Dood

NEWS JUST IN!!!! UPS have been in touch regarding the 'possible match' parcel I mentioned in the OP.. It had, over the last day or so, been sent to their Lost And Found depot. (Apparently it's too difficult to identify in situ..) Yes, it has taken over two days to identify and! ... It's not a Bass Guitar in a Bass Guitar Case.. It's not a BIG box with a clear address on it to me. They did however manage to identify it was a guitar, so I will give them that. 😳 I understand the notification mail offered no sympathy or any sort of 'customer service' that we might hope for when a company is sorry for solely messing up on a grand scale. Nup. Nadda. Nothing. So, too many days after they lost the parcel (It was lost just after collection on Tuesday 28th, reported not arrived by me Wednesday 29th) UPS still have no clue how a huge box can go missing. I think it's time for the police to get involved; even the shop's UPS sales manager thinks it is 'odd'. Feeling really rubbish. EDIT: Interestingly, following the advice above, I decided I would start a Tweet to UPS regarding this mess. I went to the UPS help page on Twitter and literally the whole page is inundated, full of customers with problems. I have no idea how my post will even get seen. Well, there you go. tells the whole story really, doesn't it?

Here's the Web address I forgot ' http://musicalinstrumentrehab.com/

I'll post gratuitous pictures in a bit

Ahhhh yes! Chameleon Flip-Paint has been my 'signature' if you wanna call it that for years now and yes Jon Shuker did the flip finishes on my 6 and 7 string (Shuker) basses. I can also recommend the chap who did my Dingwall and Fender Jazz Bass Special as seen on the front page of his website. https://m.facebook.com/pages/category/Musical-Instrument-Store/Musical-Instrument-Rehab-167262633338121/ Musical Instrument Rehab based here in Norwich. He comes highly regarded.

I caved in and opened a Twitter account last night lol. Yeah, highlighting my plight on Basschat I hope has raised awareness, but I think you are right. We're a closed community and at best I am merely warning our fellow bassists of a really rubbish situation that this particular company seem incapable of fixing in a timely manner. Social Media it would appear to be a better approach to reach a wider audience as well as UPS maybe taking note - even in passing as it appears they have done regarding lost property. It was a shop and I am pleased to say that they have been chasing UPS on a daily basis. They have actually had to put in a good fight for the customer services folk to actually escalate and be bold enough to give up the names and contact details of senior management. Needless to say, they have had enough of UPS and will be changing to another courier as soon as they can. Hardly surprising really. As a shop, the courier they choose is part of their sales service. If the courier can't be trusted then the shop's reputation will be affected. Now considering the shop has been absolutely brilliant and bent over backwards for me without even batting an eyelid, I really don't want them to be seen in a bad light. With regard to UPS, as far as I understand it, they haven't even got close to approaching a "please don't leave, is there anything we can do to improve relations?" But don't quote me on that as I haven't heard from UPS recently either lol lol lol ...

The swear filter has raised a small smile though!

Partly down to the atmosphere in the house this week, but I’m feeling pretty down and dejected at this whole pink torpedo up. I was really looking forward to this delivery - and if it happens, I will do a separate post, but the excitement of realising essentially a childhood dream has pretty much gone. I don’t think it’s going to have the same desire now. I’m hoping that the bass is actually ok, but that aside I’m feeling really disappointed.

Yes to lots of recording and yes to having separate rehearsals for vocals where you can sit down with a guitar or piano and work out the lines and phrases without anyone messing about with instruments and sounds in the background!

In terms of ‘singing gritty growly’ vocals, there’s a definite technique required if you plan to keep your throat intact after a weekend of gigs So on that account I would suggest heading out to a vocal teacher who specialises in said genre. My trick for pitching is to always pitch using my bass as a reference (don’t pitch against or listen to your singer’s pitching as reference no matter how much you want to hear those lush harmonies!!) Then I would use earplugs - which are great as the occlusion effect can help you hear your own voice ‘inside your head’. I’d then select a value of attenuation in my ear plug filters that meant the stage volume was about the same or a little lower than my voice when I’m singing. Great for getting a clear note reference. When I figured this out the quality of my three part harmonies went through the roof. Though to be honest I haven’t sang for so long now, it might not be such a pretty sound ha ha!! If you are on IEMs then again, use something like keyboards or bass to reference your pitch against, not the singers voice. Indeed, my own IEM mix now tends to have the lead and other vocals merely as a guide. Hopefully this will help a bit

Oh great. I'm Self-Employed and on a low wage. I think I need to do lie down..... What a week!

Thank you! Time I had a Twitter account again then!

Unless you happen to be the depot (or a depot like it) featured in the first video on this thread. YIKES!!

I was incredibly lucky to pick up an open box from the Music Group eBay page for £150! - I've just looked in the hope of finding another but alas they are all full price on The Bay. I really like this little dude. Especially when I go all stereo!

The mic is only for hands free mobile use. It's not naturally designed as an ambient system, though I feel with a bit of rewiring and a better element, it could actually work!

Of course, I agree in part, but I think Parcel Force have had their share of fails too!

If it has managed to highlight some of the issues and that the likes of UPS see feedback from their customers.. and you know, they even do something about the bad rep they are getting, then the discussion needs to continue.

As yet another business day draws to an end for those busy tikes over in UPS-land, we can all remain confident that nothing took place to rectify this mess up!

Jaco only.. oh...err...

Indeed, countless millions play the National Lottery every week in the hope that the odds of winning the jackpot (in which you stand a greater chance of dying in a 'plane crash) turn in ones favour. I'm willing to bet the odds are similar! 😂😂

It does make you wonder though, how courier firms have been able to get away with such poor service for years? People aren't making up their reviews after all. Yup, I really do feel like we "literally have no options to choose from." Yes, couriers do hundreds of deliveries a day, but I am sure that a Dentist wouldn't last long if he'd managed to mess up 10 people's mouths out of every 100 check ups. A cashier in a bank wouldn't last long if they were handing out the wrong amounts of cash. example, example, example.. yet we are all happy to keep playing courier lottery. Too many people are having bad experiences verses those who are lucky enough to have never had a problem - and man, genuinely I am pleased that you have received a great service!! I welcome the balanced discussion and there are certainly points to be taken from it. @discreet's post helps to paint a wider picture that sadly will probably never get addressed, much like this situation. For this particular situation, We're all playing the game of "well it might turn up", if it hasn't found its way to CashConvertors yet?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lM3SRG7D21Y

Actually, I wondered where the company went to, so I checked google. They went bankrupt in 2012. Well, that's one less to worry about.

I've actually seen this happen with my own eyes. I once watched someone playing football with a small parcel trying to 'score a goal' in to the back of a van. They tried several times whilst a "colleague" stood there laughing. Of course, I reported what I saw.

I'd venture that with the advent of the 'new wave' of digital processors such as Positive Grid, Helix, AxeFX and Kemper that Impulse Responses for bass are being used and growing in popularity at an accelerating rate. Even the likes of Darkglass are building pedals that load user preset IR's on. For the uninitiated, guitarists using overdrive or distortion, cabinet IR's help to shape and make driven tones more palatable - and as bassists are using drive (especially in say prog and metal situations) then IR's for classic bass cabinets are required more and more. I think that you only have to look at the likes of Sigma and other companies who specialise in IR creation to see that demand for bass IR's are growing. I actually managed to grab a download the other day that literally has hundreds, maybe more IR's and many are bass orientated. That said, all-analogue hardware examples that allow the mixing of direct and cabinet simulated sound and can also offer up the compression and distortion artefacts of a real amplifier are highly regarded too. P.s. Would like to review the Doug Pinnick pedal in GI please (Do I win a Q/Strip yet?)