ambient

You should have received a code which he would scan as proof that you’ve collected it. Without that and with no proof of postage/delivery I should imagine a refund would be straightforward. I won an eBay auction for an effects pedal a few years ago. I was the only bidder, it was a really stupid price. The seller contacted me a few days later to say that he’d been on his way to the post office to post it, he’d stopped briefly to go shopping and whatever I’d won had been stolen from his car. He just refunded me. Then a month later he was selling it again, the theft was just an excuse to cancel the transaction.

This is as dodgy as hell. How did the scammer know the seller's address? I bought a double bass from eBay a few weeks ago. It was obviously collection only. I was sent a collection code by eBay which the seller scanned using his phone, as proof that I’d collected it. I had no way of knowing where to collect it from though until the seller sent me his address.

Would it be a good idea to remove the valves and package them separately?

The UK ended FoM, ending it was one of the linchpins of Brexit. What many failed to grasp was that we weren’t just ending it for EU citizens, we were ending it for ourselves too. We could have opted to remain part of the SM - a Norway style agreement - that would have solved the problem with NI, it would have solved the problems that exporters are facing. We chose not to though. The UK was offered visa-free travel for creative industry workers, we would have had to reciprocate though, so we said no. This is despite the fact that the creative industries employs 3.2 million people, or 10% of the country’s workforce, and contributed some £111 billion to the economy in 2018 (source ONS).

A good friend of mine plays for the CBSO. They used to tour regularly across Europe. The excess cost now will be prohibitive, imagine how much it’ll cost to arrange visas/work permits for an eighth piece orchestra plus their entourage? You might dismiss it because they’re an orchestra, but it was work for both the musicians and the people they travel with. Further to my earlier post. A friend of mine is a DJ. He was saying last week about the fantastic times he spent working in clubs in the Spanish and Greek islands when he was younger. He wouldn’t be allowed to do it now. The ticket touts that drive holiday makers mad handing out flyers and trying to get them to visit timeshare apartments, tended to be British having working holidays. They won’t be allowed to work abroad. I’m going off topic I know, but I get annoyed with people making flippant remarks about the loss of FoM.

There’s a lot of ignorance about working in the creative industry following Brexit. It’s not a simple matter. American musicians did indeed perform in Europe, but only those at a high level with financial backing. It costs money, a visa is required for each country. Most people working in the creative industry are self employed, and follow a DIY style of working. I’ve performed in Europe and worked as an academic in Sweden. The budget for the kind of things I do - and most others too - isn’t sufficient. It’s not just visas - as you’d discover if you did a bit of research. There’s VAT payable upfront at each border on merchandise for instance. You claim back what you don’t sell, that takes months to come through. It’s not just musicians and artists either. There’s actors, technicians - lighting, sound engineers etc. People who work in film and TV production are also affected. Many were employed as freelancers, you can't now just be employed by a French or German company, they need to have offered it to an EU resident first.

A pretty cool Instagram page. https://instagram.com/beneath_the_bassline?utm_medium=copy_link

Order it from Thomman. If you don’t like it simply return it. It’s in-stock, and free shipping. The price there excludes VAT, with that added on it's just over £700, which is quite a lot cheaper than Gear4Music - I don’t know what Guitar Guitar are selling them at. https://m.thomann.de/gb/markbass_cmd_102p_lm3.htm

Have you a link to your review please?

I used to use a trolley. It safely carried my DB up and down to London from Birmingham by train. Just make sure to use some quality bungee ropes. I was always pleasantly surprised the number of people who stopped and helped me carry it up or down stairs at tube stations.

Lichtenstein is landlocked and doesn’t have an airport, so getting there may pose a problem. I believe - could be wrong - that there’s only only one music venue there.

I saw that. I was going to enquire about a gig there, though I’m guessing there’s going to be a massive stampede of UK artists wanting to play, so I’ll wait a while.

Thank you.

Congratulations. You’ll have a wonderful time, believe me, it goes incredibly fast. With the right mindset it can definitely be life-changing.

That’s Lily.

This is why I play a 6 string bass.

I picked this up on Tuesday from a guy in London. It needs new strings and a setup, which should be done next week. Overall I’m very pleased with it. It’s a Stentor Conservatoire, approximately ten years old. The guy actually sold it as a Stentor Student 2, I noticed the Conservatoire label inside earlier today. The Conservatoire model is quite a lot better than the Student model, and consequently a lot more money. It has a carved front and back - the back is really nicely flamed.

I rented an instrument from them for a while. He was working out of a house at the time - that was a few years ago now though.

I came across this via Talkbass. http://www.hervejeanne.de/en/string-matrix

Yeah, I did the HnD first too, though at ICMP. You’re absolutely right, you take from it what you want.

Did you do the degree course? I went to ICMP. I mentioned above, the audition to get in there was incredibly hard. There were written harmony and theory and aural tests. I think there were two sight-reading tests. One playing unaccompanied lines, the other along to a backing track. As well as various scale and arpeggio tests. I auditioned at BIM in Bristol too. That wasn’t as demanding as ICMP. The guy running The audition was a lot nicer and more approachable too. It’s surprising how varied the auditions are.

He does them. Though he asks that you collect the instrument in a timely manner, to avoid him running out of room in his workshop.