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London Bass Guitar Show - 7 & 8 March 2015


bassguitarshow
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Over here in the U.S. the Amp Show and the Nashville Amp and Gear Expo are held in hotels, so that each exhibitor has some privacy in their individual room. Sometimes, though, in the open area format you get a chance to compare the sounds between the different brands available.

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The slap at these shows has stopped me going completely, with MK on the bill I would be taking earplugs for all his 'fan's' efforts! The last one I attended in manchester gave me the worst headache ever mainly coming from the rig of a prominent member here ALL DAY, awful.

I suggested on the appropriate thread to the organiser that a baton could be passed every 10 mins from stand to stand, only the stand with the baton can make a noise, headphones could be used at all times and if two batons went around the two main areas it would only be about 20 or 30 mins before the baton came back,plenty of time to discuss the basses and feel them unplugged etc. Anyone serious about dropping 3 to 4 grand on a custom build should be visiting the builders in person anyway rather than basing it on hearing it amongst that din!

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[quote name='amir93smith' timestamp='1416482144' post='2610603']
I agree with the person above ^^ Ashdown need to be there. The reason i didn't go last year.
[/quote]

I seem to remember that Ashdown were at the show in 2013 or 2012 and got the award for the most obscenely loud and unpleasant noise anywhere in the show.

Multiple amps fired up at max volume with huge stacks and sub octave switches all turned on. Huge gobs of bowel wrenching noise that didn't remotely resemble anything musical.

I can see that this sort of low end might sound like a blast but not when it doesn't stop for two solid days!

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[quote name='DorsetBlue' timestamp='1417165311' post='2617608']
Just watching 'Babylon' and the Bass Guitar Show got a mention as a bomb threat target this year lol. Bit of an extreme way to get rid of Slap Bass! :lol:
[/quote]Well they have been asked politely to desist in the past and this has been studiously ignored (maybe they couldn't hear the request) so more 'firm' measures need to be taken :D

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Problem with all this loud sound stuff is that when you are asking exhibitors to pay such a lot of money to exhibit, they need to do their best in order to make their money back. Reducing the period in which sound can be made reduces the chances of somebody actually making a purchase - especially when everybody is at it full hog in that period.

In short, there is no solution. There is no way that I would buy a bass based on what I'd heard through headphones.... likewise, I wouldn't buy an amp without hearing what it can do.

Call me pessimistic, but maybe shows just aren't a great idea for retail and making noise. :-/

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I think rather than alter how they are run I have just accepted they are not for me, you need to realise for those guys/gals "schlappin da shid" out of a Statii all day is 'their gig' IMO. So me telling them to stop is the same as people telling me to stop during my gigs (which they sometimes do, lol).

It is a shame but there you go, I have moved along :)

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Would be nice to attend but the trouble is it is such an expensive day out buy the time you put in the costs for buses/taxis train fairs and admission you can easily spend £150 before you even start and to be honest I dont think there are many average Joes who can afford to shell out that kind of money on going to the show and there is not much meat and potatoes gear it all seems to be really high end stuff.

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[quote name='ezbass' timestamp='1417187519' post='2617986']
Well they have been asked politely to desist in the past and this has been studiously ignored (maybe they couldn't hear the request) so more 'firm' measures need to be taken :D
[/quote]

Ha ha, although there was a bomb sniffing dog at the guitar show which was a bit unnerving.

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I'd like to see a time limit for testing basses, say maybe 15 mins max. Last year I sat watching this guy beat the crap out of a precision copy with his thumb, nothing but high volume, bad slap, and I really wanted to test a bass at that stand. In the end I walked away. Standardize the limit with a time clock for each exhibitor and make the policy clear. Straight and simple.

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Noise has always been an issue at these gatherings.

I worked in the MI industry some 30 years ago and it was an issue back then at the BMF - although frantic slapping and 1000w amplifiers certainly weren't 'the norm' back then.

The noisiest days were the ones where the doors were opened to 'punters' (as opposed to the MI trade) and attempts to control that failed miserably year after year.

Fast forward 30 years and the same problem remains - as soon as you charge punters an entry fee they have expectations, and if that expectation is to bash a fingerboard senseless at a volume that is approaching that of a WMD, then that's what happens.

My solution as an exhibitor was to put cotton wool in my ears on those days (earplugs weren't about back then).

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I see complaints every year about slap but if you want a crowd of people to stand and watch a demo then wheel out the slap. We tried what would be regarded as normal bass playing last year and there was little to no interest. Kicked of with the slap and audience straight away. So while everyone seems to complain about it they also seem to stand and watch/listen. Solution no idea,I have accepted that it is the nature of a bass show it gets loud and there is slap bass.
The quiet period every year starts of quite well but as the day wears on it is steadily ignored by stands and customers. I bring along a decent headphone setup and found last year more people where interested in using that than the amp.

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[quote name='skelf' timestamp='1417987004' post='2625813']
I see complaints every year about slap but if you want a crowd of people to stand and watch a demo then wheel out the slap. We tried what would be regarded as normal bass playing last year and there was little to no interest. Kicked of with the slap and audience straight away.
[/quote]

I am obviously the loner, I really do not enjoy the sound of slap bass. It would make me walk away! As a newbie and punter all this talk of too much noise is not selling me the event. I am keen to come along, but earplugs / cotton wool / endless slapping demos and, hmmm, I will need to think some more.

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