Sibob

Not meaning to sound like a Harbinger of doom, but production deals *can be* bad times! Not saying this one is, but I've seen some very poor ones on paper. I assume that because a Major label is part of the production deal, that they have first dibs on the artists recording career should the production team tick all the boxes. The bad side of these deals is that even after the production company has signed over the artist to a record label for release, they still take a slice of the royalties, perhaps even past the initial album as I've seen in past agreements (one that didn't get signed I might add). It is also sometimes the case that they have some creative control of the artists musical output and also can take cuts of other income streams such as Merchandise etc, which should really be kept wholly by the band if they can help it! To be honest, without seeing what clauses are in the contract, not much point in assuming! Si

So first off, the girl who 'got famous by doing webcasts' already had publishing and management deals in place, that afforded to do that! Also, has anyone heard of McFly since they left Island?, no unfortunately not (and I actually mean 'unfortunately', that kid writes some good pop songs). The Majors are fundamentally massive banks that can role out their PR machines to make a hit. The OP figures also seem to be a bit off, PR costs are around that I guess, but MOST artists won't even consider that until a label (to pay for it) is in place anyway, unless they're from rich parents.....and I know a couple of those lol. Good albums can be made for easily a £1000-£2000, if you have a bit of savvy and know-how about you, my bands album cost £1100, start to master, and it sounds great if I do say so myself. Gallows recorded their debut for about £1000 or so and that got them a 7 figure advance from Universal for their new album. Good videos, of television broadcast quality, can be made for under a £1000 Photoshoots cost around £100-200 with a decent photographer, but most people nowadays have, or know someone with, a decent camera and some photoshop knowledge!. It is true that very few labels now scout out gigging artists with A&R and pump them full of money. Most of the time they're looking for a successful touring artist in their own right because they know they probably won't make any money from CD sales. Most bands who build themselves a decent fan following, from a DIY perspective, long tours etc etc, will probably go ahead and record their own album anyway, and license it to a label that wants to put it out. This is what is happening mostly with the indie labels. The majors then tend to pick off the top the artists that survive their first 1 or 2 albums on an indie. Also I wouldn't say that the Indie's are 'flourishing' as such, they face the same problems as any major record label when it comes to maximising their revenue streams in such a difficult digital environment. But at the same time, because of their much smaller operating sizes, they are able to 'move with the times' a lot faster than the majors. So while I agree that a band has to have a 'successful business model' to gain some industry recognition, I'm not sure that they need 15k capital to make it happen. I would probably say that the biggest costs are touring anyway, with petrol and merch etc, but again, if you're pulling in decent crowds, you're probably on an alright guarantee and so at least breaking even per show. No-doubt i'll edit and add stuff to this! Si

I picked up an Allparts Jazz neck on the forum here for £60 a couple of years ago! And generally the unfinished ones are cheaper, albeit rarer second hand! Saw an unfinished body in Denmark street the other day (in Hanks I think), routed, £95. Not sure what wood, possibly Alder Si

+1 for their general vibe as a shop! Popped in there after just before xmas '08 when I learned that they had moved, just to check the shop out really as Colchester is my home-town (although not my town of residency anymore). And Darren spent a fair amount of time talking about their stock and what things they had happening, we spoke about my want for light-weight cabs and what they were looking at over at NAMM. I had a bit of a look at basses, had a play through some cabs and went away thinking that I'd give them my business if I ever bought anything 'new' again! So yes Well done! Si

Richard Bona - Bona Makes You Sweat (live cd), amazing grooves, energy, playing, everything Gabriel Nelson - Cake, any album, get them all (although he didn't play on the Fashion Nugget album) Jim Creeggan - Barenaked Ladies, any album but probably 'Gordon' has the most 'chops' on it, great playing and phenomenal song-writing throughout their career Lovely Si

Nice one, the Classic Vibe look great!! I recently bought a Squier Deluxe 5, and completely agree that Squier have upped their game! Rather impressed! Si

I know it's not a Fender, but you did ask about other 'makes' as well! Mine is a refinished Fender body with a Shuker rock maple neck and birdseye maple fingerboard! [url="http://imageshack.us"][/url] Si

As far as I'm aware, most string makers use a standard sized core, although I might be wrong! You also get different shaped cores that affect tension and feel, round and hex cores. As far as I'm aware, different sized cores are generally just available from custom-wound string makers. Si

In my orignals band, I have two basses setup in drop C standard, so: C, F, Bb, Eb I use custom wound 45 - 105 high tension Newtone strings. The trick isn't always in the guage, its also a lot to do with the core size. Make the core bigger and you can have almost any guage you want whilst retaining a higher tension, therefore allowing a lower action without buzzing. My drop C basses don't have an action as low as my standard tuned basses obviously, but it's pretty damned close, considering I'm using such a relatively thin guage for the tuning Si p.s. Oh and they cost the same as a set of Elites/Rotos

Cheers for the input Beedster. I'll give the bass a couple of gigs through my rig and see where I'm at. Just playing about at home through my practice amp makes me think that the preamp is alright, and its the pickups letting the side down a tiny bit....we shall see! Hmmmm, Nordstrands or Dimarzios :-P Si Edit: Although I've just thought, I think I read in here about someone having problems with changing their Squier 5 pickups because of the sizes. They're like 5 gubbins stuffed into 4 cases....or something. Time to investigate

Thanks for the comments guys, tis all food for thought! What are peoples general views on electronics? Is it generally a preamp or pickups that can let the other down, and therefore usually the first to change. All my basses are passive, so I'm a bit 'Active' naive Cheers Si

So I'm jumping the gun here a little bit, and probably being a little unfair to the, as yet untested, preamp in my new Squier Deluxe 5. But I'm interested to know peoples views on the Sadowsky preamp found in the basses ([b]not the pedal/DI[/b]). Obviously I realise that I'm not gonna get a Sadowsky sound from a squier, but all this talk of them recently has piqued my interest. Do people miss the mid control?, I think I'm right in saying that the onboards are all 2 band!? Yeah, just peoples general views on the sound of their sadowskys really, compared to other pre's!? Thanks Si

[quote name='EBS_freak' post='482957' date='May 8 2009, 02:24 PM']Don't touch it! It looks great as it is![/quote] I couldn't agree more, it's looks very individual in my collection, even next to my all white (w/ white pickguard) P-bass. The only thing I'd say about it as a negative, is that the headstock colour is very slightly different to the body, doesn't bother me in the slightest, but is probably the only thing that gives away it's budget heritage! Other than that it feels and sounds solid, yet to gig it yet though.....really looking forward to it! Si

Yeah I think it looks pretty sweet! There are no holes for a pickguard, it is stock sans pickguard, so I would have to drill holes to add one....not really much point! Si

Well I better come clean!! Bought a Squier Deluxe 5 string from our very own Ruairidh. Still needs some new strings, but I setup the truss rod/action/intonation and it's a fantastic bit of kit for the cash I paid! Can't wait to get it out and about! I'm interested in how the Preamp and P'ups will perform, If I'm not happy with them, I might swap them out further down the line! Si p.s. Just using Ruairidh's photos for now! p.p.s. The pics with the gf will have to wait for now, she kept vetting them cos she 'looked bad' lol, typical

Plenty of FSOF updates Si

It arrived Just giving a bit of a setup, then will post some pics......whether or not they will be with the gf is yet to be seen! Si

Steal Your Kisses is a groove-song man, have a listen, look at the (3) chords and play what you wanna play Juan plays some mean licks on it, but live he never plays it the same, great song to mess about with! Si

[quote name='Geek99' post='477948' date='May 2 2009, 08:31 PM']You should. Mine went one better and actually bought ME one.[/quote] Haha, this is gonna turn into one-up-manship of bass tolerant other-halves Mine asked the other day what Bass i'd like if she won the lottery/gets a sexy big advance for her band lol I said a '62 jazz She said ok I said they're about £50,000 she still said ok lol Si