Happy Jack

Given the grief that Alex got from (some) Basschatters when his initial cabs came with a rough hard-coated finish and not in 'proper' vinyl, I'm struggling to keep a straight face as I read all this.

Yup, used it with my Matamp. I downsized a long time ago ...

Looking at the bright side, this means that those of us will silly amounts of gear can now justify all those purchases as investments. One day, all gear in the UK will be characterised by whether or not it was pre-Brexit.

I have vague and distant memories of the last I'm Backing Britain campaign. My feeling has always been to buy what's best for the job. If that turns out to be a British start-up in need of early customers (think ... ooh ... Barefaced back in its early days) then I'm very happy to put my money where my heart is. If it turns out to be an EU or US product, then that's what I'll buy. If there are two more-or-less matching products to choose from, and one happens to be British, then that's a no-brainer but I'm not going to make a fetish out of it.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fretless-J-P-bass-full-overhaul/192942784752?hash=item2cec4940f0:g:FisAAOSwEDhc-nsi

Oooh, I'd forgotten about this thread. Here's one with the rockabilly band:

Zen body? How cool is that? Bet it does Tai Chi in the park as well ...

The fundamental problem is that, like Gumtree, it's free. If it costs nothing to post an ad, then you'll get a high proportion of ads being somewhere between random and completely braindead, plus there's no great pressure to follow up on things. Add to that the fact that the vast majority of people who call themselves musicians are flakes or fantasists or both, and you just need to be prepared for the inevitable.

Genius. Incidentally, why was there a mis-match between the SGC plastic cover and the cavity? I think I missed a bit somewhere.

Surely this is a Singer thing rather than a JMB thing? Bin there, dun that.

I followed up on that company mentioned by @stingrayPete1977 and they're undeniably offering something interesting. Their policy booklet only had one thing that left me puzzled (there's no definition of a 'Principal') so I've emailed the company to ask them.

I'm really not convinced. By removing (most of) the down side of a failed PI claim, in an environment of no-win-no-fee litigation (ambulance chaserz are uz) it must surely encourage frivolous claims to be made on the basis of "well, what have I got to lose?".

Did you buy these by mistake? https://www.pmtonline.co.uk/fender-7060-phosphor-bronze-acoustic-bass-strings-regular?utm_source=google&utm_medium=shopping&gclid=Cj0KCQjwgLLoBRDyARIsACRAZe4xjhvjR4DzfgpWmXiEGMM3CIhTQfuLyrrhT_lCY6ziWQPr_7ugpZ0aAgXDEALw_wcB

That's a lot cheaper than I've seen, Pete. Where do you get PLI for such low premiums?

Yup, good information, but actually a little off topic. QOCS would equally apply is someone lodged a PI claim against me because my rubbish bins were on the pavement and they tripped over them. I'm not about to take out insurance cover against that though. (I suppose it's possible that my household insurance already covers me for this, but I bet it doesn't apply if the bins aren't on my property.) When I bought some woodlands a few years ago, I was strongly advised to take out PI insurance against claims arising from intruders wandering through my property, injuring themselves (how, exactly?), and then suing me for negligence in allowing them to intrude unlawfully onto my property. Seriously. On principle, I refused. QOCS makes dealing with a PI claim more painful. Does it make a PI claim more likely? My question wasn't, how much has settling PI claims cost you as a musician. It was, have you, as a musician, actually faced any claims at all.

Interesting. I'm tempted to assume that the almost complete lack of response means that others have found the same as me ... PLI is little more than a scam, a tax on being a musician.

Dunno if it's "better", but I'm a P sort of a guy rather than a J sort. If you have a J/J configuration then it's a J. If you have a P/J then (arguably) it's a P into which you can feed a little J edge if you want it. I had two SB325s, and on neither of them did the B-string convince me ... too flobadob. It was partly as a result of that experience that I moved exclusively to 35" scale on 5-string basses.

My guess would be, I'm looking for £1000 in cash. If you insist on a trade then I need an apparent trade value of £1200 because I know that I'll only get £1000 cash when I sell it.

I'm talking about your PLI (public liability) as a performing musician, not your home or car insurance. There must be plenty of Basschatters who have PLI, either through the MU or direct with an insurance company. Many agencies demand it as part of registration with them (along with PAT). How often have you faced actual, real-life, honest-to-God claims against that policy? Please note that I'm NOT interested in anecdotal accounts of what someone else told you had happened to a mate. I'm talking to current Basschatters, and asking you if YOU have ever had a claim against your PLI.

Where & what is BaDaBoom? Is this the big nightclub place in Berlin?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ovation-Magnum1-bass-guitar-a-rare-example-of-this-classic-sought-after-guitar/283508470713?hash=item42026bf3b9:g:jd4AAOSwLW9c-Rp~ Lovely basses, and very rare on eBay. I already have this model in fretless, and the vendor is quite correct to say it's bloody heavy. Despite this, I'd still be after this one if it weren't for those photos of the headstock. Looks to me like not one but two splits. That could easily be a trick of the light, and if I was anywhere near Sheffield I'd go along and check this out.

Do these things come with a magnifying glass?

My Thomann Millennium cajon (not a kit) uses four lengths of copper wire as the snare, with the two in the middle being 'modified' by a simple piece of self-adhesive velcro tape. The hook-tape is stuck to the inside front panel, and the loop-tape is then velcro'd to that whilst also damping the two central wires. You can get more/less snare sound by adjusting the arrangement.