jrixn1

The free shipping is if your basket is £135 or above. They sort out the VAT for you (so no courier handling fee) if your 'Net amount' is £135 or below. But postage contributes towards 'Net amount' (I placed an order last week). So sweet spot is a basket of exactly £135, as you'll get free postage and no courier handling fee. The amount to avoid in your basket is £128.33 - £134.99, the worst of both worlds, as you'll have to pay both the £8 shipping and the ~£12 courier handling fee; in that case, you'd save £20 by adding £7 of stuff to your basket.

The discontinued first edition (made in China) were particularly good and some say a future classic. The later/current ones (made in Indonesia) are still pretty good. I have one of the current ones and like it a lot.

The track posted in this thread is from his 'Jaco Pastorius' album. Just found this: https://reverb.com/news/jaco-pastorius-on-how-he-learned-bass-and-composition-bacons-archive I interviewed Jaco Pastorius at a London hotel in summer 1976. I wanted to talk mainly about his first solo album, Jaco Pastorius, which had just been released. "On my record, I play fretless on everything but "Come On, Come Over" and "Portrait Of Tracy," I played fretted on those two."

Don't think Portrait of Tracy is on fretless.

Yes, I think you're probably right. In general... I'd exercise caution of social media lotteries as it's too easy for the less-scrupulous organiser to skim or fix. Clearly not the case here though; good to see many vouching for Alpher, and best of luck to all entering the draw.

No doubt run in good faith, but they should confirm if it's legal etc as there are various rules. E.g. "people can genuinely choose to take part without paying" https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/for-the-public/Safer-gambling/Consumer-guides/Running-prize-competitions-and-free-draws.aspx

I agree with this part. If you were playing this song live and could not fade out the ending, which chord would you most naturally want to play to make it sound "final"? For me it would be B minor, not A major...

You can use nearly any pickup and just change the cover. E.g. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pair-of-PICKUP-COVERS-in-BLACK-CREAM-WHITE-to-fit-USA-Precision-P-Bass-guitar/190980490847?var=490217062453

I recently had a hum appear, and I tried every combination and permutation of basses, pedal, cables, etc; it turned out to be the standing light with a dimmer I'd just brought in from another room.

Confirmation email received this morning suggests the £8 shipping already included VAT; i.e. it is really £6.67 + 20% (£1.33).

I just added £29.80 of items to my Thomann basket. There was then £8 shipping, so the checkout total was £37.80. A message on that page said that the prices shown exclude VAT. Their FAQ says that VAT will be added and charged by Thomann if the value is equal or less than £135; in these cases no additional fee will have to be paid upon delivery. So I was expecting to pay £37.80 + 20%, which is £45.36. I was however charged £43.76, which I have worked out is £29.80 + 20% (£35.76), plus the £8 shipping. So there was no VAT on the shipping; is that correct? I'll update if anything else happens.

The webshop recently stopped shipping directly to UK customers. I ordered a part this week via the UK distributor by emailing [email protected] ; it will be included in the next shipment of basses sent over (whenever that is - TBC). There may be delays as Germany is currently in lockdown.

Buy the strings you want (used or new) but keep the originals somewhere. When you sell the bass, reinstall the original strings and sell the good strings separately.

Yes, sorry, I meant the cube root but didn't know how to make the small 3!

Yes; if mathematicians were in charge, a 3/4-size bass would have a scale length of 3√(3/4) x 43.3" = 39.4". 🤓

Ah... but mine is a five-string, so if I move each string down one, I'd need more turns to get the string up to pitch, so I'd have less silk showing... I think??

My Dunlop flats (great strings!) purchased in 2020 have coloured ball-ends, with alternating gold, black, and silver. Yours might be a couple of years old (completely reasonable for flats). Seems to have been changed in 2018? http://lifestyle.jimdunlop.com/new-packaging-for-dunlop-strings/ FWIW mine also have a different silk length:

I've already had some replies, which is much quicker than I thought seeing as it was the end of the working day by the time I emailed. The most direct option I think is £42 via Synergy Distribution, with delivery usually taking a couple of weeks. Adding for info: Bass Direct replied with £45, no timeframe given; Cool & Classic advised I'm best buying directly from Germany or via the UK distributor (Synergy); Bass Gallery said they'd need to check with their distributor and get back to me (which I guess is Synergy... so sorry Synergy if you wonder why suddenly everyone seems interested in a tort VM5 pickguard 😁). Jack's Instruments also replied very quickly, and will cut a custom one for £61 (I'd have to send in my existing pickguard as a template); that's with their standard printed tort material. I might go through their large list of other available materials and see if there's one that I prefer to the Sandberg tort.

Hmm yes, perhaps. I'll send some emails, and update with any replies.

BTW for the eagle-eyed: it's a standard four-hole plate but I removed the preamp, so it's purely passive now, with the jack socket on top, a full-range tone knob (with 0.1uf cap), and a three-way pickup selector. I replaced the stock Sandberg P pickup with an Aguilar 5P-60CL, and the bridge pickup has been rewired in parallel.

Here's a VM5 I got a couple of months ago, although I think it would look better with a tort pickguard. However, the Sandberg shop (https://sandbergshop.gambiocloud.com) no longer seems to ship to the UK... The only other place I can find is https://www.emma-music.com; never heard of them. Has anyone used this French shop before? Or does someone want to swap their tort for my black? 😀 Alternatively I can get one cut by Jack's Instrument Services.

Sugababes. After individually leaving and being replaced, the original members subsequently reformed, but had to use a new name.

+1. The good thing about using a preamp pedal and a powered PA speaker (aka "FRFR") is that the powered speaker is acoustically transparent, i.e. it doesn't contribute or affect your tone in any way. The tone comes only from the preamp pedal; I'm currently using a Mojomojo (£40). If I decide I don't like the tone, swapping the pedal is cheap and easy compared to replacing a head or cab. Or get a Helix...

With the scroll in the footwell, like this: https://youtu.be/samNHsF2NhI?t=120 (starting at 2m00s) I prefer this way because: the bass is held more securely; handbrake/gearstick not blocked; can see out of all windows/mirrors; and you have the full empty boot volume available, instead of having to slot things around the bass. With your stone walls though you'll have to have the car out on the road when loading/unloading.