Silvia Bluejay

Thanks for this lovely post, Steve. As I mention in my blog, I was at your show but was bombarded by a series of urgent texts and calls and had to leave almost immediately to avoid disturbing the rest of the audience. I'll try again next time you're in town The blog is now published! [url="http://wp.me/p2ZbyY-dQ"]http://wp.me/p2ZbyY-dQ[/url] I will obviously continue improving it, but this should be more or less what it looks like. I have lost and/or I mix up in my mind the names of five of you who visited - your photos are numbered in the blog, would you please either reply here or PM me so I can add you to the blog? Apologies for that and thank you in advance - The notes I had taken on a scrap of paper on that Sunday got lost somewhere between Olympia and Chiswick... I'm preparing the album with the "extra" photos to publish on Flickr for those of you who aren't bored to death after reading my blog! Thank you all for your patience so far!

You're so right. That applies to a few other stands with expensive basses - maybe this guy was trying them all? Sigh. PS Blog not quite there yet - but I'm making progress. Thank you all for your patience

Update on the blog: I'm almost done selecting, editing and uploading nearly 150 photos, and I've started writing the text itself. Anyone know why bloody Wordpress always calls every photo uploaded to the media library "???????????????" despite the photo having a name? And why the question marks are what gets displayed when someone clicks on each photo even [b]after [/b]I spend ages adding names and captions and other settings such as centred position to each photo? I wish I could shoot the effing interface. (Basically this is one of the reasons why it's taking so long!)

Great music pub, great beer, and this time the car park won't be under water

Catch 'em at the George before the pub closes for refurbishment!

Sometimes it has to be trial and error. Or you simlpy tap into Basschat's immense collective experience, like I did

I like low action, but I also like low-tension strings, and sometimes the two simply aren't compatible, as you need a higher action when you dig in a bit on floppy strings. With medium-low tension strings I try to keep the action as low as possible, at the same time minimising fret buzz. It's a balancing act. Usually, the first fret to buzz is the low F, so I stop lowering the action as soon as I hear a tiny little amount of buzz when fretting the F and plucking with medium strength. I imagine it's possible to cut out the buzz frequency altogether using filters, if you can be bothered to...

The Dogs were back at the Black Horse in Greenford on Saturday: [url="http://www.flickr.com/photos/bluejay_my_photos/12932973133/in/set-72157641868979864"]http://www.flickr.co...157641868979864[/url] Edit: I hate Flickr when it f**ks around with its own settings and doesn't work any more.

I think you're being far too modest! Great stuff. Please do upload your other vids when you have them

[quote name='Rick's Fine '52' timestamp='1393941658' post='2386064'] Couldnt make it anyway, but its not really my thing, having been to similar in the past. The reason for the post though, is the photographs on the blog, that contain basschatters, will they have their real names or usernames added. I've noticed in the past, that similar pics from events and gatherings etc, show photo's and captions such as; "steve, bob and paul....", whilst this is great if you know them, in which case you'd know their names anyway, it doesnt help the majority of us basschat folk, who only know most people by their usernames? Just a thought, Really looking forward to seeing the blog though, as you always do a fab job bluejay, and will be good to see what many of us missed. Rick. [/quote] Rick, I posted the real names of people here on this occasion, but I always use BC names in my blogs. Incidentally, this time I will seriously need the help of those whose photos will appear on the blog, because I seem to have lost my little scrap of paper where I noted down their names, and so I've forgotten several already! (Yes, old age etc. I know.) I'll make an appeal at the time of publication...

No, the slackers put them on sale only in July or August!!

[quote name='Thunderbird' timestamp='1393929087' post='2385841'] I really wanted to go to this there was not really any named players there that I wanted to see and to be honest I had only heard of a few of them anyway but I would of liked to of gone just for the crack in a way I am glad I did not go as some of the comments others have made about the show made me think I would not like it and to be honest it would of been a really expensive day out for me and my son it would of cost us about £100 just to get there and buy the tickets so I am going to wait and go another time when players I really want to see are on and also more exhibitors I am interested in but I am glad most of you guys enjoyed it and had a nice day [/quote] It definitely depends on what you expect to see. The masterclasses, shows and the chance to have a chat with famous players are a big part of what I like about the show. I saw one of my idols, Frank Bello of Anthrax, and another bassist I admire a lot, Roger Glover of Purple. Didn't bother with John Taylor, despite being a fan, because his audience was clearly full of ex-teenaged Duranettes (now my age) who would still "do him", and his talk equally clearly geared towards reminiscence and non-bass chat. From the reports by friends who were there, it seems I was right. Next time

Same here. I don't care if I can get in for free as a co-exhibitor, I always buy my own tickets as soon as they become available, to make sure I can go to the show regardless of whether BC is there or not.

Hey, pinned posts are bloody well NOT ancient history since we FMs have taken over and WORKED HARD on cleaning up the old rubbish and keeping our respective patches up to date!

Nah, this is a real alternative...

To lighten up the mood, a couple of pics that may or may not eventually end up in my blog Nick, Steve, Anna, Chris, Tom Us again, with Chris behind the camera this time

I counted at least 10 lefty basses at the show, including two acoustic, so it wasn't too bad, especially compared to last year.

Fender, Yamaha, Ibanez, Status Graphite, Rotosound were some of the big names missing from this year's LBGS.

[quote name='Scooby' timestamp='1393846926' post='2384882'] Agreed, I would hate to see a show disappear. However, I really do think the organisers need to do some serious thinking to make the show a success. Everyone I spoke to, and certainly there are lots of comments here as in previous years, that the noise levels were stupid. I'll repeat what I said in an earlier post, insist that exhibitors use headphones for folk wanting to try out their gear. Quite a simple improvement but a huge one. [/quote] I'll see if I can find a way to contact the organisers - perhaps a word with Joel McIver, who I spoke to at the show and who's in my FB friends list? - and let them know what a large section of their target audience is thinking.

[quote name='skelf' timestamp='1393846587' post='2384874'] Were the exhibitors that were not there up in Birmingham instead. [/quote] Rotosound were in Brum and not at the LBGS this year, and I suspect others who sell to guitarists as well as bassists may have done the same.

Yes to all you say. My point was that, in the absence of something more attuned to our needs, this LBGS is better than no LBGS.

Any event that allows people to check out gear you wouldn't find even at large specialised bass stores, and mingle/network with like-minded companies, buyers and sellers is worth saving.

Seems to be a vicious circle: as the cost of having a stand at the show rockets, only certain manufacturers and distributors find it economically viable to exhibit, be it because they can sell enough units to justfy the outlay, or because - like us - they treat the show as an excellent PR environment, and so worth the effort in terms of gained brand awareness. The fewer manufacturers exhibit, the more punters will complain about the lack of variety and not attend next time. And so it goes on. I don't know if there is a solution to this. I only know that, unless someone finds a different, winning formula, I'd rather support the LBGS as it is than lose it altogether.

I guess haters will hate, and the rest of us will continue to enjoy meeting fellow BCers, lusting after gear which we are able to see and touch at the show, talking to manufacturers, distributors and luthiers and generally being social. I do agree that it'd be lovely to have stands selling small accessories, or selling affordable basses etc., and I loathe the slappers as much as anyone else. BUT - I wouldn't want to be without the LBGS. Regarding stands selling small or affordable gear, guys, if we keep buying things online, it'll never be viable to sell them on stands at fairs that cost a packet. I bet that if there had been a stand with cheap leads, tuners etc. some of you would still have refraind from buying anything, cos it's so much cheaper to get them from Amazon or GAK or wherever, innit.