fretmeister

It's strange how format affects peoples' views. If it was a rack unit then I suspect more people would find the price easier to accept even if it actually had fewer components like it wouldn't have footswitches etc. It would actually need more outboard kit to fully control it in a live environment. I'm not convinced the DG ADAM / Infinity / Photon etc are valid comparators as they really are 1 single unit with different software and paint. I'm far more upset with that - for the same money those units could have the sounds from all 3 units. I'd probably buy one if they did that. Source Audio are completely open that their Aftershock / Kingmaker / LA Drive are identical inside and that each of them can load algorithms from the others. That's how to do it! Tech21 refuse to make their stuff anywhere but the USA even though that makes zero difference to product quality anymore. They really are all about USA sales and as we know a lot of Americans would rather buy a "Made in USA" item (even though that really only means assembled in the USA) that is of lower quality than something foreign. With low sales numbers for bass kit compared to guitar stuff it's entirely possible that the price is genuinely only at a profit reasonable level. I don't have those figures to look at though, but generally manufacturing industry profits are lower than we expect across the world. That wouldn't be robbery - that's just me not being able to afford it.

GK=Clank. I think that is their USP really.

I didn't like the Optocomp. The Boss is clean. It just affects dynamics and nothing else.

I love it. I've had the Origin Cali76; Empress; DG Super Symmetry; MXR and loads of others and I rate the BC-1X over all of them. I sold the rest. The Boss just doesn't have a bad sound in it. It doesn't have that annoying dip and swell that others do - it just works all the time. At some point I'll be buying 1 for each of my boards.

Ah - I had seen somewhere that it was cheaper in the US than $499.

Well... if we could order directly from a USA shop then the usual approach is applying 25% to the item cost and shipping to be safe to cover the VAT and import. Let's say £50 shipping. $395 is currently £312 at today's exchange rate. £312 + £50 shipping = £362 £362 + 25% = £452 delivered to a UK address. As they are listed in the UK at £599 that basically means if it went via the distributor and a UK shop they are getting £147 between them. I suspect it's probably £100 to the distributor and £47 to the retailer. This is of course ignoring the bulk savings available to businesses etc. They certainly won't be paying £50 per item for shipping by air. It will be something like half a ship container every year full of T21 products. Probably work out to a couple of quid per item. It's probably closer to £200 split between retailer and distributor, massively in favour of the distributor. UK distributors really are taking the piss on so many products.

I tried one at my local PMT. I've been looking for a grab & go combo. Sounded nice - but it was really heavy compared to other modern combos, so it's not on my list anymore.

I love the idea! Just needs to be done right.

Stolen. A 1980s Aria Pro PJ in blue. I have fond memories of it.

Full refund plus interest on the money from date of payment. Nothing else. Even if he builds you a Fodera level instrument you will never be happy with it. You will always associate this drama with it. It will sour the entire experience when it should be a happy one. And you could never be confident about any aftercare you might need.

Still foreign to all but 1 country then.

Aren’t all Spectors foreign made?

I'm now doubting my memory. I have an alto and haven't played tenor for about 30 years! I'll have to check. The EWI looks so cool - I might have to put one on my GAS list. Both me and my daughter could use it. I'm trying to write tunes that are more 70s RnB and funk and they usually have lots of horns but when I use a VST and a mouse I just cannot get the feel right. Something like this might be better due to the breath control element that is so important.

The saxes are. The clarinet is weird. Unlike a Sax it doesn't have an octave key like a sax has, the register key jumps it an octave and a fifth - it's a 12th jump! I play sax, my daughter plays clarinet and the register key is damn confusing. Can't just hit it and get the next octave.

How does that work when the electronics and stuff won't be from the same country?

And if any money has gone to him personally, directly from the OP, such as paid into a personal account then it might be that the corporate veil doesn't protect him anyway.

I think that is only seeing one side of it. It may be that the only way to be able to offer the instrument at that price at all is by making it in Indonesia, and if it was built even in China it might have been £1500 Quite often profit levels on instruments are not as high a percentage as we might think they are.

I paid more than that for an Indonesian Ibanez Blue Floral Jem Steve Vai guitar about 5 years ago. It was an exceptionally good instrument.

Sterling has a smaller body that is a slightly different shape, and has a jazz dimension neck. It also usually has a more aggressive ceramic based pickup.

Anything over 7.5 lb / 3.4kg is too heavy for me now, and my 2 main basses are 6.5lb / 2.9kg and 5.7 lb / 2.58 kg. 3 hour gigs are easy now!

I have flats on most of my basses, but I like different ones on each. I have 2 Precision type shorties, one with La Bella DTF and the other with Dunlops. They have the same pickups and loom and sound very different. The DTF are a super deep thumpy sound that I really love. The Dunlops don’t go quite as deep but have a much nicer feel under the fingers. My Ibby Mezzo basses have Dunlops. The 5 string has stock pickups, the 4 has EMG PJ-X set and a 2 band EQ. My Sandberg TT4 jazz with EMG J set and a 3 band has Ernie Ball Group iv flats. I’ve tried all the others on this bass and keep coming back to the EB set. They are very bright when new and take an age to dull down unless I do the hand cream thing. They also feel very nice under the fingers and are really versatile. Nice and deep when played gently, nice bit of clank when digging in.

Interesting! I might have to try some.