Happy Jack

Mind you, I just LOVE it when shops put up silly signs saying "Ask us for our best price" or similar. The wind-up opportunities are just irresistible.

On principle, I refuse to shop anywhere that won't put a price on every (and I mean every) item for sale. It's an inexcusable practice which achieves nothing except to drive away customers. Luckily enough, the vast majority of shops DO put the price on display so it's not as if I've denied myself much.

The price has dropped from the silly numbers that were floating about when I wrote that review. They peaked at about £3400 in late 2018, spent most of last year at around £2600, and are now available (in the UK and Germany) for less than £2200. Google is your friend. FWIW, if the price (new) drops below £2000 it is entirely possible that I'll buy one. I was, and remain, very impressed by that bass.

So far this year I have bought new DB strings cable management tools a clip-on tablet/smartphone holder presents for my bandmates Does this mean that I am finally a mature musician? I'd still love a Rickenbacker 4003s5 mind ...

Nope. You run the usual vox/instrument inputs to the desk, and then take an XLR for L/R Main Output, one to each sub-woofer. They do the crossover bit internally and divert what needs to be diverted to their respective tops.

In a desperate attempt to actually answer the OP's question, we moved from a pair of RCFs to a MarkAudio column-based system about 18 months ago. This was then a 4-piece covers band doing 50s-80s music, and we were really keen to start routing the entire band through the PA to keep on-stage volumes acceptable. At the time, the range of column systems out there was really pretty limited. We felt that the MarkAudio came closest to what we wanted. Judging by what we saw at NAMM last week the market has since expanded dramatically and the choice is way wider. Will these systems do what a pair of Mackies or RCFs will do? Yup, absolutely, plus they bring other advantages. 1. On narrow stages or platforms a pair of RCFs at head height will block out a surprising amount of the view of the band. Column systems make the stage area feel wide open and spacious. 2. Mackies and RCFs have the amp inside the cab (well ... duh!) which means that at each gig a pair of 50lb units has to be lifted to head height and placed on a pole. Column-based systems have almost all the weight concentrated in the sub-woofer sitting on the floor. Not only is this good for your back, but it means that the entire unit is far more stable and punter-proof. 3. At many pub gigs the splayed tripod feet of the PA poles are a significant trip hazard, especially as the punters get drunker. A bloody great 2x10 sub-woofer is much less likely to trip up a dancer. On t'other hand, it's really very difficult to put your pint of lager on a PA tripod ... 4. If called upon to play a much larger gig than usual, or maybe an outdoor gig, and assuming that you kept your old pole-mounted PA, it's very easy to combine the two different types of system since they occupy very different spaces physically.

Reckon there may be a smiley missing from this post ...

I get about a bit ...

I've never bought a new Fender online ... so I'm Alright Jack.

http://w.bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/Home.html

https://www.musicradar.com/news/fender-fined-pound45-million-for-preventing-guitar-price-discounts-online

I'm going to go with 'that's a typo' ...

Interesting comment, Chris. Was this just a personal thing, or is there some sonical logical reasoning for it? In my 3-piece band with very little by way of lead guitar work going on, I'm using a 5-string plus occasional FX (octaver, chorus, +2 octave guitar effect) but I'd be happy to experiment with different approaches.

What about using the two pickups individually? Is each pickup on the new bass running at about the same volume? Obviously the neck pickup tends to sound louder anyway on a J (IME anyway) but if the combined volume is less than the sum of its parts, one pickup may have been mounted the wrong way around.

Google Calendar? It's not social media, it's in the Cloud, it's free.

And don't forget Winona ...

The seller is going to use the money raised to pay for a Basic Photography course ...

Roger also told us that he spends hours at a time here on Basschat, lapping up all the constructive criticism from the industry legends who post here. Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! No, he didn't.

Because you need to know when to hold 'em?

This list contains no Abba, no Beatles, no Rolling Stones, no Clash ....

I'm rather looking forward to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/springboard-west-2020-band-brew-crawl-tickets-66438833339?fbclid=IwAR1aiJZqs6_1zvPKcEDh5GknPeZUzj-BpV8rf9-4s9WkVFNh9w278RE0TMI

Sorry to follow up with such an obvious question, but what happens if we submit a 'set list' comprising just the two originals?

Can you just run (part of) this by me again. I play in a rockabilly band where we currently perform just two originals written by the band leader. We play them at every gig, and we play mainly pubs. Were we to register the band leader for PRS, are you saying that he could or at least might be able to 'claim' back £6.00 after each live gig? This sounds dangerously like money for nothing (and your kicks for free).

I'd be very happy to visit Winston-Salem and check out this guy's operation. Yes, his output is often jaw-dropping, either in terms of ludicrous design or just the sheer ugliness of most of it. BUT he has a huge number of satisfied customers, he makes no false claims, and I for one would love the opportunity to play a dozen of his basses back-to-back on the off-chance that I might actually like them.

They're both basses, and they sound like basses.