tegs07

Or people who want and can afford a CS bass. For much of my life a used Mexican Fender would have been a big purchase requiring a lot of thought. Now it’s something I don’t have to consider in the same way. For others a CS bass would be a similar experience.

I have a Sandberg California which is a slightly different league. I still pick up the Fender more often though…

The thing is though the CV is a really good instrument. My CV P bass is the only bass I regret selling. It took a few basses and finally a Nate Mendel to match/better it.

A big problem with this statement is £700 ten years ago bought a lot of Fender Mexican made bass. Now the prices have increased with inflation. Wages in the urban areas of Indonesia particularly for skilled labour are steadily rising. I read somewhere that minimum wages will increase in Indonesia by 6.5% this year. Raw materials and transport costs also remain elevated. £250 for a musical instrument including all taxes, distribution etc is incredible value. I don’t think £700 is particularly expensive either. I think we have just got used to things being extraordinarily cheap in the last few decades.

plenty of people spend hundreds of pounds on sports clothing that have been developed for elite athletes only to shuffle down to maccy d’s.

i don’t think they scorn the gear just the people buying it. if your a dentist that wants a £4000 custom shop fender for your 30th anniversary and can barely play then there are worse crimes out there.

i don’t have any data to back this up but i would guess that a sizeable chunk of people buying new instruments every year are parents. they possibly know nothing about the instrument they are buying but unless they have been living in a cave have probably heard of fender. japan was a cheap manufacturing destination 50 years ago, mexico was also very cheap until relatively recently. i would guess that the production of this bass is to make a budget fender to fill the gap in the market left by increasing costs in mexico.

scorn and belittling the behaviour and perception of others can also go upwards.

Excellent. So something is available for every budget. If the purpose of this thread is to praise the quality of Indonesian and Chinese built instruments then I agree. I don’t really agree with the inverse snobbery though. If someone has enough money to buy a custom shop Fender or wants to buy a brand they recognise then fair play. We know marketing is a dark art but I’ve stood staring at shelves long enough in foreign supermarkets pondering what to buy to realise it came about for a reason.

So have we reached the conclusion that it’s far cheaper to mass produce instruments in Indonesia and China and that brand recognition tends to make the end product more expensive ?

the problem is politics and decisions made by politicians are inextricably linked and influence pretty much everything we experience in life.

Tarrifs are inflationary. What is bluff and bluster to bully other nations into getting your own way is another question. As for the Indonesian made Fender if people want a budget bass with an F logo then I am sure it will sell. Personally I would buy a used CV or Mexican Fender but each to their own.

You can’t say that the seller isn’t making a big effort to justify the price tag though. The copious pictures, description and the provenance about that wild night out where Phil Lynott stole the bass from a music shop in Denmark Street was very entertaining.

https://youtu.be/s-sRNbKUiKA?feature=shared

Fender have produced so many basses in a multitude of countries. I don’t think a blanket statement about Fender or Squier is worth listening to. I found a great deal on a US Fender so sold a CV to afford it. An immediate regret. Most likely another US Fender even from the same series or year might have been a great bass. I sold the US Fender for a Mexican one and am happy with it. Would have been easier just to have kept the CV though.

Indeed. Like a chisel or a lathe AI can be a useful tool and a great time saver doing a lot of the “grunt work”. However it is not very good if you don’t know what you’re doing to begin with. The old saying in programming garbage in, garbage out definitely applies. As for other claims on here about AI killing off humanity to save the planet. AI is the latest offshoot of human ingenuity (which is as constructive as it is destructive) and is totally reliant on the mining, electricity generation, construction and all the other “negative” human activities. It would need to collectively commit suicide. Used well AI can definitely help efficiency and reduce cost and waste. There’s a lot of hype but a lot of potential as well. It’s early days but incredibly interesting IMO.

I largely agree with this. My days of going to multiple gigs a month are largely gone, but Spotify helps me identify new music that I would no longer get to hear about. When I was younger I regularly go and see unsigned/emerging artists live and buy music magazines. Spotify can bridge this gap and I will keep an eye out for tours and get tickets. I don’t think it’s just Spotify that is at fault. The world has changed and the way people consume entertainment has changed with it. I’m not sure that the DIY approach of Punk or early Hip Hop is there anymore or particularly relevant to the younger generation.

At least Sandberg thought about thiss

I think an awful lot of people, particularly musicians, forget how important this is.

A lot of potential there. And a great name.

Yeah that whole Ghandi thing went too far, wandering around in flip flops, haggling in local music shops and so on.

You’re just being silly now. Ben Kingsley played the tenor banjo

The handsome one out of Take Direction? No need to call him a nob. You’re just jealous of his trousers and snake like hips.

It’s great to see a group of friends still enjoying playing music together after four decades (edit Gallop and Smith really), refusing to move with fashion whims, kowtow to big labels or rip off their fans. This album has really grown on me. The best thing they have done since Disintegration and really heartening to have a band in the twilight of their career produce something so relevant and memorable.

Playing the new cure album a lot. First listen was a bit meh. OK but nothing special. It’s really grown on me. Best thing they have released since Disintegration. Some of the lyrics really resonate as I am getting a little older.