EssentialTension

[quote name='throwoff' timestamp='1333378154' post='1600810'] ... price on enquiry ... [/quote] I'd quite like one but ...

It looked like one of these: [url="http://www.bassmute.com/bassmute/bm_mainframe.html"]http://www.bassmute...._mainframe.html[/url] EDIT: Hmmm, beaten to it by half an hour!!!

Albert King did it on guitar:

[quote name='hiram.k.hackenbacker' timestamp='1333276538' post='1599414'] ...I've yet to see any challenging bass lines being played like that. [/quote] You never saw this band?

Very good.

[quote name='Count Bassy' timestamp='1332496849' post='1589033'] I just bought some Status hotwire 'ground wounds' and the packaging said 'Designed by status and made in the UK' - or something similar (packets at home - I'm at work), which suggests that do not actually make them themselves. [/quote] That does sound like someone else does the manufacturing to Status' requirements.

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1332529624' post='1589745'] I think we agree. Such judgements [u]are[/u] subjective. [/quote] No, we don't agree, but that's life.

[quote name='tauzero' timestamp='1332461973' post='1588847'] But if a piece of music can be addressed objectively, surely it's failed as music? ... [/quote] And what are your criteria for saying that? Anyway, I'd say the opposite. If music has nothing to it that can be adressed objectively then it not only fails as music, it fails in any and every other way too. If music was purely subjective then it could never communicate anything. [quote name='tauzero' timestamp='1332461973' post='1588847'] ... After all, music is about the subjective, not the objective. That applies to the composition, the performance, and the listening. [/quote] I have no grasp of why you would say that music is about the subjective and not about the objective. For a start, music can be learned, and that applies to composition, performance and listening and all three of those have objective elements. I don't and wouldn't claim that there is no subjectivity at all in music but to claim there is only subjectivity seems to me wholly bizarre.

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1332442011' post='1588515'] More worthy by what criteria? [/quote] I could equally ask you 'equally worthy by what criteria?'. However, if you’re wanting one simple empirical criterion there isn’t one, nor a list of empirical criteria to tick off. It doesn’t work like that. Value (or worth) judgment is a skill that, like any other skill, is learned and needs to be practised. People may have more or less natural ability but it’s learned from teachers, from role models, and through practice; but that doesn’t stop there being difficult and disputable judgments. For example, whether [i]Sgt Pepper[/i] is more worthy or not than [i]Revolver[/i] is a difficult one, but whether [i]Revolver[/i] is more worthy than the Rollers’ second album [i]Once Upon A Star[/i] is a much easier judgement. Whether Beethoven is more worthy than Britney Spears is easy, but whether Beethoven is more worthy than Mozart is a much more difficult judgment. So, by what criteria do you judge Beethoven and Britney Spears or The Beatles and The Bay City Rollers to be equally worthy? Or are you saying that there are no criteria for such a judgement? In which case the claim that they are equally worthy is without foundation. So - just as you ask me ‘more worthy by what criteria? - I ask you ‘equally worthy by what criteria?’

[quote name='Stacker' timestamp='1332410400' post='1587786'] Th guy out of Love Affair on Everlasting Love [/quote] Session player, Russ Stableford.

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1332368751' post='1587501'] You're right, of course, that my opinion is subjective, but so is your choice not to pay attention to it. But doesn't that just reinforce the subjectivity of it all? [/quote] I didn't say I choose not to pay attention, I said there is no good reason to pay attention. It's a matter of logic not mere choice. While I would accept that opinions can have subjective elements and/or culturally relative elements, I don't accept that opinions are necessarily wholly subjective and/or culturally relative. Opinions can also be true or false, or partially so. So, I don't see at all that this 'reinforces the subjectivity of it all'; I want to deny 'the subjectivity of it all'. So, I'm not really claiming that your opinion is subjective rather that the claim that these opinions are merely subjective is incoherent and, in fact, false. [quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1332368751' post='1587501'] My point about there being no inherent worthiness in music wasn't meant to denigrate music, far from it, but rather to suggest that all music is equally worthy. [/quote] This is where we really differ because I don't accept that all music is equally worthy. For example, Beethoven actually is more worthy than Britney Spears; The Beatles actually are more worthy than The Bay City Rollers. [quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1332368751' post='1587501'] Yes, individuals will be able to give all sorts of reasons why one piece of music is better than another, but I'd bet there won't be a universal consensus - which is what we'd expect from such a subjectivity subject. [/quote] When it comes down to it, I'm not really interested in (or expecting) consensus, unanimous or majoritarian, including the common consensus that 'it's all subjective' which, illogically and incoherently as I claim, is then often stated as an obviously objective and absolute truth.

[quote name='blackmn90' timestamp='1332355790' post='1587275'] i get what your saying but documentaries on motown i have watched indicate that the songs were not written from feelings. There was a lot of depression in detroits black community and whoever started motown saw there was a need for music that would cheer people up. A BBC documentary on detroit described it as false happiness. I wouldn't call that authentic. [/quote] I think there can be little doubt that Motown was a business venture and was selling product successfully because people were made happy, albeit in a passing way, by its product but, nonetheless, Motown was serious about the content of its product even when it didn't address prevailing social and political problems. However, the problems of life are not merely social and political they are also personal and people do want - even need, I'd say - to hear songs about love and loss. I don't see how that makes it inauthentic. I'd also say that I don't really accept that authenticity is merely about feelings or about expressing oneself. However, there were Motown songs, especially in the late 60s and early 70s which were much more explicit in their references to social problems. Here's a couple of them: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01-2pNCZiNk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Qh-8ZMoLeY&

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1332355495' post='1587269'] I wonder what the general view would be about that statement if 'Motown' was replaced with 'Simon Cowell'? Or the Monkees perhaps? [/quote] Of course I wasn't claiming to be discovering what is the general view, which might well be that Motown is comparable with Simon Cowell or the Monkees. That's not my view. [quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1332355495' post='1587269'] Surely there is no inherent 'worthiness' in music, only subjective opinions. As such, I remain of the view that the basic premise of the thread is worthless. [/quote] I don't agree with the now very common view that there is no inherent worthiness in music or indeed in other art (or entertainment) forms and, following from this, that there are no standards. I am well aware that this is an unfashionable point of view but, put simply, I don't accept that 'it's all subjective'. The claim that 'it's all subjective' seems to me itself to be a subjective claim and so there's no good reason for me to pay any attention to it. However, if the 'it's all subjective' claim is intended as an objective claim then it is inconsistent and incoherent and there is still no good reason to pay any attention to it. No need to tell me you don't agree, I already know that.

[quote name='dlloyd' timestamp='1332348757' post='1587096'] I'm just not sure your definition is valid... is this "inauthentic"? [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtAzaQ_fd-A&feature=fvwrel[/media] [/quote] Authentic

[quote name='blackmn90' timestamp='1332337293' post='1586846'] Well yes, pretty much all of Motown with a few exceptions like Marvin Gayes whats going on. [i][b]The artist's had virtually no choice in what they were singing.[/b][/i] Its not worthless, there are many people who play music to please themselves but very few of them gain a big following. [/quote] I'd say Motown was authentic. You're making a mistake in categorising who the artist is. The artist is not the singers, that's just marketing; the artist in this case is the whole Motown setup: lyricists, composers, arrangers, musicians, singers, producer, etc. And it made money as well as these artists expressing themselves - those two not being mutually exclusive.

[quote name='The Bass Doc' timestamp='1332282868' post='1586226'] Oops, and in colour this time:- [attachment=103078:IMG_0002.jpg] [/quote] Even better in colour.

Great pic. Here's an interesting link: [url="http://www.realvintage.it/archivio/slab_pbass67eng.html"]http://www.realvintage.it/archivio/slab_pbass67eng.html[/url]

[quote name='The Bass Doc' timestamp='1332281700' post='1586202'] No need to apologise John. I met Leo Fender and that trumps everyone here [/quote] Go on, show us the picture again.

Anyone want to dispute or add to this list: D'Addario (Fender) DR Dunlop Elixir Ernie Ball Gallistrings GHS (Lakland, Overwater?) La Bella (Sadowsky) Mapes Newtone Picato (Overwater?) Pyramid Rotosound Status Thomastik

[quote name='BassBod' timestamp='1332171352' post='1584220'] I think the Ernie Ball company was originally a string maker/seller before taking over Music Man? I may be confused, but that's how I remember it. There was also a huge manufacturer called Mapes (or similar) who made them for lots of companies, but never had their own brand. Not sure if they still exist, but I'm sure Google will tell us..... [/quote] [size=4]Are you thinking of The Mapes Piano String Company[/size]?

[quote name='leftybassman392' timestamp='1332280594' post='1586179'] No way to avoid it unfortunately. Don't even think about cheating HMRC out of their money - a heavy fine and/or prison would be the likely outcome. Walking through customs when nobody's home is one thing (but then you'd need to travel to the States to pick it up - defeats the object - and is still illegal strictly speaking), but defrauding HMRC is a whole different ball game. [/quote] And they have the power to confiscate the goods.

[quote name='redstriper' timestamp='1332280326' post='1586171'] Who makes Fender strings? [/quote] D'Addario, I believe.

Thanks again everyone. He's now borrowed a trumpet and there may be a change of plan.

Hers's one at Musician's Friend for $3799.99: [url="http://www.musiciansfriend.com/bass/fender-custom-shop-66-slab-body-p-bass"]http://www.musiciansfriend.com/bass/fender-custom-shop-66-slab-body-p-bass[/url]

[quote name='dmz' timestamp='1332277861' post='1586100'] Has anyone ever made a replica ? Fender (US or JP), Tokai, Shuker, Bravewood etc etc [/quote] There was a Fender Custom Shop version about two or three years ago for $4000 or thereabouts.