molan

TC prices have always been all over the place. It wasn't that long ago that you could import RH450 and Staccato amps from the USA at dirt cheap prices and flog them in the U.K. for a really good profit. The market was flooded with these for a while. I still see used ones for sale at more than the new prices a few years ago!

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1479479831' post='3176890'] I think the Government is missing the point. Take as an example... Britain would like to do more trade in selling to Russia markets, so in the interests of promoting this I have a box of 250 Russian language dictionaries here. They're the best dictionary of it's kind available at only £3 each to you TODAY! PM me and one will be on it's way to you tonight!! Come on then, aren't you going to PM me? No, because you don't want to learn Russian. Why did you want to learn music? I guess it's cos you heard U2, Rolling Stones, Status Quo, or whoever, on stage, rocking with a passion. The beat hit you in the heart and you WANTED to ROCK!! It pumped your adrenalin. The problem today is a cultural one. The kids are still listening to music we grew up with. (For them that's like watching their Dad dancing - so they don't identify with it) Too much contemporary music is singers/vocalists singing to what sounds like a computerise backing track. The lyrics are often interesting quirky raps. But does it move their souls? My guess music today doesn't switch the passion on in the current generation. So, give them a cheap guitar.. or a Russian dictionary... it'll have the same effect. What you're seeing is the Government "doing something" because folk are telling them that they need to promote music education. Just the same as Trump is saying about getting Muslims in the USA to register. It won't achieve anything, but his supporters tell him the Government should "do something". [/quote] I couldn't disagree more. . .

First thing I'd say is that if you're earning any kind of money as a band and you're playing larger pubs then you need a decent PA. A proper, balanced, mix through the PA will always sound better than individual musicians desperately trying to 'cut through' and boosting frequencies that sound good to them on stage. I'd 'fix' this first before tinkering around with new amps and cabs - to a lot of people buying PA equipment is duller than dull but your audience will be coming to hear you play as a band and providing them with the best quality sound will get you a lot more gigs

Heard a while ago that GBL was potentially for sale when we spoke to suppliers about moving to an online only sales model for BassGear. Looks like it's going to be getting harder and harder to find a traditional 'shop' to go and try stuff

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1479392195' post='3176192'] ^^ My experience also. I'd rather plug into a wet lettuce using a coat hanger for a guitar cable. [/quote] 😂 😂 😂

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1479324962' post='3175699'] Strangely Warwicks seem to be advertised in the USA for far more than you'd ever expect to get for them in Europe. Which is unexpected as Fenders, MM and most of the other mass-produced stuff is cheaper in the USA. [/quote] 'Grass is greener' stuff - we pay over the odds for US imports, they pay too much for European stuff. Japan is even more pronounced. Some locally produced instruments are dirt cheap and hard to sell but they'll pay a fortune for some American and European brands.

I have one of these - much heavier relic though

[quote name='Mr Fudge' timestamp='1479335044' post='3175826'] I've realised tonight reading around the TC reviews I might need a bit of genuine headroom in my amp. Any suggestions? [/quote] For a relatively classic tone I'd probably go for an Aguilar Tone Hammer 500. For cleaner tones maybe a MarkBass Little Mark III or for a 'rockier' punchy sound then something like a Gallien Krueger MB500. Both the Aguilar and GK options have 800w variants too. One thing to note on your TC - even when you have the Spectracomp turned off there's still a lot of inbuilt compression in the circuitry.

[quote name='LayDownThaFunk' timestamp='1479328273' post='3175748'] They're being discontinued! [/quote] But available dirt cheap now

Jens has a few basses in very high profile museums already. Pretty sure every one has been purchased by the museum and not given away or loaned.

Could be the 'hard baked' compression in the RH450 as well. It's a 235w power amp masquerading as a 450 by using a stack of compression to boost the output. It's built permanently into the circuitry so you can't get rid of it. On the one gig I used one I found it an absolute tone sucker of an amp and found it hard to hear myself properly and immediately sold it. A really nice classic P doesn't need all that 'clever' circuitry to sound great. I'd look for a simpler head with some basic tone shaping and let the bass speak properly

[quote name='dmccombe7' timestamp='1479242916' post='3175057'] Wunjo Guitars Denmark St in London and the Great British Bass Lounge in Manchester are the distributors and might stock them Last Scottish shop was when i bought mine from Sound Control back in 89. Probably better buying a 2nd hand 80's one if you can get it. I had a Streamer II for few months as a loan while waiting on my Thumb bass and both are excelent with fantastic necks. Dave [/quote] Warwick don't use distributors in the UK (or anywhere in Europe that I know of). All sales are direct to dealers from Warwick in Germany. It's not difficult to become a dealer but margins vs final sale price are high and they are very slow moving. The full German models are astronomical now and the Pro Series Czech/German ones just seem in much demand so hardly anyone over here is sticking them.

I'd definitely look at the Super Bright nickels or steels. I know some pro players who generally use nickel that have swapped over to steels in the Super Bright range. Pretty cheap for quality strings too. You can pick them up for £17.50 a set

[quote name='dave_bass5' timestamp='1457620410' post='3000225'] My thoughts on this are what might be sound on paper can sometimes make bugger all difference in the real world.. [/quote] I've heard lots of both and have seen people spend a fortune on custom basses to get a more even balance across strings by revetsing pickups. Really doesn't make enough difference to warrant all the time and money. So many other factors in play in terms of balancing tone and volume across the board - not least your right hand plucking technique.

He lost me at "beat maker". . .

"A new speaker of this nature costs £900 online" Or £499 if you can be bothered to look. . . Maybe the speakon lead is worth the extra £400?

I think I've got three that I swap around - There may be another couple in my 'spares' box. Aguilar TLC tends to sit on the board for gigging as it happens to fit my tiny board really well and I like it for live work. I've also got a Diamond bass comp which is very 'musical' and a Demeter Compulator. The latter pair sound great but maybe take a bit more care in setting up, well, for me anyway! Ovni Labs is great review site for loads of compressors - well worth a read

The closure was announced around 20th September with a final closing date of 31st October. It was a very public closure announcement and widely reported at the time. Definitely worth contacting them if you're a creditor. The two guys who set up on their own are here: http://www.richmondguitarworkshop.com

[quote name='FinnDave' timestamp='1478691674' post='3170934'] It's not always so bad, I joined the Wirebirds nearly four years ago through a wanted ad and I now consider the other members to be my closest friends. [/quote] Similar situation for me. I auditioned via a recommendation from a singer I was in another band with. I didn't know any of the guys and they'd all played together in various bands for over 20 years. I got the gig and we soon became good friends. There's no 'politics' and lots of good natured banter and simple respect for each other's role in the band. I really enjoy rehearsals and gigging with them. Generally my favourite days of the weeks are when we are playing together. Wouldn't change anything at all about the setup. I play at home as well, generally just having a go at learning songs I like. I rarely play completely 'solo' though. For me, the bass doesn't work as a solo instrument.

He turned up at my house one day - I had no idea who he was! Bought a pedal on eBay and the seller said he lived nearby so would pop it over. We were chatting on the doorstep and he mentioned how many bassists there were locally. I said that I knew a few and mentioned Paul Turner as being one of the higher profile ones. He said, "oh yes, I know Paul, he replaced me in jamiroquai"! I immediately realised who he was and felt suitably embarrassed at not recognising him, lol. Nice guy, has been over to our shop a few times since

[quote name='BassBus' timestamp='1478557181' post='3169948'] I wish everyone would stop the panic about Brexit. It is in Europe's interest as well as ours to do a good deal. Take the motor car industry for example. Mercedes Benz, BMW and VW have a vested interest in there being a good deal. VW in particular has more to loose than most. Not only are jobs in Germany under threat but also those at Seat in Spain and Skoda in the Czech Republic. As I understand it Volvo's biggest single market is the UK. That's Sweden as well. [/quote] Volvo's largest market, by a fairly large margin is China. Sweden is second largest followed by USA. U.K. accounts for less than 10% of their volume sales. Volvo itself accounts for onyl about 1.5% of total car sales in the UK so probably not all that important. It's a global trend though. China is rapidly becoming the biggest market for many brands - even major high end 'esoteric' brands like Bentley sell more in China than any other country. BMW is the same, over 20% of sales in China last year and growing rapidly. Britain is still a decent market for the big boys but it's certainly now what it was and we're way less important than we were even a few years ago. Edit - forgot VW. There were some really recent figures for 2016 that showed China going over 50% of VW sales!