tegs07

I’m not sure if there is an over romanticised view of the high street going on here. The tat i buy on Amazon I used to buy in Halfords, WH Smith’s, Wico’s, Curry’s, HMV etc All chain stores featuring bored and indifferent teenagers (often students) on minimum wage. These chains all crucified the independents to start with. They largely sell tat made in the far east with fairly lax labour laws anyway. Even the quality independents I try and support ( Taunton Leisure, Richer Sounds, A boot store in Bristol, Nailsea electrics) and some others rarely have anything made in the west anymore. Rab, Dickies, Blunstone, Bose, Cambridge Audio etc etc Times change. Inflation and climate change may reverse this trend but I don’t hold out much hope.

This is the fundamental problem. The UK tax system needs to treat multinationals companies as a single entity and tax accordingly. This way they would not be able to create complex group structures that are a smoke screen for paying tax. The same thing applies to zero hours contracts. Simply ban the practice on UK soil. The gripes against Amazon are valid but Facebook, Starbucks, Apple and a vast number of other multinational companies do exactly the same thing and only get away with it because the tax system and labour laws let them get away with it.

The Bose shop was great. Once every several years I get a new speaker. Richer sounds are also very good. Most of my shopping is food and we are blessed in Bristol for this with lots of good independents on Gloucester Road and Henleaze. DIY stuff from Kellaway. People have mentioned strings direct here and I have found them to be very efficient. I don’t really buy much new stuff TBH preferring to buy as much as possible used, but when I do I have to admit to using Amazon. They are efficient if not ethical.

I periodically try out different retailers rather than Amazon and am frequently disappointed. The last thing I bought was a Bose speaker. Previously I would have gone to the store in town but Bose shut all their stores. They have a Bose store on Amazon which could deliver the next day using Amazons site and distribution network. Preferring to use Bose direct I ordered from their website. Two weeks and several frustrating “chat bot” and emails later my speaker finally arrived. At least I had the warm glow of conscience to console me. Amazon are cnuts but they are efficient cnuts.

Not sure if anyone has mentioned Daniel Kimbro? Great DB player probably best known for playing in the Gerry Douglas band or the Transatlantic sessions. Here with Martin Harley:

Has anyone tried one of these Schecters? https://www.andertons.co.uk/schecter-simon-gallup-ultra-bass-in-red-black-psch-gtr-2241-1/

I never understood this debate. Tonewood is just a generic term for a wide range of woods used by Luthiers to make instruments. They are selected for a broad range of reasons from weight, strength, appearance and yes how they may sound (arguably much more important in the days before electricity). Its not a marketing concept. Swamp Ash is more expensive than Ash as it’s now a little harder to source. Scarcity and shipping costs will have more impact on the price than other factors. Boutique instruments cost more because they are not made in large quantities and have more labour involved in the build. This is more expensive than the materials. The rest of the debate is open to interpretation. I can hear a slight difference in sound when I swap between a maple and rosewood neck on the same bass when it’s unplugged. Plugged in not so much but then I don’t have a great ear for these nuances. I doubt many people listening do either (if it’s me playing they will most likely have left the room anyway).

Personally I always do the first coat with a 50/50 mix.

Sadowsky was commenting on the necks. Rosewood, Maple and Ebony I think. Hardly obscure specialty woods.

A luthier with an obsession with the materials he selects and a passion for minutiae is no bad thing. I would not want to buy an instrument from someone who could not care less. I think most players will be less interested in small differences, their audience even less so and their wives positively comatose.

When I think of iconic bass guitar’s I think P, Jazz, Stingray, Rickenbacker, Thunderbird. When I think short scale I think Mustang and EB1 and 3. Sure there are many others but these come to mind. When it comes to buying an iconic bass that you have heard played live or recorded and has a sound you love I would argue that Fender are not even particularly expensive in comparison with their closest competitors.

Well we have a depleted military, no money and no manufacturing base so it would be over pretty quickly.

It seems to me that the festival experience these days is far more joyous and celebratory than it ever was. The audience really get into the spirit and are much more respectful and supportive of each other. My teenage kids were really looked after by the crowd (Reading being an exception as there were just too many school leavers who couldn’t handle their booze). It’s true that festivals are far more commercialised than before and far more expensive but I think people genuinely have a liminal experience and there is a more joyful atmosphere than back in the day. Personally speaking the risk, the sexual harassment, the bullying can all stay back in the ‘70s.

On a slight derail - did anyone else think that the BBC iPlayer coverage was a bit shit?

It’s a built in feature and prompts people to select AI as an option when adding a description. My big concern with things like ChatGPT is that it scrapes the internet (vastly simplified i know) to create the text. What happens when the data it scrapes is all AI generated waffle? Are we going to be left with a population speaking AI. One huge pool of word soup that circles around a concept but never gets to the essence of anything. Entire populations speaking fluent marketing and politics. Man that is depressing.

Very nice. Now if only someone could play variations of this over every song from Metallica via Pink and Stormzy the world would be a better place.

But surely protracted boogie-woogie piano improves any song in any genre?

Caution. Video constrains nudity so if either avoid or click on it depending upon your inclination.

There are already cases of this happening as well as voice overs artists getting turned down and AI being used instead. What we need is AI to do all the boring stuff like cleaning, ironing, putting the bins out so humans can have more time to do the creative stuff.

Contact details are interesting: Phone : +44 3991398100 Address : Zeb, 29496 Waddeweitz, United Kingdom

I have a few nice basses and can confirm I am rubbish.