Beedster

Sorry, but when the dancers came into shot I genuinely thought it was going to be French & Saunders, I laughed out loud. Probably says a little too much about me, sorry. I like the bass tone, and the drumming is great, but am not getting the current wave of instrumental bands of obviously highly talented musicians playing what sounds to my ear like 1970's lift music. There also seems to be a generic vibe about them all, a certain aesthetic in visual style from the physical surroundings to the body language and facial expressions of the musicians. Perhaps I'm just in bad mood, I'll have to go back to the bit when the dancers come in again

Had the Fissuregate thread started that way it might still be going

Like fissuregate, as time goes on, that gap gets increasingly bigger and both sides tend to lose their grasp on the original issue, and that only gets a whole lot worse once us internet lot get involved

Hi Nicko, much appreciated, many thanks. I'll take a look at the manual and online stuff and get back to you. Any device with midi will sync with Pro Tools I imagine, I think that some - especially more recent models - do it more seemlessly than others (I might be wrong, as I said above, I've never really used midi). Thanks for your help Chris

Thanks Dad! I'd like a drum machine that is operated like the machines I'm used to using and which I can use live if needs be (when I say 'live' I mean for practicing and rehearsing without needing a computer in the room, specifically for writing with bandmates of making music with the kids ahead of my 6-year old's inevitable journey towards a full kit), but which links with Pro Tools easily. I tried EZ Drummer and to be honest found it unintuitive, which is probably a major part of the problem - when it comes to drum simulation my brain appears formatted to fully understand the logic of old school hardware and not the current interfaces and protocols of the VSTs. Re playing, I'm not sure I fully understand the options above, but I think that yes, I'm looking to create tracks piano roll style, which is how I've always done it (and I have NEVER used midi, perhaps I need to get into it more). Re style, I'm mostly going to be wanting to create low key small/jazz kit type drum tracks at the moment (the stuff I'm writing for the theme music is drums, double bass and possibly a little bit of jingly-jangly telecaster), but of course, down the line I might also want to be creating 'In the Air Tonight' big kit sounds. If the consensus is that I'm shooting myself in the foot trying to avoid VSTs, then I will take that feedback and take the plunge, and perhaps use an old school 16 quarter-beat display drum machine with the kids and to rehearse. However I'd prefer the same machine does both if possible Thanks for your help Chris

Folks, I am about to record some theme music for a series of podcasts and online educational programmes. I've used hardware drum machines in the past, and have recently been using a Beat Buddy, but these have been largely for live as opposed to recording applications. I've trialled a few virtual drum products but find them very hard to use, I like and am used to the feel and logic of hardware drum machines, I also seem to be a little prone to RIS in my wrist from excessive use of the mouse, so want to minimise mouse usage as far as possible. I'd like to find a decent hardware drum machine that will integrate as easily as possible with Pro Tools. I would also like one that can emulate real drum sounds as far as possible, I'm not really into 80's sounds! Lots of reviews out there seem to like the Arturia DrumBrute which seems reasonably priced, but of course the problem with hardware kits is that, unlike their virtual counterparts, you can't audition them first! Any thoughts/experience on this or others would be very welcome. Thanks in advance Chris PS when I say 'speaks to' I mean can sync with or create a click in Pro Tools

Yes they have haven't they, or perhaps eBay are just not responding to these things any more. Ric threatened legal action a few times I believe, I wonder if eBay or another organisation called their bluff? As I understood it Ric were trying to impose bans on pretty much anything that resembled one of their products without reference to the specifics of their copyright?

Yep, IFL in there with a few others. Watching that has made my day, thanks for posting ubit

He's not joking is he! I sent him a pretty terse message about it because it whizzed me off that despite having reported it to eBay, as had quite a few others, eBay being eBay had done FA (after all, it wasn't a fake Rickenbacker). My sense is that it's going to reappear as a Fender Custom Shop Bass

Ah yes

Ye, as well all know if we've tried to carry used strings are spares, they are a nightmare to get flats because the headstock ends spiral. There'd have to be pretty poor manufacturing QC to not notice that!

Lot of odd threads about at the moment

He declined my offer

Come on guys, where's your sense of humour? There's a Make Best Offer button there, let's all hit him with £3.50?

Fixed that for you (I'm sure others have done the same). I used to love the White Album, I don't know why but in the last five years over which I haven't listened to it at all, a look through the track listing makes me seriously question my former tastes. Re Hey Jude, love the Primal Scream-esque bass-line on the Love album

Many years ago I did a lot of work around identifying the instruments, strings and amps of a couple of to my mind iconic bassists (OK, Flea and Zender). Sadly, not only did using exactly the same equipment not make me sound anything like the target players, I probably sounded even less like them than I'd done on my former gear. Conclusion? Play an instrument and setup you're comfortable with and play in the style of the player you want to emulate. It was mention on strings in the OP that made me reply. I've found some strings (Fleas Bass Boomers for example) appear to make me sound bloody awful, others flatter my playing. I've no idea why, but I generally stick to the latter

That's nicely put Andy, and thanks for reporting. I went to see a bass that was advertised locally and which was clearly not a Fender, which a very nice lady had bought from eBay for her son believing it was. At first I thought she was the con-artist, but it became clear that she had sunk a lot of money on this bass and had been completely done (probably an Encore also).

There is, it's why there are so many wealthy Nigerian princes

A fantastic answer Phil, thanks so much. There's generally quite low understanding among musicians of the fact that the 'sound' and 'tone' of instruments, amps and cabs is created, or more correctly processed and at times biased and/or predicted (subjectively interpreted) in the brain. That our brains acquire certain priorities over time also explains why our tastes differ, and why two people can sometimes hear two different things from the one source. And in this context, never underestimate the power of prediction in relation to, for example the sound quality of a £10,000 set of speakers verses that of a £100 set of speakers

I think we can go around and around on the rights or wrongs of the buyer's approach. The bottom line as far as Adrian is concerned is that buying musical instruments is often an emotional process, and the logic underlying a buyer's decisions is often very far from what common sense dictates it should be. This thread has not perhaps changed the way we think about the basses in question - we all know stuff happens, errors are made, even the best people have bad days - but I think many of us feel differently about the business that makes them, and those feelings are the critical factor in the market place (look at What RH did to people's feelings about Rics). As is suggested above, given he runs a big business, Adrian is naive and/or arrogant for not recognising this simple fact of sales, for not saying "OK, let's get it sorted", and for doing so irrespective of his views of the objective rights and wrings of the situation. In fact, he is arguably acting not just arrogantly but irresponsibly (see the Ratner reference above), especially given that all indicators suggest that the market is about to get a whole lot harder. Is the bass worth what the buyer paid? Probably. Does the builder have a case? Yes. Is the buyer happy? No. The ultimate aim of a business is its happy customers.

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