chris_b

I wouldn't own a car and not drive or own clubs and not play golf. From the first time I played my Spanish guitar with my mate Pete at school, I have loved playing with other musicians. IMO the music that people make together beats playing anything on your own. Then I discovered audiences and I was hooked. In my view, public performance is the pinnacle of being a musician. I've just got back from a pub gig in Solihull. Part of a Blues and Jazz festival that's being held in town. This was certainly a long drive, but it was a good band, good audience and financially worth it so, win-win-win.

The ramp gets in the way of everything. That's it's job. It's intended to force the player who uses a "full blooded" plucking or digging in technique to skate over the top of the strings. I'd use a ramp if you play like the former but want to change to the latter. It has no use if you dig in and want to continue playing like that, or you already play over the pickups. They are already doing the job of a ramp for you.

IMO, even with the pick there is the distinctive thud of flats.

It doesn't develop anything, but is supposed to prevent players from plucking too far under the strings. So if you already have a good technique a ramp will be of no use at all.

I would suggest Gibson already know how to make great instruments and they've already taken the first step on the road to recovery. . . they fired the old management. Apparently the idiots who ran Gibson set unachievable targets for the numbers of instruments that had to be made every day, so the only way to not get fired was to cut corners and rush the instruments out the door. If Gibson re-focus on quality not quantity then they might turn the company around. I would imagine everyone concerned has already had a Cease and Desist letter. Some guys will respond positively, ie Dingwall, others will drag their heels. If anyone is challenging these letters in court then the others will probably hang back and wait for the outcome.

Which amp? D class and SS just use 2 ohm. Valve might be different and need an exact match.

No. This is just one of many things the Gibson management will be addressing as they put their own "house in order".

I'l wear Spandex but I'm not sure the publicity will be the sort your band wants!!

All you guys who are gigging inspite of not liking it. . . . call me. I'll do all those nasty, uncomfortable, pesky gigs for you.

If that is true then the result of the case is wrong. Arrangement is not copy-writeable. When Puff Daddy made his version of Every Move You Make, Sting got paid for his song. Andy Summers didn't because, although his distinctive guitar line was used, it wasn't covered by copy-write. The Gaye/Thicke case was never the correct application of the law.

I still don't see how the Gaye family won this case. It's the same bpm and both use a cow bell but the songs are not the same. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziz9HW2ZmmY

Most of the boutique guitar makers have their own designs, but so they can make any kind of living will also have a take on "Fender" and/or "Gibson" instruments. The Mike Lull T Birds are so much better than the originals, but I guess he'll be stopping those as well. As I said, this is not a problem if Gibson fill the void they are creating with great and well made instruments.

Poor old Van. He's bitter and twisted to the max. Having a drink problem and being seriously ripped off in the early days (he still only gets about 0.5% for much of his early material) doesn't help.

When Gibson have dealt with these legacy issues, they have to ensure that they put the quality (that's been missing for a decade or two) back into their instruments and that price points are realistic. I know 2 guitarists who started buying Gibson copies from Japan because they wouldn't live with the shortcomings of Gibson instruments. If Gibson can get guys like this back then their company might have a future.

Anyone with a Gibson "copy" on their catalogue had better be reassessing their instrument line up, because Gibson is coming for them. The new Gibson management are trying to dig their company out of the hole the previous management left it in, and re-establishing their copyrights/patents, whatever legally covers this thing, has to be high on their, very long, to do list. It might be annoying to players but as far as Gibson are concerned, rescuing their designs has to be part of any good business plan.

. . . . on the other hand, who is doing the stealing? For a couple of decades now, a very large part of Youtube and the rest of the internet has been full of stuff being reproduced without permission or payment to the original artist or writer. The artists seemed to have largely given up the fight over the use of their property, but I'm surprised that the publishers have taken so long to get to grips with the internet. Now they have, the genie appears to be being put back into the bottle! Currently the pendulum appears to have swung too far the other way, but in the end I would imagine the best course of action is for the owners and users of copyrighted material get together and form licence agreements for what they need.

Bassdirect at Warwick would be a good place to look.

Depends why you picked up a bass in the first place. Maybe people should have played golf instead.

Pretty early on I realised that the gig is the only reason I play bass. It's not why I picked up the instrument. After that first gig I was traumatised, but after the second gig I was hooked. The bigger the audience the bigger the buzz when you get it right. Trying to be a better musician and come together and excel as a band is the challenge and when you get it right there is no better feeling. When an audience is enjoying itself and you know that's because of you, it just brings a smile to your face. The journey, the idiots you meet, the miles you have to travel, unsocial hours, the years of practice, getting ripped off, cheated and treated badly by agents, managers, promoters and other band members etc. . . all fades away if you get those few hours on stage right.

Get your sound out of the Sei. Make Marcus Miller jealous 'cos he doesn't sound like you.

The oldest thing I'm still gigging with is my 30 years old Whirlwind instrument cable. It had a guarantee period of 25 years. That made me laugh at the time, but hey, they were right! It shares duty with my OBBM cable. Oldest stuff that I've still got lying around. . . . the VOX name plate and front cloth, off my Foundation cab, circa 1966. Also a set of used Rotosound strings and a Framus Star bass bridge from the same era. My shed is an Aladdin's cave of useless junk, if you are my wife, or what I would describe as a store of interesting memorabilia! I also still have my Precision, which I bought new in March 1969, sitting in its case right behind me.

If you think these cabs sound good together then run them on a gig and see if gig volume exposes any chinks, but I'd have thought the BBT and a One10 will be a pretty unbalanced pairing, putting a strain on the One10.

My clear sound (at any volume) is Aguilar AG700 or Thunderfunk TF750 amps through 2 Barefaced 112 cabs.

If your sound is being smothered and you need to be heard in a band that is too loud then one way is to clean up your sound. I dep with a very loud guitarist and while I am not as loud as his regular bass player, apparently I am more easily heard out in the room, because my gear has a better definition and cuts through. +1 for hearing protection. Start using it while you know you don't need it!

Would we tell anyone else what instruments or sounds they should be using? I'm surprised at the stories about people who feel it's appropriate to tell the bass player how to do their job? If someone you respect offers constructive criticism then take notice but don't wast your time listening to negative nonsense from people who don't know a bar of music from a bar of soap.