Progress report.
Playing fast eighths with gut is REALLY hard but it can be done. My respect for Scott Lafaro which was already enormous is now off the charts. I've been working on his Milestones' solo off of the Vanguard recordings. I'm not particularly interested in getting the solo down as a solo but I want to capture (i.e. swipe) some of his attributes. Particularly, the way he attacked the strings with his right hand. Incredibly clean, fast with a solid "thunk". He plays a lot of scalar lines and in between interjects triplet-based ostinatos which work well with the percussive quality of gut. I'm still looking for things that gut does well that aren't as good with steel.
To that end, I've been practicing getting that attack down by running scale fragments and chromatic scale fragments up and down the neck working primarily on the right hand. Picking down at the end of the fingerboard is absolutely essential. The sound is tighter and the string has less side to side movement. This is true with steel too but with gut the difference is much more remarkable. Using the very ends of your fingertips on both hands also makes a big difference. Again, you get a tighter more focussed sound. It also seems as if with less skin on the string, the string doesn't bog down as much. You can get a more articulate, quicker attack without losing the fat gut sound.
Getting to play fast and clean on gut is like sprinting in snow (or soft sand for those of you in Hawaii). I've been running these exercises so much both of my hands feel like I've been in a boxing match.
I think the ability to play fast with gut will come down to not one big breakthrough but a whole bunch of small incremental technical ones. Playing by the end of the fingerboard, using the fingertips only on both hands. Getting the coordination down so I don't bog down in the middle of a run. Getting that SOUND of the attack in my head and making it happen on the bass.
That's where I'm at now. Wednesday night's gig went reasonably well and made me realize what I needed to work on. I spent the last two days pounding it over and over. We'll see on Saturday if all of the work pays off. How do you post sound clips? If someone tells me how, I'll post some.
Lastly, the Stat-B is a wonder with gut. I started the night with the Stat and the AMT and I ended up rolling the AMT off before the end of the first set because I didn't need it. The Stat sounded great on it's own. I've played 3 gigs so far in 3 very different rooms and the quality of the sound seems to be completely independent of the room which is something I've NEVER experienced with steel. No matter where I am, I just plug in and it sounds the same. I had the amp right up against the wall but I didn't get the dreaded bass proximity effect. It just sounded natural. I had the amp in the middle of the room, it sounded just like it did against the wall--like my bass but louder.
mark
. They sound a bit better after having tuned them up a full step like...5 times but still...I can't see these replacing Spiros for me pizz or arco. And they arent pure gut so...(I guess I don't know what that means)
because my right hand (arm I shoud say) was so worked. For a moment I would hear a PC glimmar but then shank a note and go back to scrambling to play the most consenent mode. 
