tegs07

Before basschat I had never heard of the guy. Now I have and I have watched his channel and Youtube just keeps feeding me more. He has obviously found a winning formula. If he is making a living from it then good luck to him. Is the content any good? Personally this TikTok style, short clip, grab my attention and move quickly onto something new and shiny does my head in. It’s just so completely inane and ridiculous. I suspect my parents thought the same about whatever rubbish I was watching in the ‘80s.

9 hours ago, TimR said:

I suspect alcohol causes by far the most issues in society . 

FTFY

As for drugs and creativity. Maybe very creative people are frequently struggling with various demons that drive their creativity and make them more susceptible to self medication? Being very organised with a good routine, fitness schedule, healthy lifestyle with a good diet and early nights I am sure helps with mental health and physical well being. It might not lead to a life filled with experiences and song writing opportunities.

Times have changed. In my experience kids work far harder at school and uni and take it all far more seriously than my generation ever did. With fees at over £9000 a year, rents at an all time high etc University is a £30000 plus commitment. For parents it’s tough and the pressure on students to succeed is immense.

I just adjusted the pole piece heights of the pickup and solved the issue on mine. 

1 hour ago, nige1968 said:

The world surely can’t be creating bass guitarists quickly enough to maintain that level of production indefinitely.

If every 15th person in China alone took up bass then 👍 

1 hour ago, Al Krow said:

How a particular bass sounds in the mix may actually not differ that much but, equally, there's an unmistakable signature sound to some of the greats eg John Entwistle.

Agreed. I think Simon Gallup has played pretty much every bass there is at various times, particularly live and he always just sounds like Simon Gallup.

7 hours ago, Al Krow said:

 

Could be a fun blindfold test to do at a future bass bash? The clip has had 172k views in 2 weeks - clearly a topic of interest! 

I am not sure how much these comparisons really mean. There will be small differences but with the same pickups*, player, rig etc the basses will all be pretty much identical. What really matters is how comfortable the bass is to play, be that weight, shape, neck dimensions etc, then reliably - quality wiring and hardware may save some embarrassment, then aesthetics. An MDF table would serve the same function as a teak or oak one but might not look as nice or last as long.
 

* Even this is relative and subjective. Most basses that are mass produced have fairly similar pickups eg I doubt if I could tell a Mex P from a US P or a Yamaha BB when played through the same rig. They would all sound like P basses.

15 minutes ago, Geek99 said:

If you mean me, I just mean “paying for the name”, “it’s us-made”, “it’s vintage” etc kind of vanity where as @Lozz196 (I think) suggested in the past, the giveback for the premium price is tapered at best 

There is another dimension to this in that some people might want to buy a US made bass like a G&L or say a Hofner bass because they live in the USA or Germany and want to support local producers. Perhaps if more people bought one bass from a company in their country rather than 3 from the far east these companies would not be facing bankruptcy and disappearing from the market.

13 minutes ago, Dan Dare said:

 

Yep. You can't take it with you. I would add that expensive doesn't always equal better, depending on what you want/need. In terms of function, the law of diminishing returns kicks in once you get towards £2k and upwards. However, pride of ownership is important. A nicer instrument will make you happier than a giant telly.

True but if you want a new Rickenbacker or Musicman you are going to need a little more than 2K.

24 minutes ago, Misdee said:

There's nothing wrong with a bit of wish-fulfilment if you can afford it.  I really don't go for the idea that anyone has to justify their purchases in terms of how and where they are going to use them. If it's your own money to spend, do as you please and enjoy it how you like.

Indeed. Personally I would rather own one bass I love  than 5 or 6 mediocre ones anyway. It does seem like one expensive bass attracts more ire than several mid priced ones.. 

2 minutes ago, Misdee said:

The big question is whether despite the proportionate price increases British people are more able to buy luxury items like high-end basses than they were 40 years ago because they are better-off overall. That's a difficult thing to quantify, but my instinct is that we are better-off, generally speaking

Honestly. I think that they are more likely to take advantage of basses made in countries where wages and rents are cheaper so can make the same thing for less.

21 minutes ago, Misdee said:

Yes, exactly my point. 

 

I could go on forever with examples...so why not! In 1984 (such a great year for bass, not least of all because the Bass Centre at Wapping opened its doors and a generation of British bass players emptied their pockets) a new pre-EB Stingray was £525. That's £1725 in today's money. That's half of what a Pino Signature Stingray will cost you now.

 

High-end bass prices have gone up in real terms when most other luxury goods have become more attainable, generally speaking. The reasons for that are probably very complicated, but to a certain extent I think the reason is that manufacturers of luxury products have discovered that a big part of what gives whatever they are selling value in the eyes of the public is a high price tag. The price confirms that what you are buying is superior quality.

 

Warwick can probably make a Thumb Bass more economically now than in the 1980's and their profit margin on each unit will be greater, but by pricing a proper German-made Warwick bass at £7775 they are making a statement about where they consider their basses to be in terms of marketplace position. They are saying we are up there with Fodera, Wal, F Bass et al. Some people might even believe them.

Wages, rents, wages, energy costs, wages, commodity costs, wages did I mention wages?

Anyone seen the price of RAM these days? A small prediction that in the near term the price of base metals, precious metals and timber is going nowhere but up. Musicman prices I think just reflect a wider trend. Many Mexican made Fenders now break the £1200 barrier. I don’t think this is simply down to profiteering.

7 minutes ago, jazzyvee said:

Is that "The Hamsters" with 'Snails Pace Slim' who used to spray his fretboard with WD40?   Superb band, I saw maybe early 90's in at the General Wolf in Coventry and Lichfield Arts doing a Hendrix tribute.

yep. they were great.

6 minutes ago, TimR said:

I think the point here - for me anyway - is why would I spend £3k on a bass if I'm just doing pub gigs?

I guess it depends on circumstances. I saw The Hamsters play numerous times in pubs throughout the country. I suspect they made a reasonable living and a 3K instrument would be worthwhile. I know a photographer that used a camera and lenses costing way more than 3K to photograph plenty of bands - many playing in pubs.

One sobering thought is that expensive is relative to wealth. The US national debt costs $1 trillion in interest payments. About what it costs to finance its entire defence budget and coincidentally what Elon Musk was paid .I guess if you can afford to run the world’s largest military then a $50,000 bass would be cheap.

For most of the world though mass produced instruments in the far east are the only affordable instruments. Most made in the west would be considered expensive to extremely expensive. Which would explain the rise in bankruptcy for household name companies.

Probably £1000. However these things are all relative. If you had asked 5 years ago £500 as I had less disposable income. Some people could easily justify £3000. Still cheap compared to a lot of work tools or hobby equipment.

1 hour ago, NancyJohnson said:

 

Happy days.

 

It is a thing, this data gathering.  What on earth do the colloquial 'they' do with it all?  Where do they store it all?

 

It used to be about putting the words anthrax or letterbomb into emails that probably proved emails were being monitored.

 

 

 

I guess it is just the inevitable direction of travel. As for data, yep it is incredibly valuable. It’s why Facebook and X et al are ‘free’. We are the product. I am just glad I am not of the generation that has been profiled since birth and accepts it as normal.

I guess financial data is the holy grail and makes the work of HMRC, Any credit rating agencies, financial services, lenders of every description and if I pop my tin foil hat on, the ability for the state to subdue the masses via an intricate mesh of social credit. Happy Christmas 🎅 !!

I guess because this is a bass forum that the discussion is about bass and electric bass in particular, however for me when I think Hofner I think high quality acoustic instruments, particularly cello’s, violin, viola etc.

Don’t Hofner still make high quality hand built acoustic instruments?

Strongly suspect that their financial situation is more to do with a sluggish economy and high energy costs. I doubt Macca can help, unless he can broker a peace agreement with Russia.

1 hour ago, Happy Jack said:

 

I am SO looking forward to the Ten Items Or Less checkout at Sainsburys in an era of blockchain for everything ...

suspect things like apple pay will be able to cope…. or any credit or debit card linked to an underlying wallet populated with whatever stable coin, tokenised deposit variant/s are adopted for use.

Just now, NancyJohnson said:

Earn it, pay tax on it.  Buy it, pay tax on it.  Sell it, pay tax on it.  Die, pay tax.  It's all about handing over to government. 

 

It's just a matter of time until banknotes are carrying tracking chips, because HMRC know they're unable to keep check on cash sales.  Governing, regulating, managing.  Thankfully I'll be dead by then.

 

That's it in a nutshell, isn't it?

 

 

Banknotes will be replaced by Crypto and blockchain in the next 5 years and yes a blockchain ledger is totally traceable.

2 hours ago, TimR said:

 

One is from up north.

One is from across the pond. 

 

It's probably that simple. 

Possibly. There is a certain aspirational lifestyle that involves a kind of self consciously cool parody persona that only resonates with certain people IMO. It’s not particularly subtle or requiring much in the way of imagination but does seem to require a lot of money and effort.

6 minutes ago, SimonK said:

 

She sounded great on the video and had chops that I couldn't possibly play, but, the thing that filled me with a bit of hope is that they were all very pentatonic within the 1/5/octave box (even the slapping), showing that if put under pressure even the great players resort to something that is a bit more recognisable.

 

Staying on topic - Danny was on exactly the same show (link posted a few pages back) and did a pretty good job albeit on a far simpler track, which in my view had more of a groove, emphasising again that we have two people from very different spectrums of the bass community here - possibly as far apart as you can get - and maybe hence the entertaining clash.

I am not sure that the clash is about how they play bass. It seems to me they can both play well and will appeal to different audiences. For me it’s more of a cultural clash between being a blinged up, revenue driven persona and a more down to earth, less sell your soul kind of ethos.

33 minutes ago, SimonK said:

 

Yes you can see the culture clash between cosmopolitan LA and Yorkshire!

 

Mohini published a somewhat hurt response to him last night as well. She does have a good point RE AI being a tool that we need to get used to (and work out the best way to use), but possibly needs to also get a sense of humour as Danny does have a point about pretentiousness (albeit I agree with Danny that she is one of the most talented bass players on the planet - so maybe we can forgive her!).

 

 

I guess each to their own. I am not a big fan of YouTube type ‘entertainment’ but give me Danny Sapko anytime. In my grouch like, cynical way Dubai is the ideal zoo to house these types of vacuous, bling, influencers. All the tax avoiding, money obsessed, shiliing, toxic toss pots can all move there and impress each other.