neepheid

Friday night, Nine Lives played at the Butchers Arms in Inverurie. It was... ok. Not super busy, crowd had a weird ebb and flow to it, sparse but with some enthusiastic dancers, and as is typical a big bunch of folk came in with about 10 mins to go - why do folk leave it so late these days and then get all butthurt when you say "this is our last song" - mate, we've been playing since 10pm, if you wanted more music, you should have got here sooner. No, we don't get paid more if we keep going. Anyhoo, a gig's a gig and deep down, even if it isn't an epic one, it's still fun to play and we made some people happy, so that's the main thing. Gear: Gear4Music/Lace rat bass followed by the Wunkay, into the usual Markbass tone cubes. Also, the singist took some "proof of audience" video. Of course, when the camera turns to me, I flub my lines - right at the very end too FFS. One Way Or Another - Butchers 20240906 - bands eye view.mp4

Well well, looks like internet court is in session! But who's the judge?

Right, I've had some time to digest this and now have a considered response for you. Now I am not a lawyer, so this is this layman's understanding of the situation which will hopefully at least explain where I'm coming from. First off, it's not a patent, it's a trademark. https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=77407809&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch Patents generally run out in 20 years (the reason why we're allowed to buy (classic) Nespresso pods from anyone nowadays - for the first 20 years you could only get them from Nestlé so that Nestlé could make reasonable hay whilst the sun shines off the back of their invention). Trademarks are a different beast, they remain in force as long as the fees are paid and you are seen to be enforcing them. But they should really stick to the trademark as registered. Let's read the description... "The mark consists of a fanciful design of a headstock of a guitar, namely, a two dimensional bass guitar headstock outline of compact shape, featuring a straight side on the left and a curved side on the right, forming the appearance of the "bow of a canoe" at the top of the headstock. The dotted lines are not part of the mark and serve only to show the position or placement of the mark." Now, I read this slowly several times, and I couldn't find any mention of the position of the tuners. Also, the last sentence is significant. Let's look at the picture submitted: Hmm, I see dotted lines around all the tuners. "The dotted lines are not part of the mark and serve only to show the position or placement of the mark." Please explain to me why I'm wrong to think that this trademark covers solely the shape of the headstock and has the square root of naff all to do with tuner arrangement. And if you think it has nothing to do with individuals, I'll just leave this here: Taken from https://forums.ernieball.com/threads/trademark-of-tuners-setup.45317/ It is unfortunate that companies simply roll over at the slightest "cease and desist" letter from this bully and his representatives, but I can understand why - they don't want to tie up their product launch in months to years of litigation, paperwork and expense (even though I think they'd "win" in the legal sense). Unfortunately, this emboldens bullies who indulge in this practice to continue their egregious use of the trademark system to squash competition. What are they afraid of anyway? Are you seriously telling me that people would confuse this: with this? To my mind (and it's my opinion, I have no proof), EBMM appear to be being a bunch of bullies who are abusing the trademark system in order to squash competition. I've said my piece - I know you're not going to agree, or like it, but if you're going to use me as a leaping off point to have a moan, I would prefer it if you got your facts straight.

LOL

All the original designs which were going to sell in any significant numbers have been designed

I've been pretty ticked off with the stringing along with false dawn ETAs but the only reason I'm sticking with Andertons is that I'm after the burgundy finish Z7 and it looks like that has been the most popular choice, with Thomann having availability listed as "11-13 weeks" on that finish for weeks now. Any threat to go elsewhere would be a transparent bluff because they won't care - they know they'll have no bother selling the bass I leave behind if I bail. Believe me, the temptation to cancel and order a white one from Thomann (I want the ebony board) was strong. Next week then? For real this time?

*sound of fingers drumming on desk intensifies*

Oh, is that Rod Stewart singing? I thought someone was mixing concrete.

A bit of an odd request, but does anyone in or around Aberdeen (or will have cause to be in Aberdeen any time soon) own an Epiphone Jack Casady? I'm having some bother with mine and as part of my investigations I'd like to A/B it with another JC to see if I can narrow down what's causing me grief. Must be in stock configuration - no pickup swaps or loom changes for it to be a meaningful test. There's deffo a cup of tea in it for you, and even some biscuits! Grateful for any help offered.

Others are available, it was just an example - some others are showing as "Available at short notice (usually 2-5 days)" which I believe means they have them, but they haven't been checked/inspected yet.

Not at the UK prices vs. the US price you won't...

Meanwhile, at Thomann...

Meanwhile, at Thomann...

Rumbled! Yeah, I'm still lurking around in here, in case of gig cancellation. IIRC it was a cancellation that allowed me to attend last year. They say lightning doesn't strike twice, but you tell that to the Empire State Building!

Nothing wrong with Anderton's customer service from a friendliness/initial responsiveness point of view. Their powers of procurement are a worry though. Last year I tried to get a price out of them for some custom shop DiMarzio pickups. By the time I had a response, the pickups were already on their way across from the USA courtesy of an eBay seller who didn't give a monkeys about geographical restrictions. Now this might have been them getting poor service from their distributor, but I got fed up chasing it and took matters into my own hands. Between that and declaring most (but not all) of Scotland north of the central belt to be "remote", I think they're having a bit of a 'mare with some of their internal workings right now.

You can shoot me for harbouring such an opinion, but as far as I'm concerned this is more for placating gear racists than acheiving higher quality.

I think their system is needing an overhaul in general. I had to get a custom quote made up to cancel out the postage charge because at some time in the last year it has decided that Aberdeen is "remote", yet my parents' place in rural Aberdeenshire, 3 miles from the nearest village up a single track road isn't! Bonkers, innit?

I have been making my own enquiries and I was told this afternoon that the shipment has made it to the UK and is now going through customs. So HMRC will be sitting on them for a wee while, I guess.

Hmm, I'll believe it when I see it. Thanks for the info though.

I got an email about 10 minutes ago. I ordered mine on 1st August.

New ETA, 12th Sept. FFS. Not happy.

New ETA - 12th September. FFS. I might die before this effing Z7 arrives

Not yet. Don't worry, I'll update if something shifts today.

I've been on hold for over a month already and had the date changed on me 3 times. If it happens on the day of supposed ETA that's a new low in dangling one's customers on the end of a string, and I will be having words. I'd rather they kept it vague like Thomann instead of this cycle of raising and dashing hopes because they insist upon tieing themselves to specific (and as it turns out, unfeasible) dates.

Can the pedal take a battery? If so, try powering it with battery and see if the noise goes away. Cheap power supplies can be noisy.