SumOne

They look like generic modern cool 'boutique' pedal designs. I think the older designs stood out more as Aguilar.

Sell individual pedal to buy multi fx, then sell multi fx to get individual pedals. Repeat forever.

Gregory Isaacs, Mr Cop Uncredited but I'd bet that's Lee Perry on production.

Jim bought a couple of Pedals from me and it all went well with fast payment and good communication.

Tortuga are worth a listen:

I don't think I ever will be 100%. It is like being 100% satisfied a car or house or bike - tastes and needs and technology change over time.

The new Empress Para EQ looks great, but at £399 is about double what I'd pay. https://www.andertons.co.uk/empress-effects/empress-paraeq-mkii-deluxe-parametric-eq-pedal

At least three of my Bass heros from different genres never (or very rarely) changed strings: Robbie Shakespeare, Bernard Edwards, James Jamerson. That's reason enough for me (and the fact I'm lazy!).

Yeah, they still have a certain 80s vibe to the look though that a lot of bands aren't into.

Legator (a brand I'd never heard of) have a headless Bass 'Wreith' that looks like a copy of the Ibanez EHB 1005 MS, right down to the colour options of black and sea foam green. Longer scale lengths at 34"-37" though, and more expensive at £1,466 from Thonmann: Has anyone here played one? I like the idea of the longer scale length than the Ibanez EHB, Dingwall scale but a bit lighter and headless should be good. https://www.thomann.de/gb/legator_wraith_wr5f_bk.htm

New headless & fretless from Ibanez: https://www.ibanez.com/na/products/detail/ehb1005f_1p_01.html

I took that as confirmation that headless can sound as good as normal Basses. Seeing as they are shorter, lighter, better balanced and less likely to knock out of tune they seem the better choice to me. ..... Apart from the thing none of them discussed - the look is just a step away from keytars! I'm not fussed, but a lot of people are, that must limit sales and its probably why not many get made.

Beige Flag

Add this after the OC-2 for some good brown sound:

Music generally sounds funkier when it isn't precicely quantized, I expect Verdine knew what he was doing.

I think so. Its confusing they are both called 1/2" but actually fit headstock holes of 11/16" and 5/8". Also would be a lot simpler if they just used metric.

Perhaps here: https://www.btnmusic.co.uk/hipshot-us-licensed-ultralite-bushing-sizes/

I think it might be down to the very annoying fact that the 1/2" USA vs 1/2" licensed actually fit different headstock holes: "The 1/2" USA Ultralite fits an 11/16" (17mm) headstock hole, while the 1/2" Licensed Ultralite fits a 5/8" (16mm) headstock hole." https://hipshot.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360020825572-What-s-the-difference-between-Licensed-and-USA-Ultralite-tuning-machines-

For that sort of budget new from Thonmann I'd go for an Ibanez SR 300.

Pete Tong 'The year in Dance 2022' show https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001g0wy The cynic in me thinks dance music hasn't moved on much since my clubbing prime (and dance music's prime?) 25 years ago, but some tunes on that show are bangers - got me a bit misty eyed about youthful optimism and hedonism! These ones in particular, you'd have to be a cold hearted cynic to not find joy in them!

Fred again

I assume that streaming has something to do with it as that is how most people consume music now and is is part of where they get the top 10 listening stats from. Perhaps streaming somehow localises listening whereas physical sales can be more dominated by big international labels with big distribution and global advertising deals?

One possible good thing with streaming : "UK artists dominate Top 10 singles of 2022 for first time since records began" "For the first time since year-end charts were introduced more than 50 years ago, British artists have made up the entirety of the year’s 10 most popular songs in the UK." The UK’s Top 10 most popular singles of 2022 1 Harry Styles – As It Was 2 Ed Sheeran – Bad Habits 3 Fireboy DML & Ed Sheeran – Peru 4 Cat Burns – Go 5 Ed Sheeran – Shivers 6 Kate Bush – Running Up That Hill 7 Glass Animals – Heat Waves 8 Lost Frequencies and Calum Scott – Where Are You Now 9 LF System – Afraid to Feel 10 Sam Fender – Seventeen Going Under https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/jan/04/uk-top-10-singles-of-2022-were-all-by-british-artists-harry-styles