Letter From The Editor

[nick@ibassmag]

[size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif][color=#292929][b]Welcome to ibass magazine; a digital-only bass magazine distributed via eDition. [/b][/color]

[color=#292929]It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to our brand-new bass magazine. By going digital, we aim to reach out to many more people and provide a more interactive platform for you to tell us your views, by finding us on Facebook, on Twitter or here in our new area of Bass Chat. Our goal is to build and encourage relations between the bass community while providing exclusive access to our most influential players and manufacturers. [/color]

[color=#292929]With ibass magazine, you're able to search, read and share digital content from anywhere in the world. Move seamlessly within each issue, zoom in on graphics, click on live hyperlinks and access exclusive interactive content.[color=#231e20] [/color]There's a small fee of £1.69 per issue, which allows us to continually develop the platform and make sure it doesn't become swamped with advertising. Or, save 40% when you sign up for a year's subscription. [/color]

Visit www.ibassmag.com and take a look around, create an account and sign in to view the current issue.
We're waiting to hear from you..

Nick Wells
Editor

www.ibassmag.com
www.facebook.com/ibassmagazine
www.twitter.com/ibassmag[/font][/size]

Edited November 17, 2011 by nick@ibassmag

[The Dark Lord]

Can you tell us something about how you cover bass and bass issues in your magazine? I have purchased many a bass mag (on paper) before only to find them covering TOO diverse a range of matters. It's a fact of life that a big percentage of bass players play Fender basses. I'm not sure exactly what percentage, but if I had to guess, I'd say that maybe 75% or more of the basses you see on stage are Fenders. Yet, the last two bass mags I read, one had NO Fender editorial content and the other hardly mentioned Fender. I'm not saying that 75% of the mag should be Fender based, but there should be a significant level of content dedicated so.

Also (damn, I can't remember what the Mags were called) but they also spent a lot of time talking about strange bass players who the majority of normal people would never have heard of.

So what am I likely to read?

[nick@ibassmag]

[color=#292929]We've split each issue into 4 main sections...[/color]
[color=#292929]To begin with we bring you up to date with all the latest goings on in the bass world.. introducing new gear, competitions and upcoming players, the latest news and releases plus our recommended listening.. visit www.kiosk.ibassmag.com and click on 'magazines' and then 'preview' to get a glimpse of the opening pages.. [/color]

[color=#292929]Then we move onto the main interviews - exclusively filmed for ibass. Bootsy Collins joins Jon Thorne and Hugh McDonald in issue one and we've already caught up with Pino Palladino, Marcus Miller, Duff McKagan and Richard Bona for future issues.. so all big name players. [/color]
[color=#292929]Why not check out our interview with Jon Thorne from the current issue, which we've posted here..

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtvP7su3WAg[/media][/color]

[color=#292929]We then move onto gear reviews, which this month features Fender's Anniversary Jazz and Precision bass demoed by Andrew McKinney. Not only can you look over each bass, get the specs and read what we think of them.. but you can actually hear what they sound like and judge for yourself. What's more, we recorded a bunch of vintage Fender's to see how they compare to these new 'best of' models..[/color]

[color=#292929]Finally, the tuition section, which is currently headed up by Scott Devine and Andrew McKinney.. with Stefan Redtenbacher joining them for issue 2. Each page features an exclusive video lesson along with performance notes and notation. [/color]

[color=#333233][color=#292929]There are also prizes to be won simply by subscribing.. including [/color]an autographed copy of Victor Wooten's ASOH-15, a Vanderkley 212MNT Custom Cabinet, 1 of 12 scholarships to Bootsy Collins Funk University, Radiopaq Duo headphones, 1 of 5 copies of Christian McBride's 'The Feeling' & HD downloads of Jon Thorne's 'Watching the Well', 1 of 5 copies of the Book of Orange Amplification and a case from Mono's Civilian Range..

www.ibassmag.com[/color]

Edited November 17, 2011 by nick@ibassmag

[LiamPodmore]

From that post above, this seems easily worth the (Quite small i would say) sum of £1.69 a month. I'll definately be subscribing come payday, as right now i don't even have £1.69 to my name.

Liam

[STU-SBL]

Hi Nick

When do you anticipate the iPad version being available ? Also, if anyone subscribes now can they switch / get access to the iPad version when it goes live?

Stu (Overwater)

[Machines]

The lower fee seems possible to me due to the lack of printing costs or distribution - it's a good business model if the content can match the established printed media and also draw enough people. Personally I prefer physical media rather than reading on a screen but others may be less concerned ! I'll check it out from a decent bandwidth connection tonight .

[Prime_BASS]

I have not checked this out yet but do recieve emails. that arnt too mobile friendly!!!

As a keen gear head(so to speak) im very much more interested in the raw facts rather than opinions that in printed media always tend to favour what ever is being reviewed. Everything cant be a great piece of gear. I know, I have had some stonkers.

Bass gear magazine (which is online) has great content and the transparency of actually doing tests that proove for or against a certain products say wattage output. Any markbass user knows that markbasses 300watts are considerable more powerful than a few other brands, through the simple fact that the power section is not outputting 300watts. Same can be said for speaker enclosures. manufacturers marketmen will spin anything to make it sound good on the face of it.

I feel as a consumer of both bass gear and bass magazines that somewhere there needs to be a transparency of what stuff is actually capable of.

[nick@ibassmag]

We're right in the thick of testing the iPad version and looking at different ways to bundle it with what's currently available online. We'll keep you posted, but do get in touch with any thoughts or suggestions.. we're not too far away now.

As for transparency in gear reviews, what we're trying to do with ibass is give you a general outline of what the product is and what it can/can't do, and then allow you to form your own opinions via video and audio examples. We're filming interviews with manufacturers and putting gear in the hands of pro players to test - that's working really well. We recently sat Stefan Redtenbacher down with a Zon Sonus and hit record!

We know how hard it is to form an opinion about new gear without trying it first hand. With this digital format we'd like to think we can get you a step closer.

www.ibassmag.com

[xilddx]

I'm enjoying it so far. I find the navigation a bit odd though. Some things don't work for me, like the recommended listening, it seemed to open random links, but I enjoyed the videos on there. I like the video interviews a lot, and Andrew McKinney's tutorial video is excellent.

I thought the gear reviews were far too short, unless I'm missing something.

I've by no means explored it all yet, But it's easy to see that £1.69 is a tiny sum of money for what looks like a truly useful online resource.

I don't agree with mercuryl that you should cover more Fender stuff though and target the boring common denominator. Keep it diverse and thought provoking.

[Jamesemt]

I'm very interested once the iPad version comes out

[Paddymick]

I decided the family would go hungry this weekend and stumped up my 1.69 too...

I was impressed with everything I saw, I actually think the clips with the gear reviews and the video tutorials put it a cut above print magazines! Although the Scott Devine video kept throwing me out.

The line up of current and future interviewees looks impressive too. I'll definitely take up a subscription, I'm interested to see how this will develop.

[nick@ibassmag]

Hi Paddy, thanks for the message..

And in case you're still having trouble with the Scott Devine video...

[url="http://www.youtube.com/user/ibassmag?feature=mhee"]http://www.youtube.c...ag?feature=mhee[/url]

[Paddymick]

Cheers Nick.

[pickle]

will this be available for android?

[BB3000S]

[quote name='Jamesemt' timestamp='1321615365' post='1441164']
I'm very interested once the iPad version comes out
[/quote]
Me too!

[BigRedX]

[quote name='mercuryl' timestamp='1321537633' post='1440305']
Can you tell us something about how you cover bass and bass issues in your magazine? I have purchased many a bass mag (on paper) before only to find them covering TOO diverse a range of matters. It's a fact of life that a big percentage of bass players play Fender basses. I'm not sure exactly what percentage, but if I had to guess, I'd say that maybe 75% or more of the basses you see on stage are Fenders. Yet, the last two bass mags I read, one had NO Fender editorial content and the other hardly mentioned Fender. I'm not saying that 75% of the mag should be Fender based, but there should be a significant level of content dedicated so.
[/quote]
IMO musical instrument publications are there to inform and introduce instruments and players the readers might not normally come across. You can go into pretty much any musical instrument retailer and try out a Fender bass make up your own mind. Unless you are very insecure you don't need anyone to tell you what to think about them.

I'm not saying that they should ignore common products like Fenders completely, but unless they come up with something radically new or different to their well-known products there's no reason to feature more than one in every 100 bass guitar reviews.

[RhysP]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1321695708' post='1441971']
IMO musical instrument publications are there to inform and introduce instruments and players the readers might not normally come across. You can go into pretty much any musical instrument retailer and try out a Fender bass make up your own mind. Unless you are very insecure you don't need anyone to tell you what to think about them.

I'm not saying that they should ignore common products like Fenders completely, but unless they come up with something radically new or different to their well-known products there's no reason to feature more than one in every 100 bass guitar reviews.
[/quote]
Hear hear!

[The Dark Lord]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1321695708' post='1441971']
IMO musical instrument publications are there to inform and introduce instruments and players the readers might not normally come across.
[/quote]
And the point of reviewing lots of products that readers won't come across, or ever use (since I guess more than 75% of basses in action are Fenders) is what exactly?
When all is said and done, since the majority use Fender basses, then there should be a lot of Fender content. At least one major review in every edition. Your one in every 100 comment is, in my opinion, worthy of ridicule. Bass mags struggle to succeed and I guess this one will be no different ... if it spends all of its time commenting on the obscure as you suggest.

[BigRedX]

So in January's edition you review the Precision Bass and in February's you review the Jazz. What do you do in March? Review another Precision bass?
[quote]This month's bass is just like the one we reviewed back in January except it's red[/quote]
Not really going to make a compelling reason to buy the mag.

You could also argue that by re-enforcing the status quo regarding bass choices a magazine will struggle to find readers. After all if all you need as a bass player is Fender why do you need to buy a magazine to tell you that? You just go the shop and get a Fender. Job done. No need to buy another musical instrument publication ever again.

[MoonBassAlpha]

[quote name='mercuryl' timestamp='1321725450' post='1442491']
And the point of reviewing lots of products that readers won't come across, or ever use (since I guess more than 75% of basses in action are Fenders) is what exactly?
When all is said and done, since the majority use Fender basses, then there should be a lot of Fender content. At least one major review in every edition. Your one in every 100 comment is, in my opinion, worthy of ridicule. Bass mags struggle to succeed and I guess this one will be no different ... if it spends all of its time commenting on the obscure as you suggest.
[/quote]
Why would you want to keep reading about basses you've already got? This is not a rhetorical question.

[xilddx]

[quote name='mercuryl' timestamp='1321725450' post='1442491']
And the point of reviewing lots of products that readers won't come across, or ever use (since I guess more than 75% of basses in action are Fenders) is what exactly?
When all is said and done, since the majority use Fender basses, then there should be a lot of Fender content. [b]At least one major review in every edition. Your one in every 100 comment is, in my opinion, worthy of ridicule.[/b] Bass mags struggle to succeed and I guess this one will be no different ... if it spends all of its time commenting on the obscure as you suggest.
[/quote]
I'm sorry but this is absolute nonsense. Rubbish. And guaranteed to make for an inutterably boring magazine. If you want to stay in your time warp, please do so, but don't presume we all want to read about the boring and ordinary and unchallenging. If you do, go and buy Take a Break or something FFS.

[Monckyman]

Dear me..Slid, your blood pressure mate....
I`m presuming what the Fender poster really meant was working basses,like Fender and Squier shouldn`t be ignored in the quest to reveal details about the new through neck bubinga covered graphite 7 stringer with 49 possible pickup combis,as used by nobody but they stuck a big ad in the magazine so we`ll give it a great review.
We`ve all seen this before.
Also bear in mind that there are a lot of younger and as yet less grizzled bassists who may not know quite as much as some of us here think we do.
So, a practical focus on kit people actually need and use rather than the usual lusting for esoteric gew gaws might be nice.

[discreet]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1321730411' post='1442580']
If all you need as a bass player is Fender why do you need to buy a magazine to tell you that?
You just go the shop and get a Fender. Job done. No need to buy another musical instrument publication ever again.
[/quote]

I never have. And look at the cover price of BGM - you could almost buy a set of crap strings for that!
Seriously though, I find all the bass-related information I need (and more) on BassChat.

[ped]

Blimey guys calm it down!

The mag will cater for a mixture of tastes, so check it out if you fancy. I think it's a good read and whilst I was unsure about the digital magazine format initially I am really impressed with the way it works. I can also have another tab open so I can search for gear and open links from the mag. Pretty cool for a few quid.

ped

[Linus27]

Personally, I would want a bass mag the same as how I would like a TV car show. The criticism that Top Gear has come under is that it hardly reviews cars that everyday people can afford or want and only focus on the extreme supercars. Long gone has the motoring magazing show which a lot of people miss. So when I am looking at buying a car or trying to find details, I have to look over old Top Gear clips or reviews on the internet for cars like Meganes, Pug 207's, Alfa 156's etc. So I think its important that a bass mag not only covers the more unusual boutique basses but also touches on the stuff that people use everyday like Fenders and Squires. You can certainly see more people asking on the forum about pre Korean Warwick Corvettes, Squires, Fenders etc than the high end boutique basses. I just think its important to not miss out on your Ford Focus drivers as well as keeping your Ferrari Enzo drivers happy also