MiltyG565

Damn! I thought I had more time! I had only listened to half the entries, so hadn't cast my vote. No big deal, though.

Well done, Ironside I've heard your tracks in previous challenges, so I'm not surprised you're the winner

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1416180016' post='2607770']
Using [i]that [/i]'logic' we'd ban all posts on all topics. Much easier to moderate. I was voted down, though, by a very narrow majority.
[/quote]

Well, it's not my logic. I asked about that rule once, and was told that "for sale" links in the signature weren't allowed because it would take too much time to sift through all the sigs and check their validity, so it's easier to ban them. And I'm fine with that - I certainly wouldn't want to spend large portions of my free time checking signatures.

[quote name='icastle' timestamp='1416178352' post='2607755']
If you're just providing a link to an advert correctly posted on this site within your signature, fair enough.

If you are trying to pull a fast one in order to sell stuff that you haven't paid to advertise then we will take your signature file outside and prepare a shallow grave for it... in a deeply spiritual and purely loving way of course...
[/quote]

Oh right. It was explained to me that links to ads weren't allowed because the mods would have to check them all to make sure they're all legit, so it's just easier to outlaw them.

[quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1416174352' post='2607688']
The code is more what you'd call "guidelines" than actual rules


[/quote]

Ah, like bus timetables then? Got it!

[quote name='Chiliwailer' timestamp='1416168578' post='2607585']
You paid your money, plug away!

I always use a link in my signature to the listing, you can do that in the edit section of your profile.
[/quote]

I thought we weren't allowed to do that?

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1416140447' post='2607222']
I didn't find them too hard to play and I think the smoothness helps with that. But then I'm used to 13-56 roundwounds on the archtop acoustic I'm playing now, so I may have a skewed view of such things!
They wouldn't be my first choice for a lot of bending - little semitone bluesy bends worked OK but for anything wider than that I'd look at something different. They can be kind of dark sounding but they have a snap to the attack which can make up for that. It strikes me that the sound works best for styles played clean or only slightly dirty, so jazz, 50's or earlier blues, old reggae styles (Ernest Ranglin-esque) or surf music all sound great.
[/quote]

Exactly - my bass amp is very clean (I even turned the gain up, and there was very little grit to be had out of it), and that's possibly why it sounded so nice. A nice little clean amp might be in order for me

[quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1416108832' post='2606983']
That Bob from Gumtree is a time-wasting tyre kicker and smells of cheap after-shave.

Avoid.
[/quote]

I know! He came to see my Fiesta, kicked the tyres, sucked his teeth, then offered me £200 for it! And worse than that, his horrible aftershave was clearly only to cover up the fact that he had been drinking all morning!

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1416133849' post='2607108']
I used to use these on an archtop I had. With a neck humbucker and a clean amp it's a pretty classic jazz guitar sound.
[/quote]

Yeah, they're really cool! What did you think of how they played?

[quote name='lojo' timestamp='1416084531' post='2606797']
Looks like it doubles up as a time machine
[/quote]

But it has to hit 88mph first!

Maybe that should be 88bpm?

So forgive me for breaking the cardinal rule of BASSchat, but I have to talk about these somewhere!

They're awesome! To play, they're lovely and smooth. They aren't very pliable, unfortunately, as of course, that makes them a bit harder to play. But standard open chords are easy enough, although the plain strings can dig-in to your fingers a bit *whimper*. Oh yes, that's another different thing about them - they have a wound 3rd, unlike most electric sets, which have a plain 3rd. In terms of looks - It does genuinely look like my guitar has chrome strings on it. It's sitting next to my bass with ProSteels, and my other guitar with Ernie Ball slinkies, and they're both just grey, but the Chromes are actually shining. I think it looks cool, especially on the Les Paul copy, which has a lot of chrome on it.

Sound-wise - Again, totally awesome! I don't have a proper guitar amp, so I ran it through my bass amp, cut the bass, kept the treble in the centre, then rolled up the Mids. I rolled off the tone pots a bit on the guitar too (the strings are brand new and probably a bit brighter than I expected). It reminded me of old Gretsch style guitars, which I love the sound of. They have that kind of nasal honk to them, and with a bit of fettling, I got that sound too. Tone purists will say that it wasn't a perfect Gretsch sound, and of course it wasn't, but I was playing a £200 Les Paul rip-off, and I was happy with just how close I did get to a Gretsch sound.

So I spent a considerable amount of time yesterday learning/playing Californication, by Red Hot Chili Peppers. The guitar part on it is played on a 1950s Gretsch White Falcon, and I fell it's the sound of that guitar that makes the song (as well as the lovely little dance the guitar part and bass part do with each other throughout the song - I originally found it hard to decipher what were guitar notes and what were bass notes).

All-in-all, I love them! I think they're great. Maybe not an "everyday" kind of string, but I reckon they should be much more popular than they are. Maybe a lighter set (I got 12s) and a bit of a setup on my guitar would help. Due to them not being just as easy to play as, for example, Slinkies, EXL Nickel Wounds, Roto Rs etc etc, I can't see myself stringing all my instruments with them, but I'm definitely going to keep them on the Les Paul for a good while.

Any suggestions for my next set of bass strings?

[quote name='Wooks79' timestamp='1415908910' post='2605208']
I once had a photographer friend tell me that he had increased his business tenfold after taking the advice to increase his prices, as people thought cheap meant crap.
[/quote]

Exactly what I meant in my last post! If something's too cheap, people wonder what's wrong - is it broken? Stolen? Crap? And usually, it's just cheap because it's cheap, and no other reason. But people (men, usually) think that cheap=crap.

It's odd, because one can increase the price, and people think it makes it a premium product, but nothing has changed other than the price. It's weird that your mate had to increase his prices to get more business, isn't it? It feels counter-intuitive to us.

I've never gotten to the point in a band yet where we had written and recorded a full album of songs, so I speak from ignorance (although that won't stop me from speaking, obviously), but 2 thoughts spring into my mind with this thread.

1 - everyone loves something for nothing
2 - if something is too cheap, people question the validity or quality of it.

If you're in it to gather a following and make this your main source of income, I'd say give it away for free, and annoy all your mates to spread the word to all their mates. Get as many people to download the album as possible (you'll make a good start with Basschat!). Get your band out there and gigging, and start working on album number 2.

If this is just a sideline for you, and a bit of fun, and you really aren't bothered about building up a fan base or a following, you could charge for it - maybe £3 for the download and £5 for the CD?

I reckon people will be more open to the idea of downloading your music if you show them where to get it and say "It's free!". People can be reluctant to part with their cash, and they generally won't, unless they've decided they like your band and want your music, but they could only know that if they've seen you live (which is your time to capitalise and sell CDs).

But don't undervalue your music either. I know I said £3/£5, but I say that as a "sell it cheap, build a following" tactic. Charge £8 for the download if you wish. A lot of albums on iTunes are £12 and more. If you think you can happily sell it at £8, go for it!

When you're releasing, let me know

Good luck.

I don't know that many people at all get ripped off on Basschat. I've heard of it happening maybe once or twice in my entire time on this forum. And one of those times it was just a misunderstanding - the seller had gone off the grid for a while and the buyer panicked. Of course, I'm not privy to all the gossip Re: the sales forums.

However - Basschat has a lot of very well known members who are on here regularly, and are pretty open about who they are. The owners and operators of the site will also see IP addresses, I presume, which makes people a bit easier to track down.

The benefit of BassChat is that it's not a sales website. It's a forum, where lots of people know each other quite well, and they look out for each other. It's big enough that it's an effective way to sell, but small enough that it still feels like an online community, where people regularly pop up.

That's bound to be worth something. I know I'd rather sell something to, for example, iCastle, than to, for example, Bob from Gumtree.

Gumtree now charges for ads too. I think you get something like 2 free ads, then it's about £2 per-ad after that. Or, if you have multiple email addresses, you can make a new account an circumvent the charges, but that's a lot of hassle for the sake of a free ad.

£20 on BassChat gets you unlimited ads to sell your gear for 12 months, which alone isn't bad at all, but then factor in the 30,000 musicians that you are advertising to. 30,000 people who know what they're after, and know what it's worth, and they'll see your ad.

Or one could spend their time advertising to people who mostly won't care or know a thing about what you're selling - i.e. general Gumtree traffic.

I've sold stuff on Gumtree before - I've found that 90% of people who reply are time-wasters. 90% of people who reply on BassChat are genuinely interested and ready to buy.

I'm going to sound like a broken record, but £20 to advertise specifically to your target market isn't bad.

[quote name='Beedster' timestamp='1415698712' post='2602711']
It's called business!
[/quote]

I understand that.

Can't see how there would be a monopoly with physical cash though?

The thing is that sellers only pay for their buyers to use PayPal because it's what they want to use in a lot of cases. If PayPal didn't always side with the buyer, it would be throwing business out the window. Because no matter what, the seller is going to use PayPal for the buyer's sake, so it's the buyer that's the important part of the transaction, because if they're happy, sellers don't have much choice in the matter.

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1415679321' post='2602635']


Do you know where I live..? It's not Megopolis..! I never have hard money on me, neither notes nor coins; [i]all[/i], without exception, is paid by card. I've not had a cheque book for decades, and would have to try hard to remember how to fill one out. I really can't remember the last time I had to draw out notes from the cash point, either, and [i]that [/i]might have been in the UK. It could also be yet another symptom of advancing years, though..!
I reckon Paypal is here to stay; if not under that name, then under another.
[/quote]

There are plenty of other companies offering the same services as PayPal already. If things keep moving along as they do now, it would be hard to deny that the future is electronic money. In fact, it already is - that's how banks and loads of businesses have been dealing for years. It's just us, the humble customer (possibly just in NI?), that has yet to make the move.

No - I've never disputed the popularity or validity of electronic money. All the more reason why we should use a reputable service. Let's not forget that PayPal isn't a bank, and handles our money without the same regulation as the banks.

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1415670440' post='2602630']
I'm no expert, and I've not studied in depth the historical aspect, but I do remember there being some resistance to payment by card in the first years. Some, especially small businesses, found the cost per payment too high, and so didn't accept cards. Others would only accept above a minimum sales amount. I don't know about the UK, but in France, it's now very rare to not accept cards; even street market sellers often have them. One can buy a [i]baguette[/i] with a card. The girl that delivers our weekly groceries has one, it connects like a mobile 'phone. All this to say that, despite some initial reticence, and despite its downsides, once these things become ubiquitous, one has to accept them or be excluded. Not that that's always a Bad Thing, of course, but it's a choice, that's all.
[/quote]

I've not personally found card payments to be so widespread. Most of my money is still withdrawn from the account at the cash machine, and spent here-and-there. Most places that I've encountered still have a minimum transaction (usually £5, sometimes £10), and if all I want is a tasty baguette, I either need the physical cash, or buy nearly £5 more. Although I do wish the liberal use of card was a thing here. We have a card machine in the shop, but most people still pay by cash. Small-town life, maybe?

Having said that - PayPal have tried to break into the in-store card-payment market over the last few years. I don't know how successful they've been with that, but I've never encountered one of their machines. Possibly, again, because their fees are too steep.

As you say, though - PayPal is approaching ubiquity in the online payment market.

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1415668462' post='2602626']
Just for balance, and from a very unbalanced viewpoint... I've been using Paypal as a buyer for many years, and have never once had any problems whatsoever. It is by far the most useful method of payment for me, both for private buys or from businesses. No complaints here. I have never sold anything, and so can't judge that aspect.
[/quote]

I was of the same viewpoint until a few months ago, when I encountered the same problem as Ash where a refund from a seller was deliberately delayed by PayPal. I knew the service wasn't perfect, but that just soured the whole thing a bit for me.

Of course there are good things about it - it's incredibly easy, as a customer or buyer, to send payments or set up direct debits. It's very safe (as opposed to other methods, which often involve handing over lots of sensitive information to unknown individuals). I get why it's used, and I still use it myself.

But they have a reputation for [i]always[/i] siding with the buyer. Their fees (which are always passed on to the seller) for payment gateways are ridiculous.

It has to be said - as a business, the [i]only[/i] case to be made for PayPal is that customers prefer to use it, and that affects sales.

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1415642905' post='2602319']
They're neqrly as greedy as the government!
[/quote]

It is fairly greedy, and certainly the worst I've seen so far. But that's the price you can command when you have corned a big chunk of the market.

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1415610432' post='2601842']
I've never used paypal for years. Don't agree with their fees, their terms & I don't trust them, especially in instances where if the buyer claims its a fake, they refund the buyer & the buyer destroys/keeps the item (even if their claim is false). Leaving the seller out of pocket.
I'd rather use WUMT!
[/quote]

Their fees alone are pretty crazy. Something like 30p per transaction + 3.4% of the final sale, plus a monthly subscription.

This thread has become nothing more than a pile of bull...

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1415582305' post='2601773']
No, there's more of you than that, with an average of 3.7 puns each, which I've rounded up to 4. You all get a pat on the head.
[/quote]

It's getting cold, isn't it?

I'm utterly Friesian.

[quote name='PlungerModerno' timestamp='1415575062' post='2601723']
OK, Now yer milkin' it!

Let's moooove on...
[/quote]

I'm afraid these puns have already been trotted out.