dlloyd

Ooh! A Wish bass! 

Here's some thoughts.... (kicks in around the two minute mark)

On 07/06/2018 at 18:54, BigRedX said:

I've also found this from Music Man. Its slightly under 30" scale length and pickup type and placement seem to indicate it's more of an A-A Baritone guitar than a Bass VI, although it does have a 44.5mm wide nut. It's also probably the blandest of all the instruments listed here IMO...

I had the OLP version of this, strung E to E and it was surprisingly good... and about a tenth of the price.

36 minutes ago, Beedster said:

A few years ago we started picking up gigs simply because we were quiet, landlords in a few places simply liked bands that could entertain without being loud,

We were pretty much in the same boat... acoustic guitars and double bass, only moderately amplified, only percussion was the singer's shaky egg.

The downside is when people sit at a table four foot from the middle of the "stage" with their backs to you. Might as well be a jukebox.

Just now, molan said:

I guess the two working landlords who told me their tales of woe were wrong then. . .

Well, they're having to adapt to the changing demographic and number of pub-goers.

People go to the pub for different reasons. To meet up with friends, for conversation, to get out of the house, out of boredom, to be entertained, to get drunk, etc... 

Those that want to meet up with friends and chat in a neutral situation still tend to do that, although social media has undoubtedly had an effect on numbers going on the off-chance they will bump into friends. Those that went purely for entertainment/out of boredom are more likely to sit at home watching on demand TV, playing video games, going on the internet, drinking a bottle of wine in the comfort of their own home.

Putting on bands mid-week used to be a sure-fire way of getting people into the pub on quiet days. Friday and Saturday nights were always busy but weekdays tended to be quiet. Bands would attract punters in the 18-30 group who didn't want to be bored at home but didn't necessarily feel any need to interact with others. Gigs in pubs, at least those that I went to, were never quiet, and the sound was never great but people still went to them. There was never any chance of conversation.

Now, you're far less likely to be able to fill a pub with people who are just there to watch musicians play (regardless of sound quality) and have a pint by themselves. I'd say there's more demand for bands who are there as background music rather than the main event, and for that reason sound quality is more important than it used to be.

20 hours ago, molan said:

So, apologies for the long post but it genuinely worries me that more & more gigs will disappear if bands don't get their sound in order. . .

More and more pub gigs are going to disappear because fewer people are socialising in pubs. In the last 20 years, 17% of pubs have closed. Beer sales in pubs have dropped from 24 million barrels per year to 12 million barrels. 

It's not the fault of crappy sound for bands and it's not the fault of the smoking ban.

20 years ago the kids who were going to see bands in the middle of the week had a choice of four or five TV channels and had no internet. I probably wouldn't bother going to see bands nowadays either.

Ooooh!

They were much the same, but I have more naps now. And less shagging.

Could be worth a punt for someone...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5-string-bass-guitar/153173217726?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20170920101022%26meid%3D106121ed3fbe4d4182d0bdcbb643beb3%26pid%3D100010%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D12%26sd%3D223137935870%26itm%3D153173217726&_trksid=p2047675.c100010.m2109

12 hours ago, TheGreek said:

In response to Bassnut's post - must agree.

I haven't played an early MM but the 90s one I had was head and shoulders above the 2006 I had. It seems they get less good as they get more modern.

My old statistics teacher would have loved you.

I've played a fair number of Stingrays, and they've largely been fantastic. My favourite was the 2002 one I owned and stupidly sold. The only ones I haven't got on with was an early 80s pre-EB model that just felt dead and an early three bolt Cutlass I (Stingray with graphite neck) that I could have fired arrows with.

I think they look great.

Only tried one once and I didn't get on with it, but I was really after a P at the time. I wouldn't rule one out in the future.

1 hour ago, EliasMooseblaster said:

I've been playing a kit-build Precision since 2001 - for several years it was my only bass! Bought mine from Brandoni Guitars in North London, and it turned out to be a really good instrument. I refurbished it a couple of years ago - details and some pictures at https://ralphbeeby.wordpress.com/2015/07/22/precision-bass-refurb/ if you're interested! As Andytre says, you may want to upgrade some of the components, but when you consider how much money you save on the kit, it doesn't seem like such a shame to splash out on a nicer pickup, for example.

If I were to do it again, I would also invest some of that saved money in getting it professionally set up. I really didn't know what I was doing when I built mine, and the neck is slightly bowed after years of stupidly high action and no truss rod adjustments. Still a great instrument, though, and still getting extensive use (I used in on Cherry White's last single, if you wanted to hear it in action... https://cherrywhite.bandcamp.com/track/broken-land)

If you're going to the effort of self building, another good investment would be to buy this book and learn how to do the tinkering yourself... I have an earlier edition and it has pretty much all the information you need to do a decent setup. 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Make-Your-Electric-Guitar-Great/dp/0879309989

My list is fairly modest:

Pre internet:

Jim Deacon Strat copy
* Yamaha FG something or other 12 string
Westone Spectrum Bass
Hohner Jack Custom Bass
Epiphone Firebird
Ibanez Musician bass
Epiphone Chet Atkins SST
Gibson Ripper bass

Post internet:

Danelectro U2
* Yamaha BBN4

Epiphone Broadway jazz guitar
Musicman Stingray
Musicman Axis SuperSport
LeVoi gypsy jazz guitar
Stentor double bass
* Fluke Concert Uke
* Fender Jazz
* Kala KA SA B solid acacia baritone uke
* Cigano CJ15 gypsy jazz guitar
* Ibanez AF95 jazz guitar

* Still have

Edit: forgot about a couple.... OLP 6 string bass and a G&L tribute

53 minutes ago, fretmeister said:

is that £8 for all of those mags?

 

£8 for full access to 3,300 different titles... some are in other languages though. Most are in English.

2 minutes ago, goingdownslow said:

Looking for a cheap bass to use as the house bass at jam nights I bought a new Redwood Jazz Bass (Dawsons brand) for £99.

After transforming it with a £5 headstock decal users have commented on how good it sounds and how nice it is to play, even saying it sounds better than the other Fenders that may be there on the night. And that's when I tell them what it is.

I have been offered £5 over the current Dawsons price of £129.

 

I have never owned or had any interest in owning a Fender bass.

Then why did you put a fake decal on it?

38 minutes ago, Cato said:

I'd guess the focus will be on their online content. I'd bet that these days their online readership absolutely dwarfs their physical sales and targeting advertising to local regions won't be a problem.

Absolutely. Their income will be mainly from advertising.

I subscribe to Readly which costs me something like £8 a month. It currently gives me BGM, Guitarist, Guitar Techniques, TGM, Total Guitar, Vintage Guitar and Future Music, all of which I have bought in print form now and then, but never all at the same time, with all issues going back to 2014 or so... plus a whole bunch of interesting and weird magazines (The Magic of Piers!) I would never have bought in the past.

Good... that'll mean that Bass Player is available on Readly

42 minutes ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

Indeed I did, and again, just to clarify. I have no intentions of buying it. I just saw it and wondered what people's opinions were. I'm not disagreeing with anyone's posts. Just marshalling a debate on whether a copy is worth the asking price. If it's a copy does it mean it's a bad instrument? If it's a bad instrument does adding branding make it more or even less valuable?

It doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad instrument, but it certainly isn't of the quality that the person who applied the decals wanted people to believe it was.

To play devil's advocate, it has some value. It's probably an OLP MM2... some of those are okay basses. Worth maybe £100 to £130 in good nick... which this isn't.

The pickup, if it's an original EMG, is worth something. I'm wondering if there's also a half-decent aftermarket preamp in there. You could maybe squeeze £50 from that, but the rest of the bass isn't worth much as parts.

Yes... putting a fake decal on any bass will devalue it. 

I wouldn't have that in my house.

Mine came without one, but it took a standard boss psu

6 hours ago, SH73 said:

Very motivational. Wish I could follow uo my dreams.

I have very strange and vivid dreams. Had one the other night where Elon Musk and Vanilla Ice were hassling me for cigarettes while my cat was being chased by a herd of buffalo.

stunning

I'd be concerned about what the choices say about you. They're all great tunes, but the first two are kind of obvious, the sort of tune that you'd get on an introductory jazz compilation, the sort of tune that people who don't really like jazz could name. Not trying to sound harsh there.

I like the idea of Misty. Something like Lullaby of Birdland would be fun. A rhythm changes tune and a blues would be good.

31 minutes ago, skankdelvar said:

The joyous paradox at the heart of the Steel Panther phenomenon is that the act savagely satirises sexist morons while attracting bitter opprobrium from earnest one-step thinkers eager to display their opposition to moronic sexism. Moreover, what of those rawk'n'roll fans who think the band's actually for real and who applaud the sexism, yee-haw? Are those individuals the primary target or just collateral damage? 

It's not just those that think they're for real... there will be a sizable proportion of the band's following who know they're a comedy band and know that the joke is about sexism but think the message is that sexism is funny.