LukeFRC

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1344012018' post='1758767'] The horsey stuff costs a fortune. The horses are worth a fortune, then there's all the upkeep costs. And I think the cost of transporting the horses across the globe for an olympics reaches millions. I think many of the riders don't own their horses, they borrow them from people who can afford to keep them! [/quote] like republican nominees for president?

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1344010650' post='1758725'] Nothing is pricey compared to F1 cars. I think the basic point is how much it costs to be able to compete at the top level. So for cycling it's at least £20k whereas for running it's probably a £100 pair of decent shoes. A simplistic view, perhaps, but most determined people could reasonably expect to equip themselves with the same sort of gear used by world champions in most olympic sports - but probably not in cycling these days. A bit like the music world really, where it's really not unthinkable to equip yourself with the same basic gear as world famous musicians (unless we're talking Stradivarius fiddles of course), in which case it really is all about the talent and not about the gear - which is how it should be really. [/quote] Except if you get to the point where someone thinks you might want/need a £20k bike then I'm pretty sure british cycling will get you one- I don't think chris Hoy buys his own bikes. Road cycling you can get a decent bike at £500 and then spend as much as you want/are mad enough on the bits to make it that much lighter. Possibly like us lot and basses you see people get more focused on the gear than actually using it.... Running you could start on a pair of £2 pumps if you wanted! the cost in a lot of these sports is the time and then affording to join the clubs or wherever people do athletics..... but it gets to the point that there is a difference- a £5 ball and jumpers for goal posts will get me started playing football- the gap between me and Lionel Messi is the same as me and Chris Hoy. In the same way the local park or road takes the place of the velodrome or Wembley.... I think sometimes if we just went and did things for the fun rather than getting hung up on the gear... which brings us neatly back to bass guitars....

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1344009148' post='1758696'] Good point about the cost of competitive bikes, which have a serious hi-tech element to them these days. Can anyone think of other olympic sports that require such expensive equipment? I know that canoe slalom boats are mostly carbon fibre these days but I don't think they are anywhere near the price of the bikes. My lad has a hand-built carbon kayak but it was less than £1000. Shotguns can be ridiculously expensive if hand-built, but the money goes into the engraving and carving - they don't actually shoot any better than a £500 model, so it's not really an entry barrier into the sport. Archery perhaps? Some of those bows look very fancy, but I don't know how much they cost. [/quote] the bikes push the barrier- if you compare them to formula one cars they aren't that pricy.... whats that the bike is about the cost of a front wing? though R&D costs probably a wee bit higher. I was reading before that especially in Bejing they were so secretive about the equipment even the riders didn't know what they'ld done, they were just given a bike and told it would be better than the oppositions. (and if it wasn't then it's not bad for the psyche is it?) Flippin good job they've done though, top of the world in terms of cycling. Mind you we do spend more on our elite cycling than the USA does on cycling of all levels.... my view is if it encourages more people to cycle it makes the UK fitter and slightly less polluted then thats a good thing.

[quote name='essexbasscat' timestamp='1344008919' post='1758687'] Everybody's talkin' 'bout the new sound funny but it's still rock n roll to me.... Billy Joel [/quote] which explains why the kids are still raving about Billy Joel, honestly mention his name in front of a load of school kids and you'll see what I mean!

[quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1344007256' post='1758654'] A custom bass, or Sadowsky seems less of a crazy price now. [/quote] I still think sadowsky metro are silly prices, but thats just me. customs, esp some british manufacturers.... are pretty good prices. If I was buying new I think ACG or Osprey would be getting a call

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1344007875' post='1758670'] Peter WIlson won his double trap shooting gold medal using a Perazzi shotgun . . . . any guesses what that will do to their sales? [/quote] and wiggins won his on a.... bugger anyone got £20,000 or so spare?

Isn't it common that traditional things become popular in a recession? Hence the surge towards jazzes a few years ago, followed by the current one towards precision basses. I think when I buy gear I've always been in a position to try and find 'the best' I can, and buy something that will last me. My amp/cab are brilliant and won't be sold. (even through I'm unlikely to ever use half of it's power!) It's also one of the makes that don't really get fashionable or not. My P bass ... is one of the best I've ever played- and is irreplaceable I hate to think what finding another bass that plays/sounds like it would cost. And I was lucky in buying a warwick when they were unfashionable- again I bought it with the aim of keeping it- in that sense resale values make little point- if you buy to keep it's more a question of what is the best I can get for this money? I think though that the best stuff around is always going to be the random non fashionable makes, that cost a fair bit when they were released and now nobody wants. Musicman and Rickenbaker however manage to be about the only two companies that make stuff you can't get elsewhere- the resale prices of them are good indicators of the market. If it gets too depressed it gets to the point where folk will just hang onto their basses.

[quote name='warwickhunt' timestamp='1344006298' post='1758632'] Oh bugg3r it, I forgot about her... it's defo available for 'sale' not trade. [/quote] i've been eyeing up that 5 string green thing of yours, I guess you forgot about that one too! [quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1344006536' post='1758639'] As for Warwick. Stupid money... and as said, it's done nothing for the resales. If anything, it's a reason not to buy a new Warwick. [/quote] price drop on the resales was before the restructuring to a more exclusive product with the higher price. partly due to them going big style into mass production around the turn of the century, and the perceived drop in quality and plethora of lower end models. To be honest they are doing what would be sensible for them to do, and that means higher prices on the new stuff. The good thing as a buyer is the old stuff is still comparatively cheap

I think.... less people will buy new basses over the next few years...

[quote name='BarnacleBob' timestamp='1344004540' post='1758591'] and answer came there none...... did a bit of digging and what has caught them out for me - apart from TGTBT - is the sellers other item for sale, a genuine second hand Louis Vuitton trunk at £16! These are actually worth more than the Wal !!! And there identical adverts for the trunk all over craigslist and other classified ad sites in that London. Now to find the money for HappyJacks beautiful 5'er........... BB [/quote] the Wal bulletin board also found the same pictures of the trunk in a sale ad from 2009 too.....

I prefer a bass that looks like it's been played (not reliced - most I've had have had poly finish) one of the down side of basschat is that folk look after their gear so well. I've bought a few basses on here then sold them as they have been too new feeling- I've been scared to play them. The old stuff I've picked up in junk shops I've been less precious about - or Rasta once traded me a wicked fretless, beaten and modified to hell- but man did it sound good. My warwick was just worn enough that the first person to reply on gumtree didn't want it so thats fun to play- not precious at all. The JV was just a nice bass when I bought it, but TBH as the supposed value of them has crept up it's been played a bit less, which is a shame. Both gigged though and taken care of too

[quote name='razze06' timestamp='1343993538' post='1758310'] The T40 sounds like nothing else around, and its controls are also completely different. Still one of my go-to instruments. Weight is never an issue with me, the Ned Callan actually weighs a lot more than the T40 (mahogany nech AND body, i think, built like country house furniture!). No problem with mids there, you can cut through anything. The Status is a much more polite and restrained instrument. I'll probably gig it on saturday at Whistlebinkies to see its true colours [/quote] if the status sounds much like my old one it will be great with fuzz. Dunno why but that's what I remember of my old status shark. The T40 wasn't too bad- but I have two basses that unplanned are both under 9lb- and the warwick WAY under. If I was going to grab one to play just the weight in picking up a bass almost twice the weight of the wick.... well it wasn't going to get played as much as it should.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1343992599' post='1758289'] IMO "never gigged" = not as good as the bass(es) I am gigging. [/quote] +1

[quote name='icastle' timestamp='1343949856' post='1757898'] If there's a Speaker Out socket on the back of the amp, it'll be connected in parallel to the existing speakers. Now, I've never tried this, but as long as resist the urge to plug the combo in, I can see no reason to stop you from taking advantage of that socket and feeding a different amp into it. [/quote] while theoretically that would work no problem.... I wouldn't do it! an hour with a screwdriver getting the amp out and you would be far safer I would have thought.

[quote name='razze06' timestamp='1343986074' post='1758147'] Hey! I play all my basses in rotation with religious regularity (and alliteration)! Each one has its characteristic sound, and that's what I love about having several. If I need to be more present in the mix, a little bump in whatever passes for low mids on your bass or amp does the trick every time. Certain basses do it more naturally than others, but I am not into the mechanics of it too much, just find the sound that works for you and carry on with the gig [/quote] there's a couple new ones on your sig I think? How you finding the status? The T40 is a special bass though isn't it? If it were just that bit lighter I would have kept mine

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1343947922' post='1757863'] I've tried taking the amp out of the combo to see if there was anything obvious wrong (and for me it would have to be REALLY obvious ) but I couldn't get the amp to budge even a tiny amount when I took the screws out of the top. Thanks for the rest of the information. [/quote] hmmm interesting... wonder how they've stuck that together. maybe go in through the front by taking the speaker out? or the tweeter switch might come out and with a torch let you see inside whats going on

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1343944884' post='1757807'] The thing is I can't afford to give somebody a load of money just to open it up & tell me they can't do anything with it - I'm better off putting that money towards another amp. [/quote] fair enough, I guess if it were mine I would open the thing up and try fix it myself, but I'm wired like that and not everyone is, the next thing would be if you have any electronic proficient friends who you could buy a pint to look inside for you. But then if that's not going to work... having found a picture of the back of your combo, it's not the easiet thing... you need to get the amp out somehow, work out which screws hold it in, my guess would be if you take the handles off the top off the thing should slide (forward?) it it doesn't shift don't force it. you should find a cable coming out of the cab section and into the amp section... don't pull it too hard but see if it's easy to detach at the amp end somehow (depending on the fastening- otherwise you may need to take the speaker/s out to see how it's connected at that end) if it comes off and theres enough length solder a jack or speakon connector there and bobs your uncle. Keep the amp somewhere for sometime you've got a bit of money for repairs or sell it as broken (It's the kinda thing I'ld not mind trying to fix)

yes, easy. Easier to ask around for someone in your area who's comfortable opening up that amp of yours.....

[quote name='razze06' timestamp='1343924925' post='1757442'] That sounds like a "how long is a piece of string" question to me, LukeFRC. Certain songs require a more aggressive presence, others need big smooth and pillowy sound... [/quote] it was more, what do folk do to change it. Plus your view doesn't count as you play a T40 and theres nothing that bass can't do just as it is

[quote name='Jack' timestamp='1343918978' post='1757332'] If it gets to the point where you need to buy something there are small boxes like the Presonus EQ3B (which has apparently been discontinued, but you get the idea) that sit in the effects loop of the amp. [/quote] ah that sorta thing might sort me out! weighs almost as much as my amp mind!

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1343918394' post='1757322'] I just play... and there they are. [/quote] you're normally more opinionated on do's and don't that that! I actually wrote the names of a couple of folk who I thought would have good advice then took it out of the OP, you being one of them!

is this on the bass I think it is?

[quote name='beely' timestamp='1343916204' post='1757279'] In conclusion, the short answer to your short question is…. “cut” [/quote] My bass has naturally a lot of low end and high end.Most of that I want, it's more giving it a wee push in the mids - and in the right place in the mids, I'm after. (or cutting at the right place in the (high mids?) and finding the best thing to do that)

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1343749468' post='1754600'] I contacted the UK distributor who say that there is only a one year warranty on the amp (despite the EBS website saying two), and that as it was bought as "New old stock" the warranty would not be valid anyway (which again is not what EBS told me when I registered the amp after buying it but there you go....). [/quote] doesn't matter if it's "new" or "new old stock" - under EU law you have a 2 year warranty on it. If it's register with EBS all the better [quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1343908963' post='1757141'] No, nothing - haven't heard back from EBS or the amp tech I contacted. When it comes to buy another amp EBS won't be on the list - I'm not prepared to spend money on a product who's company doesn't honour their warranties, or won't even give me a reason why it won't. [/quote] woah slow down - give them more than 24 hours to answer you, esp and it's not going to a english speaking country! also EBS may be the greatest company ever and their UK distributers are crap.