mikel

31 minutes ago, 4000 said:

You’re really good at reading what someone has posted and running with it aren’t you?  🙄
Firstly, I was talking about all the basses I’ve ever played, which is clearly stated in my post. I also play everything acoustically before plugging it in, So that cuts out amps, speakers etc. Yes, strings and action plays a part, but everything plays a part, which is kind of the point. 

And hey, it’s not my fault if you’ve got cloth ears. 
 

 

Well, if you only ever play your basses acoustically you must have great ears, but how does anyone else hear them?

2 hours ago, TheGreek said:

Congrats to those who have managed to keep this Off topic for so long...

Why is discussing the merits of basses in general off topic?

On 09/02/2021 at 12:35, 4000 said:

Depends how good your ears are. They all sound very different to me. In fact I’ve hardly played any two instruments across thousands, of any make or type, over 40 years of playing, that sound exactly the same. 

Having no dead spots, no fret buzz etc (although I personally like a bit of buzz) doesn’t mean 2 instruments will sound the same. 

I envy your magic ears. The reason all those famous P  bass players sound different could easily be down to the strings and action they prefer, pickups, the amp and speakers they use, how they boost or cut the tone and the processing involved. I can get the sounds I like to hear out of almost any half decent bass, so I like to think I am lucky not to have magic ears.Saves me a fortune.

1 hour ago, 4000 said:

But each individual instrument, although  they’re all P Basses, may sound different. I’ve had something like 20 Rickenbackers, but only one of them is The One. And of course it’s only The One to me. Doesn’t mean it would be for anyone else. 

Possibly, but they shouldn't sound that different. In my experience an instrument is either right or wrong, ie no dead spots,no fret buzz, no high action, no crackles or flat pups, but that is down to quality control, or lack of it.

12 hours ago, Doddy said:

Your debate is far from robust.

First off, I'm not talking about Pino's fretless playing. I'm talking about his Precision Bass work, which is why I compared all those guys. All play a Precision bass, yet all of them sound different.

The audience might not know the difference between a Precision or a Jazz,  but we aren't on AudienceChat. It does, however, matter to musicians, band leaders and producers. 

Maybe you should know about Tim Lefebvre. It's not like he's top level player and big influence on a lot of players or anything.

So you could argue if they all play the same instrument, but they all sound different, then its not about the instrument. Its more likely about the amplification, the acoustics and the processing, not "the one". Just a thought.

I have to say, after years of playing bass, that most basses simply sound like, well....a bass to me. Amplified and in a band setting they pretty much sound the same to my ears. Apart from a Rick I can rarely tell any difference. As long as its playable and not too heavy anything would be my one.

14 hours ago, Steve Browning said:

"So, what's it got to do with you?" doesn't work then! 🙂

Yes it does. I laid the foundation for this very early by telling my wife that her money was her own and she didn't need to justify to me what she spent it on. Sauce for the Goose etc. Sneaky eh?

3 hours ago, 4000 said:

My missus hates me buying instruments as she thinks they clutter the place and are money that could have been spent elsewhere. Like many here I imagine, this has always made me wary of the new purchase, particularly since I’m now down to three electric basses, 2 Rics and a replica. This makes any non-Ric purchase a bit obvious, or so I thought.

So I was somewhat amused recently when I showed her a picture of a bass in the For Sale section (Hellzero’s W&T Zoid, a very visually unusual and distinctive instrument) saying how I’d really like one (sadly can’t currently afford it). She responded saying “haven’t you already got one of those?” Puzzled, I replied no, I hadn’t got anything like that. Then the penny dropped. The Zoid has a natural maple top. My Ric replica is natural maple. Apparently, that makes them the same. So all I have to do is make sure I get another bass in the same finish as one I already have and I’m ok. 😉

Never have that problem. Her money is hers to do with what she wishes. We each pay about the same for monthly bills and food, so as long as they are paid our money is our own to do what we each want.

On your final point, a mate of mine has 14 bicycles. All are road/race bikes and all are black. He finds it easy to introduce a new one with no arguments.

Great to hear two masters of their craft at work.

6 hours ago, EBS_freak said:

You're shouting at the wrong person.

In answer to your questions, yes you can - a lot of celebs have been caught out doing just that. Not illegal - as it's avoidance, not evasion. Just doesn't sit right with most - quite rightly.

The big corporations that are generally referred to, do pay the requisite taxes that are due in the UK - and in Amazons case, they, "they" been Amazon Luxembourg, adhere to those rules . The "perceived" problem seems to be with the tax laws that Amazon are correctly following - just so happens the tax liabilities for Amazon's circumstances aren't as high as the public would like to see.

It may be a monopoly - but it's a very important monopoly - and that's the crux of the issue. Pull the wrong pieces of string and it all comes crashing down. The government know that, Amazon know that. Stalemate. HMRC are well aware of who is paying what - and they will have done the calculations to see in which position the UK is better off - pulling the Amazon string or not.

You are still saying Amazon would pull out of Britain if they had to pay tax on their profits in this country. They would not, they wouldn't give up all that revenue. If the government allow big multinationals to do as they wish, at the expense of the local competition, it is tantamount to fraud.

54 minutes ago, EBS_freak said:

Well... I wouldn't agree with that at all.

Being a small trader, it's easier to be creative with accounts, blurring the lines between personal and commercial expense for example... it's easier to maximise your cash out of the business. It's easier to deal off the books in cash. Bought a new computer? Yes, that's for the business. A TV? Yes, that's for the business.

Additionally, payments of dividends out to a business owner, and say their spouse (who may not even do a days work for the company but are included by name only), maximise dividend payments out of the company. This brings more money into the shared household but without being subject to as much tax if it would as if only the true employee paid tax on their dividend. Of course, if you work for a larger company, you are a likely to be under the PAYE umbrella so taxed at source - but do appreciate you can still extract dividends. The pandemic has been really a really interesting rude awakening for those that have paid themselves a low wage and extract the majority of their earning from dividends... as Sunak doesn't appear to like people doing that... 

The really big companies pay minimal (corporation) tax - but they are still in line with the law (or should be) so in reality, they are better at tax avoidance as opposed to tax evasion. This is all within the boundaries of the law - and lets face it, they can invest the money so the bean counters can work out where the company is best placed to maximise profits and minimise operational costs. As T-H above states, the number of companies involved are relatively small - but say in the case of Amazon, it's worth remembering that they are an enabler for many other small businesses. The means a whole other stream of corporation tax and PAYE hanging off the bottom of those. Amazon offer up a shop front for independent traders, they create jobs not only within Amazon itself - but for the likes of third party couriers, manufacturers - such as cardboard box manufacturers...etc etc... and then when you factor in the likes of AWS, another Amazon offering, they are offering multiple businesses world class, international technology on which to host and build their online business. It simply makes zero sense for the government to p1ss off Amazon because the impact on so many reliant businesses would be catastrophic. Im not saying Amazon is right or wrong... but it's non-existence would have a MASSIVE impact on the UK economy... in fact, the world economy - that's how central it has become to the world's economy. They simply got super good at what they do - like most of the massive players... A world without Microsoft would put the economy and technology of the world back decades.

So you can base you company offshore and avoid tax can you? If the government are afraid to "fosters off" Amazon by making them pay due taxes for profits made in Britain then they are helping to create a monopoly, and robbing the public of tax revenue. Amazon are allowed to get away with unfair competition, they have become omnipotent through dodgy employmen and taxation practices. I am certain they would not stop selling in Britain if made to cough up their fare share of taxes, all businesses need is a level playing field. I have to, rightly, pay my taxes, why should ridiculously wealthy companies, who are the most able, be allowed to escape our tax system and put British companies under more unfair pressure.

12 minutes ago, taunton-hobbit said:

At the risk of sounding paranoid ( Moi? ), the pandemic has handed the authorities world-wide the moment they've all been waiting for - the chance to cut out a vast number of small traders and have most trade go through large companies whose accountancy is ( ahem ) probably more accurate. The deliberate tactic of attempting to decimate cash money in circulation is a case in point ( I don't suppose drug dealers accept cards? ), in an attempt to put the brakes on the black economy. Governments simply don't want small traders, hence the encouraging of the out-of-town shopping centres populated by large retail ( now coming to an internet site near you ) which will open up an interesting debate as to the future purpose of  these leviathans.

Interesting times ......

😎

But it tends to be small to medium size traders who pay their taxes, the really big ones manage to pay minimal tax, if at all. So where will the tax revenue come from?

Back in 1970 myself and two mates had give up motorbikes and bought instruments. Two of us playing guitars and the other of flute. We were big Tull fans. We were learning as we went along, as was the way back then, if we found a new chord we tried to write a song around it, none of your cover version tosh for us. One night in my parents living room the other guitarist began playing a chord sequence he had come up with so I joined in. After a few measures of this the flautist started playing over our sequence, then the other guitarist played something different over my chords. I followed them and began to listen for patterns to enhance or to subdue, and soon they followed my lead and we ebbed and flowed for about 15 minutes. When we finished we just looked at each other in shock and excitement. We knew bugger all about our instruments but we could improvise on the hoof, we could play off one another, we were musicians and the World was ours to conquer.

Probably stems from the music industry when session players were the norm on almost every record. They would be required to play within a tight structure and the bassist would have to play what the producer deemed correct, ie nothing above the fifth fret. Petty much the same as the drummer sticking to absolute basics, they were the musicians who got all the work.

Aye. Crivens, Jings and Help ma boab, it's Burns night. Sadly no prospect of hiring a piper to pipe in the haggis.

1 hour ago, ambient said:

Perfect example is France unilaterally shutting its borders to us just before Christmas.

Exactly. We live on a small island, closing our borders would have been the easiest thing to do. But what about the economy was the first thought of our administration. If our borders had been closed and we bit the bullet we could have been out of this by now, but no, do it half hearted and its still costing lives and money.

The Zoom BR and GR  pedals have surprisingly good drum sounds and lots of rhythms to play with. I use them to practice too but they can be recorded.

10 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

I think this is it, it will become another on the list that is managed but will still sadly take lives, it’s probably the best we can hope for, as well as imo the most realistic outlook.

Well possibly, but I dont recall front line hospital staff being killed when treating Flu cases. There are also covid victims in their 20s, with no underlying health issues, on long term ventilators. Its not simply another Flu like illness.

2 hours ago, Al Krow said:

I'm amused that certain learned gents, who should know better, find it difficult to understand the difference between a "vaccine" and "test and trace". That point is not rocket science, surely?

128 days till May 31st - just an educated guess, nothing more / nothing less. When you're not employed by the State, particularly if you're running a business employing others, it's something you have to be doing all the time. (And tbf it's not something limited to folk working in the private sector just have to do - plenty in the Public sector in leadership / management positions are having to make educated guesses very regularly too).

Let's hope the date pub and other gigs restart is sooner rather than later, whether or not we get there by the end of May, for the sake of the hospitality industry in the UK which has been the whipping boy in this pandemic.

And I'm delighted that we are rolling out the vaccine at record pace across the UK - it's great news for all our elderly and frail. Something to be celebrated and credit where it's due.

Everyone is aware of the difference, it seems its only you who cant grasp the point being made about claiming "World class" status, for anything. Who cares, just do what is needed to get us out of this and stop making stupid nationalistic claims.

1 hour ago, Al Krow said:

Doh! Not really that difficult to understand what a vaccination is and that it is not the same thing as test and trace, I would have thought? 

My point, which you obviously missed, was that making spurious claims regarding the "World beating" quality of anything is very much propaganda until proven to be so. As recent Covid history in Britain has shown.

10 hours ago, Al Krow said:

Nope, straight up (for some pub gigs anyway).

That's 16 weeks away. A lot can improve in that time, as crap as things seem right now.

We have the best vaccination programme in Europe here in the UK, by some margin; and one of the best in the world.

You mean they are as good as our "World beating" test and trace system? You are Mat Handcock and I claim my £10.

4 hours ago, Maude said:

Did they really have to play, 'In League With Satan', from 'Welcome To Hell' backwards to discover it might contain "messages" about The Devil. 😂😂

 

Well, I was force fed Christianity at school for 10 years, and went to Sunday school till I was 9, and I still don't buy religion. How listening to a song that mentions Satan could turn you into a Satanist is a question worth considering. Americans eh?

16 hours ago, binky_bass said:

I'm looking at buying a full and complete kit, likely pre-owned to get the best bang for buck, rather than upgrade bits and pieces, so at my price point (circa £1000) I'm almost certain that would be mesh heads all round! I'm definitely only interested in a mesh head set up for sure.

I use a mid range Carlsbro kit. The mesh heads are tuneable for tension so you can match the feel and bounce of your acoustic kit. The cymbals are a problem feel wise, too heavy and ridged, but most e kits suffer from this. The bass drum is also crucial to an e kit as it is this that causes a lot of the extraneous noise, and keeping noise down is one of the big reasons for going electronic.

21 minutes ago, Nail Soup said:

I've always liked Taxman musically but I always feel conflicted because I don't like the lyrics.

So It's good that SRV has made a version which removes the conflict 😉!

 

I thought at that time Taxman was the Beatles best lyrically. Sums up the tax system of the time perfectly. How would millionairs today like to pay 95% tax?

Every Little Thing by Yes. The awakening of prog rock.