MiltyG565

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1391104258' post='2353346']
Because I'm not interested in HIS position, which is quite obvious, I'm interesting in OUR views on the subject.
That's why I asked "what do WE think . . . ".

Is that a problem?
[/quote]

Err, no? Allow me to explain why it isn't a problem -

I wasn't talking about you posting this topic, I was talking about people posting videos of Prince's gigs online.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1391023096' post='2352420']
However, him pretending to be grumpy about it is excellent publicity for his upcoming UK tour starting next month.
[/quote]

The sad thing is that he probably is genuinely put out by it, and not just doing it for publicity (although that might be a bonus).

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1390912329' post='2351117']
[url="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-25927363"]http://www.bbc.co.uk...nology-25927363[/url]

So what do we think is more important about music - the money or the art?

Does a multi-millionaire musician suing fans do more harm than good?
[/quote]

A guy I'm friends with on Facebook is a massive Prince fan - He's made covers of his songs, and they just get taken down. He/his label are very particular about making sure there is no unwarranted sharing of their music. Fans of his are well aware of that. I'm not sure why you would post things like that when you know his position on these things.

[quote name='robot_pelican_chin' timestamp='1391007795' post='2352203']
Anyone know what it means to 'wind' neck or bridge pickups?
[/quote]

If you think of, say, a jazz bass pickup, the metal parts you see are magnets, but if you take the cover off, you see that wrapped around all those magnets is a lot of copper wire. The process of wrapping the magnets in wire is called winding, and the finished product is often called a coil (hence Jazz bass pickups are known as single-coil pickups - they have one continuous coil of wire around the magnet).

This video might help you understand if my way of explaining wasn't very clear.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2IFz9Qcwmk

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1390857522' post='2350607']

[/quote]

Don't worry, Mark - They always said the same about me, but I showed them all how wrong they were with my amazing ballet performance!

I really need to check this forum more often... *spends all night reading blogs*

Edit - turns out I read these blogs a long time ago!

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1390761286' post='2349180']
[b]Can your action be TOO low?[/b]

Much is to be said for having a low action on a bass... ease of playing and so on.... but can your action be TOO low? I recently acquired a new (old) bass on which the action is quite a bit higher than my current bass, and as it has an unusual saddle arrangement, I am having to wait for an appropriately tiny hex key to be delivered so I can lower the action at the bridge.

Meanwhile, I have rehearsed the bass with said higher action - and loved it, for these reasons:

1. A higher action makes you work a bit harder and seems to put an edge on your performance.
2. There is a tendency not to fly around the fretboard and be more discriminating about note choice.
3. You can 'dig in' far more (should you need to), before experiencing fret buzz and rattles.
4. Because of the above (imho), the rehearsal recording sounded somewhat more dynamic than usual.

So... should I leave the action where it is and butch it out?
Or should I be a right feeble nancy-boy ponce and lower it to a painted-on level ASAP?

I thank you!
[/quote]

Does one size fit all?

It's a bit of a muchness, isn't it? Some people will find a high action unplayable, some will find it encouraging. Although, I'd say that a lot of folk here are prone to a bit of "flying about" the fretboard, so will a high action suit them, even if they want a high action?

A very low action will stifle your tone, and make your strings more likely to buzz.

Potato/potahto.

[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1390340482' post='2344336']
Help me out...I don't use a plectrum so I'm a bit dumbfounded..

I'm looking to order some plectrums but the manufacturers can't offer me anything heavier than 0.9mm gauge - is this too light for bass players??

Advice please...
[/quote]

I would regard .9mm as pretty heavy. It depends what you want to play. I opt for something quite light with a good spring to it, so I use Dunlop Tortex 0.5mm pics. You can really saw through to strings with it. I find heavier pics are harder to use (for me), because you need quite a keen sense of control over the pic to play with it, whereas the more flexible ones, you can just drive them through the strings without much regard for control.

The kind of plectrum you use is important too. The Dunlop Tortex picks are a lot more springy than the Dunlop Riffs, for example.

It's all a matter of preference. Some people come into the shop and ask what gauge of plectrums they should get for their son/daughter/husband/wife etc etc, and there's never really an answer. The only person that knows what plectrum is right for them is the person using it. I said I liked the Tortex .5mm, but I bet some people abhor it. Different strokes.

[quote name='Zenitram' timestamp='1390669333' post='2348169']
ka-'hon

/ka/ as in cat
/hon/ as in Honiton

Stress on the /hon/

And yes it has many meanings but here just means big box.
[/quote]

Some say it's ka-hon, and others ka-hone. I don't know exactly which is the linguistically correct pronunciation, but I prefer ka-hone. I suppose it doesn't make much difference.

[quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1390574703' post='2347074']
In a fit of generousity, I've plumped for Wayne's cajon. It's just looks soo nice, is on offer, and has a bag included.

Thanks All
[/quote]

When I saw this thread, I thought "Cajon"! I was late to the party, but you got it sorted anyway!

Somebody said a cajon was a novelty - I very much disagree. It's a great alternative to a full drum kit, especially for acoustic gigs and small venues. That have a hole cut out of the back of them, so it can be miked, if needs be, but it also allows the sound of the drum to emanate naturally. Most drummers really seem to love them, and I can certainly see why.

My aunt, a few weeks ago, asked "What are those box things they all play now?"
"They are called Cajons"
"No no no! They are like a little box, and they sit on it and play the front of it. They do that instead of drums"
"Oh... I don't know then."

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1390559706' post='2346751']
This must be where I'm going wrong.. I'll have a route through MrsC's wardrobe for something more revealing for my next video.
[/quote]

This obviously works.

(750,000 views)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pd2pSLFjOas&feature=c4-overview-vl&list=PL4csMoGyO-TmOEc-RYwUaO8h0JnU8XWkj

[quote name='chaypup' timestamp='1390554907' post='2346654']
I expect Marlowe DK does alright out of it as do the players with pretty faces and low-cut tops.
[/quote]

Only if they aren't using copyrighted material (songs). But yes, you are right. Most of the pretty faces playing covers (usually fairly poorly, IMO) usually get far more views than somebody like Marlowe DK. That shows how far style over substance can get you.

There are plenty of people who make a living from YouTube, most of them aren't musicians though. Most of them are gaming channels and "news" (gossip) channels.

[quote name='ML94' timestamp='1390378879' post='2344577']
Making your own backing tracks .... too much effort
[/quote]

Far too much effort... that's why I don't do it

It should be said, though, that even if you use an artist's recording as your backing track, there's nothing to say that YouTube will allow you to use it. A lot of the time, they do, but the put ads on your video, but other times, the artist might tell YouTube to take down any video using their music illegally.

[quote name='Myke' timestamp='1390340827' post='2344347']
I don't think you can make money from Youtube by playing bass covers because you don't own the songs? Quite possibly wrong but I thought because of the copyright thing that you couldn't make money from something that wasn't yours?
[/quote]

It depends. If you've used the original recording as a backing track, then no. If you have created your own backing track or play without a track at all, then yes, you can make money from that.

[quote name='lucky' timestamp='1390267626' post='2343493']
nope, it was a Saturday afternoon and we were the only ones in there, yet still such negative customer service..
[/quote]

I can't believe that somebody would say it wasn't worth their time unless they were going to buy. Maybe they might buy if you let them play the guitar!

I was about to say here about all the negative stories on here about music shops and their customer service, but it is always the negative stories that rise to the surface, isn't it? I wouldn't ever dream of telling a customer that it wasn't worth my time to clean and tune a guitar they wanted to play. It's not worth their time, or money (as customers), to go to a shop with such a petulant shop keeper.

Get rich quick? YouTube? Ha! The only people getting rich of YouTube are the ones with millions of subscribers/views. Bass channels don't get anywhere near enough subscribers or views to make you "rich". You might earn a bit from it, but I can't really see bassist plodding along to a song earning enough to even live off.

You are absolutely right - the benefits of uploading covers and the like to YouTube can sometimes mean more than money earned from ad revenue. It gives you exposure, allows others to give you advice/critique, allows you to say to potential bands/musicians/producers "This is what I can do" without ever having to leave your house. Your mate seems to think that they only reason anyone would upload to YouTube was to make money, which is silly, because there is literally days worth of footage uploaded to YouTube every day, and most of it won't get many views at all.

[quote name='lucky' timestamp='1390189580' post='2342438']
I'd say it's a great idea. I once went into a guitar shop with a friend who was in the market for a new guitar, he asked to play one and was handed the guitar of interest, after a few minutes he asked to try another similar guitar and was told if he wasn't there to buy a guitar that day then it wasn't worth the music shop guy having to clean and tune the guitar. Needless to say no guitar was bought that day.
[/quote]

What on earth? Not worth his time? He's there anyway, isn't he? I mean, he didn't open the shop up just for your mate, did he? Sounds like he made it not worth his time by talking your mate out of a sale.

Short answer - no. It's not a horrible idea, I just can't see it working favourably for a shop, at least not one that is trying to scrap by on sales of budget/beginner guitars. If you impose a fee on people playing the instruments in the shop, they will be less likely to play them, and if they are less likely to play them, they are less likely to buy them. I don't think you could make up that loss in sales from charging a few quid to play a guitar in shop.

[quote name='chrismuzz' timestamp='1389968855' post='2340100']
Well spotted! £30 for a set of Elixirs is what I'd call very reasonable
[/quote]

That's very reasonable! They've gotten a very good deal on those!

[quote name='leftybassman392' timestamp='1389868737' post='2338777']
I've recently acquired a banjolin from a cousin - does that count?
[/quote]

Count as what? A banjolele?

"Banjolin - wonderful sound strange shape"

Very nice! Quite George Formby I like the back on the first one - lovely detail on it.

Banjolele revival? I'm not so sure. I think they would lose one of the big selling points of ukuleles, in that they wouldn't be cheap enough. I could be wrong, however. I would like to be wrong. I love quirky instruments like the banjolele

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1389824399' post='2338448'] You've totally lost me there. What has that got to do with squirrels? [/quote]

Maybe Sting bought a squirrel with his earnings?

Ha, you guys think you have an input... That's lovely

It might also be pertinent to mention that I own all the rights to the show

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1389792844' post='2337936']
I must say I'm very impressed and amused by the extent of this derailment!
'Derailment...' is it the same in French??
[/quote]

Douglas, Paul, It's time for us to take a bow

(tickets are available now for our UK tour - Derailment.)

[quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1389733986' post='2337398']

[size=3]View from Milty's window after a few brandies[/size]
[/quote]



I do tend to lace my brandy with LSD