lemmywinks

Just rang them and the guy sounded really disappointed tbh, sent them the pics through. There's a few other small dings and scratches which my cheap phone camera didn't pick up so well. Don't even know if the bass works yet as I'm at work. Even more annoying is that I've already bought an as new Gator ProGo Deluxe guitar gigbag for this off eBay and also some of the Herculese NINA adapters so will have to sell those on if this gets returned. It was heavily discounted (£767 in the Summer sale) but listed as new with a single stock picture.

Ordered a brand new Ibanez EHB 1505 from PMT on Friday, just arrived now in this state: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Q-ADkua8rm9LYMkqTJmf4lkv0JBPMRYc/view?usp=drivesdk https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Pokb3v5CRYLCeLmSpoKXtgdJACdWBjb_/view?usp=drivesdk https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PiNidaiBSQ0TJc_sWPREPRlMol1Af5kZ/view?usp=drivesdkPp Possibly worst of all is that it's completely missing the backplate and parts of the preamp are hanging out of the cavity. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PjeLKlYfsGm3EBncOiUVV3Ax1eLM6Azh/view?usp=drivesdk Obviously a used item or customer return that hasn't been checked. There's also insane fret buzz on every string all over the neck when tuned to pitch. These aren't cheap items, why the hell are they sending them out like this?

Regardless of whether you like GIbsons or not, even if you think they're overpriced but still want one, the main reason to avoid the company like the plague is that they only care about selling expensive instruments regardless of whether they're any good or not.

There's a handful of people on here who really don't like Warwick, I wouldn't pay much attention to it.

This is all good news, maybe the Tesco logo ones will become collectors items? I thought the 5s had 19mm spacing already though?

This is true. A drummer we used for deps was in a very successul Queen tribute, their Freddie stepped down to concentrate on the management side (it was his project to begin with) and they just replaced him with another extremely good Freddie in no time at all. Good tribute acts are on the sort of money that makes replacing members a breeze, there's more people capable and willing to step in than there are opportunities join a working outfit with a full diary.

We had a band reshuffle and ended up with a serious downgrade in PA - from a pair of RCF 725 tops with two RCF subs to some cheap Alto powered cabs with a single Alto sub. We put everyone through the PA and all use IEMs so I was really worried about how capable it would be, however our first gig with it was a large function room and it sounded great. We had a chat afterwards and moved an expensive PA upgrade down the list of priorietes, it's still going to happen but the cheap Alto stuff is more than good enough and very compact. In short - modern lightweight, cheap kit is absolutely fine for a full band PA if you're limited on storage space and budget. Although some people have said you don't need to put a kick through the PA in pubs/smaller venues we always do, not for volume but to give it some thump. Acoustically all kick drums sound like a damp trouser accident in comparison to when you give them a little bit of eq, half the battle is getting drummers to keep the acoustic volume down so you can make them sound better out front. Obviously get monitors, relying on hearing vocals/whatever else over the PA is not going to work in every situation and if you gig a variety of venue sizes you'll get caught with your pants down sooner or later..

Just grabbed the Ibanez EHB1505-PLF they had at £767, PMT's usual price was already a couple of hundred less than everywhere else as well - they're normally up at around £1.3k. The discounts on the Ashdown pedals are sub half price: https://www.pmtonline.co.uk/ashdown-type-23-dynamic-filter https://www.pmtonline.co.uk/ashdown-studio-compressor

Had decided a while ago to upgrade my current main bass, been liking a more modern 2 x humbucker approach and will be looking to use the opportunity to get something a bit lighter than the 11.6lb Sire I currently use, hopefully around 8lbs. Needs to be a 5 string with 18-19mm spacing. Had basically set my heart on waiting for a used MTD KZ5 to turn up within grabbing distance and set aside a bit of money for a pickup upgrade (Nordstrand/Barts) at some point, probably around £800ish total spend, however the Ibanez EHB1505 with the Nordstrand Big Splits is currently on sale as a silly price so I've been considering that. I can remember the Ibanez had a lot of QC issues with these basses, is there any still being shipped like this? Also is the low B just good for a cheaper bass or is it genuinely up there with more expensive stuff? I've always liked Cort factory low Bs but tbh my current Sire does it better than all the 5 string Corts I've owned. It's the standard 34" version of the Ibanez I'm looking at, not the multiscale.

They're quite easy to open up though so might be worth having a look first.

Have this amp and it's quiet in operation, no odd noises or anything. I'd just send it back, they're very cheap amps and you can pick them up for next to nothing - one on Facebook now for £110 with the footswitch.

A pal of mine was looking for a LP recently, money was no object (mortgage free/high earner) and he eventually went with an Epi Joe Bonamassa sig as it was the best one he picked up regardless of brand/price.

It's actually impressive how consistently bad Gibsons are, shambolic company turning out hilarious tat. Must take some balls to send that out the door though, like they just don't care as long as some schmuck coughs up the dough for it.

I think it was returned and they said it was within spec.

Also just about everybody listening to RatM or Dream Theater knows the name of the bass player and what he looks like. Like you said - that's how a signature instrument happens.

A lot of people seriously overestimating how well known Tony Levin is and as a result how well a sig model would sell.

Same situation here, I can see it from the other side that unless a pub is independent they will need monstrous takings to cover band fees however that doesn't mean it's ok to expect people work for slave wages. This year we've had more than the usual quota of one off events with very demanding requirements (last one wanted two 3hr sets), the old caveat of limited budget mentioned right at the end and the promise to cover our costs. Presumably that meant fuel for one vehicle and a service station sandwich between the five of us. Still some great gigs out there but everybody is definitely feeling the pinch, just a shame musicians expected to take the brunt before anybody else has to.

I think they're 100% trolling, after all originally Stratton made Sterling Ball produce a pricey clone of his cheapo Carlo Robelli bass which was itself a knockoff Musicman. Top grade clowning going on here I think.

Larry Hartke went through a stage of randomly sticking basses on his BBQ and posting the photos on Facebook. Tbh most of them looked better than this one.

Pretty much no band scene here, back when I was young and playing originals we had a fair few venues who would do band nights, that's gone now. A lot are struggling, a few friends of mine went to see the guy from Gomez not so long ago and aside from them there was about a dozen people there, this was for a heavily advertised local gig with dirt cheap entry fee and a recognisable name. The only types of venues where people will actively go to watch bands are pubs that do punk nights and one pub that trades almost exclusively in dad-rock covers bands. Must be horrible for young musicians starting out looking to gig, I had loads of opportunities on my doorstep when I was that age.

Just grab a decent quality speakon-jack lead with proper Neutrik ends and good quality cable. I have a stash of obbm ones (no longer in production) and also one from designacable, will do you for your entire bass playing life. One of my obbm cables is about 14yrs old I think and still gets used every rehearsal.

I never saw the point in a budget 8x10, they're just there for show IMO. If a cab is built down to a keen price I'd rather have the limited spec budget go towards 1 or 2 decent drivers than 8 complete pish ones. FWIW I owned the VX215 and the VX1508, neither were great and got completely blown away by the XL cabs that replaced them which cost used about what I'd paid for the VX cabs.

Is this like the bass version of a copycat killer?

Mine is earlier than that, I bought it used well before Gen 2 was announced so maybe they did start sourcing better ones. They work, just not as well as good quality tuners and there's a bit of play in the tuning key. I wonder if the Gen 2 all have the nicer ones.

Here's what was fitted to my Sire V7 Gen1, different tuners