skankdelvar

Hi Waz and welcome to the forum Late 70's P basses tend to show up in the BassChat marketplace forum priced circa £1000 - £1500. Immaculate, mint condition Precisions in rare or desirable colours and with the original hardcase are sometimes priced higher. What they eventually sell for is another matter

Kyron kindly purchased a Korg FX unit from me. Smooth transaction, no probs, nice man and easy to deal with.

[url="http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/05/28/in-search-of-star-power-fender-enlists-members-of-u2/"]Interesting piece[/url] in the NY Times that digs up some detail. But why drag in the U2-sters? Well, the guy from Fender majority owner finance company TPG Growth knows someone who knows Bono and so the association was launched. TPG Growth grand fromage William E. McGlashan Jr. said: '[i]Bono brings a gut understanding of whether a brand is working, while the Edge can guide the company in innovating both its instruments and in helping to educate consumers.[/i]' As for Bono, the crinkly shades-sporter waxed lyrical: "Wherever you go in the world, Fender is a standard bearer, not just for excellence in technology and craft, but for the influence of American culture. This made-in-USA company has at its heart innovation" said Mr Bono, wafting an onion beneath his nose and trousering some more cash He did not go on to add: "Of course, all the workers in the outsourced Chinese and Indonesian facilities will have their wages raised to USA levels and we'll be opening a factory in Africa with full union involvement in all management decisions. "Meanwhile, Fender forums worldwide will ban and hunt down any poster who asks if MIM's are as good as US models. That is racist. The Goal Is Soul!' . 'Edge' Evans peered from behind Mr Bono's shoulder to add: 'I wish I hadn't done that fillum with Jack White and Pagey. I wasn't feeling well that day and I think my playing suffered.' U2 fans have been waiting five years for a new album. Seems they may have to wait a little longer. [color=#ffffff].[/color]

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1401490818' post='2464298'] I fear you may be a bit behind the times old chap - I'm pretty sure tea trolleys went out of fashion in the 70s (unfortunately). [/quote] Really? They should be re-introduced. For one thing they stop the drones wandering off to the kitchen every five minutes and wasting valuable company time. One tea break at 11, one at 3:30. Mug on your desk at any other time? Instant dismissal. That's the way we do things here at DvOmNicorp. And why do we have to have all these lights on? Tell the staff to pay for their own damn bloody torches. Whiners.

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1401483721' post='2464199'] I prefer to think of it like this - the higher cost of a genuine item comes from a greater level of quality control and investment in development. When you make a product, such as Planet Waves/D'Addario does, where you can offer a lifetime guarantee, you need to be pretty confident that nearly all your products are meeting your, an everybody's, high standards. [/quote] In every company there's an office. In that office is a see-saw with a bloke at each end. One screams 'Profit' and the other one screams 'QC', then all their mates barge in shouting about built-in obsolescence and company reputation and EBITDA and responsibility. One chap may pipe up about 'morals and fairness' and everyone else will turn on him and administer a physical beating of unparalleled savagery. Then an elderly lady comes round with the tea-trolley and they all have a mug of splosh and a nice Bath bun. Then it starts all over again and goes on forever. This is how big business works. Fact.

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1401447519' post='2463692'] But is the fake really an inferior product? The SM58 is a decades old design so I doubt it would be particularly difficult to make a well-performing copy. Has anyone ever conducted detailed comparative testing? [/quote] Mic and recording forums are frequently abuzz (geddit?) with stuff like this, much as we might ask whether a Sue Ryder or a J&D is as good as a Squier or a MIM. Whether or not the fakes are any good, people have been saying 'New Shures are crap' for a very long time. There's a correspondingly healthy trade in old Shure Unidynes and contemporary competitor AKG's, Sennheisers etc, simply because they fit with the idea that old is good. For example, I have a watch on the bay for Sennheiser MD121's. These rarely come in under £220-250 for an obsolete dynamic mike that sometimes requires an expensive XLR converter jack and a weird proprietary stand clip. There aren't many around and most buyers have never heard one so the 121 becomes a 'holy grail'. Rather like the old 409 mic that guitarists want on their cabs because 'SRV used one'; these come in around £350-400 and God knows if the counterfeiters are slipping some into the market.

One has to ask oneself which audience Fender are addressing with this initiative. Is it the consumer? Because there is little associational mileage to be gained from Messrs Hewson and Evans' participation in 'behind-closed-doors' board meetings. An 'Edge Tele' and an 'Edge Strat' would be far more effective in aligning the brand with U2. Thereafter, things become a bit more problematic. The Bono sig Gretsch is already out there. Edge is more associated with Vox amps than with Fender, despite a few old Tweeds lurking at the periphery of his stage rig. A bells and whistles Edge delay seems unlikely given that Fender's recent re-entry into the effects market is very much a toe in the water at the low end. Perhaps the marriage is intended to appeal to 40-something hedge fund bigwigs who might lob some cash into a revived FMIC IPO. Otherwise - as WoT so aptly encapsulated in post #1 - WTF?

Buried further down the piece: [quote]'The appointment of Bono and the Edge to the Fender board follows the company’s April announcement of Bob Roback as President and member of the board of directors. Roback, who joined from Dashbox where he was CEO, is driving the development of Fender’s digital strategy.' [/quote] So Fender has a new President! But who is Bob Roback and what does his previous employer Dashbox do? Well, Dashbox is "a cloud-based workflow management system for music licensing." Roback was also "managing director of The Media Farm, where he focused on owning and managing an IP portfolio for multi-platform exploitation". One wonders what Bono, the Edge and a techno-babbler will be bringing to the business of chopping out retro musical hardware by the barge-load. Factor in also that Fender's current CEO is an 'Interim' and doubts creep in. I smell BS. I sense imminent disaster.

[quote name='jmchich' timestamp='1401209989' post='2461236'] Les Creusets? [/quote][quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1401210425' post='2461248'] I don't think they are that heavy [/quote] Bump for a class gag. But no idea for a name, sorry.

I love Radio 4. They do all the stuff you think would be great on BBC TV except the BBC TV boys just want to do house sale shows and 'bleak' documentaries about people in tower blocks. They can bury me with a radio tuned to R4. It will pass the time nicely.

[quote name='sykilz' timestamp='1401265221' post='2461708'] I think for rock/pop the amount of radio play for an extended period of time is a major factor, lots of people never purchased much music so what they heard on radio 1 or 2 day after day eventually became classics because of repeated hearing. [/quote] There used to be a name for that phenomenon: 'A turntable hit'. God knows what they'd call it these days. A multi-friended torrent link or somesuch.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1400961685' post='2458680'] Something to do with a content tag? [/quote] Very mysterious. Probably a mod thing. Jeff Beck. Liked the early stuff and the rockabilly. The rest, I'll pass.

What I'd like to know is how to get that snazzy grey graphic into the topic title.

[quote name='BetaFunk' timestamp='1400950826' post='2458517'] The London Mozart Players do not only play music composed by Mozart. Once i saw them play two pieces by Beethoven (no Mozart) and another time works by Rossini, Schubert & Mozart. [/quote] Correctamundo. The LMP do not play exclusively the works of Mozart, though they [i]were[/i] founded specifically to perform certain Mozart pieces. For many years their repertoire centred on Mozart and his contemporaries. Their tour of China this year mostly comprises Mozart pieces. You are correct in an absolute sense, but I think you get my general drift. [quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1400952827' post='2458549'] The whole Rutles thing is really funny but there's no doubting the musical pedigree of the band members [/quote] Thanks for the heads-up. Never realised Ricky Fataar played drums for The Beach Boys. [quote name='BassTractor' timestamp='1400954413' post='2458569'] Also, this great line opens a new perspective: that of tribute through your own compositions, like XTC's open tribute to the Beatles. [/quote] Loved the Dukes Of Stratosphear stuff.

[quote name='BetaFunk' timestamp='1400877403' post='2457903'] I'm sure that the experts on here will tell me different but there can't be many (if any) symphony orchestras that perform music by just one composer (the original thread was about tribute bands). [/quote] True that the big ones have varied programmes. But there are plenty of performing ensembles that specialise in different periods or genres - Early Music, Baroque, Choral, etc. It is the same when one drills down to specific composers. For example, The London Mozart Players have been around since the fifties. And certain performers become known for their affinity for certain tunesmiths. While known for his interpretations of many different composers, Alfred Brendel has recorded the complete Beethoven Piano sonatas no less than three times in his career. The thing about interpreting classical composers (particularly the better-known and more popular) is that the performer is expected to bring a highly personal component to the exercise of reading off a pad. Their success - or otherwise - is judged upon their 'faithful' rendition of the piece in an [i]individualistic[/i] way. This was brought home to me the other night when on Classic FM I heard an orchestra (I forget which) deliver the overture to Figaro as if they had been liberally dosed with amphetamines. Jesus, I thought, they're fairly rattling through that.

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1400872265' post='2457832'] That's an interesting example where the cover is so very different to the original version that they are almost like completely different songs. [/quote] And yet so similar to the 1964 Stones cover that they might be the same band. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jc8_Qs_y-xs[/media] Of course, if the current non-original Feelgoods line-up played the original Feelgoods cover of the Stones cover of the Bobby Troup original a black hole would form and we'd all die. [color=#ffffff].[/color]

[quote name='Kiwi' timestamp='1400840731' post='2457404'] It would be nice to see if a rotary control or pot could be fitted to vary the sag. [/quote] Maven Peal offer a 'variable sag circuit' with their amps so it would seem it can be done. Dunno if it's continuously variable or a fixed rotary click-set of different resistor ratings. And would it work with a single-ended amp? Best ask yer tech!

[quote name='stingraybassman' timestamp='1400599039' post='2455323'] I wondered what you guys feel is reasonable to charge a band. [/quote] Whatever you would charge anyone else for your time - you're not a charity. Maybe lower your quote if you think they'll be nice people and easy to work with and there's a chance of repeat work. Double it if they show signs of being a one-off PITA. Oh, and get the cash upfront because - sure as fate - [i]someone[/i] in the band (or one of their relatives) won't like the outcome and they'll have to 'have a band meeting about it' before they cough up. [color=#ffffff].[/color]

[quote name='Jus Lukin' timestamp='1400491229' post='2454254'] It's worth factoring in that my relationship to playing is simply that I love to be doing it- almost to the point of addiction. The material is immaterial, so long as it is played well, and I get a goofy grin across my chops whether I'm bashing out a heavy rock original, or playing a cover of Dolly Parton. I just can't make much distinction, either because I just like it all, or because the threat of cold-turkey blinds me to the difference! I'm just glad of any opportunity to play really. [/quote] A 24 carat gold post and one around which we might all unite. There's a view that says originals permit one to 'express oneself'. Fair enough, yet just as surely one can equally well express oneself through other peoples' music. Which is what we mostly do, unless we ourselves are the writers.

[quote name='BassTractor' timestamp='1400432135' post='2453785'] Ellesley? [/quote] Indeed. Arthur Ellesley, Viscount Basie.