uncle psychosis

Apropos of absolutely nothing I've utterly convinced myself that I "need" a 33" (or 32" bass). Oh dear. This is how GAS strikes, isn't it?

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1400015706' post='2449990'] Sssssh! [/quote] If we manage to arrange going for a beer sometime I should bring my wife, you make me look great

Nice work. How many jazzes is that now??

Bass is an instrument that is easy to learn but incredibly difficult to master. Some instruments are just fundamentally easier to get started with than others (ever tried to get a note out of an Oboe or Bassoon? ). Doesn't mean that they're lesser instruments. Just that the learning curve is different.

I don't think it's ugly at all. Looks great to me.

[quote name='EMG456' timestamp='1399368917' post='2443414'] I never understand this argument at all. Too many for what? If you are playing for the public then to my mind at least you should have a backup instrument so that if something goes wrong, you don't let anyone down. What if some tunes require fretless? Do you also need a backup fretless? Extended range needed? Mmm... 5 string, 6 string... should I have fretless versions of those as well? And so far this ignores the fact that a Jazz sounds/ feels different to a Precision or Ibanez or Alembic or Wal or Musicman etc. etc. In my opinion, owning and using lots of different basses makes you more rounded as a player. You are more able to cope with all of the different idiosyncrasies of tone, feel, action etc. and that can only be good for you as a player. Your only restrictions should be the practical ones - can you afford it, do you have room to store it? The others like can I justify it, do I really need it? etc. are purely imaginary constructs of your own making. Who here would claim that John Entwhistle was more of a "collector" than a player? Not that I'm opinionated or anything... Cheers Ed [/quote] I disagree! For well over 90% of us anything more than five or six basses is into collector territory. Yes, the odd person here or there has a genuine need for more but even most pro bassists don't "need" a lot of instruments. There's nothing wrong with being a collector (I do it myself!), but I think it's good to be honest with ourselves about these things. Kidding yourself on that you "need" something instead of just being honest with yourself that you "want" it isn't very healthy in my opinion.

[quote name='HowieBass' timestamp='1399392626' post='2443784'] I've recently had a few Virgin cable engineers trying to sort out problems I'd been seeing with data errors causing bad picture interference and what flummoxed me was some channels experienced high pre and post RS errors yet others were completely error free (more info about RS errors here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reed%E2%80%93Solomon_error_correction if you're so inclined). In the end it turned out it was a problem with the cable between the internal wall plate/splitter and the decoder - they put a new cable in and the error rate dropped dramatically - it would seem that the old cable wasn't passing certain frequencies particularly well (for the channels affected). So yes, in this case, the cable really did matter. [/quote] Well of course it mattered. The one you had was broken!

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1399327908' post='2443246'] Physics can only do so much, then the real world takes over. [/quote] LOL! [quote] According to the laws of physics a bumble bee shouldn't be able to fly [/quote] Completely untrue. Better luck next time.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1399327173' post='2443235'] What about Physical Graffiti? [/quote] Overrated, meandering rubbish for the most part Next question? :-D

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1399326679' post='2443228'] No one ever listened to Led Zeppelin on a radar or particle detector. That is why everything you have to say is a complete irrelevance. [/quote] Good lord! An audiophile admitting that physical reality is irrelevant to them!

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1399324248' post='2443192'] Yeah, but that's [i]science[/i], innit..? We're talkin' [i]audio[/i]... [/quote] Good point. I'd forgotten about how electronic representations of audio signals flow differently in wires to electronic representations of scientific signals

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1399308029' post='2442971'] Significantly though, you don't listen to music on any of that kind of equipment. [/quote] No, but signal to noise is an important factor just like it is in audio. If magic cables had any kind of real effect oscilloscopes, microscopes, radars, particle detectors, lasers, etc would come with them. They don't.

There's a reason that high end scientific equipment - top of the range oscilloscopes, money no object microscopes, supercomputers, etc - doesn't come with these fancy conditioned power cables or thermally treated cables or whatever the latest audiophile craze is. It's all BS. The only people naiive enough to fall for it are audiophiles and gullible musicians. Still, if people are rich enough that they can afford to spend thousands on enjoying the placebo effect then that's their problem, not mine.

Glad you're enjoying the new setup. I do, however, always think its a bit strange that people say things like "I don't like active basses", as if all active basses are the same (or passive basses for that matter). Its not a dividing line that makes sense to me.

[quote name='skej21' timestamp='1399025666' post='2440067'] Secondly, head offices of music retailers are sales driven. In order to have funds to constantly buy new stock, you have to sell stuff. This means sales targets and staff who are employed to SELL. As a manager who is responsible for a SALES team who have to hit certain figures, do you honestly think they'll encourage their sales staff to spend 2 hours with a group of 15 year olds wanting to try (thrash) a £3k Les Paul and ignore customers who actually want to make a purchase?! Of course not. And whilst those 15 year olds are the future buyers, board members and senior management want money in the tills TODAY, not in 10 years time. It's sad that these pressures create an often frustrating environment but the attitude of the sales staff is often born from the pressures to sell that they get from above. [/quote] Except the common complaint about music shops isn't that you get the hard sell. Its that the staff are unhelpful, rude, and seemingly uninterested in selling you [i]anything[/i]. If someone at my work asks me to do something for them, I don't keep them standing at my desk for 10 minutes before shrugging and giving them the brush off! I'm not a teenager. I'm a 30-something who dresses reasonably well. I always ask (politely) if its ok to try gear. I don't mind being asked to remove a belt or jacket before playing. And still---still---I get left standing like a chump for 15 minutes whilst the grumpy gits behind the till stand around chatting despite telling you "yep, I'll just get you a cable, with you in a minute..." [quote]Having worked in music retail, there's nothing more annoying than talking to a customer who asks for something really specific and cool and you don't have it in stock because it wasn't part of the stocking plan and then you HAVE to say (whilst hating yourself for being THAT guy), 'Im sorry we don't have it in stock but we can order it for you'.... [/quote] That probably is annoying, but if a customer asks you for something and you tell them you'll phone them when you get it in (like in the first post in the thread) then you're doing something seriously wrong if you then don't (like in the first post in the thread). I understand that retail is a tough gig. But even given the constraints they operate under most music shops do an utterly pisspoor job.

[quote name='notable9' timestamp='1399023182' post='2440020'] I'm not surprised at the attitude of some retailers. You've got to see all of this from their point of view. Can you imagine running a green grocers with customers coming in and trying the fruit leaving apples, oranges and bananas left half eaten on the side.....I know that sounds ridiculous but the analogy kinda stacks up. Its Saturday afternoon and a group of spotty youf walk in and one grabs a brand new 1500 quid bass of the wall and starts hammering on it, and yes and he's wearing a buckle, and a fashion jacket covered in bits and bobs, and you just know he ain't gonna buy that thing. I can only imagine it must be a a very difficult balancing act running a music shop where you have to let customers try things which at the end of the day need to be sold, and trying to keep your stock in tiptop condition. [/quote] I see where you're coming from...but frankly I don't agree. Bits of my job are really hard. That doesn't mean I don't bother my arse when it comes to working. Sometimes I have to do things that aren't fun, aren't easy, and aren't very rewarding---but thats why I get paid to do it instead of being a volunteer.

[quote name='spinynorman' timestamp='1398897267' post='2438928'] Morally doesn't come into it. You can put it up on eBay with a BIN set at what you paid + postage + handling charge + restocking fee and have hoards of stinking scum wave their genitals at your magnificent offer. Or you can put it in an eBay auction starting at 99p, so stinking scum can force you to sell it to them for half what you paid. Or you can put it on Basschat, where fragrant angels will sing of how they would buy it if only it was something it isn't; or if only they had some money, which they don't; or if only they hadn't bought exactly the same thing yesterday from their local music shop for twice what you're asking. It's amazing anyone ever sells anything. [/quote] Genuinely lol'd at that. Top work!

[quote name='thisnameistaken' timestamp='1398732613' post='2437115'] Whatever else happens, he was in The Smiths. The most vocal critics of Morrissey didn't like The Smiths, and those people can't be trusted. [/quote]

[quote name='neepheid' timestamp='1398432553' post='2434071'] Not of the GTB/GTS models. According to the G&L website, the 5 string Tribute M-2500 is only available in black/maple or honeyburst/rosewood. [/quote] Shame. The white one is gorgeous. Black is boring and I'm not keen on the honeyburst :-(

No idea about where you can try one, but this is pretty much the exact reason that DSRs exist! :-)

[quote name='neepheid' timestamp='1398079593' post='2430124'] [/quote] Oh man thats pretty. I like that a lot. Are there 5 string versions?

It always seems to me that there are lots of guitarists (and some bass players) who genuinely think that knowing some theory will somehow inhibit creativity. I think these people think that players that know theory are constantly thinking "right this is a Dm7 chord...so erm...right...what do the textbooks say I can play again?". The reality is that its not like that. Having a proper grasp of music theory is to music as spelling and grammar are to language. I don't conciously need to think about how to spell words, form sentences, or punctuate properly---it happens so quickly that its completely natural. Thats the end point of learning music theory---knowing what you're doing without thinking about it.

That kind of BS does exist in Scotland as well, thankfully I've only ever encountered it a couple of times.

[quote name='Diablo' timestamp='1397978166' post='2429067'] Shops blame online competition, but I don't see that really. It is how the customer perceives the service and how you stock and present goods the customer wants to buy. [/quote] Indeed. Shops can't compete with the internet on stock or price, so they have to compete on service. Sadly most of them don't seem to have worked that out yet.

Bassstringsonline are brilliant.