Errors-To: admin at elephant-talk dot com Reply-To: newsletter at elephant-talk dot com Sender: moderator at elephant-talk dot com Precedence: bulk From: moderator at elephant-talk dot com To: newsletter at elephant-talk dot com Subject: Elephant Talk #695 E L E P H A N T T A L K The Internet newsletter for Robert Fripp and King Crimson enthusiasts Number 695 Thursday, 15 June 2000 Today's Topics: NEWS: Tony Levin In Store GIG BIZ:Amendments and apologies GIG BIZ: KC Paris concert ticket GIG BIZ: Tony Levin - Phoenix show 6/19 Remasters in the mini LP sleeves Crimson book by J.M. Lopez Howard Stern and King Crimson!! A Heads Up-Live ITCOTKC? Fripp & Hendrix Big Red on Howard Stern BTV downloads - Help! Howard Stern Singing ITCOTCK??? Uriah Heep More technology and Crimson Another view on taping Re: Elephant Talk #693 (RE: Drumming Death Match: Bruford vs. Crimson King Howard Stern & KC Howard Stern and King Crimson? King Crimson + Howard Stern ( ? ) Re: Hendrix/Fripp opinions are windows to personal paradigms Howard Stern does ITCoTCK re: v-drums & Kc Stern Performing In the Court of the Crimson King ItCotCK/Stern Howard Stern's wretched rendition of "In the Court..." on Thurs. GIG REVIEW: Prague June 13 (brief), and TG's strange, small guitar ------------------ A D M I N I S T R I V I A --------------------- POSTS: Please send all posts to newsletter at elephant-talk dot com To UNSUBSCRIBE, or to CHANGE ADDRESS: Send a message with a body of HELP to admin at elephant-talk dot com or use the DIY list machine at http://www.elephant-talk.com/list/ To ASK FOR HELP about your ET subscription: Send a message to: help at elephant-talk dot com ET Web: http://www.elephant-talk.com/ Read the ET FAQ before you post a question at http://www.elephant-talk.com/faq.htm Current TOUR DATES info can always be found at http://www.elephant-talk.com/gigs/tourdates.htm You can read the most recent seven editions of ET at http://www.elephant-talk.com/newsletter.htm THE ET TEAM: Toby Howard (Moderator), Dan Kirkdorffer (Webmaster) Mike Dickson (List Admin), and a cast of thousands. The views expressed herein are those of the individual authors. ET is produced using John Relph's Digest system v3.7b (relph at sgi dot com). ------------------ A I V I R T S I N I M D A --------------------- Date: 14 Jun 00 15:35:27 -0700 From: "David Voci" Subject: NEWS: Tony Levin In Store Well readers, I believe, if my sources are correct, that TL is going to make an in store appearance at Streetlight Records in San Jose this Saturday, the 17th of June at 1:00PM. These in stores usually feature autographing but more importantly, Tony Levin and whoever will also be performing there as Streetlight has had many band play there before. Who knows, you might even end up buying vinyl or CD's I once sold them. Again, a person told me about it so I didn't find out first hand but yeah, sounds pretty sure of himself. Streetlight is on Bascom Ave in San Jose near highway 280/880. Phone is 408 292 1404 Enjoy my friends, dv ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 14 Jun 2000 21:46:11 EDT From: "Donnon Murray" Subject: GIG BIZ:Amendments and apologies I don't know if this post will be in the same newsletter as my last post but anyway - When I reconstructed the Prague setlist I erroneously omitted "Oyster Soup" which came after ConstruKtion of Light". Sorry. By the way this song is wonderful live. Wasn't impressed with the studio version but after seeing it live I understand it much better. This song is straight up Krimson. In the tradition of Indiscipline and Thrak this is the "Soundtrack-to-Satan's-Torture-Chamber", deliciously wicked Crimson at it's best. Not for the timid to be sure. To all those not sold on the new CD I highly recommend you catch as many live shows as you can. You'll see... ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 14:21:48 -0400 From: "Hitomi Kurachi" Subject: GIG BIZ: KC Paris concert ticket I have two tickets for KC Paris concert on 6/26/00. Unfortunately, as my friend is not able to go there, I have to sell one of them. If you are interested, please contact me at hkurachi at earthlink dot net ASAP. I live in New York and have to leave here on 6/20 to get to Luxembourg before Paris. Hitomi ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 13:48:52 -0700 From: Bill Lantz Subject: GIG BIZ: Tony Levin - Phoenix show 6/19 I'm happy to say that some friends of mine will be opening for Tony Levin at Alice Cooper's restaurant (Alice Cooperstown) in Phoenix on June 19. The name of the band is Dalmatian Car featuring longtime valley bass player and singer Linda Cushma. Linda and her band will be hitting the stage around 7:30, so if you are planning on going to the show, stop by early if you can. Linda has been playing Chapman Stick lately and is also known for her 'reclining' bass technique. Her studio CD's feature Tim "Herb" Alexandar, ex-Primus drummer and now Laundry drummer. Tim couldn't make this show, but don't let that stop you from checking them out. The DC webpage is located at http://www.primenet.com/~lantz/brides.html Thanks. Bill Lantz ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 14 Jun 2000 19:11:05 +0200 From: Ferran Nogues i Tolnay Subject: Crimson book by J.M. Lopez Recently there has been some writing about a Crimson book by C. Romeo (Carlos Romeo: "King Crimson", Madrid 1999). Another one, also written in Spanish, is "Robert Fripp & King Crimson" by Jose Miguel Lopez (Madrid, 1994). This is another well done job, but it's from 1994 so the latest album reviewed is VROOOM, and the book is not so complete as C. Romeo's one. It tells the story of the band (as any normal biograpfhy, but it also includes lots of coments on Fripp's thoughts (lots of quotes), Sinfield, Guitar Craft (extensive notes), Eno, etc. Ferran Nogues (Catalan Lands) ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 14 Jun 2000 11:27:05 -0700 From: Fred Raimondi Subject: Howard Stern and King Crimson!! Howard Stern is having a battle of the bands, and he's thinking of doing ITCOTCK as the tune that he'll perform. He was practicing ITCOTCK this morning and if nothing else, it was really damn funny. If he's in your radio market give it a listen. You'll laugh your ass off. Fred Raimondi ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 14 Jun 2000 12:49:12 -0700 From: Marc J Goodman Subject: A Heads Up-Live ITCOTKC? Hi All, Delurking temporarily just to post that Howard Stern is talking about doing ITCOTCK as a cover tune live on his show with his his band, The Losers, in a battle of the bands with Russell Crowe's band and Tina Yothers' band in the very near future. There's a chance this may not happen, as other tunes are up for consideration, such as Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song" (the man loves his reverb). He was singing along with the original album version of Court this morning, as he has done off and on for many years, and it could be quite a funny disaster. Just to let you know that I'm as big a fan of his as I am of the band's, in all of its incarnations, so this is a doubly exciting and entertaining scenario brewing. Anybody out there who is able to get the syndicated radio show, the E! Network show on television, or the CBS Saturday Night TV show he does will be able to catch this travesty. His "band" is barely competent, so I'm looking forward to a lot of laughs. To all those interested in one way or another, enjoy. To all others who either don't know who the man is, dislike him for whatever reason, or could care less, this post is probably not for you. I'll crawl back in my hole now and continue reading every ET as I always do. Keep 'em coming. Thanks to everybody for all your great contributions to this ongoing chatter, pro and con. Marc J Goodman good1 at pacbell dot net ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 13:19:44 +0200 From: Erik Matthysen Subject: Fripp & Hendrix Excerpt from the KC diary 1969: "MAY 14 Revolution, London. A personal turning point following a discussion on presentation: I sit down after 8 gigs standing. Hendrix, dressed in white with his right arm in a sling, approached me afterwards and said, "Shake my left hand, man, it's nearer to my heart". - Robert Fripp" ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 07:45:46 -0400 From: "baxlap" Subject: Big Red on Howard Stern This morning on Howard Stern's show, the host and his cavalcade of hangers-on were working up a truly horrifying cover version of "In the Court of the Crimson King." At least they left "Fracture" alone. Andrew Baxley ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 10:51:39 +0100 From: "Richard Adams" Subject: BTV downloads - Help! Hi folks, Please can someone help me out. I've registered at Bootleg TV via my work computer as this is the only way I can get onto the internet. I couldn't seem to get it to work at home as my wife has a very old AppleMac which runs real slow... Anyway. What I would really like is to be able to tape the download of Mexico City and now Nashville (only so I can listen to the damn things as obviously I can't do that at work). And now Mexico seems to have gone! So - my plea. Would anyone out there please take pity on me and contact me privately re possibly copying onto tape or CD the Mexico stuff and the new Nashville shows. This is for my private use only. NB I live in the UK so it might be easier (and cheaper) if you live here too. Thanks in advance. Richard. rja at felsted dot essex dot sch dot uk ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 09:33:20 EDT From: "Ralph Lifschitz" Subject: Howard Stern Singing ITCOTCK??? I was casually listening to the Howard Stern radio show yesterday (June 14) and thought I heard him mention "In the Court". He proceded to play the song and sing along. I immediately began to listen more attentively. As it turns out, some time within the next few days, his band will be battling on the air with a band led by Tina Yothers - Michael J. Fox's youngest sister on "Family Ties" - and Howard's band will be playing "In the Court of the Crimson King!" Think about it! Ralph Lipschitz East Jabib, Montana fla_ming_lipz at hotmail dot com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 08:18:11 +0200 From: Gnad Markus Subject: Uriah Heep Good morning! Rushed off to Posthof in Linz yesterday to see Uriah Heep in concert. Now, that is a band! What this has to do with Crimson: Well, somehow I wish I'd never known King Crimson. Explanation: Besides "Lady in Black" I have never heard a tune by Uriah Heep. But I went to the concert - totally blank, not knowing anything (I now even don't know the names of the guys). (That is simply because the time never came for me to enter the "Uriah Heep Experience"). And that is it - not knowing anything, being totally surprised about everything and FASCINATED. Without any expectations. You wish you could expect anything, wait for anything, but you can't do anything about it - there is something going on and you simply have to watch and listen. And because of the high spirit of KC music I wish that I could go to there - totally blank. Saturday. OK folks Markus PS Saturday June 17th Posthof LINZ AUSTRIA: I'd like to get to know ETers from anywhere that will be there. Meet me - I'll be the one with a "FOXBASE ALPHA" T-shirt on. Somewhere on the front line. See ya! ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 14 Jun 2000 19:25:18 -0400 From: John Neumann Subject: More technology and Crimson Dan Kirkd at aol dot com's comment about Sun Microsystems has nudged me to mention that the first music played through the very first (as far as I know) microspeaker on a CMOS chip was King Crimson, last Friday in my lab. If you are interested, check out http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~jneumann for some nice pictures of the device along with a closeup of my ear. I've been listening to TCOL since the week it came out. I was worried after reading the negative reviews, and after having a bad experience buying YES's "The Ladder" the week before. I'm really glad I bought it, it sounded good the first time I played it and it's growing on me more and more. I agree with another ETer's comment about KC transitioning from self-conscious to self-aware. The music is flowing out very naturally, and in tune with the times. -John Neumann -- John Neumann, Ph.D. Postdoctoral Researcher, Micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) ECE Department 1209 Hamerschlag Hall Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA 15213 office: (412) 268-4404 home: (412) 421-2164 FAX: (412) 268-4595 jneumann at ece dot cmu dot edu www.ece.cmu.edu/~jneumann ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 15:30:49 +0300 From: "Piia & Jari Schroderus" Subject: Another view on taping Lot of talk about bootlegs and taping concerts. I have not expressed my views, since I think the artist's policy on taping is the law. But another thing comes to mind, and that is the band taping the concert, the band's performance and the behavior of the audience. In my experience, people have a need to be immortalized on tape or on video. This has to have an affect on the way people behave at a concert, and it has to affect the active listening. This might not happen on a conscious level, but it's bound to happen. So my question is, was it a good idea for King Crimson to tape all the shows and have a camera crew at all the venues? My guess is that there will be a lot more "Elephant Talk!"-shouts during the band's playing in the future! And from the other side: How does it (the recording and filming) affect the band's performance? Will they play it safe and not improvise so much? I know it's possible to get used to cameras and such, but no matter who you are, you won't be as relaxed or feel as free when there's recording and filming going on. Not even when it's the band it self behind the idea to make every concert available for the fans. I myself would any day trade all available live records (the ones that exist and the ones coming in the future) for a live performance of King Crimson. Sadly they canceled the concert in Finland (the second time!). But then again, knowing how majority of Finns are, it maybe better this way. Reading Mr. Fripp's diary entry about the guy who had a mobile phone with him on breakfast got me thinking about Finland and the mobile phone madness here. And another feature of this land: At every rock-concert there seems to be a drunk shouting for "Paranoid", no matter what band is on the stage. I can almost imagine Mr. F's diary entry after a gig here... Jari Schroderus PS. Again, sorry about my english... It could and should be better.. Check out my music on our web site The Glimpse at http://www.kolumbus.fi/piia.jari.schroderus ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 10:22:49 -0500 From: Craig Subject: Re: Elephant Talk #693 (RE: Drumming Death Match: Bruford vs. Mastelotto) > I seem to recall Pat was brought in originally because of >his different approach to the music. Not jazz - more rock - more >electronic. Sounds as if to me he is doing what is requested of him. >That's why he's probably there right now. More than likely, he may even be >enjoying himself. Bruford is my personal favorite as a >drummer/percussionist, but my hat's off to the new guy. He rocks. AGREED!!! Until I had the opportunity to see (very up-close, I might add), Pat, do his thing at a P-3 show in Dallas, I wasn`t convinced. I am now! After that, he *completely* changed my mind. His style is totally different than that of BB, of course,(& that`s fine). His use of digital percussion is incredible, & it works! Until you see-hear what the man is capable of, please don`t 'judge' him. He is vastly under-rated, & (this coming from a drummer who generally despises pads), he takes the instrument to lofty heights. NOT an easy thing to do. Mr. Fripp made a wise choice. Texas ETer`s.....What`s the chance of seeing Pat`s band in the Austin area sometime? Does his band (I forgot the name) play local much? (I live in Dallas, but travel there alot). ~Craig ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 12:26:25 -0500 From: Dmitry Litvintsev Subject: Crimson King Hi Folks, I'm sorry if it has been answered before - should have been since the question is rather obvious. This is about the nature od the name "King Crimson". I never thought about it much until I read Stephen Kings' 'Insomnia' where he has constructed some kind of primitive philosophy. This was about the way the things go, the world was constructed as a hierarchy of layers with us 'short-timers', on the very low and higher above some angel-like creaturtes and so on and so forth. The higher level craeture occupies the more his 'long forgotten' abilities like telepathy, teleportation etc, are functional. Well enough of this bullshit... There was some kind of creature, who was desribed rather vaguely, but his 'mission' was to keep certain things in order. His level was higher than one of the angel-llikes, he was kind of malevolent, ferocious creature (a la Zeus). In the book he was referred as "Crimson King". There is another epic by the same author - the series of books about the dark tower. In the most recent one 'The Wizard of Glass' this same creature is referenced again. So my question is simple - what is the origin of the name "King Crimson"? First disk, with that terrible snarling pink face one the cover. What is it all about? thanks, Dmitry ------------------------------ Date: Thu Jun 15 13:41:53 2000 From: Enoboy at aol dot com Subject: Howard Stern & KC For those of you who live in the US and listen to syndicated radio host Howard Stern, you will be amused to know that Howard and his band, the Losers, will be performing their cover of ITCOTCK in an upcoming battle of the bands. Today, Stern played some tapes of their rehersals. Hysterical. Many of you might not like Stern. Lighten Up!!! This shows that he is far hipper than you thought. He often discusses how he listened to ITCOTCK whilst tripping on acid..... ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 10:53:57 PDT From: "Dan Ceo" Subject: Howard Stern and King Crimson? Oh, man! I like listening to the Howard Stern Show every morning when I'm coming home from work. For the past couple of days, he's been challenging these bands formed by actors and celebrities to a battle of the bands. For Stern's band, The Losers, their entry will be "The Court of the Crimson King." I've gotta tell you, listening to Howard trying to sing this song is quite hilarious. I could barely drive straight! Dan D. Lion ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 14:32:27 -0400 From: John_Kozlowski at ais dot aon dot com Subject: King Crimson + Howard Stern ( ? ) This morning as I drove to work ( about an hour drive ) I was spinning through the various radio stations. Though not a dedicated listener, I find Howard Stern occasionally amusing. So when the dial hit his show, I let it rest. Howard came on ( it was about 07:00 EDT ) and explained that he had decided to challenge a number of other celebrities who had recently formed rock band to some form of competition. While the fellows were tuning in the background, he announced his challenge to the world and then they broke into " In the Court of the Crimson King " with Howard on vocals. The first run through was quite mediocre but to be honest much better than what I expected. They worked with their tunings and started up again with a more " metal " approach ot the song and it worked quite well. I was astounded and found myself if anyone hearingwhat I was hearing was now planning to record " Matte Kudasai " as a rap record. Anyway I'd love to hear other peoples opinions on this. I'm at " Crimosn_Court at yahoo dot com ". Jewels often appear where you least expect them. John ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 14:42:41 -0400 From: "RAYMOND RAUPERS" Subject: Re: Hendrix/Fripp opinions are windows to personal paradigms I don't know if Fripp really didn't consider Hendrix a wonderful musician but it wouldn't surprise me given Robert's personal expression of what music, recording, and performing isn't. And what audiences as customers aren't. We open little windows to our personal paradigms when we offer opinions. And here's mine: Bootlegging is nature's answer to musicians that attempt to collect and control all data documenting their activities. The consumer needs an accurate testament to the artist's activities, and is served well with recordings. The musician has an inherent desire to write and edit the history themselves, salvaging and destroying historical record as they see fit. Reality lies in the balance as history has never been concisely documented. I mean the Christians wrote their New Testament, didn't they? Why were the activities of Mother Mary never recorded again after the ressurrection of Christ? It's called an agenda and it does not facilitate transparent historical documentation. In my opinion the bootlegs of Hendrix have served as superior testament of the artist's activities. In my opinion if Hendrix were able to control and edit the history, a less transparent historical record would exist. And we would all suffer the loss of history being buried in "the basement". God bless Rockabilly! Raymond J Raupers Jr. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 12:28:26 -0700 From: Robert Cervero Subject: Howard Stern does ITCoTCK Just posted on the mellotron list: This morning I was listening to the Howard Stern radio show in NYC (I don't normally, but sometimes he's funny). Anyway, he was doing a "heavy metal" version of Court of the Crimson King and it was hillarious. Howard was doing the lead vocal and the band was all over the place but they seemed to almost pull it off. That was, until they got to the "aaaah - aaah - aaaaaahs" which everyone was singing out of tune. Of course there was no Mellotron, but they did have a keyboard player using some kind of string samples. Anyway, they were practicing to compete in a "Battle of the Bands" for celebrity bands, so this could be on the radio again. At one point, they keyboard player suggested sampling the aaaaahs, so that they would be in tune. It was hillarious, on the magnitude of a Fritz Doddy put on. Anyway, thought I would mention it in case anyone talks to Ian McDonald (Frank?). He should check it out! Howard probably owes him royalties for murdering his song. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 12:42:11 -0700 From: "Mike Birtchet" Subject: Mellotronists: New Version of Court of the Crimson King Being a drummer myself who's listened to KC steadily since 1975, I try to keep an open mind about the direction Fripp & co. wish to take. It's his band, after all. If the current line-up feels okay with using v-drums instead if the real thing, that's their business- prog should progress, after all, though not every "new direction" is going to come out roses. My own preference is an acoustic set with various toys around it. A friend has recently purchased a used v-set and let me bang on it for a while. From a gigging point of view, v-drums certainly have some advantages, like different sounds at the push of a button (or turn of the knob) and portability. Sound-wise, 'tain't nothin' like the real thing, though they do come closest. The feel of the heads is also much more comfortable than the traditional solid-rubber pads, which can kill your wrists after a while. I am in agreement with Earl Rapp that "ProzaKc Blues" is probably among the worst tracks KC has ever done in any incarnation. In general, I was quite disappointed with TCOL. Adrian Belew has written much more inspired lyrics in the past- this time he seemed to be straining for ideas. The chops are as formidable from each player as ever, but the material just doesn't have the same wrecking-ball impact that THRAK had. (The first time I heard it, "VROOOM" sounded like "The Munsters" theme being played by ax-murderers!) Also missing were some quieter moments: there was no "Cadence and Cascade", or "Trio" to break up the noise. (Thankfully, there was no "Song of the Gulls" either.) And when the show is stolen by a bonus track from a spin-off projeKct (X), then what can an old Crimso fan say? Still, I'll probably always remain a fan Of KC. Critic Robert Cristgau called them "chronically fascinating", and I guess I agree. Cheers! Mike ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 21:15:06 +0100 From: "Denardo, Michael D, CMMC" Subject: re: v-drums & Kc Hey There: Just thought I would let you know that Howard Stern will be performing "In the Court of the Crimson King" on Monday, June 19 on his nationally syndicated radio show. He is doing a battle of the bands type thing against Tina Yothers of TV show "Family Ties" fame's band. He did a rehearsal today and it was hilarious. He may slide in another practice on tomorrows show. later ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 16:27:22 -0400 From: Dave & Racquel Subject: Stern Performing In the Court of the Crimson King Certainly I am not the only person to catch Howard Stern this (6/15) morning. Stern & his band "The Losers" decided they wanted to take on Tina Yothers' new band, and any & all celeb bands, in a battle of the bands. He also decided to do it with (paraphrase) "the most complicated song ever recorded"...."In the Court..." Their rendition was truly awful (duh), but was at least amusing. Dave ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 13:38:30 -0700 From: Matt George Subject: ItCotCK/Stern 6/15/00 Did anyone on this list happen to hear Howard Stern's butcher job of "In the Court of the Crimson King" today? It was really horrendous. For those who did NOT hear it, basically from what I gather Stern and his "band" The Losers (composed of several of his co-workers) are currently practicing the song and rehearsing it in order to supposedly blow away a rival band led by Tina Yothers' (of "Family Ties" TV show fame) in some kind of battle of the bands competition which will occur later. Stern and (two or three) others "performed" (and this is a complete overstatement!) "In the Court..." a couple of times on the air this morning and totally destroyed it. I was quite horrified. But at the same time I actually laughed out loud it was quite uproarious. At one point, they attempted to give it a "contemporary Mettalica feel", with Stern growling the lyrics out like some tone deaf wild creature. Well, at least King Crimson is getting some nationwide exposure, albeit from a most unwelcome source. And Stern of course has always endorsed KC over the years, I have noticed, touting "Court" as his all-time favorite song. I remember one show about seven years ago featured ELP, and Stern grilled Lake on leaving the band in 69. When Lake made some remark about Fripp wishing to exert increased control, I remember Stern said "F that Fripp!" Matt George "The intellect strikes up the tune, the will must dance to it..."--Schopenhauer "Me and a book is a party. Me and a book and a cup of coffee is an orgy."--Robert Fripp bmgeorge at pacbell dot net ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 13:14:56 +0100 From: Tony Burton Subject: Howard Stern's wretched rendition of "In the Court..." on Thurs. Hey > TG played some tunes (cage, ssed maybe, and heroes) on a strange, small > bass guitar. What is it? Looked to me a lot like an Ashbory Bass. I saw KC in Prague on tuesday night: extremely enjoyable; very impressive; pretty much the same setlist as the rest of the tour; one flash photography incident that detracted from the fun; Ade broke a string on Fracktured (I think), picked up his other guitar, shrugged with a "I can't really be bothered" look, put it down and went to help Pat on drums for the rest of the song :) Anyway, that bass: Ashbory basses (http://www.ashelec.demon.co.uk/ashbory/) have silicone rubber strings and peizo pickups, to give them that unique rubbery-upright-bass sound. Strangely enough, the Ashbory isn't mentioned on Trey's current equipment list (http://www.treygunn.com/equipment.html) nor on his guitar geek entry (http://www.guitargeek.com/layouts/display.php3?id=225). -T. | Tony Burton | SurfCast UK Ltd., | 151-153 Farringdon Road | London EC1R 3AF | 020 7970 5427 | tony at surfcast dot com | | "Consider the daffodil. And while you're doing that, | I'll be over here, looking through your stuff." ------------------------------ End of Elephant Talk Digest #695 ********************************