Music Live

[BigRedX]

With all the BassDay stuff, it's easy to forget that it was Music Live last weekend as well.

Managed to get to Birmingham on the Friday which being schools day has the advantage of nearly empty stands by 4.00pm so you can actually try stuff.

Enfield Basses. Had my second play of these including the new 5 strings. Fantastic concept and the pickup/pre-amp combo is IMO a real winner. Still don't know if I can get on with the very V-shaped neck, but full marks to Martin Sims for following his own vision.

Mayones. Looks nice but for me uninspiring in both feel and sound, and certainly when for the same sort of money you can get a custom bass from ACG or Shuker, not really very tempting.

Blacki Distribution/Woodview had basses from Spear, Fox, and D'Alegria, but nothing that I hadn't seen at LGS earlier in the year. TBH I was more interested in the Fox electro-acoustic guitars than any of their bass offerings.

Ernie Ball. Every so often I try a Stingray, because they seem to have a good reputation, and after a few minutes put it down deciding that it's really not for me. This year I decided to see what all the fuss was about the Bongo. For me really uninspiring, just couldn't get to grips with the feel and that was having tried several of the examples on the stand, so I didn't even bother with the sound.

More fun on the Bass Merchant/Overwater stand where I met Nick (doctor of the bass) and was blinded by the lightshow on the new King Bass, and had a very interesting conversation with Chris May of Overwater about a 5-string fretless Original I recently bought that turns out to have been perhaps the very first 5-string Overwater ever made and is apparently featured on some rather famous recordings!

A quick look at the Bass Direct stand confirmed that the stuff I was most interested in was going to be at BassDay and I'm still waiting for Vigier to make a new fretless bass with the Delta-Metal board though...

Lurking on the PRS stand was a selection of Lakland Skylines. Had a great time trying the Hollowbody with the new Chi-Sonic pickups. Still want to compare it with a Dark-Starred US model before making a decision though!

Finally spent far too long looking for the non-existent Electric Babes stand. I seem to remember that last year they only turned up for the Saturday and Sunday, did anyone see them on the other days?

And having told everyone that since the arrival of my fretless Sei and the refinished Gus I was GAS-free, I found myself unable to resist the lure of a Stagg EUB especially since they were actually available to buy. Just got to figure out how to play the thing now!

[ezbass]

I went on Sunday and knew something was amiss as soon as I arrived at the car park which, despite it being already 11:00, was almost empty. To my mind I think everyone had done nearly all of their exhibition budget at the London International Music Show. All the usually big stands were smaller with very few basses and little or no demo facilities, for instance the Fender stand was a tent with about 8 instruments (guitar and bass) total!

Saw and played the new Sims Enfield basses, nice almost like a modern reincarnation of Wal, but at between £2.5 - £3.5k a pop way too expensive. Nice stand with Phil Jones amps and Sandberg basses which were good, a friend of mine bought a California JMM for not bad money. My favourite bass was the Lakland Bob Glaub on the Headline (PRS) stand, probably the best overall stand there, but I couldn't justify another £700 after the gear year I've had.

There was still the odd stand with demoers going slappity, poppity, all treble, little bass and no mids. Don't get me wrong I like to slap and pop too and admire the abilities of those at the show, but less is more guys. Try using that tone and technique in an actual song and it won't work and the guitarists are just as bad, overgained widdling to the fore as usual, at these shows it still sounds like the '80s. Despite the lack of bodies and smaller stands it was still very difficult to get a good demo of any potential purchase due to the volume of the demonstrators as usual. When are they going to have some enclosed demo rooms for pity's sake?

All in all very disappointing and by far the worst Music Live I've been too, so will probably be the last especially at an inflated £17 for a smaller show! I'll be sticking to London from now on, bigger, better and cheaper. Finally (and I've said this before) what absolute tw@t thought that having Bass Day on the same day as Music Live was a good idea and why Manchester? The Midlands is the best place for these things as both the North and South based players can get there with reasonable ease. In fact if Bass Day had been in the Midlands I might have made a weekend of it, stayed over and visited both.

It was a long way to go for a coffee and a muffin, yep that's all I bought.

[Deep Thought]

Our guitarist went, not spoken to him directly, only by text, but he seems to have enjoyed himself, and was blown away by Joe Bonamassa, as I thought he would be. Hopefully he will come back inspired!

[RussFM]

Didn't bother this year for the first time in years, just seemed to be the same every year, and I'd only want to spend a grand I don't have on something I don't need.

[molan]

My guitarist went & came back about £3.5K lighter

Add a rather nice PRS Modern Eagle to his collection tho

[Tait]

[quote name='ezbass' post='326534' date='Nov 11 2008, 09:48 AM']There was still the odd stand with demoers going slappity, poppity, all treble, little bass and no mids.

All in all very disappointing and by far the worst Music Live I've been too[/quote]

+1 to everything you said, but these two statements were sadly very true. i hate the slappers that do demos, it all sounds a mess and doesnt impress me at all, no groove or anything, just a tone that means you cant hear the notes and a speed which also means you cant hear the notes.

[Bassassin]

I made the annual pilgrimage - once I'd got over the horrendous admission cost & car parking (keep telling myself: it's only once a year, it's only once a year) I thought it was not bad. Without the dominant corporate profile of Sound Control, it felt a lot more ramshackle & DIY, which I quite liked. Not a great deal of bass stuff - it's disappointing how many brands/distributors don't seem to think it's worth bothering to show the basses which are part of their product range - but a lot of what was there was very worth seeing. The Enfields were simply stunning in the flesh.

Fortunately I wasn't just there for bass stuff & ended up getting a decent deal, on some studio monitors & a couple of pairs of headphones.

Will I go again next year? Probably. :ph34r:

Jon.

[ezbass]

[quote name='Bassassin' post='327174' date='Nov 11 2008, 11:02 PM']Without the dominant corporate profile of Sound Control[/quote]

Replaced by PMT which, given what I read about their service here on BC, is no bad thing.

3 basses on the Fender stand, 4 basses on the Yamaha stand, no Warwick, very sad.

[BigRedX]

Remember that no matter how bad you thought this year's Music Live was the only way it could have been worse than the London Guitar Show of 2007 would have been for there to be no basses at all!

BTW were Electric Babes at the show on Saturday or Sunday? There's stand was in the exhibitors list but nothing actually in that location in the hall on the Friday.

[EBS_freak]

[quote name='ezbass' post='327323' date='Nov 12 2008, 09:38 AM']Replaced by PMT which, given what I read about their service here on BC, is no bad thing.

3 basses on the Fender stand, 4 basses on the Yamaha stand, no Warwick, very sad.[/quote]

I was going to say... PMT were heading it up this year and the majority of the stands had people from PMT running them. Those who know Funkle Dave would have seen that he was on the Synergy stand with PJB, I had a mate on the Hofner Stand, Micky S was on the Blackstar stand etc. The p1ss poor Fender and Marshall stands make me think that PMT were hosting those stands on behalf of the manufacturers themselves and I guess it was all PMT stock. I could be wrong but it seems to make sense to me anyway.

So yeah, I was a little peeved to pay £17 to enter basically a retail store... especially after paying a £8 charge to park. It's not exactly a cheap day for a family is it? And on top of that if you wanted to go to the guitarfest thing... I remember the "good old days" where there were loads of little boutique cottage industries at these shows who had some really interesting wares to show. Those days have long since gone as they have been priced out of the market due to the extortionate fees. Again, a lot of these guys don't want to exhibit on the Friday as that is basically the "school day out" - makes it an expensive day for showing off stuff with little or no sales resulting. I think Frankfurt has it right - exhibiting only keeps the retailers out and allows you to see the gear for what it is instead of turning it to some massive money making exercise for retailers. There are some guys that would argue that they go to Music Live to buy though. I guess it all depends on what you want from a show. Personally I go to see what stuff is out there which I wouldn't normally see in my local retailers. It saddens me that these shows are getting more and more mainstream - Cornford even pulled out this year I see. I guess the cost of showing compared to the amount of business that is drummed up from these shows no longer make them financially viable. Sad.

In terms of putting on the bass day... I don't think it actually makes much difference. There was hardly anything worthwhile at Music Live for bass players anyway. I think the days of Music Live in this country are numbered. Yeah, it will exist... but it would seem only for the benefit of a few select companies.

The fact that I could park right next to the entrance told me that attendance is on the decrease. Will people go again? Some won't - but at the end of the day, what else it there of that magnitude to see? Only a handful of shows.

So, the stuff there itself... I didn't actually spend a lot of time there. Less than two hours because I thought it was dull. Bumped into Mark and Funkymunkey at Bass Direct stand... Dr of the bass... and a few other guys.

Enfield for me was OK. Not my taste and I thought the pickup looks really ugly... and it's effectively a reincarnation of a Wal... but fair play to Martin for doing something different. Everybody seems to be knocking out Jazz Basses (better than Fender a lot of the time) and that just seems boring. (Is innovation dead?!) It will be interesting to see if those basses make it into the mainstream. Does anybody know anybody who has bought one yet?

[BigRedX]

Pretty much echoes my feeling for the Future of Music Live from [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=27982&view=findpost&p=327560"]this post[/url] in the Bass Day thread.

The people I know in the industry prefer the London show which is a trade show with some public access (like Frankfurt) rather than Music Live which can degenerate into a bit of a 'car-boot sale' at times.

I'd certainly welcome a return to a show where the smaller (and normally more interesting) luthiers were able to afford to exhibit.

[ezbass]

[quote name='BigRedX' post='327541' date='Nov 12 2008, 01:06 PM']Remember that no matter how bad you thought this year's Music Live was the only way it could have been worse than the London Guitar Show of 2007 would have been for there to be no basses at all![/quote]

Yeah LIMS 2007 was extremely dire, but at least I got to see The Blockheads for "free". 2008 was much better, but the no offsales policy was just plain barmy with exhibitors having to sneak gear out or send them by post.

[Tait]

when we all talk about how good it was, are we talking strictly from a bass players point of view?

i was talking from the point of view of a guitarist/bassist in my last post. still very disappointing.

[EBS_freak]

[quote name='LWTAIT' post='327768' date='Nov 12 2008, 05:19 PM']when we all talk about how good it was, are we talking strictly from a bass players point of view?

i was talking from the point of view of a guitarist/bassist in my last post. still very disappointing.[/quote]

agreed.

[woodenshirt]

I went on Saturday.

I always go to Music Live and this was the worst one I've ever been to......

except for one thing..... T M Stevens playing with Swans in Flight.

The bloke is unbelievable!! It was worth the £17 to see him play.


Mart.

[MB1]

[quote name='ezbass' post='326534' date='Nov 11 2008, 09:48 AM']I went on Sunday and knew something was amiss as soon as I arrived at the car park which, despite it being already 11:00, was almost empty. To my mind I think everyone had done nearly all of their exhibition budget at the London International Music Show. All the usually big stands were smaller with very few basses and little or no demo facilities, for instance the Fender stand was a tent with about 8 instruments (guitar and bass) total!

Saw and played the new Sims Enfield basses, nice almost like a modern reincarnation of Wal, but at between £2.5 - £3.5k a pop way too expensive. Nice stand with Phil Jones amps and Sandberg basses which were good, a friend of mine bought a California JMM for not bad money. My favourite bass was the Lakland Bob Glaub on the Headline (PRS) stand, probably the best overall stand there, but I couldn't justify another £700 after the gear year I've had.

There was still the odd stand with demoers going slappity, poppity, all treble, little bass and no mids. Don't get me wrong I like to slap and pop too and admire the abilities of those at the show, but less is more guys. Try using that tone and technique in an actual song and it won't work and the guitarists are just as bad, overgained widdling to the fore as usual, at these shows it still sounds like the '80s. Despite the lack of bodies and smaller stands it was still very difficult to get a good demo of any potential purchase due to the volume of the demonstrators as usual. When are they going to have some enclosed demo rooms for pity's sake?

All in all very disappointing and by far the worst Music Live I've been too, so will probably be the last especially at an inflated £17 for a smaller show! I'll be sticking to London from now on, bigger, better and cheaper. Finally (and I've said this before) what absolute tw@t thought that having Bass Day on the same day as Music Live was a good idea and why Manchester? The Midlands is the best place for these things as both the North and South based players can get there with reasonable ease. In fact if Bass Day had been in the Midlands I might have made a weekend of it, stayed over and visited both.

It was a long way to go for a coffee and a muffin, yep that's all I bought.[/quote]

MB1.
The Royal Northern College of Music is a Great Venue for Bassday, Big enough for the job, and harmonically good enough for live performance,(not a bad bar either) if T.M Stevens can get there from the states, you have no excuse.Leave Bassday where it is Thanks,i think the organisers will have enough to think about planning next years Bassday, without having to look for other suitable venues in the Midlands. The organisers have already stated Bassday will not conflict with any other music show.If it ain't broke dont fix it!.

[Jarhead]

Well, I thought this year was alright. I went on the Friday with my school, and I was plenty happy. Played plenty of basses, so I'm now GASsing for a 6 string as soon as I can. +1 to the comment about the p1ss poor Fender and Marshall stands, practically nothing there. Last year the Fender stand was massive, and so was the Marshall stand, this year there was hardly anything there. Hope its better next year.
Zach

[Golchen]

I was a bit pissed off. Didn't get there. Despite having it earmarked on the household calendar months in advance, my bro decided to have his birthday get together that afternoon (but cancelled on the day due to sickness!) and also, the annual family firework bash was plonked on that day two weeks before, so I'd have had to travel 92 miles and leave after a couple of hours max!

It's a total rip-off that they don't include parking in the extortionate fee, they should at the very least flag it up on the adverts that you also get mugged for that.

I went to that other show in London in the summer (EXCEL building??) and it was superb. tons of live music including Guthrie Govan, Billy Sheehan, Yngwie Malmsteen. You could meet Yng, Billy and Satch if you could be bothered to queue. They had an international guitarist competition as well that was great. loads of gear to try, but the downside was that they were not allowed to sell anything on the day!?! I'm gonna stick to that show in the future.

[ezbass]

[quote name='MB1' post='327853' date='Nov 12 2008, 07:01 PM']MB1.
The Royal Northern College of Music is a Great Venue for Bassday, Big enough for the job, and harmonically good enough for live performance,(not a bad bar either) if T.M Stevens can get there from the states, you have no excuse.Leave Bassday where it is Thanks,i think the organisers will have enough to think about planning next years Bassday, without having to look for other suitable venues in the Midlands. The organisers have already stated Bassday will not conflict with any other music show.If it ain't broke dont fix it!.[/quote]

Ah ha that's easy for you to say as it's local. If bassday would like to pay me to attend as with Mr Stevens, I'm in. Also if I come to Manc I'll have to visit the in laws.

"The organisers have already stated Bassday will not conflict with any other music show" Hmm we'll see eh?

[ezbass]

[quote name='Golchen' post='327948' date='Nov 12 2008, 09:21 PM']Loads of gear to try, but the downside was that they were not allowed to sell anything on the day!?! I'm gonna stick to that show in the future.[/quote]

There were ways to buy stuff, Headline were mailing any guitars bought. I got my LMII there, the seller had to get a security pass for it and then sneak it to me. All pretty pathetic really.

[Owen]

Not desperately slappy and quite fun.

[url="http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=1Q2FiggHQLQ"]http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=1Q2FiggHQLQ[/url]

[Nate]

That'd be me!

Playing with that drummer was so much fun!

Perhaps it made me overplay but self indulgence seemed to be the order of the weekend!! However - as I was playing on the stand alone, I did play quite a few slower tunes. I'm sick of hearing the same old s**t. Although this video doesn't quite show it, I'm working on changing my sound. I've been to a few shows recently and everyone sounds the same. Time for a change methinks.

I'm also hoping that 2009 will be year of the groove so I don't always feel the need to play so many notes in order to impress the people coming round the stand. People only stay and watch if someone is tapping/slapping etc...!!

I realise that was a rather sweeping statement and it doesn't apply to everyone but you get my point!

I got to jam with Guthrie Govan on the sunday at Music Live. He's a monster!!!!


I've been off this site for a while. Great to be back baby!

Nate

[MB1]

[quote name='ezbass' post='328092' date='Nov 13 2008, 07:48 AM']Ah ha that's easy for you to say as it's local. If bassday would like to pay me to attend as with Mr Stevens, I'm in. Also if I come to Manc I'll have to visit the in laws.

"The organisers have already stated Bassday will not conflict with any other music show" Hmm we'll see eh?[/quote]

MB1.
"Whats All this Noise?....Not Local EH?...We'll Have No Trouble Here!.......This is a local Bassday for Local Bassists!"....

[Deep Thought]

Just got off the phone from our guitarist-he's like a dog with two appendages-he's just found out he won a USA Strat in the Fender prize draw! Result! (Why couldn't he have won a Precision??)

[Golchen]

[quote name='Nate' post='328749' date='Nov 13 2008, 11:33 PM']That'd be me!

Playing with that drummer was so much fun!

Perhaps it made me overplay but self indulgence seemed to be the order of the weekend!! However - as I was playing on the stand alone, I did play quite a few slower tunes. I'm sick of hearing the same old s**t. Although this video doesn't quite show it, I'm working on changing my sound. I've been to a few shows recently and everyone sounds the same. Time for a change methinks.

I'm also hoping that 2009 will be year of the groove so I don't always feel the need to play so many notes in order to impress the people coming round the stand. People only stay and watch if someone is tapping/slapping etc...!!

I realise that was a rather sweeping statement and it doesn't apply to everyone but you get my point!

I got to jam with Guthrie Govan on the sunday at Music Live. He's a monster!!!!


I've been off this site for a while. Great to be back baby!

Nate[/quote]


Love the playing there Nate!

I hate to admit it here, but I'm a 6 stringer at heart and Guthrie is my favourite guitarist - the guy is amazing!