spinynorman

I wonder if Orange have a trademark on the colour of their amps. I wouldn't be surprised.

Just remembered [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/60829-to-go-the-bill-wyman-bumper-book-of-root-notes/page__p__625953__hl__bill%20wyman%20book%20of%20root%20notes__fromsearch__1#entry625953"]The Bill Wyman Bumper Book of Root Notes[/url]. Looks like I killed that thread.

[quote name='tom1946' timestamp='1348294840' post='1811938'] I think he has a talent for publicity too, there are more threads about him than anyone else. He's probably the best known person on here [/quote] So how long before he turns up on Celebrity Big Brother?

When I first took up bass I read a thread on a forum (not this one) where someone had been to see some hotshot bassist and reported "it was great, he didn't play a root note all night". Down the years I've sometimes wondered if that was actually a good thing.

The most interesting thing about this thread is how confused people are about VAT. The rules are on the HMRC web site, which is a bit more reliable than guessing based on what a particular shop appears to be doing.

[quote name='Fat Bob' timestamp='1348526458' post='1814935'] It's a small point but....VAT is 20% which the dealer pays to HMRC...therefore whatever you see in store or on a website means that the dealer/trader is actually selling for 20% less than that....OK, so we've established that principal..... So when folks are trying to sell secondhand/used gear on here why do they try and sell for 10-15% less than list price and claim it's a good deal....?.....in reality they are trying to make more money than than the dealer did...... Now I understand about supply and demand...but I can go into a lot of dealers with pound notes and they are happy to call it a demo and forget about VAT.....look at Soundslive in their 'bargain' section....these are ex-demo, i.e. minus VAT...quirk of the law... Please tell me why folks think they can buy gear, use it for a few months and then make more money than the dealer did...in the present economic climate..... As I said, I'm an arse.........sorry for the rant.... [/quote] Where do you get the idea ex-demo stock is ex-VAT? I thought a business that is registered for VAT has to charge it on anything they sell that is liable, even if it's second-hand.

[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1348250017' post='1811504'] Much truth in what has been said...what hasn't been said is how good a band is WITHOUT a bassist...imagine what dance music would be without us!! Drum and bass would just be, well, er... drum.. [/quote] Careful what you wish for. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luwp5iZD8wQ&playnext=1&list=PLAE3A8471DB3D5F6C&feature=results_video

Guitarist Magazine interviews Yehudi Menuhin: "So, Mr Menuhin, why did you take up violin rather than guitar? Were six strings too difficult?"

It must be a different market in rural Warwickshire. There's only two bands I can think of round here that can be guaranteed to play Sex on Fire, and they're party/function bands who charge 4 figures and don't get booked for pubs. One of them will usually be booked to headline civic events and pub charity days, because they're insanely popular and deliver bus-loads of girls and their escorts, who will spend any amount on drink to ensure they get pissed up. And I think they charge for those as well. We'd do it for free, but rarely get asked. There's another band who do All Right Now and other such Dad's rock, but their guitarist plays everything in the style of Hank Marvin, so I suppose that counts as doing it their way.

[quote name='guest123' timestamp='1348124469' post='1809503'] To [url="http://basschat.co.uk/user/1967-spinynorman/"]spinynorman[/url] and anyone else able to help: Would you be able to post links to adverts found on the internet as these need to be removed ASAP? Your help is much appreciated. [/quote] Not now the site's gone. All I did was copy part of the description of any product on the site into Google, with quote marks round it, and up popped the links. Some just came up in summary lists, the actual ad had gone. [url="http://www.stadtlist.de/kleinanzeigen/kaufen-verkaufen/musikinstrumente/5608246-1961-fender-jazz-bass.html"]Here's one[/url] though.

[quote name='guest123' timestamp='1348043042' post='1808348'] Please do not buy anything off this website: [url="http://www.imd-digital-ltd.com/"]www.imd-digital-ltd.com[/url]. The people behind it use identity of an existing UK company that has nothing to do with this website. The website is an absolute scam, and you will be left without money and goods you were expecting to receive. If you came across this forum because you have not received any goods you purchased from this site please make sure you report this incident to the police. [/quote] Thanks for the confirmation. While looking for more information, I found the same instruments being sold on Gumtree-like classified listings sites in Munich and Sydney using IMD Digital as the user id, so they're casting the net very wide.

[quote name='Shambo' timestamp='1348046479' post='1808406'] I don't think some of you guys give the audience enough credit. I've lost track of the number of times I've heard pub band members say this or that overplayed song is 'what the punters want to hear'. You might well get a few pissed girls up in front of the singer dancing to 'sex on fire', or dads nodding their heads telling you they're always loved 'where the streets have no name', but you have to look past them to the bored looking people loitering away from the dancefloor. Those bored ones are the ones who go out regularly and have heard the same set list done to death, usually badly, by some middle aged men who live for those weekend moments when they convince themselves they're a rockstar. There's a miriad of interesting songs, that your average punter would recognise that don't get murdered in the pub every weekend. It doesn't have to be the obscure stuff your moody guitarist cryw***s himself to sleep to, and any new take on an old song would be most welcome too. [/quote] You've got an odd mix of attitudes to the audience there. First, we don't give them enough credit, then a portion of them are pissed up girls, who apparently enjoy dancing to boring songs played badly by middle aged men, while their dads nod sagely to U2 songs and miserable characters loiter in the shadows, wishing the band would play that tune they like, but can't quite remember. Being middle aged, I'd welcome more pissed up girls in our audience. Better by far than the dark-lurking characters who don't have a clue who Garbage or Elastica are and eventually sidle up to the singer and ask for "Born to be Wild".

I've never really understood the argument about defending trademarks. The classic example being Hoover. How much damage did becoming the generic term for vacuum cleaner do to Hoover, compared to Dyson coming out with a superior product and marketing it better?

Run away very very fast, don't look back. Compare the description of 2003 Gibson Les Paul on [url="http://www.imd-digital-ltd.com/buy/2003-gibson-custom-les-paul-brazilian-1959-reissue-607673.htm"]IMD Digital[/url] and scroll right to the bottom of [url="http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:lniZsDMZCecJ:instrumentsfair.com/Itm320675246052_33034_Gibson_Custom_Les_Paul_2003_Brazilian_1959_Reissue.aspx+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk&lr=lang_de|lang_en"]this page[/url] for an identical description, sold from New Jersey on 2011.

[quote]All product names are trademarks of their respective owners, which are in no way associated or affiliated with Line 6. These product names, descriptions and images are provided for the sole purpose of identifying the specific products that were studied during Line 6’s sound model development.[/quote] That's an interesting disclaimer. I'm surprised that stands up.

So, if I want to create a shape to sell as a Rackenbicker, how much does it have to deviate from the original spec to avoid infringing the trademark? Is that why all the effort goes into taking individual sales off eBay, when there doesn't seem to have been as much effort to stop the production at source?

Dificult to be definite without knowing which simulations you're talking about, but if they're using a registered or trade marked name, they must have a licence from the owner, or some kind of joint development and marketing agreement, which has the same effect. For example http://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/ampegsvx/ "Way back in 2004, companies thought that digital modeling of their gear was a threat to their business, that it would "steal the soul" of what they were doing. Ampeg was different. They understood what we were doing, and how our technologies could help them spread the love and groove of Ampeg. And it worked." If you download Amplitube 3 Free, you just get a set of generic amp models, which for bass is pretty much just "Bass Amp". The Ampeg module costs 80 Euros.

Seems like they glossed over quite a bit in covering the early years. It did strike me that the english folk rock idea was ok, but just couldn't support talents like Sandy Denny and Richard Thompson for more than one album. I started to get restless when Iain Matthews leaves and by the time Richard goes I've handed the remote to my wife and left her with the Million Pound Drop.