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Misdee

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Everything posted by Misdee

  1. Misdee
    I completely agree that the remuneration for artists from streaming is ridiculously unfair. However, I am confident that even if royalties were still paid at pre-streaming rates that concert tickets would still be just as expensive. The reason for the rise in prices to see live music is primarily because the industry has "re-evaluated" the value of its product and decided people can and should pay more to see a band. Put simply, they are charging more because they can get away with it. Everything changed after Live Aid. Pop music entered the mainstream, and with that the whole culture changed. Sooner rather than later the profit motive overtook more antiquated ideals of fairness and accessibility for a typical audience.
  2. Misdee
    Yes, I appreciate that. However, you always have the option not to participate. If Ticketmaster wants to play at silly buggers that's up to them. It can't affect you if you reject the transaction.
  3. Misdee
    More likely that we are nearing the time when only the rich can eat.
  4. Misdee
    I take both points entirely, but Ticketmaster are in business to make a profit. They will do whatever they can get away with. But once you start limiting what they are allowed to do you are on a slippery slope towards an unfair restraint of trade. Ultimately, the most effective leverage is for customers to reject the vendor. Unfortunately, the practical reality is that won't happen. I remember when a ticket to a gig was about the same price as an album, festivals and stadium gigs a bit more. That was and still is about what most bands are worth in my estimation. Prices have gotten progressively more crazy and the public have endorsed that escalation by buying tickets. Until people stop buying the tickets prices won't significantly decrease.
  5. Misdee
    And regarding the ticket prices, it's all a bit of a red herring as far as I am concerned. If people are daft enough to pay inflated prices then they have only really got themselves to blame. No one needs to buy an Oasis ticket. ( I would love it if no one did, leaving Noel frantically searching for Plan B to pay for his divorce.) In a truly free society people can ask whatever they like for commercial goods and services and the consumer is at liberty to accept or reject that price. Just because someone asks £6000 for an Oasis ticket doesn't mean someone has to actually pay it. (But yes, left to their own devices some dimwit probably would.) True to form, the new government are intent on saving people from themselves. I can put my used underpants on eBay for six grand, it doesn't necessarily warrant a government enquiry.
  6. Misdee
    The fact that Oasis and their music are epochal for the mid 1990's speaks volumes about how abject a time that was. They were the pop group Britain deserved, but not in a good way. To me, it's exasperating the way Oasis's reunion is being feted by the media as if they are a national treasure to be universally celebrated. Yesterday Oasis tickets was lead item on the BBC1 Six O'clock news. No doubt Noel will see all this as definite confirmation of his own omniscience.
  7. Misdee

    Brian

    Misdee replied to Brian55's topic in Bass Guitars

    I fell for it too.
  8. Misdee
    I too remember when modding old (although they weren't that old at the time) Fender basses was de rigueur. It was mainly because Fender basses were deemed to be outmoded by more modern designs with active EQ, heavy brass bridges, exotic woods etc. It took a while before someone actually played a stock Fender and said "Hang on a minute, this sounds alright as it is!" Funny thing is, I also remember back in the 1980s it seemed a lot harder to find nice Fender basses than nowadays. Jazz Basses in particular were in very short supply. When I first went to the USA in the mid-1980s the abundance of used Fender basses was a revelation. They weren't particularly cheap, but there was plenty of choice. I know the internet has helped concentrate the marketplace, but even allowing for that it was much harder to locate used Fender basses in the 1980s. So many vintage Fenders seem to have surfaced subsequently I'd like to know where they were hiding!
  9. Misdee
    May I ask, when you mention the EBMM Reflex do you mean the Game Changer version the with the software-based EQ ect, or the actual Reflex bass, with it's more straightforward pickup switching options?
  10. Misdee
    Is this an anecdote she told you about when she was a teen back in the 1980's or you mean this happened when you were already married back in those days? Either way... It's interesting to consider that in these days of snowflake sensibilities if I as a middle-aged man, with the best of intentions,were to send my underpants to a nubile female pop star I would probably be hunted down and charged with an act of terrorism. Just another example of political correctness gone mad I think it's definitely Pino on this track. He's credited with it, and it sounds like him or a brilliant impression of him. The other bass player on this album was Andy Brown, a top session player of the day who I'm very sorry to say died of cancer in 2000. I remember when this song came out as if it were yesterday. I'd just got my first fretless bass and the extent of my inability to play it was starting to drawn on me. This was one of many songs in the charts of that time featuring prominent fretless bass that was tormenting me and my crap out of tune playing. Not like nowadays, of course.
  11. Misdee
    Regarding Botox and fillers etc, or any similar "procedures", they aren't going to make you look younger or fool anybody that you are eternally youthful. At best you will just look like another silly middle-aged bloke who has had botox and fillers to try and hold onto the past. Do you really want to pretend that you are eternally in your twenties? It's no more convincing than someone who is going bald having a comb-over. There's nothing wrong with wanting to look good whatever age you are, but the secret to looking your best is to embrace the inevitable changes and make the most of whatever age you are. Self-consciously trying to look younger will just make you look a pillock. Society has changed so much that you don't even need to change your style that much as you age. Fifty years ago an OAP would have looked ridiculous wearing jeans and a t-shirt. Nowadays no one would notice. You don't have to become an old man just because you are over fourty anymore. If you can maintain a healthy weight then that's a big help as you get older, not just to look good but also because of the health benefits. There's nothing like middle-aged spread to make you look middle-aged. Other than that, you can find a personalised style that makes you look fashionable in a classic way, not necessarily following the latest trend. It's true that age is just a number, but it's a number that signifies how old you are, and how old you are makes profound differences to your life whether you acknowledge it or not. Trying too hard to be younger than your years never works, it just makes you look desperate. You can still look great as you get older, but you have to acknowledge the fact that things are changing and make allowances for that.
  12. Misdee
    Totally get where you are coming from with this. There's something very liberating about enjoying a bass that isn't holding you to randsome. I'm looking at getting a Sire or similar for that very reason.
  13. Misdee
    I watched the Bullythakid review on YT. His criticisms seems to be based on the assumption that the pan pot is wired the wrong way round. It isn't. He doesn't know what he's talking about. That's the way that Sadowsky basses are supposed to be.
  14. Misdee
    If you can cope with the G string sliding off the edge of the fingerboard, same as all the EBMM five string basses.
  15. Misdee
    If you like slightly tighter (18 mm)string spacing then another option might be a used Yamaha BB NE2. Jazz Bass pickups, superb preamp and build quality is as good as it gets at any price, no exaggeration. Sounds amazing, plays effortlessly, usually weighs somewhere between about 9 1/2 and 10 pounds.
  16. Misdee
    The Bongo is indeed already a bit of a beast, but I think a graphite neck would make it even more like that.
  17. Misdee
    I've bought my dream bass several times in my life, so many times in fact that I no longer dream about buying basses. I dream about having enough leisure time to play the ones I already have. Some of my dream basses turned out better than others, I must admit, but at least I've ended up with some basses I really like. When it comes to basses, maybe it's a good thing to have a certain amount of unrequited love. Back in the 1980's I pined for a Steinberger XL bass (and a GK800RB to play it through) but never got one. I still get a warm fuzzy feeling from thinking about that combination, and that's probably because it's unsullied by reality or experience. In my imagination everything is still perfect. I wish I had bought a Wal, and a fretless Pedulla when I had the opportunity, though. I think they would both have been very useful and enjoyable instruments. However, at the time it never seemed likely that so many basses would become unobtainable all of a sudden so I don't kick myself too much. In terms of fantasy basses that don't actually exist, I think a Musician Bongo with a graphite neck would be a wonderful thing. Now that Status Graphite are gone, however, it's even more unlikely to ever happen.
  18. Misdee
    Lakland and Sadowsky are both good prospects, going on your stated preferences. The Lakland, however, is a 35 inch scale. With a budget of £2000 you could easily pick up a used Sadowsky Metroline, either made in Japan or, preferably in my opinion, a more recent made in Germany example. I was sceptical when Sadowsky went into partnership with Warwick, but I've been proved completely wrong by the stunning quality of the Metroline basses turned out in Germany. The more recent examples are chambered just like the NYC models and all the hardware and preamp is top notch. They are beautifully put together, too. The five string version is 34 inch scale with 19mm spacing and the low B sounds great.
  19. Misdee
    In terms of a darker sound, an overwound Jazz Bass pickup will give more output with a pronounced midrange and noticeably less treble, and you can then eq in some more bass if required. Aguilar make some pretty good ones. However, so much of getting a good reggae tone is about how you pluck the strings and an overall feel for the music. In some ways having a really good bass makes it harder to get an "authentic" sound. None of the guys in Jamaica were using fancy equipment, just making the most of whatever they had and being creative. FWIW, I've got a Fender '74 AVRI Jazz Bass with Thomastik flats on that came with Fender '74 reissue pickups on and it sounds great for reggae and retro Jazz Bass tones in general.
  20. Misdee
    For my taste, Bowie's backing band during the George Murray-era was one of the greatest of all time, never bettered. George Murray was a major influence when I first started playing during that time, and all these years later I now know enough to understand that he's even better than I thought he was! Such a tasty and inventive player. Nowadays my main bass is a black/tort/rosewood Fender-style PJ, a bit of wish-fulfilment from watching George playing with Bowie on TV back in the day. An enigmatic bass guitar icon. Delighted to see he's doing so well.
  21. Misdee
    Maybe it's entirely appropriate that these basses end up in the hands of collectors rather than players. If your a serious player then get Sadowsky to make a bass that accommodates your own requirements, not Jason Newstead's. The thing about fancy instruments (although this bass is actually quite understated) is that they don't wear particularly well. Once they get dinged up a bit they look shabby rather than glamorous, rather like a stately home in disrepair. A beat-up Fender, on the other hand, is like an ex-council house with some bevvied-up chavs having a barbeque in the garden. Everything looks as it should and no one bats an eyelid.
  22. Misdee
    You can't go wrong with a Stingray for some good honest meat and potatoes bass playing. It'll give you the thump of a P Bass with some added clarity and zing up top, depending on how you play it and set your e.q. Simple but very versatile and so much fun to play. If possible it might be nice to keep a P Bass too, though, just for the contrast.
  23. Misdee
    I've been doing a bit of research and I have good news in so much as there seems to be a lot of variation in the finishes of the individual basses. Sweetwater have got a few blackburst ones in stock and they are all different. One looks like the one at Bass Direct, the others look more like the images that Spector have been disseminating. The downside to that is those inconsistencies mean if you want to buy one you then have to find one with a finish that matches your preference. Not just the right finish but also the right rendition of that finish.
  24. Misdee
    It's actually a pretty tasty bass, except for those skulls on the fingerboard. Not my taste. Apart from that this would be a very useful instrument in any genre of music.
  25. Misdee
    I've been a fan of Gene Perez's bass playing since I first heard MAW/NuYorican Soul back in 1997. He's the master of this style of bass playing. I love the fact that he's not afraid to play in an aggressive and busy style despite the current orthodoxy that less is more ect. Thing is, hearing this style of music always reminds me of shopping for clothes in trendy boutiques back in the 1990's. I keep expecting some obtuse sales assistant wearing a beret and ripped jeans to sidle up to me and ask if I want to try anything on. I usually just look at the prices and then ask for directions to the nearest branch of Millets. Like Dad, generally speaking I'm not really a fan of music with the thumping big beat- reminds me of trying to get to sleep while the bastard students next door are pretending to be Pete Tong-but I take everything on it's own merits. If it sounds good then fair enough.
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