BigRedX

I'm not as in touch with the goth scene outside of the UK as I used to be, but it seems to me that there is something very wrong here, because IME niche genres like goth have a small but very loyal set of followers, and while playing that kind of music is unlikely to make you famous you should be able to attract a big enough following to make the band self-sustaining and not be playing to audiences costing of friends and family only. Where can I find the video of your band?

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1488216401' post='3246891'] I like playing bass in a 'real' band, but anyone who says producing electronic music is in some way 'easier' or 'unreal' is talking out of their arse. [/quote] Completely agree. I would suggest that anyone who doesn't think that electronic or sample-based music isn't "real" should have a go at creating some of their own, or if that's beyond them, then at least make an arrangement/cover of their favourite song. You can get all the kit you need for less than the cost of an average bass guitar so there's no excuse for not having a go at proving me wrong. It's not like it was when I started getting into synthesisers in the early 80s when you'd need at least £200 to get one cheap monophonic synth.

Cool. Let me know when the CD is out. I'll buy a copy.

[quote name='Muppet' timestamp='1488111931' post='3245875'] Singer has asked MU for their view and was contacting the promoter for it was she that booked the gig. I'm catching up with her this afternoon so I'll find out the score. Thanks for all the advice! [/quote] And?

[quote name='owen' timestamp='1488120584' post='3245996'] YEEEEESSSSSSSS! Don't get me wrong, the other stuff is all well and good but metalflake is proper lush. Tell me it will have a matching headstock! Please! [/quote] I think it's funny that some many of us have got so used to the idea that the neck of a bass (or guitar) will be finished natural rather than matching the rest of the instrument that a matching headstock (and only the front) is something unusual!

[quote name='Muppet' timestamp='1488055568' post='3245535'] Yes, sir [/quote] Excellent, and I take it you have already submitted a set list for the gig in question? As a PRS member you can also get performance royalties form any YouTube videos that might get posted by members of the audience. Also through your record label (or more likely Aggregator if you don't have a major record label deal) you can either get YouTube performance videos you don't approve of taken down, or alternative cover in ads which you take a share of. BTW what is happening with your original problem?

[quote name='largo' timestamp='1488052846' post='3245486'] Either buy the vintage Jazz you're really after & keep your fingers crossed OR buy a decent used bass for a decent price, if you like it great, if not sell it on & try another... I did this for a while & reckon I broke even over 7 or 8 basses, losing a few quid on some & making some on others. Great fun & you might find a wee gem in there. You've got the cash sitting to buy that first bass at anything from £500 to a couple of grand if you like. I'd go with the Fender Flea bass suggested earlier, pickup one used & see how it feels. Punt it on if you don't like it or you might just have found a 60's jazz you like. Oh yeah, good luck & have fun... [/quote] Since you seem to have the money, I'd go further and suggest that you buy 2 or 3 used basses and spend some time getting used to them. Then sell the one you like the least and buy something else. Repeat until either you've found a bass that you really like enough for it to be a permanent keeper, or you know enough about what you want that you can get it made for you.

IMO if you buy/build with an eye towards selling at some point in the future you are very unlikely to end up with the instrument you really want as there will always be some compromises you've made to make it more appealing to a prospective buyer.

I get a similar situation in my day job - freelancing in graphic design, and TBH you can't really do anything other take what work is still available and hope that something else will come up to fill the job you have lost. However after I last put my rates up, one of the more persistent offenders now pay slightly more for my time per hour than those who don't mess me around.

TBH if I'm using my full rig and, I've never had to make any adjustments to suit the room, I switch on and it sounds right. Besides you can't fix room problems with EQ. If you are lucky you'll make it sound less crap in some places. I can only recall two occasions when I've encountered really bad room acoustics and both times it was so bad that no amount of EQ adjustment made any difference anywhere in the room. IMO the only worthwhile solution would have been to completely demolish the buildings and start again.

Vigier have been offering fretless guitars and basses with metal fingerboards since the 1980s. I think someone would have said something by now if there was excess string noise on these.

But you'll never have to tweak them again once you've got it right, and they'll be right every time you select them.

To the OP- are you a member of the PRS?

[quote name='SpondonBassed' timestamp='1488038515' post='3245301'] I kind of like the way these guitars get away from the old school thinking that you have to see wood somewhere on the instrument to make it look less of a toy. For me, this [b]is[/b] a toy. Note I didn't call it an adult toy but essentially, that's what we're talking about with instruments really. They're just play things at the end of it all. [/quote] So if you are serious about your specification, then you should at least make an enquiry. He's already made an all-gold G1 guitar with a coloured carbon fibre fingerboard: [IMG]http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n249/BigRedX/image_zpsliejblgm.jpg[/IMG]

[quote name='SpondonBassed' timestamp='1488038593' post='3245303'] That's nice. Do you use it a lot? [/quote] It was a fantastic playing and sounding instrument (as well as looking more than a bit unusual) in a HSS Strat vibe. Unfortunately it wasn't getting anywhere near as much use as my Gus G1, FretKing Esprit V or Hallmark WingBat so I sold it about a year ago.

[quote name='hubrad' timestamp='1488037153' post='3245277'] Admittedly this goes back 20 years or so, but a band I was in were told that, at MCPS licence stage, permission to duplicate a recording can be refused by the copyright owner. No MCPS licence equates to illegal product. Probably worth digging deeper to confirm the current state of affairs. [/quote] That's still correct, and if you want to download or stream a recording of a cover it gets even more complicated and harder to get permission from the copyright holders. A few years ago one of the companies I worked for wanted to create a Christmas micro-site which among other things featured recordings of them singing various festive songs. Trying to sort out permissions and MCPS royalty payments for those that were allowed proved to be a complete nightmare especially given that we needed the site to be up an running for the beginning of December. In the end it was far easier to stick to Christmas Carols and other out-of copyright tunes than negotiate the various permissions and approvals required.

[quote name='Downdown' timestamp='1488036587' post='3245271'] So the PRS licence is effectively also permission to play covers? But what happens if you want to release a recording of the cover, ie it's not a performance? In other my previous point about not needing permission to cover a song is incorrect, and if so (I genuinely don't know), what's the mechanism for getting permission? Is there some sort of PRS equivalent for recorded covers? [/quote] See my post above regarding the MCPS.

[quote name='Downdown' timestamp='1488035362' post='3245245'] Interesting point. What's the situation with covers? I've heard that you don't need permission to cover a song but you do need to pay royalties to the copyright owner. is that actually the case? If so, perhaps the promoter CAN sell his recording of the concert (and it certainly is his recording) but he would be legally obliged to pay royalties? I'm not sure, just guessing. [/quote] For a live performance of a cover the royalties are covered by the venue's PRS licence. If the band submits a set list then the royalties can be accurately calculated, otherwise it's estimated based on samples that have been recorded. For pub gigs it's not a massive amount - £6 divided up between ALL the songs played at a gig by all the artists performing. For a recording you have to get permission from the MCPS, which normally involves paying a royalty fee up front based on the numbers of records and/or CDs being produced. For downloads and streaming it gets MUCH more complicated, and I very much doubt that the promoter will have even bothered to sort this out, so unless somewhere along the lines the OP's band have unwittingly given permission for their songs the be used in this way as part of the gig contract, the promoter doesn't have a leg to stand on regarding this, and could end up in serious trouble.

[url=http://www.lefay.de/english/bass_remingtonsteele.html]LeFay do a steel fingerboard[/url] and [url=http://www.vigierguitars.com/page/fiche_produit.php?id_prod=244]Vigier[/url] have their Imetal. Also Andreas guitars used to make guitars and basses with an aluminium fingerboard. Here's a photo of my Andreas Black Shark guitar: [IMG]http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n249/BigRedX/Bass/AndreasBlackShark.jpg[/IMG] So it's by no means impossible.

If this is serious and you have serious money to spend, I'm pretty certain that Simon Farmer of [url=http://www.gusguitars.com]Gus Guitars[/url] would be able to make you a Gus G3 to that spec.

Unless you have signed anything the short answer is no. The easiest way to stop this will be to hit his website with a DMCA take down notice. I'd also find out who his hosting provider is and hit them with one as well. They will definitely act whereas the promoter might think they can get away with ignoring you. Edit: And also get in touch with whoever they are using to process the payments (probably PayPal) and let them know that they are selling copyrighted material that they don't own.

If you really want to spend a lot of money have a look at Jens Ritter's Royal Collection. I'm pretty sure the [url=https://ritter-instruments.com/item_info.php?i=295]Flora Aurum[/url] was originally for sale at $100,000.

I have friends whose band has been going since the late 70s. While the line up hasn't been the same throughout, of the current trio, the guitarist and keyboard player are from the original line up (although the keyboard player left in the mid 80s and rejoined about 10 years later). The current singer has been in the band since 1980.

[quote name='tedmanzie' timestamp='1487935537' post='3244284'] I'm kind of in the 'old guitars look best' camp for [i]bands[/i]. There's something a bit pro / 'session-y' about a lot of PRS-ish guitars and some more 'expensive' basses, especially 5 strings or even worse 6 strings [/quote] I think "interesting" guitars suit bands. The problem I have with designs like PRS is they are trying so desperately hard to be all things to all musicians, that while they might play and sound fantastic, visually they are bland to the point of tedium (even the ones with the horrible bling inlays).

[quote name='Bassman68' timestamp='1487934316' post='3244265'] Remember you're normally never more than 4 bars away from some slap! [/quote] Really? There's plenty of great 80s songs that don't have or need a note of slap.