molan

We sell kits from Carvin and/or individual parts. I've seen some assembled kits and there is a quite difference between even kit basses from the same manufacturer and their fully finished instruments. The kit built instruments aren't desperately bad but the general quality of final fit and finish isn't up to the same standard as the professionally built ones. Of course the kit builders get a lot of satisfaction from self-builds and they save a fair bit of money but I think even they would admit the finished item doesn't have the same quality of a factory instrument.

Unsurprisingly Jim has been working on this for a while and, from what I understand, put in some real effort to get it finished for NAMM. We weren't allowed to say anything until it made an official debut at NAMM but, coming from Jim, you just know it's going to be good. I'm not sure he's ever made a 'bad' product. A few things have launched and fallen by the wayside, generally due to cost implications that would make them too expensive to continue with, but he seems to have set a good price on this and will have researched the market to make sure it's competitive. With a 'list' of $1,299 that would equate to about £1,050 in the UK after all shipping and duties are taken into account.

He pops into our shop from time to time - always such a nice bloke!

I had he premium service for free for quite a long time, initially through work and then via a Vodafone data pack but I couldn't see the advantage of the premium service over the regular free one so when my data pack lapsed I cancelled the premium service. The recommended listening on Spotify always annoyed me as well. It was often hopeless and not remotely representative of something I'd like. I listen to a lot of Internet radio stations instead these days because I like the variety and get loads of suggestions for new releases that I simply wouldn't hear about any other way. A lot of my favourite programmes are available on podcasts so I can listen whenever I feel like it. Quite a few are virtually ad-free (often sponsored rather than carrying conventional ads) and the DJ's have total control over their playlists as well

I've seen some damage caused to fretboards and necks where they've been caught by a wedding, or other, ring. If you're not worried about the odd little knock then I'd keep the ring on but if you like to keep your instruments in pristine condition then I'd definitely think about taking it off whilst playing.

[quote name='Mr Arkadin' timestamp='1421759522' post='2664600'] Where are these places? All I see is smaller venues closing down (played the Buffalo Bar at the end of last year - one of the last gigs that'll ever happen there). Hammersmith Palais - demolished, Marquee - closed, Astoria demolished, Coronet - due for closure. I'm just glad plaes like Corsica are still going. [/quote] I used to visit the Astoria for funk and soul gigs mostly and most of these have now moved to Indigo2 which, despite being further away for me, is an infinitely better venue to actually hear and see bands. In fact it's really developed this particular market and there's loads more of this genre of bands playing the UK now. Under The Bridge is another relatively new venue (at least it is for me). Also much nicer than some of the older dives I used to frequent.

Nice review Ant - great to hear from someone who has an original to compare with. We had a lot of fun with the ones we had in the shop but they went very quickly. Some more arriving soon so hopefully we'll hang on to them for a bit longer and get a decent chance to run through all the options with a variety of amps and basses

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1421756620' post='2664558'] Jinx! No comebacks [/quote]

I agree totally with the sentiment about all the modern towers. Some are really dull and the whole globalisation of identikit buildings and retail outlets resulting in a loss of identity is sad to see. I don't know what the plans are for Denmark Street so can't comment on whether they will re-locate or take up space in a new development (the latter probably too expensive). I'll miss the 'idea' and history of Denmark Street but, as a regular visitor (literally every weekday for many years) it lost its charm for me many years ago and became something of a parody of itself and I certainly won't miss that at all. Also agree about the Marquee. The Wardour Street location was like a 2nd home for me for many years for all its faults. I also liked the Astoria (but always wondered what would happen if there was ever a fire because the exits were awful!). However some of the newer venues that have popped up are often better in terms of sound, access, viewing angles etc. etc Unfortunately they've lost the charm and history but can be better places to visit. The biggest problem for me is the re-location away from the centre of town making them harder to get to. Hopefully the new Shoreditch shop is an example of people moving to a new location and reinventing things to keep them fresh and interesting, without losing the core focus, so let's hope we see more of these springing up

[quote name='Mr Arkadin' timestamp='1421748319' post='2664452'] Have you seen the development behind Denmark St.? Awful orange and green towers, is that the kind of thing you want for London regardless of what you actually think of the shops there? [/quote] I watched those towers being built from my office window (just behind Denmark Street) and thought the colours were temporary for a while. I don't like the external design but the interior is amazing in places. I've had quite a few meetings there and the roof garden canteen area is particularly nice. It's the UK HQ of Google and just the sort of thing that's good for central London. They could easily have gone for a, much cheaper, location but it feels like a good thing to me to bring a young vibrant business into the centre of the city. Having worked on the edge of Denmark Street for a long time I'll miss the history of the area if it goes but, as a customer, my experiences both with customer service and instruments have been invariably poor. I'm sure there have been/ still are some good guys there but I've only ever experienced arrogant, uncaring service from virtually every shop I've visited (Wunjos being the lone exception) so I definitely won't miss that

[quote name='Bassjon' timestamp='1421663396' post='2663626'] They must be. Its a bit unfair these slow announcements. I've bought my Saturday ticket but would rather see Stu Hamm who has just appeared for the Sunday. Poo. I was thinking the same thing. Why are there no guys from contemporary bands? I'd be really interested to hear from the likes of Chris Batten (Enter Shikari) to hear how he holds down that low end in a band that jumps between hardcore and EDM. Or Billy Gould from Faith No More y'know? [/quote] We've been talking about trying to get a Zon Billy Gould Signature bass over just for LBGS but timing may be tight

[quote name='Kev' timestamp='1421697789' post='2664120'] Interesting to see the number of people saying there is no point in spending high on a bass and not gigging it. I would have thought purchasing instruments for use in the studio rather than on stage would be quite common? [/quote] This is a really good point. I'm surprised that we rarely get people,at our shop buying basses and saying they are to record with rather than for gigging. Obviously we get a lot of customers who record regularly but they generally seem to record with whatever their main gigging basses are. We do get a lot players who aren't gigging at all though but play purely for their own pleasure (and some of these guys are seriously good players!). I hadn't referred to these earlier because I guess I was only thinking about players that owned high end basses and were out gigging.

[quote name='gjones' timestamp='1421703179' post='2664193'] This looks like it might what you're looking for. http://www.markbass.it/product_detail.php?id=61 [/quote] These do work remarkably well on MarkBass cabs and combos but, ideally need a nice carpet type covering to adhere to. You can get around this by fixing something similar to a cab but it would probably need to be glued on so could affect longer term value if it leaves nasty glue marks.

I never venture in darkest Shoreditch for fear of being 'converted to hipster' chic but this looks well worth a visit. Their logo says established in 2011 so must have been around in one form or another for a while? Have to be pretty big to retain 'main dealer' status for new Fenders and Gibsons, especially with the latest stock holding demands for 2015. Will definitely try to head over there. Must be better than Denmark Street as well. In fact I hadn't been back for a while but was there on Friday afternoon, tried the old trick of trying to get served but it was as tough as ever. Tried walking around, taking an instrument off the wall, playing acoustically for a bit, going to a counter and looking vaguely like a customer but couldn't draw the assistant's attention away from the blues licks he was practicing on a Telecaster without saying "excuse me" quite loudly. When I asked about some info on a bass he said the 'bass bloke' had "nipped out for a bit". No offer to help or even to venture when the 'bass bloke' might nip back again. . .

Depends on the cab and its design. Some cabs work much better when 'coupled' to the floor and others aren't as reliant on this. Some cabs actually sound different if you stand them horizontally rather than vertically and there are even some specifically designed to do this. In general terms most cabs will deliver more low end when on the floor though. Of course, this isn't always a positive thing. Some cabs in some situations can sound horribly boomy on the floor

[quote name='AndyTravis' timestamp='1421543987' post='2662657'] I don't know why I'd buy a £4k bass not to gig it?! How much is your car worth? Would you buy a new car and not drive anywhere for fear of a bump? [/quote] Totally agree. The 2nd point is quite relevant to me as well recently. Cracked a rim on an alloy on my car and a replacement will be £500. In the short term it's been welded at about £40 but It was bad enough for the, virtually new, tyre to be damaged as well so that was another £240. The garage said that alloys are notorious for this sort of damage and that I should be really careful and not drive over speed bumps or potholes for fear of damaging any of the other wheels - I asked him if he'd driven much on British roads recently He did actually see the funny side of this and recommend what, for me, was the 'Squier equivalent'. Get some new plain steel wheels and ditch the low profile tyres for something simple and cheap as they'd "do the job" without the worry . . .

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Isn't that just the regular 'street' price for a new one of these?

[quote name='Bassjon' timestamp='1421580105' post='2662807'] Stuart Hamm has FINALLY been announced for the Sunday - 2 weeks after BGM broke the news. [/quote] BGM run LBGS - because they run some live news stuff they will often pre-promote on the magazine news pages ahead of the show site. Gets them additional site traffic and good for SEO if they release lots of current news articles

I've gigged a £10k Fodera in small pub. I'm a great believer that if you own a bass it should be out there gigging. My 'everyday' gigging bass is a £4.5K Ritter but the Fodera gets an airing every now and then. I'm absolutely certain that no-one in the audience has the remotest interest that I'm using an expensive instrument but it doesn't bother me at all. I play these because I enjoy them and they make me smile every time I pick them up and that's all that's really important to me