Dad3353

I gave it till half time. I think that there may be a message or two in there; it's not clear.

Indeed, but no sooner the 'target' reached, the 'target' is extended..! Still, as long as the goal is achieved, I suppose.

... with some lousy drumming..!

Sorry, I'm failing to see the 'logic' here.

Define 'cheap, foreign'. If the folk working in the 'foreign' factories are getting a decent wage for their local economy, isn't that a Good Thing..?

I've a notion, but it'll need quite some dexterity to concretise. I may be some time...

Stick clear plastic film to the scratch-plate before lending it out..? OK too late for this one, but for another time...

Ubiquitous here in France; the music shop I used to work in sold nothing but.

Fixed.

There are, however, other keyboard layouts that work very well for all musical genres; especially useful when transposing 'on the fly'...

And the winner is ... @AndyTravis..! Here, then, is your Winner's Certificates (download and save as pdf file, then proudly print and frame...) ... BC_Chal_Cert_2023_03.pdf ... which look like this (but bigger, of course..!)…

I concur.

A visit to your favourite bass tech might be in order, no..? Once every 13 years doesn't seem so bad, and he/she will know exactly what needs doing, if anything. Fret dressing and re-fretting are just standard maintenance tasks, for every fretted instrument that's been played a lot, and is entirely normal, just like changing tyres on a car. Hope this helps.

I wouldn't know; I was simply responding to the bass cost aspect. The way of calculating inflation'n'all seems to differ from place to place, and from time to time (House prices included, and rents..? Price of clothes..? Cost of agricultural land..? Bass strings..?).

Man of the sheeple, eh..?

I live in France, and see the Thomann prices in Euros. They have increased in the same way as the GBP prices to the UK. France does not have a 'B' heritage to blame; the prices have gone up, is all. World factors are the cause. Price increases are across the board, for all. It's probably true (I wouldn't know...) that some specific UK issues have been in play for some (many..?) items, but bass prices isn't one of them, to any meaningful extent. Just my tuppence-worth.

I might be wrong, but I read the question as being 'are £1500 basses worth so much more than £150 basses that are equally mass-produced..?'

Here's a working link to the petition page; easier to use, maybe..? Petition : Save Abbey Music Studios from closure by NHS Oxleas Trust ... Seems like a real rum do to me. Someone must know the real motives and reasons for this..? Very odd. I hope the petition provokes a positive outcome. Edit : petition signed, naturally. I didn't appreciate the petition site's insistance that I contribute more, but that's just me. I hope the issues get resolved and that the Good Work being done at that studio can continue and flourish.

The number I like least is '28'. Here's why... An aging comedian retires to a retirement home for retired comedians. On his first day there, he goes down to lunch, and there’s a bunch of retired fellow comics sitting around the table. The conversation they’re having puzzles the newcomer somewhat. One of comics at the table announces “12..!” and everybody laughs. Then another one says, “44..!” and there's slapping of thighs and guffaws all around. During a lull in the conversation, the new guy introduces himself, and asks, “What’s going on..? What’s so funny about calling out numbers..?” One of the comics says, “Oh, you’re the new kid on the block, eh..? Let me explain. We’ve all been retired for many years. We’ve been telling and re-telling the same old jokes for so long, we’ve assigned them all numbers. To save time, instead of telling the joke again, we just say the number..!” “Wow,” says the new guy. “I’ve never seen that before. That’s pretty smart. Mind if I join you..?” “Certainly,” the other comic says, and beckons him to sit down. The newly-arrived comic is eager to fit in. So five minutes later, he calls out, “28..!” Nobody laughs – you could’ve heard a pin drop. His voice quavering, he asks, “What’s wrong..? Isn’t number 28 a good joke..?” “Yes, it certainly is,” replies another comic. “But it’s the way you tell it."

... as one does. ...

Some forty-odd years ago now, we returned to the UK for a family visit. During a shopping trip to Tesco, I came across a pack of four potatoes, sized for oven roasting, in a plastic tray. I couldn't help exclaiming out loud at the price of £3.99 on the label: that's one pound per spud..! In my mind, that pound would have bought well over a stone of spuds at the greengrocers, back in Shepperton when I lived there. Prices creep up all the time, but we don't really notice it, it seems, and the decades slide by, untilwe are made rudely aware of these increases with a sharp awakening shock. I've just looked it up; a stone of spuds in 1971 would have cost between 6s6d (35p...) and 11s.(55p...). The same spuds now are between 12 and 35 times dearer. A tenner or more for a stone of 'taters..! Cost of living, eh..?

'Back in the day', pro-level basses and guitars were only for those with deep pockets, so not much has changed in that respect. The more affordable instruments, though, are now of a very high quality, compared to daze of yore. The high 'pro' price is maybe just to differentiate them, as I suspect that real production costs are very similar across the range (I'm excluding 'custom' or boutique' basses, here...). I couldn't afford a new Precision then, and can't afford a new Precision now.

There are more benefits from MU membership than simply insurance cover. They become more apparent when there is a need, of course; it's a gamble as to whether any such need arises. Same as insurance cover, really.