Bass Guitar show review 2019

[Chrisbassboy5]

Just on the train back after the show on Saturday. 

Thought it was very good but what happened with the 15mins noise then some quiet time as per the email. It seemed to be full of pretentious players in the main just shredding to show off. Cos it was so loud there was absolutely no chance to really 'test' kit properly. Wished there was some time to chat properly.

Also the seminar area was in the main area so  waste trying to hear some of the presentations, should be relocated or timed to perhaps the quiet hour to alternate seminar then noisy, hour by hour. In the end everyone was turning the volume up to be heard to the point where it was madness..

Think I will stick with the Birmingham Guitar show. Same in all size and sense but less travel, ie. to London. What did others think?

Chris

Edited September 21, 2019 by Chrisbassboy5
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[ezbass]

Once again it seems that the organisers are loath to actually impose the quiet periods; all talk and no do, as ever. I must remember my ear plugs for tomorrow.

[gary mac]

I stopped going a few years back, mostly due to the incessant noise. 

Also I'm a miserable, unsociable git 😂

[Chrisbassboy5]

1 hour ago, ezbass said:

Once again it seems that the organisers are loath to actually impose the quiet periods; all talk and no do, as ever. I must remember my ear plugs for tomorrow.

Mate  was okay but just boring hearing people trying to showboat. Just so noisy in the end and just ruined it for me. Some lovely basses mind but could see them likely st the Brum show so will go there next time.

If you're going it truly is 2 mins from Angel tube. Come out, turn right, across the road and there you are. 

I bought 2 beautiful padded straps for me and my son, made in UK, lifetime guarantee and well padded. Worth a treat!

Enjoy.

Chris

[ezbass]

14 minutes ago, Chrisbassboy5 said:

Mate  was okay but just boring hearing people trying to showboat. Just so noisy in the end and just ruined it for me. Some lovely basses mind but could see them likely st the Brum show so will go there next time.

If you're going it truly is 2 mins from Angel tube. Come out, turn right, across the road and there you are. 

I bought 2 beautiful padded straps for me and my son, made in UK, lifetime guarantee and well padded. Worth a treat!

Enjoy.

Chris

Good to hear (no pun intended). I used to work at Angel and actually did a couple of expos at the BDC, which made me wonder why they chose this as a venue, the acoustics are not best suited to a musical instrument show.

[Chrisbassboy5]

10 minutes ago, ezbass said:

Good to hear (no pun intended). I used to work at Angel and actually did a couple of expos at the BDC, which made me wonder why they chose this as a venue, the acoustics are not best suited to a musical instrument show.

Yep. Am an ex pro tuba player and there's no dampening at all. Just a great durge..  not a killjoy but need to regulate quiet/noisy times. I love kick donkey  volume on a great deep bass/guitar groove but not all day....

Will just poss people off in the end and people won't go..

Enjoy. 

Edited September 21, 2019 by Chrisbassboy5
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[Grand Puba]

I've just got back. Was not impressed as I thought bass and guitar would be completely separated.

Can we have separate shows again?

I felt that bass was relegated to the under the stairs, while the six string "guitar gods" made the aural environment unbearable.

[Silvia Bluejay]

Bass stands are actually spread around the hall, but there's a also a small enclave, so to speak, in the left-hand corner of the mezzanine (as seen from the entrance): Chowny, Anaconda, OliverLang, Marleaux and a couple of others seem to have squeezed out the guitar stands! (Power to their elbows.)

I think the idea of two separate areas had to be shot down due to the number of stands selling instruments, gear or accessories for both bass and guitar. For those companies, having two separate booths would have been a daunting and expensive task.

Couple of shots HERE.

Edited September 21, 2019 by Silvia Bluejay

[SH73]

Looks like it's a no go for me.

[bnt]

Sheldon Dingwall was there, showing off his basses on the Bass Direct stand. Apart from that the only celeb I recognised was Nick Beggs, who had a wander around after his set. 

 

I thought it it was OK but really difficult conditions e.g. I got the chance to play a Spector through the new GK head & 4x10”, but couldn’t hear what the controls were doing. No headphones on most stands. 

[Guest MoJo]

10 hours ago, SH73 said:

Looks like it's a no go for me.

And me. Doesn’t sound like it warrants the five hour, round trip.

[afterimage]

Disappointed it's got to be a separate show again 

[tvickey]

I was also disappointed.  Couldn't find the 'Basschat' stand.  No special deals on anything as far as I could tell, despite what Polar told me via email regarding the new GK Legacy.  Even things like strings and picks were more expensive than on the Internet.  Looper pedal was out on display but "oh that's not actually here and won't be available until October 1st'.  Marshall folks sold me the wrong size shirt (but my 11 year old son is happy with it!).  Way too noisy... also could not hear what the GK Legacy really sounded like (and it DOES have a headphone input but there were no headphones available when I was at the stand).  Sorry to say it, but I think I'll stay home next time.

[ped]

7 minutes ago, tvickey said:

Couldn't find the 'Basschat' stand.

We didn't have one this time

[tvickey]

Oh, I could swear that I saw a message somewhere "stop by the 'Basschat' stand to say 'Hello' and get your free Basschat lanyard".  Maybe that was from another year... 

[Chrisbassboy5]

6 hours ago, MoJo said:

And me. Doesn’t sound like it warrants the five hour, round trip.

Yep. Will wait for the Brum one again. Really expected the London one to be incredible and promised my 13 year old son the same. Won't travel that far for that show ever again. As they say in Dragons Den.. "I'm out"..

[lowregisterhead]

Just returned from the show. I found it disappointing on a number of levels.

Firstly, poor acoustics due to the cavernous roof. The venue is quite bright and airy, but really not suited to a music show. The stands seemed to be dominated by the bigger manufacturers, and there was nothing that really floated my boat, but I accept that I don't really have what might be called 'mainstream' tastes! I don't know what it costs to have a stand at a show like this, but a bit more variety and a few more oddities would have been nice. Perhaps the smaller makers can't justify the outlay if it doesn't guarantee increased sales. Despite being combined with the g**tar show, it actually felt smaller than previous years, but that could perhaps be due in part to the scale of the venue.

It would have been nice to see more home-grown, niche manufacturers. In past years, you could pretty much be certain to come across a good number of the unusual, different or interesting. This time, it seemed like it was just all the usual suspects, nothing that really stopped me in my tracks.

I did have a nice cuppa and a slice of chocolate cake, but I was still in and out in less that an hour. It also didn't seem that busy. The organisers are certainly going to have to do better to get me to go again next year.

[Chrisbassboy5]

18 minutes ago, tvickey said:

Oh, I could swear that I saw a message somewhere "stop by the 'Basschat' stand to say 'Hello' and get your free Basschat lanyard".  Maybe that was from another year... 

Yep. I also had an email saying that for health and safety only 15 mins of loud. Instead a free for all all day. No point having it loud all day, proper try if instruments was impossible and feel sad for the acoustic guitars. Acoustic and seminar down one end should have been set for the quiet time (think 1hr on 1hr off, or 30 mins better). No one followed the email as stated, that I got. Dreadful!

[Chrisbassboy5]

1 minute ago, lowregisterhead said:

Just returned from the show. I found it disappointing on a number of levels.

Firstly, poor acoustics due to the cavernous roof. The venue is quite bright and airy, but really not suited to a music show. The stands seemed to be dominated by the bigger manufacturers, and there was nothing that really floated my boat, but I accept that I don't really have what might be called 'mainstream' tastes! I don't know what it costs to have a stand at a show like this, but a bit more variety and a few more oddities would have been nice. Perhaps the smaller makers can't justify the outlay if it doesn't guarantee increased sales. Despite being combined with the g**tar show, it actually felt smaller than previous years, but that could perhaps be due in part to the scale of the venue.

It would have been nice to see more home-grown, niche manufacturers. In past years, you could pretty much be certain to come across a good number of the unusual, different or interesting. This time, it seemed like it was just all the usual suspects, nothing that really stopped me in my tracks.

I did have a nice cuppa and a slice of chocolate cake, but I was still in and out in less that an hour. It also didn't seem that busy. The organisers are certainly going to have to do better to get me to go again next year.

We (my 13yr old son and me) came from Staffordshire getting the 06:24 to Euston and booked for the 17:25 back home. In the end we pushed it out to 2 hours and had to pay £22 for an earlier train.. thought we'd run out of time to get the train as expected the show to be huge and a great opportunity for my son who is good and hugely inspired... left hours early and largely deaf and disappointed. Still I got a day out with my son but would have been better going around London holding an ice-cream.. cost me a fortune anyways.. disappointed.

[FinnDave]

Take me an hour and a half on a good day to get to london, but it's something I never do voluntarily. if we have to play a gig in London, I grit my teeth and drive there, but nothing else is going to tempt me. 

I dislike crowds, and the thought of spending the day surrounded by bassists doesn't fill me with cheer.  I know very few other bassists, there's usually only one per band, and in the bands I play with, it's me!

[afterimage]

Made a trip from Liverpool for the day at one point   during the afternoon the pub seemed the better option

But bumped into a few people I knew  and went to Steve Lawson's master class despite him being under the weather flu very engaging discussion on fretless bass guitars 

But very dissatisfied with the event 

 

[Guest MoJo]

Looks like I made the right decision, to give it a miss. 

[Silvia Bluejay]

Keep it coming, guys, I will point the powers-that-be in this direction at the correct time.

I went there (from Sudbury Hill, Harrow, NW London - 40 minutes, mostly on the Piccadilly, so an easy ride both ways) without expectations, just with my mind open. So here goes:

On the plus side, and without the need for a press pass, as a normal punter I met and talked to several bassists I had hitherto admired from a distance, from John Patitucci to Ariane Cap, to Tony Butler, as well as seeing and chatting to many others I already knew in person.
I also had the opportunity to speak to designers, engineers and luthiers (Mark Gooday of Ashdown, Dave Boonshoft of Aguilar, Alex Claber wearing his guitar cab maker hat, Tomm Stanley of Stonefield, etc.).
I managed to play a couple of lefty basses that had been brought to the show 'especially for me', after I banged on about their absence at previous years' shows.
I saw and chatted with a lot of friends I only tend to see in person at shows like this. It was good to catch up.

On the minus side, It took me quite a while to find my way around the venue yesterday, and even longer to find the bass-centric stands I was interested in. It would have helped if bass booths had all been gathered together, perhaps surrounded by the companies who sell both guitar and bass stuff, with the guitar-only companies occupying the rest of the room.
The noise, mainly from guitar players but also from the usual bass slappers, was a nuisance. Also, there was spillage between the auditorium and the seminar rooms, despite the wall insulation. This didn't used to happen at Olympia. The noise also ruined most of the interviews and seminars being held in the Luthier's corner, which really should have its own room with, you know, walls and stuff.
Several exhibitors who had been at all previous LBGSs decided to give it a miss this year, which was a pity.

[ezbass]

It was ok for me, but only because I wanted to look at guitars too (burn him, he’s a witch!). If you only went for basses or trebles alone, it would’ve been hugely disappointing. I thought it was very small given it was covering two instruments and the likes of Yamaha and Gibson/Epiphone were conspicuous by their absence. Yet again, the ability to give anything a proper try out was impossible. Although the noise level was ok to start with, by the end of the day it was a loud mush and the earplugs needed to be used. Having one of the demonstration/interview areas in amongst the exhibitors was just plain stupid! The highlight for me was guitarist, Lari Basilio, super talented and a nice person too; I bought her cd (her rhythm section on the cd is Nathan East and Vinnie Vollaiuta, none too shabby). The only other purchase I made was a pick by Chickenpicks (not cheap, but I have high hopes for it).

As it was a boy’s days out (there were 5 of us), it was a good giggle and I enjoyed myself. Will I go again next year? No, not if they repeat the format and venue.

[Greg Edwards69]

I quite enjoyed it and appreciated that the bass show and guitar show were joined as I attended with the two guitarists from my band and met my brother there who is also a guitarist. And to be quite fair, there’s a lot of crossover between the two instruments in terms of both technology and manufacturers who cater to both. 

It was the first one I’ve been to for about 10 years and I do feel a little disappointed by the size of the show (last couple I went to were at the excel, and a couple at Wembley before that and one at Birmingham. These were much bigger events. Even the major manufacturer stands were significantly smaller than I expected, and a few notable absences (Yamaha, Line 6, Boss/Roland, Gibson, PMT, Andertons). I wonder if there’s a reason for this?

That said, we all went without any particular GAS preconceptions and just wanted a day out looking at some of the latest gear, we wasn’t disappointed. There’s was a few things I haven’t had the opportunity to see, hear or touch in the flesh and most of them were there.

Had a brief chat with Alex @ barefaced and spoke about the gap in the market for a bass focused active frfr speaker, definitely tempted to get a one10 now, I couldn’t believer the tone, depth and volume coming out of a seemingly empty shoebox. 

Finally got to try a Dingwall. I completely get the appeal of the multi scale neck, feels quite natural. The diminutive Jackson Minion bass is rather tempting as a fun little living room instrument, even as a cool little backup bass. I was also quite wowed by the new Vox Starstream Bass. Beautiful piece of engineering, feels great in the hands and lightweight. I also need to convince the wife that the mini super beetle bass amp and cab would be a nice addition to the living room. 

My guitarist friends were quite wowed with the shergold guitars, as was I. Fantastic sounding and feeling guitars at a perfect price point. We had high hopes for Jamie Humphries AmpliTube ‘Brian May’ demo - shame the sound system was dreadful. 

Fianally, John Wheatcroft’s jazz guitar session was very informative, even for us bass players. I took some useful tools away from his session that could apply to any instrument and genre. 

So yes, a good day out, but I hanker for the days of the bigger music show!