sammybee

It's never been the best, I agree, but it seemed much worse this weekend

I like to support my local shops where I can, when they sell the things I need to purchase - and am happy paying a (small) premium for this convenience Went to PMT in Northampton this Sunday, looking to spend £2-2.5k - staff seemed a bit disinterested, shop looks a bit unloved too Get the feeling they are just waiting for the axe to fall, which would be a great shame and loss for the town Anybody else get the same vibe from their physical shops?

I'm sure you'll love it! It's not that difficult to use once you've got to grip with the sequencer functions.. happy twiddling those knobs!

Could you stretch to an Electron model samples? (£285 at Andertons) They get a lot of love & it's a sampler too Have you thought about the Behringer RD-8 (TR-808 copy) or RD-6 (TR-606 copy)? nice analog boxes with a lot of hands on control and some modern embelishments? Both easily within budget for a mint used one. With the rest of your gear I think the RD-8 would fit in quite nicely, esp for ambient type stuff

A lot of people don't get on with the Drum Brute(s) - which is why you see so many for sale - same with the Akai Tomcat/Rhythm Wolf (they are really marmite pieces) What's your idea of not expensive, and what style of music are you creating? Those two bits of info would help the suggestions

Currently I think I have six Isla Instruments S2400 Akai MPC Live Akai MPC 2000xl Behringer RD-9 Behringer RD-8 Behringer RD-6 (there maybe a couple of others in storage) In the past I've owned the following Roland TR-808 Jomox X-Base-09 Roland TR-606 Roland TR-707 Korg - DD1 Yamaha RX 15 Yamaha RX 5 Boss DR550 Mk1 Boss DR550 Mk2 Akai MPC 3000 Akai MPC 2000 Ensoniq ASR-Pro Novation Drum Station Roland R-5 Roland R-8 And probably a load more that I've forgotten about - the ones listed were the most memorable and ones I regret letting go. They all had very different sounds, whats called nowadays 'workflow' and vibe! Do you need more than one... probably not - I could live with just the Akai MPC 2000xl .. But I like variety, and I'm really into my rhythm boxes If you ask a guitar player 'do you need more than one bass' - they'll probably say 'all you need is a precision', ask a bass player - well we all know the answer to that! Lots of people are really happy using software drum machines, which is great; but I prefer the hands on approach that a dedicated instrument gives you If I was in the market for a single machine, it would depend a lot on the style of music I'm trying to create - what kind of music are you trying to make with it?

I don't have direct experience with that model, but I've had Alesis' synths in the past and they have been, solid, reliable bits of kit. At £150, you'll get your money back if it doesn't work out. Just make sure it's all working as intended Sustain pedals are cheap... I got a Donner one recently for £13

What do you want to learn - piano or organ/synth? To me, they are requiring 2 different approaches. If organ/synth - you'll be better off with a 61key board with synth action, if Piano you'll be better served by a 7x/88 key weighted keyboard If you're learning piano you'll want a sustain pedal at a minimum

ps you're selling that MPC Keys far too cheaply at £800

I'm sure the laptop/keyboard is fine when it works! Trouble is, you're setting yourself up for a whole world of pain if it ever goes wrong! Especially if it goes kaput on a gig Once you start getting into bomb proofing your setup like the photos above it starts costing money/time. Of course if you are needing backing tracks/click/running the DAW as part of the live show it makes more sense... but just to generate sounds I'm not convinced it's worth the outlay I'd keep the Keyboard if you like the way it feels and spring for the Reface CP (it has a MIDI in on a breakout cable)

What exactly are you trying to achieve? Does it not make more sense to buy a sound module if all you are doing is using the laptop to generate sounds?

Sorry as a Stingray player, I find these just look plain wrong. It's a no from me

We have a similar experience, although our ebay volumes are considerably higher.. Very, very few complaints from customers who have their parcels shipped to them by Evri. Our customers can select Royal Mail if they like - RM generate far more problems

If anyone else is curious, GAS got the better of me & I pulled the trigger on one just before Xmas. It is an absolute beast of a Drum Machine/Sequencer/Sampler/Looper. Modelled on the revered EMU SP1200, it's a classic machine with many modern touches. Connected to my MPC 2000xl and Akai S900, my Stingray and Korg Triton - I'm all set for House and HipHop heaven! It is also really easy to use, easier than an MPC IMHO and the online video manuals are great to dip into if you get stuck

That's a really fun story to read! I'd add 'Effortless Mastery' by Kenny Werner as recommended to me many moons ago

If it were my kid/grandson/grandaughter - I'd really consider investing for them in a decent year of birth bass (something from 2006 if they're 18). A USA Fender or Precision - or a bass in that ball park. Bit like premium bonds, except the bass will rise in value - and they'll have lots of fun playing it!

He reached out to me after my initial comment

Just to update. I messaged Will from Bass Bros, and the misunderstanding I had was cleared up

There are some absolutely fantastic (young) musicians producing some great music these days. It's a great time to be a musician - there are so many channels to get your sound out there, the cream will rise to the top as it always has done.... And the price of gear... it's so easy and cheap to access great sounding equipment compared to when I was a lad.

Not a commission sale, but I did sell a bass to Bass Bros before Xmas. There were some positives to the experience, but the episode left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth

You had a lucky escape!

Looks like a lovely guitar! Enjoy!!

Reaper is great, it does everything I really need from a DAW... but on a Mac, you cannot argue with the value Logic brings to the table. I bought my copy in 2012, and since then haven't paid a bean more; but I get very frequent updates, and more high quality content & plugins than I could ever really consume. I paid £169 at the time, Reaper costs $60 - but only provides updates for 1 or 2 versions before you have to shell out for another licence. I would imagine over 11 years Logic is probably marginally cheaper on £ Horses for courses I guess