molan

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='325427' date='Nov 9 2008, 06:10 PM']Molan, thanks for your offer of advice, we may well take you up on it. One word about advertising as a form of income, we've found that unless we get advertisers to pay in advance for a minimum period of time then the income is too unreliable to allow us to plan anything. You're also absolutely right about the size of the UK retail market, it IS relatively small and obviously even smaller when the offering of Thomann and other online European internet traders is taken into account. We would probably need to consider more of a sponsorship deal rather than selling advertising however I'm personally uncomfortable about having a sole sponsor that because if they were unscrupulous they could then potentially dictate what happens on the forum. However I guess we could also agree in advance the extent of sponsors relationships with the forum would be.[/quote] If you can zap me some real top line site stats I can give you a very rough idea of what it might be worth to an advertiser. Simplest thing is number of page impressions per day or week & maybe number of individual users (generally referred to as 'uniques') for a matching period. I definitely wouldn't let people advertise who weren't 100% going to pay by the way! An ad network or simply taking Google contextual ads is probably easiest asthey represent some sort of guaranteed income. Google is very simple & you basically just get paid every time someone clicks on a link. Can be text only so there's no nasty banners

[quote name='Rayman' post='325209' date='Nov 9 2008, 11:40 AM']Last minute disaster, won't be going after all.[/quote] Me neither, have been ill off and on this week & woke up today feeling really bad with headaches and dizzy spells. I'd even got my Rocco shirt out of storage ready for the trip Supposed to be meeting Jake to trade basses as well & I don't have his number, bugger, bugger, bugger!

[quote name='spike' post='324260' date='Nov 7 2008, 03:45 PM']Ain't No Mountain High Enough - Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell There's pretty much a different bass solo in every chorus[/quote] And then play it back to back with the Diana Ross version and hear the progression. I love what he's doing towards the end of this version

Call me an old cynic but I predict an "item did not sell" listing. . .

The fact that the key administrators are talking about change for the benefit of all, and doing it publicly, is a great thing. I'm a member of a few forums and I genuinely believe this one is better managed and has more of a democratic feel than most. If you need some help on commercial aspects then this is exactly the area of business in which I work (my company and associated businesses spend about £150M a year advertising online!) and I'd happily offer any advice for free Biggest thing to watch out for is that ad businesses pay something as little as £1 for every thousand people who 'see' an ad so it's not a massive cash generator for relatively small web properties. Maybe a better deal to have a [i]serious [/i]sponsor(s) and do some sort of deal on product or ticket sales etc. General rule on subscription services is that they don't work. There's a real ethos on the web that everything is supposed to be free and as soon as you start charging then people stop visiting. Possibly different for classified sections (as per TalkBass) but I'd still be worried that UK volumes are too small to support an ad funded classified section. Personally I love this place and have made both some 'real' and 'virtual' friends, if I can help in any way then give me a shout PS I'll be the one in the Rocco Prestia shirt at Bass Day if anyone wants to grab me

So long as you're 'a man of wealth and taste' then I'm sure you'll be very welcome

[quote name='g1hsg' post='325038' date='Nov 8 2008, 10:47 PM']Since my daughter decided to take up bass earlier this year I've managed to source everything for her from this forum, Bass, strings, cables, lessons, hard case, combo & tuner. It wasn't a deliberate policy to begin with but whenever she needs something it always seems to be available here EXACTLY at the right time from helpful, knowledgable sellers. I've done a fair bit of brass instrument trading on and off for 10 years and I can tell you guys that its a breath of fresh air on here. [/quote] Next stage is to get her a gig - check the 'wanted' section

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=320315209828"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=320315209828[/url] I don't really know about price on these and there's no bids so maybe it's too expensive but looks nice I think.

[quote name='Platypus' post='323030' date='Nov 5 2008, 10:05 PM']If you are considering a GB Shuttle 6, do check the cost in the US ( and the sales tax) and the fx rate - you can buy a new Shuttle 6 in the UK for £450 delivered and have the full 3 year warranty P[/quote] Mine came in at £350 from the US (including carry case) but exchange rate has tumbled since and you'd be lucky to find one for under £400 now. Shouldn't be concerned about import duties etc. depends on personal confidence levels.

Friend of mine had a Nemesis combo that was nothing but trouble. Continual problems and it failed completely at a gig once. may just have been a rogue head but really put me off. Sounded nice when it was working though! Purely personal view but I'd have to think that Eden would not sell cabs that sounded as all round good as their core range at a lower price as it would wreck their core brand sales. There's obviously a diminishing rate of return but if it was a straight choice between the two I'd go for Eden branded cabs ahead of the cheaper Nemesis versions any day. Obviously weight is a factor here and the Nemesis stuff is definitely lighter than Eden equivalents.

I'll dig out my Rocco Prestia T that I bought at a charity event for him in Chicago a couple of years back when he was really ill. I hardly ever wear it so seems like a decent opportunity & I can't imagine there'll be many other people wearing one!

[quote name='bassoctopus' post='322904' date='Nov 5 2008, 07:31 PM']Has the G-B got a switchable PSU like the Eden? Good point on the Mesa - light weight isn't everything, unless it's an amp I'm going to bring back from the States.[/quote] Only the 6 not the 3 Here's a pic of the back panel, you should be able to see the red switch that flicks between voltages:

If you want an easy to transport, voltage switchable, head with decent power & a valve in the pre then you could do a lot worse than Genz Shuttle 6.0. If you get the gig bag as well you can bring it back as hand luggage. I did that earlier this year & US customs were fine with it, just had to go through the scanner on its own & not in a case with anything else. I haven't giged it yet but the core tone is nice & there's a fair bit of flexibility.

I love the fact that no-one has mentioned what the camera team were obviously most interested in - Grace Jones' legs You can tell this is a 'proper' muso's forum can't you

I saw Dave Bronze depping for someone at a pub gig a few years back. Thought he was a really solid player & I mean that as a compliment Seemed like a nice bloke too.

[quote name='jake_tenfloors' post='321321' date='Nov 3 2008, 08:53 PM']i'm going! Picking up my new EBS cabs from Bernie -Jake[/quote] And it looks like I'm going to meet Jake & swap some basses

[quote name='fretmeister' post='321620' date='Nov 4 2008, 10:52 AM']Balance by using the vol control on the bass.... Just a thought like![/quote] Doh! What a dumb bell, I'm so used to keeping the volume control at near full all the time I hadn't even considered that

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='320717' date='Nov 3 2008, 10:05 AM']Dave. I thought the head had a XLR in on the front. Is this not the case?[/quote] Yep - official blurb says: [i]"Balanced input accepts balanced XLR allowing the head to accommodate for all sorts of acoustic bass pickup systems. You can also use this input to plug in a microphone - even while you play your bass through the 1/4" jack input"[/i] I guess it would depend on how you were able to balance the two signals but it ought to be a possibility anyway. Thanks for the tips anyway guys, deal is now agreed