molan

I remember when I bought my first decent turntable back in '84 (a Linn Sondek I still have to this day - albeit somewhat upgraded since then!). It was paired with a Yamaha amp and some nice old Kef speakers. I had a couple of tracks that just seemed to 'work' really well with it. First up was the original 12" of Your Love is King, the overall production sounded great at the time. Never quite had the same effect on the LP version though. Next was the album version of Yes' Owner of a Lonely Heart. This song pretty much sold me on the hierarchical importance of a hi fi system - whatever sits of the front end of the sound chain will make the most difference. I discovered later that loads of hi fi shops used to use this song to demo new stuff for people because of the way it leaps out of the speakers at you, lol. Off topic but might be one for you BB5 - I eventually found another song that I tended to use as my 'demo' track when moving the system around or trying out new speakers etc. The full 12" version of Helping Hand by Arthur Miles. This shortened YT version sounds very flat by comparison but thought you might like the song PS - back on topic - Sade used to live in the penthouse flat above one of my mates on the edge of Islington / Highbury Corner. He said she looked stunning pretty much any time of the day. He also insisted she was a Gooner (easy walk to the ground from her place) but we never got any substantiated proof of that, lol

I heard from a fairly reliable source that Roy Wood earns around £375K a year from this song! I think that's amalgamated earnings from royalties and live performance (he's usually out on tour this time of year at university balls etc.).

Something vaguely similar happened to me recently. Courier said package delivered but the buyer hadn't received it. I managed to get a scan of he signature of the person who'd taken delivery and it turned out to be a neighbour/friend who'd taken it in and hadn't spotted the buyer was home from work yet. I'm assuming you've tried all the local houses to check that it's not sitting in an, absent-minded, neighbour's hallway? Should definitely report to local police as well - they ought to take some interest in £1,000 stolen package.

It's a bit of a way to travel to Surrey but Steve at stevesamps.co.uk is an absolute whizz when it comes to fixing valve amps. Sorted a very obscure problem with my old SVT that had baffled two other amp techs - and he didn't even charge me much for sorting it either

Damn - iPhone glitches screwing with me and messed up the end of my last post' Is the YY 'worth' the amount a new one costs? If you can afford one and don't get wound up by the inevitable cliches of whether any bass is 'worth' this much then I think undoubtably, yes. Having worked for 'the man' for 30 years then I kinda feel I can indulge myself with a Yin Yang without Gavin to feel guilty for it, lol. Is one worth about 40 Squiers the definitely not - but, on purely personal preferences I know which I'd rather be spending my 'precious' bass plain time with

So the YY arrived this week and it surpassed all of my expectations The quality of construction was exactly what I'd expected having tried a few Fodera customs in the last 6 months but it's way nicer in he flesh than the photos suggest. From the pics the 'classic' YY basses look very 'black and white', however, up close you can really see the gorgeous woods of the ebony and holly and they feel much more 'organic' than I would have thought. The ebony is really lovely and there's lots of different textures to the colour with some really nice natural wood finishes coming through. The neck may just be the nicest I've ever played, smooth, perfectly shaped (for me anyway!) and just beautifully finished. I'm no pro player (as anyone who's heard me can bear witness to) but I have had the chance to play a swathe of 'pro' basses and this one just knocks all he others into a corner as far as I'm concerned! The core sound is, unsurprisingly, very articulate and is really responsive to player dynamics. It shows up technical glitches but when you really get things right it just 'sings' like nothing else I've ever played. Fodera say that they are only going to produce 6 a year of these moving forwards because they are just so labour intensive, having one that was completed this year feels nice but it's really not any kind of major reason that I like it so much! Is it 'worth' the current $12,500 price tag (about £10K in the UK after taxes) - well that depends on whether you can afford one and So - apologi

We've been quoted close to £200 for PLI this year and I wondered if anyone had any recommendations for good insurers to get a quote from?

I am beginning to question why I always go away this time of year - I've missed three years worth of SE bashes now! Still - I guess sitting on a beach in the Caribbean whilst it's cold and snowy at home does make up for it a little Actually if BA flew here any day other than Saturday I'd have delayed my trip just to be there - but don't tell the wife, lol . . .

Spooky - I was reading about the album release last night and made myself a little note to try and listen to some stuff today - popped into BC first and here was your note Listening to MySpace right now - sounds King Crimsonesque (which is a good thing as far as I'm concerned!) based on first couple of minutes. Looking forward to hearing the rest!

[quote name='Chris2112' post='1033173' date='Nov 22 2010, 08:50 PM']There seem to be a lot of people asking about this now. Customs aren't mugs though, they're trained to spot just about every scam coming in to ensure that no one can buck the trade laws of this country. Every penny counts to Westminister now, and given the risk of trying to smuggle stuff in I'd day you're best off keeping it above board or just buying in this country.[/quote] I spoke to someone today who's been arguing with customs who impounded a bass being shipped from the USA. He'd taken it out as hand luggage and left it there to have some work done on it. They asked for written proof of his 'export' to the USA and a receipt from his original purchase that showed import duties had been paid on it when it was first imported. He'd paid cash for it on a private sale a couple of years ago and had no proof he'd actually taken it over with him. Eventually he gave up arguing and lashed out £225 to get it released from customs (value based on the insured amount plus the shipping charges)! It was worth more than the insured amount and he had the work completed very cheaply by the original luthier who'd even marked the return as a warranty repair. Overall he just about broke even on the whole thing but it does make you wonder if they are paying closer attention than usual at the moment. . .

Nice one RastaMan