molan

I think one of the things that differentiates China from many of the other far eastern, cheap labour, markets is that they are able to embrace production from the very lowest super-cheap, poorly made, badly finished products right up to very high quality mass market items. At the moment 'made in China' doesn't have a strong differentiated brand image other than maybe low cost production. Whereas 'made in Japan' is usually associated these days with much higher quality. Although, interestingly, there's still a throwback in attitude on MIJ products - 'made in USA' instruments are always easier to sell than MIJ even if the Japanese equivalent is of higher build quality

I definitely got the impression that EBS wanted to shift boxes and move to the 'high street' rather than maintain high quality. Could just have been the sales rep I encountered at Messe though. I see that TC electronics are up for sale now so it'll be interesting if the founders are going for a 'take the money and run' approach (for which I don't blame them on bit!). I guess my surprise with EBS was that they always seemd such a classy brand and had a strong image which they appeared to maintain both through the product range and in all external communications (something which can't be said of TC)

[quote name='mrn1989' timestamp='1412637066' post='2570733'] Thanks, are you a shop? If so shich one and whereabouts? [/quote] I work part time at BassGear in Twyford, near Reading. It shows up in my signature but I think it's invisible if you're accessing via mobile - sorry about that, I always forget!

Every 'name' bass player I've met has been friendly and chatty, even Adam Clayton We meet a fair few through our shop and at various trade or consumer events and they seem universally nice people. Having worked in movie promotion for a good few years I'm afraid the same cannot be said of Hollywood celebs Mind you, some of the movie people are frightening workaholics and super-professional. Arnie really is a machine when it comes to promoting his movies!

Have they dropped the full Jack & Danny name and re-branded as simply J&D now? Definitely a good move - I could never see past the rhyming slang. . .

NY121 is 4" or so shallower than the 121H so it won't really work underneath it. However it's exactly the same width so the top front plastic cab protectors will interlock perfectly. From the front people won't see the difference in depth So it'll just look like a 2x12 rig. You might want to cut the piezo in the NY as the horn in the 121H is higher quality and sounds nicer. Only real downside I can think of is that your amp control is in the 'middle' of the rig rather than on top. We haven't had this set up in the shop but we have tested a 121P combo on top of a 121H cab (which is more or less the same thing) and it works really well as a complete rig. If you're anywhere near us we should be able to get an NY121 for you to try with your combo at decent volume to see how it sounds

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1412078368' post='2565366'] [b][i]'Who is this minion that dares criticise anything whatsoever about Barefaced?'[/i][/b] [/quote] Slightly updated to weather the inevitable storm. . .

[quote name='Reissueplayer' timestamp='1412611302' post='2570362'] I'll keep an eye out for midgets then. [/quote] Don't buy one 'blind' - IMHO they aren't in the same league as a Berg IP cab for either quality of tone or fit & finish. BF is one of the most 'marmite' cab ranges out there, I've never seen a cab get so much love & hate as they do. To my ears they are way too mid-focussed and get harsh and nasally when jacked up loud whereas the IP just keeps on going and sounding great at high volume - wish Jim Bergantino had kept making these!

We had a good look at EBS at MusikMesse last year as a possible brand to start stocking in the shop and they just didn't seem as good build quality as we remembered. Difficult to put a finger on exactly what the difference was but this, combined with the fact that they were really pushing all the smaller units and combos put us off

[quote name='Mykesbass' timestamp='1412516995' post='2569500'] Am I reading this correctly - are BG going to be stocking them? Great excuse for going up again [/quote] First units should be arriving pretty soon

That whole episode of Classic Albums is great. Pops up on Sky Arts every now and then. In terms of 'deconstructing' a Stevie song I always get a kick out of listening to some of the parts from Superstition : http://homerecording.about.com/od/mixingyourmusic/a/mixing_superstition.htm

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1412427674' post='2568860'] Have you seen a single Fender bass of any model as good as Mr S's 55-94 would have when it was new? The funny thing is I am not expecting them to be, the USA Lakland is a £3500-4000 bass why anyone should feel one for £1800 should be as good is beyond me? This should be a closer match yet I have never tried one [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/fender_american_dlx_custom_jazz_v_vwt.htm"]http://www.thomann.de/gb/fender_american_dlx_custom_jazz_v_vwt.htm[/url] [/quote] USA Laklands shouldn't be that expensive - is there a UK dealer offering them at this price? You can import one privately from the U.S. with all duties paid from as little as £1,650 for a plan colour 4 string up to around £2,500 for a lot of the flash top 5's. You might just creep over £3,000 but you'd have to spec an incredibly high upgrade top to get to that level. The Fender link is a Masterbuilt CS. That not far off as expensive as they come from the Custom Shop. I'm not sure it's directly comparable with anything Lakland make because they don't offer this level of personal build wih custom options as far as I know.

In broad terms, and having seen a lot of both brands, I'd say the average level of build quality on a Korean made Lakland is generally superior to most MIM, MIJ and some US Fenders. US Fenders are difficult to generalise about because they vary a fair bit. From about 2010 onwards they seem to be universally good. Before then they are mostly good but with the odd beast kicking around. MIM Fender build quality is all over the place. Some are fine and others are complete dogs, poor neck pockets, nasty sharp fret ends, truss rod issues (either not working or pushing through the top of the neck), pick guards not aligned properly, scratchy pots, thin sounding pickups etc. etc. However, there are definitely some very good ones out there as well and, maybe more importantly, they can be transformed with a bit of TLC from a decent luthier and possibly new pots & rewire along with better pickups. The biggest issue to watch out for is a dodgy trussrod as this can be more complex and expensive to fix. MIJ models generally fit in between the two. I've certainly played, and owned, some that have been the match of, or even better than, their US counterparts. Laklands are almost universally well made and finished and have a pretty even tone. I've never come across a bad one, doesn't mean they don't exist just that I've not seen one. US Laklands are another step up and are excellent instruments. Really nicely finished and all seem to have great necks and fingerboards. On balance I'd say there's a greater chance of picking a Lakland off a shelf and it being good than a MIM, MIJ or pre 2010 US Standard but with Most Fenders below the Vintage, Deluxe or Custom Shop models it can be a bit hit & miss

They hold value pretty well - could probably get one here and then re-sell easily if you didn't like it I bought mine used from the Bass Merchant for £525 and got that back again when it sold.

I had a TF550 and moved it on very quickly. It seemed a very 'picky' amp. Worked well with some cabs and not others. For a short while I had the TF, an Aguilar AG500 and a TH500 and the TH was by far my favourite. In fact I ran a little home test with a 'name' bassist who lives near me and he hated the TF and refused to try it for more than a few minutes because he simply could not get a sound he liked from it. The AG500 came 2nd and the TH also won for him. The speakers we were using were all 12's Aguilar DB and SL and Bergantino AE. The TH sounded good with all of them, the AG was nice with the DB's but a bit too bright with the Neo cabs and the TF just sounded very 'coloured' with all of them but also best with the DB's. I think it's one of those amps that you'll really like if you find the 'coloured' sound is what you were after, if not then it's one to walk away from

For those people that are interested there's an interview with him here www.bassplayer.com/artists/1171/dirty-loops-henrik-linder-to-appear-at-bpl/48947

[quote name='timhiggins' timestamp='1412231964' post='2566890'] Blimey..she's gooood, i do hope she got something for the inferior tunes using her vocals ! i cant tell if its a p or not but it does sound like a pick or tone up full with nails i think its Ron Barker on bass [must be after his porridge ] [/quote] It was written and produced by Dan Hartman who sued Black Box for royalties. As far as I know the exact payment wasn't made public but it was generally believed that Hartman and Holloway took the majority of royalties from the initial release of the song. Dan Hartman was certainly no mug so I can definitely see him winning any court case about song rights and ownership. One of his biggest solo hits after he left Edgar Winter was Relight My Fire which featured Lolleatta Holloway on vocals. He earnt big money on this song when Take That covered it pretty much note for note with a, way inferior, female vocal part from Lulu!

Interesting brand diversification - 546 Motorsport accessories!

As mentioned in another thread somewhere - it'll be interesting to see what happens to TC once they are sold. The theory is that they need capital to expand further but then that's what most companies say when the founders have had enough and want to take the money out of the business and either slowly retire or go off and do something else. Obviously it'll depend on who buys them but so many musical equipment businesses seem to go downhill and/or bust once they've been bought by someone else