icastle

Having never been, I don't know how many suppliers/manufacturers/importers are usually there, but wasn't the issue last year that there was another show on either at the same time or just before?

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1420391098' post='2648732'] The traditional Fender bass amps do nothing for me, even as kid I remeber seeing stuff like that in the second hand shop, or junk shop! Lol [/quote] IIRC, I went Trace Elliot combo with an extension cab after getting shot of mine. I've always been a stubborn git, but a scrawny 17 year old stubborn git trying to shift gear that weighed more then he did was never going to be a good idea in the long term.

[quote name='Shaggy' timestamp='1420388591' post='2648695'] I liked "Summertime City" back in the day (a non-Womble one......) [/quote] It was ok, but needed more fur.

[quote name='Shaggy' timestamp='1420386951' post='2648660'] I may also start a Mary Hopkin appreciation thread, being as ABBA are royalty on this forum already..... [/quote] I'd better warn you, I'm only one click away from Super Womble...

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1420384962' post='2648624'] The funny thing is I would buy a Fender amp if I knew it was just a rebranded shuttle, once a few had been sold to forum members and we had looked inside they could well have been doing alright with them, then again £250 million in debt or whatever it is would need a few units shifting! [/quote] I started out with a old Fender Bassman (75 I think it was) and a matching 2x15 cab but moved it on and never felt any strong inclination to use Fender bass amps again. Nothing hugely wrong with them, but, for me, there was never anything overwhelmingly 'right' about them to entice me back. I'd certainly consider a rebranded shuttle though.

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1420384244' post='2648613'] Were Genz amps in any form of competition with anything Fender made? I think more likely they wanted some of 2) but either dropped a bollock and did not pull it off as planned or ran out of cash to implement it properly with the new rumble not being a match for the old Genz, a simple redesign of the facia was all that was needed to keep the Shuttle and the Streamliner models on the shelf but with a Fender logo on it. [/quote] +1 My guess is that they bought GB to rebadge it and provide a boost to their somewhat lacklustre bass amp range but their budget to bring that to fruition was based on revenue turnover that didn't materialise. EDIT: One can only hope that GB has been only temporarily shelved and we'll see it back on the shelves at a later date.

[quote name='Skinnyman' timestamp='1420383536' post='2648592'] Given that GB had no revenue stream outside product sales, had limited patents and have now been taken off air, I can only assume that they were bought for reason 4. [/quote] To me, that only makes sense if the company you are taking over are competitors. Fender bass amps have been mostly the big valve jobbies or bog standard 'budget' transistor stuff for years now. If I was in the market for a GB type setup then I'd certainly check out other brands while I was at it, but I wouldn't even look at Fender as their product range seems to fall well outside that. IMO, they'd have been better off buying Peavey or Ampeg if they wanted to divert market share.

Ok. I've looked at the pics of the kit involved. Microphone to mixer cables - Male to Female. Mixer to CM30 cable - Male to Female. Either I'm missing something here Tom or you're getting your genders muddled up somewhere.

No need to feel guilty about it, I liked The Wombles. There was something truly magical about Karen's voice. Hearing every breath as she was singing, and her vocal range was incredible! The songs were crafted, not just thrown together like so many other artists at the time were doing. Superb.

[quote name='Evil Undead' timestamp='1420366951' post='2648392'] Ian hit the nail on the head, I don't learn well at all from books, Internet, even videos. I've tried and tried, but it doesn't sink in. The most I've ever learned musically is from having a one-to-one teacher. [/quote] Yep - I'm totally the opposite, always have been. The only reason I got qualifications when I left school was because I'd take library books out and relearn the parts of the various lessons that made no sense to me. We're all wired differently.

[quote name='tauzero' timestamp='1420379545' post='2648540'] And if people really don't want anything other than Ps and Js from Fender, then maybe they could use one of the myriad other brands that they own to demonstrate that they can innovate. [/quote] With the buyouts they were doing up until recently I thought they were going to do that. Maybe that was the plan initially and they ran out of steam (or money). I really expected to see the GB stuff on the shelves with 'Fender' badges on it by now.

In the duo I play in it's done by consensus. We both know what will (and won't) work and it never becomes an issue. The second band is a function band. If it hasn't been in the charts or isn't suitable for a function then it just isn't considered. The third band is a plain and simple pub rock covers band. I took over from a bass player who just 'poo pooed' anything he didn't like, which left them with a limited and rather stale set and very little work. I don't do that so it's flipped the band on it's head. Material is generally chosen by the singer, but he's switched on enough to know that if the rest of the band say 'this isn't going to work' he listens. The fourth band isn't in any way democratic, at the moment. I have a clear vision of where it needs to 'sit' musically and until it gets there I'm steering it - I was upfront about that before we started and they trust me... poor deluded souls. For other stuff I'm involved in, I do as I'm told and keep my mouth firmly shut.

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1420340951' post='2648291'] Who here has auditioned for functions band? I am sure the OP would like to hear real stories about how you won or lost the opportunity. [/quote] Me. Get yourself in the right frame of mind beforehand. Now, it's plastered all over the internet these days, but auditions have always been a two way thing to me. Not only have they got to like what I'm doing, but I need to be convinced that they're not going to be an embarrassment to me further down the line. Yesterday was actually the 35th anniversary of my first paid gig (3rd January 1980 - Charlie Browns, Luton eek!). In those intervening years I have never failed an audition but a lot of bands I've auditioned for have. Don't be afraid to say 'no thanks' if it's not for you. I was given a setlist of about a dozen numbers a week or so beforehand. I already half knew them anyway, so not a huge issue there. Just don't assume you know the material and leave it to the last minute. Also bear in mind that someone might have changed keys and forgotten to tell you - so be prepared to transpose 'on the fly'. I asked around to find people that knew the band to get an idea of what they were like and got the general vibe that they were quite tight and not very tolerant of mistakes, so... no pressure then... I spent a little time looking at the setlist and had a couple of suggestions of other songs that might 'fit' to drop into conversation if I felt it warranted it - you're 'adding' something more than just you by doing that. Should go without saying but a shower, shave and clean clothes before you go is a good idea - I've had people turn up at auditions looking and smelling nasty, and the length of the audition becomes inversely proportional to the state they turn up in. Got to the audition and had myself setup and tuned within 5 minutes. Don't go for equipment overkill at this point - it's an audition, not Wembley Arena. One amp, a 2x10 cab, tuner, guitar lead and one familiar bass is all I bother taking in with me. An extension lead, spare bass and leads stay in the car, just in case. Made friends with the drummer as my first priority - get the drummer on your side and you're halfway there. P*ss him off and you're dead in the water. I took control from the start by asking 'what are we going to do first then?'. Neat trick that one - it gives the impression of taking some responsibility and being an equal before you've even played a note, and you were going to play it anyway. Once we'd got the first four tracks out of the way they pulled out a different setlist and picked a few of those at random. Unfortunately, there aren't really any shortcuts around that one - you've either learned how to deal with it or you haven't. No, it's not fair and it may be deemed 'unprofessional' by some, but it happens sometimes. I finished the audition and got a voicemail during the 15 minute drive home offering me the job. That was seven years ago and we're still going strong.

[quote name='Woodinblack' timestamp='1420323769' post='2648170'] By realising that it doesn't matter what criticism you face, what matters is making your company profitable and under control. If you are worried about the criticism them you are probably the wrong person to be running the company. [/quote] Hmm. Not quite that simple when you take the preceding paragraphs into consideration instead of just grabbing the last line of the last paragraph.

IMO, there's no easy solution to this for them. They get slated for not 'moving with the times', but when they do take a faltering step in that direction they get slated for it. When CBS took them over the products were derided as 'cr*p', but now everyone's scrambling to get hold of those same 70's instruments. They've brought out numerous variations of the basic models but the chances of a corporation doing that without researching the market first are very slim. The chances of them being able to reduce the range without generating more criticism is probably also very slim. How the hell can you steer a business through a minefield like that? Yes, QC issues have been a thorn in their side for decades now, but perhaps our expectations from a 60 year old design have become a little distorted by more modern designs that can throw away the rulebook without criticism? Something that rarely seems to be mentioned is that there were some real pre-CBS dogs as well. Seems to me that they're a bit [i]'damned if they do, damned if they don't'[/i] and I for one can't help but feeling just a little bit sorry for this historic brand. And no, I'm not a habitual Fender user.

[quote name='vailbass' timestamp='1420250646' post='2647280'] AKG D112, I've used for the last 3 solo CD's on all my bass tracks and I like it very much. [/quote] We use a D112 to mic up the bass drum. I just need to find a gentle way of telling the drummer that he [b]used[/b] to have one of these to mic up his bass drum...

[quote name='Skinnyman' timestamp='1420295173' post='2647677'] There's a couple of jam nights locally so I might wander down and check those out. [/quote] Do it. Although there are a lot of 'passable' musicians at these things, there are also a smattering of good ones as well. Use them as a networking resource and you might strike lucky.

[quote name='clauster' timestamp='1420299944' post='2647788'] There is (was?) a Hartke LH500 in the for sales for £180. Bargain and great tone. [/quote] That was my first choice in the Fantasy Bass Shopping thread (http://basschat.co.uk/topic/252465-fantasy-bass-shopping/). They're not super posh with loads of buttons, but they're a fantastic 'no frills' workhorse.

Full instructions are here: http://basschat.co.uk/topic/191620-how-to-add-a-picture-to-your-post/

[quote name='Evil Undead' timestamp='1420239367' post='2647175'] I don't really feel the need to learn to read (have always struggled with that and can't see why I'd need it, I'm a bedroom player mainly), but have been told that it's the easiest way to learn to just jam along with stuff like I want to. I'm not dismissing that but finding it hard to understand why it's the case. Is it true? If so, why? If not, why not? [/quote] Put me in a classroom and I'm going to absorb about 10% of the content at best. Give me the course notes, a cup of coffee and a quiet corner and I'll absorb 100% of it in a matter of hours. We all learn in different ways, the secret is to identify [b]how[/b] you learn and use that as your starting point. EDIT: Reading the posts since I started replying to this, you sound very much like a person who learns best in a more 'formal' setting.

So how is someone supposed to know that someone using their German credit card to buy online content in France is actually in France? Typical of the 'just do it' rubbish, with no consideration of the practicalities, that seems to have become the 'standard' over the last few years. One can only hope that someone with half a brain eventually realises that it's costing them £2 to collect 20p and scraps the idea.

I'm more of a practical person than a fantasist, so I'd go for: [b]christhammer666's Ibanez SR-505 - £300 (http://basschat.co.uk/topic/248955-ibanez-sr505-mint-condition/)[/b] I've used these for years now and I'm not looking for a surprise. [b]Conan's Hartke LH500 amplifier - £180 (http://basschat.co.uk/topic/251005-hartke-lh500-amplifier-in-rackbag-now-l180/)[/b] I'm a bit 'old school' with amps and don't want (or need) graphic equalisers and loads of buttons. Having been a Hartke user in the past I'd consider this to be a pretty safe bet. [b]Gazm's Peavey Pro 410 700W RMS 4x10 Cab - £325 http://basschat.co.uk/topic/250826-peavey-pro-410-700w-rms-4x10-cab-with-cover/[/b] Not the poshest or lightest cab in the world, but a good 'no frills' workhorse with plenty of bang for your buck. [b] James's Lexicon MPX500 - £125 (http://basschat.co.uk/topic/250627-lexicon-mpx500-l125/)[/b] I really can't be dealing with pedals on the floor, but I do use a smidgen of digital Chorus so this fits the bill nicely. That leaves me about £70 for a tuner. I've always gone for the cheap and cheerful Korg type ones. They're usually less than £20 new and don't appear in the Marketplace very often, so it looks like I'd have to go find a music shop somewhere for that. I reckon I could get a bag of chips and still have about £50 left for a spare set of strings and a guitar stand.

My sentiments exactly Nic. Vail, I'd certainly like to see you back here and I know I'm not alone in that.

For those of you having trouble recording this to wax cylinder, it's here as well: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b04w08p6/the-clash-new-years-day-77