Yo Austin, see you @ 8/11!!!

Thanks Austin, it is indeed a Double Harmonic scale... quick correction though, we have to call it a DOUBLE MIXOLYDIAN HARMONIC, since the identical tetrachords both start on what would be the fifth of the harmonic minor scale

Man, I just got back from the National Guitar Workshop Bass Summit...

Awesome!!!! We were blessed by the presence of Phil Chen, MICHAEL MANRING,

STEVE VAI!

and

STUUUUUUUU!!!!!!![b/]

AUSTIN!!! About your bass problem... I have also had similar problems with a simple factory string change... One thing you should keep in mind is that Fender cores are built heavier w/ more tension, GHS strings don't usually have as much tension (even when the gauge is the same... seriously, Fender says it right on some of their string packs, and I'm pretty sure that includes the 8250s...)

Man Austin (and, really, anyone going to the Concord show), check this out...

Alright, so for G3 2001, I went with my guitar player to the SF show, front row in the pit...

Fast forward one year, time for SBM near SF, except now my guitar player is bringing his girlfriend! Now I have to settle for the seats that are always so far back!

Yo Austin!

I hear you're checking out Stu solos?

I imagine you're got the book, so I'm just gonna refer you the créme de la créme of the Stu solos...

The Paris 1988 solo!

Go check out http://www.stuarthamm.net/ for the main website, I've got the solo tab posted (includes some of Moonlight Sonata)

And I'm the top poster there AUSTIN... GRRRRRR......, heh heh

AUSTIN, as for the GHS 3 info, I don't know where any information is available. Where I found out: I was talking with Stu after a clinic in L.A., I made a post about it a while back...

There's a whole string on "Stu's Awesome Clinic" on the Stu Hamm website... The Stuart Hamm Forums

MINUS HUMAN...

Switching from 4 to a 5, eh? A few things to keep in mind when you're doing this...

1. You're not the only one to have trouble converting... this means that there will be five-strings of all feels to allow for anyone to use a five...

2. It has to feel right! I don't mean like.. "Hmmm... I could get used to this," I mean like, "Holy cow! I love this!" (There's one out there somewhere... don't worry)

Hey all, gearing up for the Concord show TOMORROW!!!!

WHEEEE!!!!

Anyway, I was at a Bat-Mitzvah (heh heh, little jewish kid in the house!) and the dj was givin' out free b.b. king tickets for tonight! cool! So, I'm seein bb @shoreline, then I'm coming back, sleeping, and heading right on up to Concord for satch...

Man, for anybody that gets the chance, go ahead and see the BB concerts...

He's not my favorite player (I think we all know who is), but he made the concert so fun by how he played and how he interacts with the audience.

HAHAHAHAHA!!!! I GET THE FIRST SHOW REVIEW!!!

Uhh.... anyway... yeah...

Concord: a very cool show last night... King's X was playing well, though I'm not a fan of that vocal style; for those that haven't heard them, I would compare them a mix between Silverchair and Alice in Chains...

Maaaaaan, Dream Theatre KICKED MY ASS last night!!! The sound was well balanced/mixed, everybody looked like they were having fun, and Portnoy has three friggin bass drums!! I can't comment much on their setlist, since I haven't really been a big fan... I can say that the singer sure surprised me, though... Even though I usually hate that vocal style, I have to admit, he really carried it well...

Joe, an excellent concert, an EXCELLENT CONCERT, keep that in mind everyone while I say this next part: I was pretty disappointed by the setlist. I would've really liked to hear more off of SBM, but there was just Mindstorm, 7-string, and Starry Night (no "The Journey" ?????). In exchange for that, though, we got retooled versions of our older favorites. Now that I've seen what that guy was talking about when he said "watch Jeff during Mystical Potato..." that was an awesome addition, that added a lot, despite the amount of material it actually included. It was also nice to hear an extended "Memories" jam after Crush of Love...

I had one other problem besides than the setlist... the sound. Everyone sounded waaaaay over mic'ed. Thing was, though, this was only during Joe's set, which is the time that I snuck up to the closer sections, so I have to assume that my greed and unethical practices are the culprit here :-)

Psycho_Monkey and Jeffertz and anyone else who was wondering about "Stu's decision to leave the band..."

According to Stu (seriously, I asked him about in person), it was not his decision, it was Joe's.

Stu explained that Joe just likes to mix it up. And let's face it, for this new album, Matt's aggressive sound was perfect... I agree about Matt not being the right person for the songs Stu has already played live with Joe, but just know that it WAS NOT STU'S DECISION to leave the group (I can't say as to whether Joe said he wanted to mix it up and it happened, or if Joe initiated the decision and Stu followed along with it, or whatever).

Mr. Nick,

It has always sounded to me that Joe uses a whole tone scale in "Enigmatic." A whole tone scale is just that, only whole tones... there are also some really interesting substitutions you can do with it also...

AUSTIN,

Actually, I just got the Newsletter today, three times...

Stu/boo,

A question about the Urge II: First of all, what other basses have you had, and how would you compare the space from string to body in the slap area?

I know that Stu likes his strings REALLY close to the body since he does that side-attack style slap, and I'm wondering if the strings are really closer than usual, or if that's just because of Stu's special pickguard (I like more space than usual because of my top-down attack)...