MiltyG565

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1389477072' post='2334683'] It's just a made up convention [/quote] A bit like money. Going to honestly need something a little better than "It's just made up" to persuade most, fellas. Most things are just made up.

I have the solution! From now on, all musicians get paid in sandwiches and beverages. Every time you're played on the radio, that's a ham and cheese sandwich. Every time your music is used in a movie, that's a foot-long chicken, ham, and stuffing sub. And basically, it works a bit like that.

[quote name='Chris Sharman' timestamp='1389397969' post='2333952'] No Thanks! On the original subject of minor sale becoming major indebtedness I once went to a music shop in Derby (the late lamented Neville Brothers) to buy a set of strings for my acoustic (£6.00 or so). I went back to the office after lunch with a nice, shiny, brand new saxophone. I still dont understand how. Any ideas? [/quote] Were the strings at the very back of the shop, so you had to walk past everything to get to them? And on the way, the saxophone caught your eye and you had a look at it - then over comes the shop assistant. You had a bit of a blast on it and asked how much it was - at this point, you probably had already decided whether you wanted it or not. Does that sound about right?

[quote name='col.decker' timestamp='1387463860' post='2312254'] Hi all, long time lurker - seldom poster here, but as my boss has finished work for the year thats about to change. Anyway I just GAS'd on a Zoom B3 and got a nice £30 discount. So with my £30 in hand I looked around the shop and spent a further £120 on stuff I no intention of getting as I walked in. Funny how that happens ain't it? [/quote] Ha! Yup - that's what they were hoping for So long as you can get somebody into your shop, they are likely to buy more than they intended to. There's normally only a few reasons for sales/discounts/reductions - to get rid of old stock, and to encourage people in.

[quote name='jakenewmanbass' timestamp='1389356475' post='2333188'] I'm sure I'm being an idiot and I'm well aware that there have been many courier threads on here, I'm looking for some courier recommendations for international shipping... can anyone shed light or point to former threads that do. Ta [/quote] There's tons of them - everything from woes to tales of joy It's really a matter of trust - what company would you trust? A lot of folks on here will say never use parcel force. Frankly, I've sent quite a few things with them and never had any trouble at all. Downside with Parcel Force is that musical instruments aren't insured. The golden rule, IMO, though - package anything like it needs to survive a nuclear blast. Take no chances - pack that puppy up!

[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1389380819' post='2333723'] Dream about finding a good drummer and a guitarist who isn't an arse... [/quote] So the one man band isn't working out then?

Yes, I see what you are saying. But your analogy is a little flawed, I believe. My point was - How do you know what to pay an artist? If an artist takes an hourly wage, as you suggest, where does it come from? If their work sells well, what do they do with the money earned above their hourly rate? If it doesn't sell well, where does their hourly rate come from?

You know... tune up... check bass chat... listen to music... think "That's a cool bassline"... tune up to learn it... check bass chat... etc etc etc.

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1389315651' post='2332897'] We're back to this old chestnut on how to pay for 'creation'. I shan't go through it all again, but an hour's pay for an hour's work seems fair to me. Royalties and copyright were invented, and, imho, have no justification. They are indecent and immoral, and should be done away with; problem solved. [/quote] That's all well and good, and I agree with your premise, but here's when i stumble - If I spent maybe 100 hours recording a couple of songs, what's that worth? Well, 100 hours labour, yes? Ok, but how do we know what to pay me? The music hasn't earned any money yet, and we don't know whether it will be a hit or a complete failure, so if I took £1000 for the 100 hours work I did, then the song went on to be a massive hit, I would feel done out. After all, It is my music, and I put the time and effort into it, and I'd be glad people are enjoying it so much - why shouldn't I get the money it produces? If somebody wants to use the song in their movie, why shouldn't I be able to charge a little for that, as it will presumably be in a movie that will make money for the producer. Like I said - I agree with it in principle, but I feel it would be very difficult to introduce this today. Maybe you want to go into more detail on this?

[quote name='SteveK' timestamp='1389302408' post='2332703'] Now, we all know that Sting has a *coughs* certain reputation. I've had no personal experience of the man so don't really like to comment. However, I came across this: [media]http://www.celebritynetworth.com/articles/entertainment-articles/fun-fact-sting-makes-2000-royalties-every-day-every-breath-take/[/media] In the other [i]similarly titled[/i] thread, Bilbo talks of the unfairness of songwriters royalties - I disagreed with him. But in the case above, I think it totally unfair, and Sting only confirms, at least to me, that he is the [s]schmuck[/s] person that most of the world thinks he is. EDIT: BTW the interview is 14 years old, so may not be news to some. [/quote] Yes, it's very unfair. But, I think there's something about being a high-profile musician. Quite a few seem to have very large egos and a very "I can do what I like" attitude, and it makes me wonder if it's the money and fame that corrupts the person and makes them like that, or are people with that mentality just more likely to go further in the music world? It's all very peculiar, I think. Of course, there are some very altruistic and honest musicians out there with great personalities. It's awful to say, but I think I would pass on the opportunity to meet any musician that I really looked up to.

I was in the shop earlier today - We have a set of Nanowebs in for £35. I think we got a special deal on it though. Bass strings don't sell that well in the shop I work in, so we only ordered one set

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1389194754' post='2331164'] I don't disagree with you in principle but in practice the price of bass strings in the UK still seems disproportionately high to me. Take the elixir nanowebs, for instance. £43 at stringsdirect (who are a company I like and I'm not having a go at them). The same strings are about $35 at most US retailers. Thats £26 [i]retail[/i]. Knock some dollars off to get to the wholesale price, add on a few dollars per pack to get them shipped to the UK (strings are small and robust so shipping should be easy), add 25% VAT and duty and you get nowhere near £43. I recently bought a set of D'addarios for a 6 string bass for £12 from the US. They're £25+ in most UK stores. Thats a really painful markup for UK customers. Nearly every guitar shop in the UK stocks d'addario strings, so they'll all be getting regular deliveries of the more common D'addario strings, so its not even like they're going to have to be shipped over especially---just added into an existing delivery. [/quote] The thing is - companies like D'Addario are really strongly in favour of providing jobs locally, which I say fair play to them. The down side to this, for us, is that we have to pay higher import taxes and duty to get them here, because the value is higher than if they were produced in an eastern economy. Although they shouldn't be so much higher in price as to warrant somebody ordering from the USA. I think the suppliers are quite careful about that - can't say the same for retailers though - they set their own prices. I believe we got a set of Elixir Nanowebs in recently. Not sure of the price. I could find out if anyone is interested to know?

[quote name='topheteatwo' timestamp='1389191285' post='2331111'] Hey MiltyG565! That's really awesome that you've heard of us and don't worry, it's not for everyone! I will definately get in touch dude! Nice to see a fellow NI bassist on here! [/quote] There's a few of us floating around on here - don't worry

Hi Chris - from a fellow basis from Co. Antrim (We are the same age too) I've heard of Pigs As People before - It's not my kind of music, which might sound like a bit of a downer, but since it's not the kind of thing I usually listen to, the fact that I've heard of you before must be good, eh? Glad to have you here You'll fit right in Also - I work in a music shop. If you ever need strings or anything of the sort, get in touch and I'll try to help out

What do we expect? We can't have our cake and eat it too. You want cheap strings? Fine - don't expect them to last. You want strings that last? Fine - don't expect them to be cheap. The thing is, selling more of something keeps the price down, as long as the supply is a bit ahead of the demand. Selling less of something pushes the manufacturing price up. You either sell them cheap and fast, or slow and expensive. If you are buying a set every 6 months, instead of maybe a set every month or 2, the price will go up. It's completely your choice what you buy, though.

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1389034641' post='2329129'] Just so as to be complete and accurate... [b] [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/8907-important-when-youve-sold-or-withdrawn-your-stuff-from-sale/"]IMPORTANT - When you've sold or withdrawn your stuff from sale...[/url][/b] [/quote] I don't use the market place much, so I wasn't aware of this rule.

[quote name='508pir' timestamp='1389025243' post='2328952'] hi everyone, due to my inexperience at this forum stuff I was wondering if someone could tell me how to unlock a topic. I have sold an item and now want to write next to the title that is it sold, but i don't know how or cannot seem to edit it. any help would be greatly appreciated. Ric [/quote] There's an "Edit" button in the bottom right corner of every post you make - go to your first post of the ad, click edit, then in the title box above the ad, write "now sold" or something like that. Click save. It should then be changed, and a mod will then come along and lock the thread so that nobody can respond to it or change it - not even yourself.

[quote name='Freddy Le Cragg' timestamp='1388690001' post='2324929'] Sorry if this has been done but what "famous" bass guitars would you dig if you could get a company to release a replica? I think mine would be this fella Leo Lyons 1962 Jazz Bass. Sublime [/quote] What's special about this bass, though? Is it just an old Jazz with a certain pattern to the paint?

[quote name='crazybassplayer1988' timestamp='1389005173' post='2328564'] Been playing bass for a year and have played in simple e a d g. I'm about to join a band which the guitarist plays in drop d. How do you tune a bass to correspond to the drop d guitarist? [/quote] If you down tune your low E string a tone to D, you will be in drop-D. DADG tuning.

[quote name='Bassman Sam' timestamp='1388951239' post='2328078'] [attachment=151667:bass fish.jpg] [attachment=151668:bluefin-tuna.gif] I'll get my coat. [/quote] There's always one, isn't there?

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1388920194' post='2327551'] Planet Waves Micro Headstock Tuner. £12: Though lately I've been using an Android app for tuning. [/quote] These are very good too! We have them in the shop I work in. They have a visual metronome, which is kinda cool. Instead of beeping, it flashes.

[quote name='Absolute Beginner' timestamp='1388903365' post='2327432'] Hi all. Please can someone recommend a decent basic tuner for me to use with my Epiphone Viola, as this is the one thing I forgot to purchase when getting my guitar.....? I'm not looking to spend lots of money on it. PS I live in England. Many thanks, Fraser. [/quote] I'm a fan of the Boss portable tuners. Very precise, even on a bass, which is what we want. It looks like this

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1388767681' post='2325859'] There would probably be no analogue 'nuances' at the end of 40km of cable. [/quote] I know - I was taking the piss

[quote name='charic' timestamp='1388760705' post='2325728'] Would the effect be different on flats to rounds? [/quote] Since there's no friction in space - yes. Flats and rounds would feel the same to play!

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1388759861' post='2325712'] Anyone else ever put an ad on gumtree looking for a new band to jam with? I just placed an advert and got Five responses within an hour.... Reading it back, my ad was pretty unfriendly as well (due to my generally unfriendly demeanor / unwillingness to compromise) If I'd have stipulated fewer conditions I may have got an even better response.... Good stuff very useful site. Looks like I have some listening to do over the weekend... [/quote] I've used it before. Most times, I got zero responses. The odd time I'd get lucky, but it wouldn't work out. I suppose it's great if you live somewhere that's densely populated.