silverfoxnik

Got to say the two Zoom units I've had, i.e. the B2 & B2 1.u, have been great.. One of the best value FX units around IMO..

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='320021' date='Nov 2 2008, 11:10 AM']Why do people like vintage cars? Why not buy a fibreglass replica so there's no rust. You could fit the engine out of a new Mondeo to achieve total reliability while using lead-free petrol and producing much-reduced emissions. Obviously you'd use modern suspension units rather than those silly leaf-spring thingies. And all that awful leather to clean, especially once it gets all cracked - put some nice PVC in there instead. The market is flooded with cheap copies of some of my vintage basses. Many of those cheap copies play really very well and are pretty good basses in their own right. Doesn't stop them being cheap copies, mind. Why are old basses so good? I'll go into politician mode and say, that's the wrong question. Confucious he say, "There are two types of fool. One says, 'This is old, so it's good.' Other says, 'This is new, so it's better'." Old basses aren't "good" or "bad" because they're old. What they are is "old". 1) Old basses (and other instruments, of course) are rare, certainly rare compared to new ones. 2) Old basses which have survived for 30/40/50 years are usually either rather good to play (else they'd have been junked by now) or have lived most of their lives in a case under the bed (and are in pristine condition). 3) Old and rare things almost invariably attract a market. One of the best-known shops in Denmark Street just calls itself [i]Vintage & Rare[/i]. 4) Old basses which command a premium price (for whatever reason, no matter how silly) are a good investment. That doesn't always mean you'll make a profit, but it does mean that at least you'll minimise your losses. 5) In the entirely hypothetical example of a bass player with too many basses, perhaps even someone on this very forum, wishing to buy yet another bass, it becomes possible to explain to Mrs. Happy (damn! what a giveaway) that the money isn't being "spent" ... it's being "invested". 6) Old basses are also good at sparking discussions. It's not common to see threads started on subjects such as The New Nevada P-Bass, or Do 2007 Westfields sound better than 2005 Westfields? 7) Finally, old basses have history. Blindingly obvious, of course, but a surprising number of people forget about it. Every time I pick up a vintage bass, I'm aware of an invisible chain of earlier owners/players picking it up before me, and I wonder what they played and whether or not they were better than me. Yeh I know, lots of people look at me a bit funny when I say things like that. I'm really not a New-Age-y sort of person y'know, I just have a keen sense of history.[/quote] In the main I've got to agree with Happy Jack's comments on this topic... But I think it's fair to say that: (i) not all new basses are good (ii) not all old vintage basses are good However and in my personal experience, when I've played a vintage bass that is good, then they've been really, really good. I can't explain why and I'm quite prepared to admit that I might be fooling myself but I've owned a pre-Ernie Ball Stingray that was fabulous and much better (to my ears anyway) than any Ernie Ball 'Ray I've played. CK's vintage Ray is a phenomonal sounding instrument and a good case in point.. Having said that, I had a '66 Jazz once and I didn't like it much at all so who knows; maybe it's just as well we all like different things?

[quote name='bass_ferret' post='319438' date='Nov 1 2008, 12:58 AM']Went to see Bernie the other night with my Genz Benz rig, and althought the EBS was a better sound, they cant compete with the weight and size of the class D stuff like Markbass and Genz Benz. Consequently Bernie has some ex-demo EBS Classic Line going for very good prices. This is to rock what the regular EBS is to slap and hi fi sound. Weight wise its between the Proline and the Neoline cabs and I have to say it sounds very good. Worth a call if you are long haired and low bassed, without pandering to stereotypes at all.[/quote] +1 I saw Bernie yesterday and there was a lot of nice EBS gear in the building.. Best thing to do is give him a call if you're looking for something as they are definitely going to be good deals to be had.. [url="http://www.gbguitars.co.uk/"]http://www.gbguitars.co.uk/[/url]

Spent a very pleasant evening Thursday with John trying out his fabulous GB Spitfire, EBS Micro Bass II and his Genz Benz rig, which were all stunning.. And because I'm looking for a really effective way of using basses with very diffferent output levels at gigs, John very patiently showed me just how versatile the Microbass is, which entailed him taking his pedal board apart virtually to demonstrate. Add in the beer, his 4 string KSD that is strung B-E-A-D (which sounds surprisingly good like that) and a chance to talk about loads of bass/music related stuff, it was great. Thanks John.. Good to spend time with a fellow Basschatter who really knows his stuff! We must do it again at some point if & when some new gear comes our way?? Nik Nik

[quote name='Sibob' post='319269' date='Oct 31 2008, 06:32 PM']Mine is a success story so far as well! In my opinion, a manager doesn't organise the day to day running of a band, they are your connection to the industry! You employ them for their contacts and their savvy! Touting you about to the people who matter, getting people talking about you etc! Their job is not to get gigs or tours (although this does happen sometimes as a bi-product), their job is not to get you rehearsing, it is not to run your myspace!. Further down the line they will organise and run your diary, but that's about it, they will then start to organise an infrastructure of people around you. Agents for gigs, Tour Managers for tours, Press & PR people, Endorsements etc etc They will of course make sure you are meeting the deadlines you are supposed to meet, and kick you up the arse once in a while, but it is down to the band to sort their daily routines IMO! (I'm talking at toilet-circuit level). It seems to me that any people that have had negative experiences have usually done so because: A ) it was their brothers cousins dog who was doing it, not someone with decent industry contacts B ) they believed that EVERYTHING was to be done by the manager C ) didn't have the contract checked out well enough and were stitched up D ) they simply didn't 'make it' and are bitter All of these things are very easy to overcome of you stay on top of the day-to-day running of your own band! But realise that not many people within the industry will take notice of a 'self-managed' band contacting them, unless they have a massive following and simply can't ignore them. Each 'scene' within the music industry is very tight knit, everyone knows each other, and so having a decent manager within those circles is priceless! Si[/quote] That's a very astute take on it Si and all bar a few exceptions where bands are so good or so popular (like the Dave Matthews Band in the States), I'd say pretty spot-on as an assessment.. The best thing IMO is to be really sorted as a band and then employ a manager at the right time for you, who is also very focused..

[quote name='jake_tenfloors' post='319088' date='Oct 31 2008, 02:41 PM']I couldn't be happier with my manager We've got a kinda weird management deal though, its in two parts with two guys. We've got one guy, local to us, almost like a 5th member of the band. We've known him for years and he's a musician himself. Other guy is Rod Jones from idlewild, but he lives all the way up in edinburgh! Everything goes through all of us and we all have to agree on things ot they don't happen. Since management, we've got major label interest, a supports tour, and another one coming, played live on the radio, had music on the radio, got a radio plugger, lawyer. Management couldn't have gone better for us! -Jake[/quote] Good to hear a positive spin on things Jake.. Are idlewild still a going concern themselves?

[quote name='bilbo230763' post='318861' date='Oct 31 2008, 10:30 AM']That'll be 20 out of a couple of thousand Bit like a local council election, then![/quote] Sad but all too true...

[quote name='bilbo230763' post='318824' date='Oct 31 2008, 09:40 AM']Most Popular....(one fingered fool) [/quote] ..the best and most popular, one fingered bass player, as voted for by all interested Basschat Forum members - and that's official!!

[quote name='bass_ferret' post='257997' date='Aug 8 2008, 11:31 AM'] [/quote] Last night I spent some time at BF's to try out his EBS Microbass (very cool) and was lucky enough to have a play on this bass.. It is absolutley stunning! The tone is beautiful, it looks fabulous and it plays like butter.. It sound fantastic through BF's Genz Benz rig too (which is also very impressive...).. Thanks for all the help Jon and for the chance to check out the BF ensemble of truly excellent basses and gear! A most enjoyable evening all round, especially when you throw in the beer and the opportunity to have a good old natter about all things bass..

[quote name='Jake_M' post='318764' date='Oct 31 2008, 01:26 AM']Thanks to those who cast tiebreaker votes. The final chart now looks like this: 01) James Jamerson - 20 votes 02) John Entwistle - 17 votes 03) Geddy Lee/Stuart Zender - joint 11 votes 05) Marcus Miller - 10 06) Bernard Edwards - 9 votes 07) Jaco Pastorius - 8 votes 08) Jean-Jacques Burnel/Pino Palladino - joint 7 votes 10) Aston Barrett/Stanley Clarke/Les Claypool/Duck Dunn/Flea/Mark King - joint 6 votes To be honest it all got a bit confusing in the end. I did my best, but i make absolutely no apololgies for any errors. Any disagreements, count 'em up yourself or just argue amongst yourselves. It's all just a bit of fun after all. Billy Sheehan didn't make it into the chart. What a shame. Cheers, Jake M[/quote] Thanks and well done Jake! So that's that then.. 8 out of 10 bass playing cats said they preferred James Jamerson for breakfast, so he is the best...period. Fact!

[quote name='4000' post='317904' date='Oct 29 2008, 08:19 PM']Ah, how to qualify "objectively better"? Who is the best chef? The one who makes the food you most like eating. There are technical players I love and technical players I have no time for, and there are players I find incredibly musical and those I don't; there are even players who are both, but others will have entirely different opinions. If "better" means they have more musical knowledge or can play more difficult things, or can play in more styles or with more accurate time, then you could argue that better is definable. But as soon as musicality comes into it (as it always should) everyone is governed by their own tastes and preferences. If person X thinks Jaco is the most musical payer ever to walk the earth, then how can I prove he's not? It's impossible. If person Y or Z thinks McCartney or Flea is, then their opinion is just as valid as anyone else's. You can't possibly argue that Stuart Zender is as technically gifted or as musically knowledgeable as Jeff Berlin, but does that make Jeff Berlin better? I agree that the players you've mentioned would rate very highly in my book, but that doesn't make them better players than a player in a punk band, for instance; they may be awful at playing punk, which is a musical form in its own right. Who's the best out of Picasso, Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Degas? I know which I prefer but I could never tell you who was better. What's the best book you've ever read? Every person will likely give a different answer, and if asked to qualify it will likely fall back on "because it touched me the most" or similar. FWIW I prefer Chris Squire to Jaco and Jean Jacques Burnel to Marcus Miller in every possible way and by a nautical mile, so how do I decide who's "better" out of those? In a 100m sprint on a given night, yes, you can say who's the better man/woman (in this case I'd reckon JJ or Marcus.. ). But as soon as artistic issues come into it, it all goes out of the window. To use the Pat Metheny analogy again, he's both very technically gifted and knowledgeable. However I hate everything about his playing, from his tone to his note choice. I know you really like him. Is he technically more gifted and knowledgeable than Dave Gilmour? Absolutely, by far. Is he better? Not where I'm standing; to me he's not even in the same league. You would probably argue otherwise, and I believe we'd both be right. BTW, I like jazz.... I once had an argument with an upright player who insisted that Ray Brown was "better" than Neils HOP. How on earth can anyone decide something like that????[/quote] Very well reasoned point of view, if I may say so...

[quote name='BigBeefChief' post='317424' date='Oct 29 2008, 11:36 AM']Why? What makes a good manager? I'm confident I can't do it, but I'd like to know what to look out for in others.[/quote] Because you believe in what you're doing and have enough insight/common sense to ask pertinent questions just like the ones in your original post.. Having said all of that, if one member of a band take on a quasi-management role without everybody agreeing to it, then it can upset the dynamic of the band, which is not a good thing. Going back to your OP, if things are going well at the moment then I don't think your band needs a manager right now, if at all. The best time to take a manager on is when the planning/coordinating of all of the band's various activities cannot be carried out efficiently and successfully without it being done on a full-time basis. These days, there's so much that bands can do without giving away any of their rights & income to managers, publishers & record companies etc, that I don't see any value in rushing into anything. The beauty of your situation at the moment is that the band has total control of it's future. If anything, the most important person or company to get on board would be a great agent who can get you gigs in places that will really make a difference to the band's future..... Good luck with it all!

I was in many bands over the years that had management with varying degrees of success in terms of: 1) the things the manager actually did that benefitted the band, and 2) how successful the relationship between the band and the management was. Then after packing up as a musician in 1995, I had my own management company for 7 years, so I think I can safely say that I've seen it from both sides. There's very good advice posted here already about managers who aren't vey good and how bands can, if they are focused and together as a unit, achieve much more through their own efforts. But having said that, Bilbo's point is worth thinking about because it highlights something that often gets lost in these discussions, which that artists and managers have inherently different viewpoints which need to be clearly articulated and explained at the beginning of the working relationship. If that communication isn't properly established at the beginning, then the relationship is doomed to failure because everybody involved is working to different objectives. There are some very well documented stories of managers who have put the success of their bands/artists before their own well-being - such as the guy who managed Generation X years ago (Falcon Stuart I think) who remortgaged his own house to finance the band's activities.. And there's many other such stories too. So my view is that it all comes down to belief - if you're the band, then you've got to have total belief in what you are doing. If you're the manager, you've got to have total belief in what the band/artist is doing. Without that, it doesn't matter how good the band is, what contracts you've got or who you know.. It won't happen.. I have to agree that it's highly likely that tBBC could do a great job as a manager...

Great collection of very distinct and cool looking basses, OHM! You must be enjoying playing at the moment...

[quote name='BigRedX' post='317110' date='Oct 28 2008, 09:55 PM']Actually I think you want Bassassin...[/quote] We need an equivalent of the batphone for Bassassin..