! I can relate to trying to see everything on a smart phone. I have to wear 2 pairs of readers when I do that! LOL! Welcome home, glad you made it back safe! Rusty |
