NancyJohnson

As an aside, music or otherwise, I find these adverts abhorrent. These effing jolly old technicolour backstories selling a product barely a step above loan sharkism. Believe me, if anyone thinks it's a good idea to enter into one of these schemes, step back from the edge, take a deep breath and just don't do it.

It's a long and drawn out story, but here goes. About eight years ago, I formed a band called Nancy Johnson with a guitarist and a singer that I found through small ads and a drummer that I'd known since school (we were each other best men). We laughed like drains, constantly...I remember doing a gig in front of about 1,000 people and was laughing uncontrollably wondering how we'd gotten to this point. That said, revolving doors; the line up ebbed and flowed until I was the remaining original member. Musically, we moved away from a pop/punk ethic to a more garage/punky sound and we changed our name to Who Killed Nancy Johnson? but ultimately, it was still my band. We continued for around a year/eighteen months, gigging once or twice a week, trip to Milan/Turin, more gigs. Irrespective of the talent, I could write a book on the intertwined personalities in that band; guitarist hated the singer ('Can't we just fire him?'), singer worshipped the ground the guitarist walked on, the drummer just sat on the fence and saw every gig as an opportunity to hit on women. Me? I just wanted to write good tunes (I was doing the bulk of the writing) and have fun playing them...we were too old for world domination and it was never going to happen. Inevitably (as covered elsewhere), I left. The attitude of the other three, at a time where I had just lost my father-in-law and had a mother dealing with cancer, was abhorrent; everything came to a head and I walked. So there's now a band out there partially using my name, still playing my songs, with not an original member in it. It's like a football team, sure it's the same band, but it's not the same band. If there's an upside to all this, the band I'm currently recording with (Lutz) contains 75% of the original Nancy Johnson lineup. Musically, it's way more intense from where we were at eight years ago, but it's more fun than I've had in a while.

Just to recap (for anyone reading) concerning the Bass Shootout, which featured fifteen different basses. I reckon 20-25 of us made it into the room to listen to Gary playing a now all too familiar riff from Carry On, Wayward Son by Kansas, not once, but twice, all the while behind a heavy stage curtain. It doesn't get any better, huh? From memory, the highest recognition score was 4/15 and there were a few zeros too (which is kind of alarming given my late mother could have identified a Rickenbacker).

Sorry, I'm lost, this is a little too cryptic. When you say not him, I'm assuming you mean the conversion king. So who is this then?

Where do I have to send that cheque to again? 😂

I actually thought the Handbox was the best amp in that shootout by a country mile.

I think the only sign of the times here is how Ashdown have just fallen out of favour a bit. This type of approval ebbs and flows, much like the on/off love affair we collectively have for Warwick. I don't have any issues with Ashdown gear as such, I've had very comfortable relationships with MAGs and EVOs for many, many years; they're affordable, well-designed, reliable, staid, loud, robust, heavy, but in truth after several dalliances I figured out that tonally they were just a bit too safe for me. I just couldn't get the dirt I wanted and the valve drive feature just sounded like radio interference rather than grind. I always ended up just using a POD or some Tech 21 unit plugged into the effect return.

Here we are then. Pulled the trigger on a pair of Aguilar SL112s today. I think that's me sorted now. GAS has disappeared.

Over here, the marketplace is way different to the US; we don't have chains like Guitar Center, Sam Ash (or similar), the UK marketplace is a handful of stores that combine mail-order and regular store fronts (Andertons, Guitar & Keyboard Centre (GAK)). A load of people would also consider Thomann in Germany for large orders. The main strings-only business is going to be Strings Direct - they used to be exclusively strings, but have branched out into parts and peripherals. I guess that any business trying to get product into these stores will probably result in abject failure - issues with minimum stocking requirements, sale or return, driving down of selling-in prices - plus bassists (at least) are fairly fickle; I think we've all gone through a ton of strings to find the ones that are ideal for us on a personal basis; don't get me wrong; I really like SITs, but it's taken me years to get to the point of playing Elixirs. The main issue you're going to get is the think globally thing. It's all well and good saying go to Amazon.com or buy direct from you, but you need to factor in shipping costs and the waiting time for stuff to arrive from the US...these are issues when you need string tomorrow, so you'll just resort to buying whatever there is available. There's always going to be this nagging doubt of actually whether the strings will make it here as well. We have a lot of high profile players on the forum, guys who are gigging constantly, guys who are doing studio projects (that'll be me), guy who have a ton of experience and some influence. I'd say a good deal of these guys haven't actually heard of SIT and are using the big brands (D'Addario, Rotosounds, Elites, Ernie Ball etc.). Maybe consider trying to win these guys over. Send some over and get a British opinion. Start the ball rolling.

Mike How about we try and find someone who could just distribute these here? Or do bulk purchases. They are great strings, I loved the feel of them. Paul

I'd often thought of this as being akin the the NME effect; (true or false) Danny Baker once cited the jingoistic Columbia Records A&R funding trips globally for the likes of Parsons and Burchill to report on Pink Floyd, when they must have known the copy would have been wholly negative. Same goes the movie monthly Empire, being given full access to film sets, key actors and directors, then presenting an article running over several pages followed hot on the heels by a two-star review.

I'd be happier/less unhappy with the adverts if only there was a degree of content change month to month. Nowt worse than flipping a page to see the same shot of Robert Trujillo gurning from a Warwick advert every edition.

I'd be happy to pack a guitar and amp as well next year if we went this route. I'm sure I could find a drummer to step up.

I was a bit busy elsewhere, but I'm sad to say I didn't venture into the jam room. How about next year (if there's a drummer about) than we just set the kit up on the main stage? We could utilise the area as it's closer to the main thing and we could jam in there when the talks/tests aren't taking place. It might also be useful to have drums playing when we're doing the shootout tests?

As time has gone on I've been through a load of cabs...I'm 100% with amp side, it just seems to work with whatever I push it into. Recently it's been more a case of looking for a solution to give me more flexibility and I'm picking up a pair of Aguilar SL112s (1x12s) in the next 24 hours. It'll just give me the opportunity to run them individually, paired as a 2x12, in stereo, or given the application, pairing them with my Barefaced. I'm not a fan of mixing up cabinets of different sizes, so I'm with @Sparky Mark, just get another Midget.

Great day today, enjoyed it a lot. Way better than staying at home and having an ear bent by the wife for the trivialist of reasons. P

Well, I pulled the trigger on a pair of Aguilar SL112s. Hanging onto the Barefaced (for now at least, not reason not to)...this, combined with the SLs should give me more than adequate cover moving forward. Exciting times ahead.

I really should ask ped if I can change my user name. 😂

The part in italic was posted on the Bassplayer Facebook group. It's a topline post, so unless a disgruntled employee has hacked their page, then I guess you have to accept it's mouth of the horse stuff.

I actually like the US Bassplayer magazine, I suppose (much like when I used to buy the US Popular Photography) it just gave me an American perspective on the whole bass thing. Much the same as any publication, there's going to be the good stuff and the frankly dull stuff (some of the tabs...too much tab), but I have noticed more recently that for my monthly £4.75, the percentage of advertising per copy is way too high; the August '18 edition ran to 68 pages of which 26.3 pages were advertising (39%). In addition (and maybe I'm overanalysing things here!), the leading space (the space between each line of editorial, so lines per page) has decreased significantly and the kerning (the space between each character) has increased, so you're effectively getting less words as well. Each page also contains big areas of void. I guess it's just an inevitable result of the world today and the decline of printed matter. I suppose I'll miss it; it's my go to magazine for whiling away a few minutes when I sit down and do my daily business (let's have no gags about using it for wiping) and I owe them a small debt of gratitude as I was their featured bassist in the May '18 Real World section (fame at last, eh?).

Images & Words was a great album, still is, but primarily, it contains songs of a manageable length, whereas the more current stuff (viz. everything thereafter) is just nonsensical fretwank. I have no idea how you would even write that kind of material.

Just picked up the following post on Facebook. Seems the magazine has been acquired by Future and the publication will continue as a rebranded version of the UK Bass Guitar Magazine. Understandably, there's already been some negativity in the replies. While a handful of replies are willing to give change a chance, it seems to one poster that BGM is 'too fancy pants English'. I can almost imagine the guy, sitting in a log cabin, polishing his guns and going, 'Oh damn those fancy pants English, with all their fancy pants words, grammar and abbreviation.' Good grief. Bass Player Family, When we debuted our first issue of Bass Player magazine almost 30 years ago, it was cause for celebration—an announcement that bass players were here to stay. No longer did we get just a few pages in a guitar publication. As fanatical bass players and bass fans, it was a joy to be the voice of the bass community and to put our heroes front and center. Since then, we’ve been honored to cultivate and serve that tight-knit and supportive community: artists, gear manufacturers, luthiers, instructors, authors, and historians of the bass world. Most important, though, has always been serving our readers. Nothing has been more fulfilling in our lifelong careers as writers and editors. Now, on the eve of our 30th anniversary, we are no longer at the helm of that ship. Bass Player was recently acquired by a U.K.-based publisher, Future PLC. Beginning with the November issue, BP will be absorbed by the British Bass Guitar magazine, but will continue to be published in the U.S. as Bass Player. The aesthetic of the new BP will be different. No more Community section, full-song transcriptions, or record reviews, and a different take on gear reviews—a different set of priorities, and a distinctly English flavor. The merge means many of our writers, editors, and production staff have been let go or relieved of their former roles. Bass publishing veteran and current Bass Guitar editor Joel McIver will run the magazine. Like you, we are curious to see where he’ll take the Bass Player brand. You’ll likely continue to see some familiar names in the new Bass Player. After all, there aren’t that many veteran bass writers out there. But we “BP lifers” are adamant about keeping our original mission statement—to dig deeper and serve the bass community—alive in some form. Please drop us a line to share your vision for the future, or just to let us know what Bass Player has meant to you. We can’t thank you enough for your continued loyalty, love, and support.

Matt Freeman John Myung (the real fun starts around 3'35") They're both great players but very different. I just love how John Myung does so much without looking like he's doing that much.