fretmeister

This is my bass + guitar board that I've just assembled. 

If it was just bass it would be the Stomp, the EBS and the Spectrum. That would fit on a single row board like a Nano+ and leave room for something else too.

It gets all the tones I want - ranging from Motown and old R&B, through funk and metal to modern FX stuff like Muse.

On 09/05/2025 at 07:42, Burns-bass said:

*Sigh*
 

I’ve read all the replies.

 

This isn’t about that it’s about chasing clicks. It’d bandwagon jumping from content creators who are, ironically, using the downfall of this guy to build their own channels.

 

 

I kind of get that - but at the same time, youtube etc is no different to other sources of news and opinion pieces about news.

Everything from newspapers to TV news to IG, to radio stations to everything needs readers / viewers / listeners to survive. Whoever gets the scoop wins. Then everyone else follows it because of the audiences desire to know more and to hear different opinions on it.

The smaller youtube channels are no different to the local newspaper level in comparison to the nationals.

Whether the Over-50s like myself think it a bit odd is irrelevant - news is a highly perishable product and social media now spreads it far quicker than any traditional medium. A side effect of that spread is to make the interest in that specific story run out far more quickly.

Most of them have already moved on to other examples of music based fakery and outright theft.

Then there are those who weren't going to do anything at all - like Beato. He said he did the vid because he got so many requests.

Like any good businessman - he gave the public what they wanted. That increased his views and subs numbers. If he hadn't done it, then he would not have been a good businessman.

I don't see any problem with the smaller ones doing exactly the same. I don't think it is "bandwagon jumping" any more or at least any differently than BBC and ITV News covering the same thing, and then Channel 4 doing a documentary about it later, and then Channel 5 mentioning it as a throwaway line in a drama etc etc.

Personally I'm quite pleased about the entire thing - people Turra ripped off have been trying to get him to stop for 5 years without success.

Now he's far less likely to get away with it again.

I'm not good enough to play for a living and neither is Giacomo Turra - but he stole from people who are. I'm glad he got caught and I'm glad that loads of people know about it.

On 09/05/2025 at 08:04, Burns-bass said:

This kid has made a mistake.

 

I wonder if any one of these guys has reached out to him and asked if he’s ok?

 

He’s a real person. A flawed one for sure and one who’s probably very ashamed at what he’s done. But he’s in a vulnerable spot.

 

Maybe that’ll be the next video, eh?

He started to get called out 5 years ago. He promised he would stop.

He didn't.

If it was a private sale / trade then you have no rights against the maker.

If the second hand item was obtained from a business then you do have some. Your contract is with the business - not suppliers to that business.

So if you got it from a shop they should deal with it - not pass the problem to the pickup makers.

I really like that.

It’s the sort of drive I like. More about harmonic content rather than straight filth.

1 hour ago, NancyJohnson said:

 

Seen loads of bands where members have a pad on a stand next to their mic-stand.  It's an absolute turn off for me.

 

Would confidently say that if you need a comfort blanket like this, then you really shouldn't be gigging.  Brutal opinion, eh?  You learn your material, you rehearse and rehearse until the songs become muscle memory and then you go out and play live. 

 

The only prompt you should need is an A4 sheet of paper with your set list on it, beyond this, no safety net.

I think it’s genre specific.

Sitting down classical or jazz gig… no problem. 
 

Everything else… nope! Ruins the performance.

https://www.joinmyband.co.uk/classifieds/rock-star-needs-a-backing-band-t1512472.html
 

Strewth!

I love the Group flats - I use the 2.5 on 34 scale, and I have some 50-110 for shorties.

As it happens though this thread has inspired me to get another set of the Fender ones for a different bass!  

Damn you all for making me spend money!

I use my Helix for guitar and bass and I love it.

Obviously both units have their fans and I've seen both on stages for guitarists, but I can't recall every seeing a bassist with a Kemper. I've never used one, but perhaps the Helix is better suited for bass?

I'm not fussed about "authentic" sounds either. Just good ones.

2 hours ago, MichaelDean said:

Message Brian here: https://www.ebay.co.uk/str/earlpilanz

2 hours ago, Jean-Luc Pickguard said:

Brian's the man!

Message sent!

Thank you.

2 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

This isn't the sort of legislation where someone will be checking everyone for compliance.

 

Like Health and Safety, only high risk organisations will be inspected. For others it's a case of 'if something goes wrong, you had better have your ducks in a row'.

 

And just like H&S, that means risk assessing and then taking any required action. If something bad happens but you can show your assessment of risk was reasonable and you took appropriate actions to mitigate that risk, you have a sound defence.

It only needs someone who has been banned with a chip on the shoulder to make up some really heinous crap involving kids...

The EB Group flats are a lot cheaper on Amazon too - far cheaper than places like Strings Direct.

I wonder if Amazon has a deal going with EB.

This is my shortie with the Fender flats on it:

I did have the bass tone rolled down a fair bit but you can hear the growl coming through.

Thinking about it - I really like this tune and I have a variety of flatwounds on various basses at the moment. I might record it again with all the different basses. Just for curiosity really.

27 minutes ago, jonnybass said:

Thank you for this this is why i love Basschat

Obviously some practicalities come into it... imagine rocking up to Scotland Yard with a "GT lied to me and because of that lie I spend £9.99 on an album and I want you to arrest him please!"

The reaction from plod would be err, somewhat dismissive. Unless of course there were hundreds of similar complaints made. 

But a lack of action by the police doesn't change how the law does apply to it.

So in reality the most likely action will be someone suing him in a civil matter. At the moment there doesn't deem to be much appetite from the composers of the tunes to do that, but maybe D'Angelico or Laney will. They both spent a lot of money developing and launching signature products and they have reputations to protect.

They also have the assets to do it too.

Quite a bargain compared to those Dogal Flatwounds!

Even if I won the lottery I'm not sure I could get my head round paying that much for strings.

16 minutes ago, jonnybass said:

Im not a lawyer, but isnt it Copyright infringement, i.e. the denial of profits which the creator is entitled to? which is a civil matter rather than criminal? until it gets to mass production of counterfeit goods.

 

Jonny

It's both. The fact that Civil action can be taken for an IP dispute does not prevent there being a criminal offence.

Same in all manner of things. Many criminal offences have a linked civil one. "Conversion" is the civil equivalent of "Theft". In a civil matter the result would be an order to pay compensation / loss of income etc. In the criminal one it would be either a fine (payable to the state) or prison.

Punching someone in the face is a criminal offence with criminal penalties. It is also causing a Personal Injury that can be sued upon as a civil matter.

Pursuing one option does not mean the other cannot be pursued as well.

ADDITION:

Not to forget that the IP owner - the real composer can take action against GT for IP problems but a purchaser of a song via a streaming service cannot take the same action for IP... because the purchaser doesn't have an interest in the IP. The purchaser has been a victim of deceit = fraud. The real composer has been a victim of theft and an IP issue and has probably been denied income because of it.

So - it's a multy-layered thing. But ultimately the evidence against GT suggests that he would fail to successfully defend civil and criminal actions against him...

NeuralDSP have about 12 hours left on their 50% off plugins deal.

The Parallax is a particularly great bass plugin.

Free 14 day trial is available on their site, but the discounted price only lasts to tonight.

8 minutes ago, jonnybass said:

What crime has been committed? Pretending to play guitar isnt illegal.  

 

Jonny

1: He sold transcriptions of other people's work claiming it was his work.

2: He released music on Spotify and claimed he was the only composer but he wasn't a composer of the tunes at all.

Both are fraud / obtaining money by deception. Not just civil disputes but actually criminal offences.

I've tried all of those.

The La Bellas are definitely out for you - they are the sound of Motown.

TI Jazz are lovely but are low tension.

The Rotos are massive tension and they are very bright for about a week and then the brightness falls off a cliff. Steve Harris of Iron Maiden changes his every single show. John Deacon had them on his P bass too and you can hear how different his tone is to Harris'.

Fender - nice string indeed. Reasonably bright, nice feel under the fingers. I do wish they changed their gauges though. The E can be a bit floppy compared to the rest.

EB Cobalts - I have these on a PJ at the moment. They are not bad but I do find they feel a bit weird under the fingers for some reason. Once they die I will not get another set. They are bright but you still won't get a Marcus Miller type brightness out of them

One you haven't mentioned - EB Group Flats. These are the other EB flats. Stainless steel. They are not quite as bright as the Cobalts but it's very close once you've EQ'd everything to taste. They feel much nicer to me under the fingers. They will do a good 1970s chunky slap sound brightness.

Hope that helps a bit.

I've been thinking about this more - I have 3 shorties, two of which are P only and the other is PJ. And I have a medium scale PJ.

So with that in mind I think I might just make this bass a ray only - at least for the moment.

56 minutes ago, NancyJohnson said:

Gig ink.

 

 

I've had his before and they are good, but they don't do bevelled edges so can't get the BWB look.

Just looking for a black/white/black P bass pickguard without any pickup holes.

So far I've not had any luck with my google-fu.

3 hours ago, kwmlondon said:

When I went to the Yolanda Charles bass clinic a few weeks ago she played the pre-recorded vocal track that she and the live orchestra had to follow when she toured with Hans Zimmerman. it had variable tempo because the singer performed live to the movie - the click was just constantly varying and it was incredible to think how anyone could follow it. Yolanda and her guitarist demonstrated how they had to speed up and slow down from somewhere around 60 bpm to about 140 over just a couple of bars... in perfect sync with the orchestra and the pre-record. Honestly. It was one helluva feat of musicanship from those two and I grew another level of respect for pro musicians who do that kind of thing.

Yeah, That Hans Zimmerman Live in Prague video is mind blowing.

I loved the bit with Guthrie when HS wanders over him for a solo. In an orchestra with genuinely elite musicians Guthrie then finds another gear and HS is clearly in awe. Amazing stuff.

Wouldn’t surprise me.

I might start a thread and get everyone with a P, MM etc to measure from the nut to the start of the pickup casing.

Could be interesting to see the variation.

I've measured up my existing P bitsa and the P pickup is in the right spot but that would mean the MM is about 2mm out of position towards the bridge.

I'm guessing that 2mm won't make a lot of difference as intonation settings change by more than that when string gauges are changed and so on. Or of course I could take out the split P and get a hum cancelling 50s P pickup instead and then  have both in their traditional positions.

I've never tried a 50s P pickup. Could be interesting!