EBMM Game Changer - What Happened?

[Clark Dark]

If anyone (bass guitar manufacturer) really wants to change the game for me, do this. Make a little circuit that I can practice with a Bluetooth headset. I can pick the bass up, flick a switch and put my earpiece on and practice without rattling the china. Thank you for your consideration.

 

[bassbenj]

If anyone (bass guitar manufacturer) really wants to change the game for me, do this. Make a little circuit that I can practice with a Bluetooth headset. I can pick the bass up, flick a switch and put my earpiece on and practice without rattling the china. Thank you for your consideration.

This is a great "game changer" idea. What with current "nano dongle" technology all it'd be is a thing that looks like a normal guitar cable plug but with no wire coming out of it. You just plug it into the bass and it begins transmitting to your headset. China could turn them out cheap by the millions.

 

[bassbenj]

Funny thing is, without Leo, Musicman wouldn't have existed.

Only later Leo invented the G&L L2k which is about as "switchable" as any bass and a LARGE percentage of bassdom hate it. The long learning curve really discourages a lot of players. And that's just three switches. Game Changer with all the complexity never stood a chance even if it was a great idea (which I don't think it was and I'm a BIG fan of switchable pickup configurations).

Playing live I find that if you want to change tone mid-song switches are far better than trying to "dial in" some new setting. I've wired most of my SX Jazz bass clones with a rotary "neck solo, neck + bridge series, neck + bridge parallel, bridge solo, mute" switch rather than the usual vol/vol setup. Gives nice defined steps in tone. My L2k G&Ls are much the same way. But if switching gets too complex, you might as well just go back to "dial-in" mode.

 

[swamp2]

I followed the development of this with interest because, as a technoid of sorts, I found it cool - particularly with the ability to maintain a fully analog signal path. With that said, I'm not really surprised of the limited acceptance of it - the bottom line is it's just not necessary.

A few years ago, I decided to wire up a strat (ok, it was an old US Peavey Falcon - a pretty decent strat clone) to give every combination of phase, series/parallel, pickups on/off. It was a fun project, a wiring mess and not the most user friendly thing to use. And you know what, it was totally overkill. I mean, ok it may be fun to show how I can run the neck/bridge in parallel, in series with an out of phase middle - but that doesn't mean it's all that musically useful or different enough from many of the other combos to be worth having as a distinct setting.

I think it's the same with the game changer. I don't think anybody really needs much more than 3 or 4 good sounds to work with and dial in. As a lot, i don't think musicians like to have to struggle to understand their instruments - too much complexity and choices can just get in the way and hinder creativity rather than help it. Analysis paralysis can set in. Like Gibson with the Firebird X from a few years back, that didn't really seem to hit the mark either.

Regardless, I do think it's a cool idea from a technology perspective and I give them credit for giving it a go - it is pretty unique - I'm sure it was a non-trivial R&D investment. But overall as suggested earlier, an answer to a question that not many were asking...

 

[bholder]

This is a great "game changer" idea. What with current "nano dongle" technology all it'd be is a thing that looks like a normal guitar cable plug but with no wire coming out of it. You just plug it into the bass and it begins transmitting to your headset. China could turn them out cheap by the millions.

Even better, put a through jack on it so you can still plug in to the amp - presto! Instant bluetooth in ear monitor!

 

[bholder]

I followed the development of this with interest because, as a technoid of sorts, I found it cool - particularly with the ability to maintain a fully analog signal path. With that said, I'm not really surprised of the limited acceptance of it - the bottom line is it's just not necessary.

A few years ago, I decided to wire up a strat (ok, it was an old US Peavey Falcon - a pretty decent strat clone) to give every combination of phase, series/parallel, pickups on/off. It was a fun project, a wiring mess and not the most user friendly thing to use. And you know what, it was totally overkill. I mean, ok it may be fun to show how I can run the neck/bridge in parallel, in series with an out of phase middle - but that doesn't mean it's all that musically useful or different enough from many of the other combos to be worth having as a distinct setting.

I think it's the same with the game changer. I don't think anybody really needs much more than 3 or 4 good sounds to work with and dial in. As a lot, i don't think musicians like to have to struggle to understand their instruments - too much complexity and choices can just get in the way and hinder creativity rather than help it. Analysis paralysis can set in. Like Gibson with the Firebird X from a few years back, that didn't really seem to hit the mark either.

Regardless, I do think it's a cool idea from a technology perspective and I give them credit for giving it a go - it is pretty unique - I'm sure it was a non-trivial R&D investment. But overall as suggested earlier, an answer to a question that not many were asking...

Well, I agree, but I think the things about this is it allows you to choose exactly which 3-4 presets you want - I agree, though, too "high overhead", way too expensive. Just give me the programmable switch matrix, I'll do the rest myself.

 

[mrpackerguy]

Hey if things didn't flop now and again, technology wouldn't move forward. I don't begrudge them in the least. Admirable try for an iconic American company IMO that stays true to the cut of its cloth. I hate the words "game changer" though. If there's a more overused term in the business world, I don't know what it is.

 

[mikeswals]

If anyone (bass guitar manufacturer) really wants to change the game for me, do this. Make a little circuit that I can practice with a Bluetooth headset. I can pick the bass up, flick a switch and put my earpiece on and practice without rattling the china. Thank you for your consideration.

a $45 Amplug gets your personal practice 90% there.

 

[swamp2]

Hey if things didn't flop now and again, technology wouldn't move forward. I don't begrudge them in the least. Admirable try for an iconic American company IMO that stays true to the cut of its cloth. I hate the words "game changer" though. If there's a more overused term in the business world, I don't know what it is.

Yeah - I hope this came through when I posted - I give a lot of kudos to US companies that aren't afraid to make the investment and put it out there in the hope of hitting a sweet spot - a lot of respect for EBMM for giving this a go... Same with Gibson - a lot of haters out there, but at least they've been making efforts to evolve the product a bit - some efforts maybe misguided - but at least they're trying.

Fender - meh, not so much... Yawn... Hey, here's another signature model strat/p-bass/tele/etc. Whoopie. How to push that envelope! As a motorcyclist, I feel the same way about Harley...

 

[Clark Dark]

I checked around and found something close in this:
Invalid Link Removed

It requires an adapter for the 3.5mm plug to a 1/4in. mono/(stereo?) plug and any Bluetooth headset or a dual headset.

 

[Rib 13]

Its interesting, but its really geared toward a music producer or home recorder than a gigging player

I can't tell you how many times I have dialed in a bass, amp, or processor at the house just to have it not sounding the way I wanted at the gig when the rest of the band is playing...

 

[bassbenj]

I checked around and found something close in this:
Invalid Link Removed

It requires an adapter for the 3.5mm plug to a 1/4in. mono/(stereo?) plug and any Bluetooth headset or a dual headset.

Cool! I knew China could crank these out! I love Monoprice anyway. They are a great source for cables! Only question remaining is if the low end response can handle a bass?

 

[Clark Dark]

Hey Spazz, I just wanted something so I could practice quietly. That xmtr with a single or dual earpiece and I won't rattle my wifes china.

 

[chris_b]

a lot of respect for EBMM for giving this a go...How to push that envelope!

I'm very happy in my corner of the current envelope. I don't need/want it pushed. I can play any number of genres with my "Fenders" and sound just right.

There is no music out there that requires anything more. I guess I'm not alone in thinking this, which is why the Game Changer didn't.

 

[swamp2]

I'm very happy in my corner of the current envelope. I don't need/want it pushed. I can play any number of genres with my "Fenders" and sound just right.

There is no music out there that requires anything more. I guess I'm not alone in thinking this, which is why the Game Changer didn't.

Well, maybe you're right... but I just think life would be pretty dull with nothing other than P-basses in the world... My bass collection would certainly be smaller!

 

[bholder]

Yeah - I hope this came through when I posted - I give a lot of kudos to US companies that aren't afraid to make the investment and put it out there in the hope of hitting a sweet spot - a lot of respect for EBMM for giving this a go... Same with Gibson - a lot of haters out there, but at least they've been making efforts to evolve the product a bit - some efforts maybe misguided - but at least they're trying.

Fender - meh, not so much... Yawn... Hey, here's another signature model strat/p-bass/tele/etc. Whoopie. How to push that envelope! As a motorcyclist, I feel the same way about Harley...

Well, kudos for the giving new tech a go, sure, but not for stealing said new tech from a little company and then trying to sue them out of existence. Not very nice, Mr. Ball.

 

[swamp2]

Well, kudos for the giving new tech a go, sure, but not for stealing said new tech from a little company and then trying to sue them out of existence. Not very nice, Mr. Ball.

Oh... I didn't know about that... not very nice indeed.

 

[ryansalmond]

I think the value of the gamechanger platform is more as an experiment- Because countless wiring combinations that had never been tried before were possible, a few surprisingly useful ones could be discovered, and then non-gamechanger instruments could be made with those settings hardwired into them.

 

[Norwegian Bass]

Also the sounds aren't very good IMO. EBMM has done a lot of nonsense the last 10 years. I got burnt myself; by buying the 20th Anni. Stingray 5-string with the mahogany tone block. Well, that "tone block" ruined the tone of the bass, and I eventually sold it for 35% of what I paid; biggest hit I've ever taken on a sale. It was pretty, though. Ash and alnico is what it's about when it comes to the tone of a Musicman. And the Game Changer is an extremely limited market, as it was with Gibson's Firebird X. That was also marketed as this HUGE revolution with countdown by the second on the website; and a Apple wannabe launch event; where the poor demonstrator was scrolling through useless sound after useless sound; ugly digital un-organic sounds. Oh well; Moby thought it was a great guitar! Sterling is coming around though; I just read on the forum that he said "Give them a volume and a tone control.", so he's learning ! and to be fair, he calls stuff now "my best failure" and so on, so he has a sense of humor about it. The vibe I've got from Sterling is that he's very much into engineering guitars and come up with clever stuff; which is not really what many players want. What the evolution seems to be; is archetypal guitars and basses (Strat, Tele, Les Paul, P, J, Stingray etc); and refinements or enhancements to those designs. And for all those instruments I would define them by pickup placement (and 2nd. possibly type) along the scale.
I think most "game changing" is better "post instrument"; like Axe Fx and stuff like that.

 

[Daniel Piper]

Big +1 to the above.

The people with more $ to spare for an expensive guitar want craftmanship, not gadgetry.