Monkey Steve

yeah, that's not subtle

I also got something from the Netherlands last week Ordered from an Amazon Marketplace seller on 31st Dec, posted on 6th Jan according to the label (2nd according to Amazon, but, whatever) which showed it having gone via France, delivered by Royal Mail on 9th (well, the "sorry we missed you" card arrived on the 9th, while I was asleep) Marked as goods, not a gift, €34, no VAT or handling charges - my understanding is that Amazon handle all of this, even for Marketplace sellers, so the price charged should include all VAT

I've had three Wals - one from the early '90's that was given to the guy I bought it from by Ian Waller, one from the turn of the century that I got direct from Pete Stevens, just after they switched to custom builds only (and was actually someone else's custom build, I just happened to make contact when the customer had said there would be enough of a delay before he could collect it for Wal to build him another one), and the latest from Paul Herman that I got last year. All Mk II five strings, in an array of different woods The first two have gone (one partly to finance the latest), and they both had fairly chunky necks. The current one is much slimmer and quicker and a pleasure to play. I'd also say that the finish is better - feels less plastic-y than the older models, although they were still well made and looked stunning. What hasn't changed is the sound

This sort of thing makes me laugh - one company tells you how long a build is and what the cost will be, and someone will always pipe up about how a completely different company with a completely different business model will make a completely different product quicker and cheaper so there's no excuse for the cost or the build time

I depped for a name band a couple of years ago while they were between bass players - big fish in a small genre pond, not entirely my sort of thing but within the Venn diagram of what I like, and I know all the band members pretty well, and play/have played in other bands with most of them I had a ball playing shows at Rebellion in Manchester and the Underworld in London, in front of very enthusiastic fans, who seemed keener for me to sign autographs knowing that I was only doing a couple of shows than if I'd been a permanent member. In fairness, being their bass player is like being Spinal Tap's drummer, so those posters must be ultra rare collectors items They played in London a few months later at the Garage (with their new, permanent bass player) and I met their lead guitarist over the road for a couple of pre gig drinks. The pub was packed with their fans, and a few came up to the guitarist to say hello, and one at the next table couldn't believe that he was meeting his hero and turned his chair round so that he could start chatting. He tells the guitarist that he's such a huge fan, loves the last album, has been to all their London shows in the last couple of years. "Oh, you'll recognise him then" says the guitarist, pointing at me "er...yeah, I'm sure I know you...are you in *insert name of band I've never heard of here*?" Fame is so fleeting...

Excellent - thanks @Eldon Tyrell The Between Dog and Wolf (The New Model Army Story) documentary (essentially their 35th anniversary film) is also well worth watching

hmmm... This is an interesting point - JC Carroll is still with the band, and played on everything they've released, but technically wasn't their first guitarist, and Chris Payne can make a very similar argument as their bass player. Are we counting this from the first day that everybody sat down together and said "let's form a band" or from the point where the band first came to prominence, or first released a recording?

I seem to remember that Dusty Hill of ZZ Top played with a non-original version of the Zombies, but as I recall that was some fake band put together by an american promoter, something like they had a tour booked and split up, so the promoter formed a band and called them the Zombies to fulfil the bookings

Tank Although, it's complicated...They had no original members left (and none from their first two albums, easily their best) when Algy Ward left, but he then formed a new band, also called Tank, of which he is the sole member. They seem to get along without the need for any lawsuits, I suspect because there's no enough money to be worth suing each other for

for clarification - the Jazzman only has one of the MusicMan style humbuckers in the bridge, with a Fender Jazz style single coil in the neck position (Jazz+Man, geddit?). They are more common as Streamers, but they are available as Corvettes: @DiMarco had a $$, not a Jazzman My first Warwick, also my first five string, was a Streamer Jazzman - Great sounding basses

Another veteran of the Grey Horse here! 25 years ago or more... It's a shame that you haven't got anything out of the lessons, and I can understand how they may have put you off. Not exactly the same thing, but an ex of mine didn't read a book for ten years after doing English Literature at A Level because for her it squeezed all the enjoyment out of reading. We all learn in different ways, and have different levels of ability, and it's all about finding what works for you Maybe the course wasn't for you, and hopefully you'll get more enjoyment out of playing the guitar. But like a lot of the others, I question that it needs to be a "one or the other" decision - I have more guitars than basses at the moment, have played guitar in bands in the past, but would always consider myself a bass player. I used the extra time at home from lockdown to concentrate on playing 7 string guitar, just getting more used to how to get around the neck with an extra string. And while I play an instrument most days, more often than not it's a guitar rather than a bass - my motivation is often "what haven't I played for a while?" so with more guitars than basses it's usually six strings that win. Add to that the fact that I think I'm a much better bass player than I am a guitarist, so I will spend more time practicing technique on the guitar to try and improve. But I'm still a bass player, always will be. Just sometimes I'm a bass player who is playing the guitar All playing is good, whether it's improving your technique, just playing for fun, learning a specific song (and learning other people's songs is much underrated - learning how to play a favourite song and understanding the structure is a really valuable exercise) or playing with a band. I personally get the most from playing with a band, but just noodling away in front of the TV also helps, and there's certainly been more noodling than playing in a band over the last year Playing the guitar has definitely made me a better bass player, and vice versa, although I haven't always realised it at the time...which brings me to my last point. You may not feel the benefit of the lessons right now, but you might in due course. All our experience contribute to how well we can play, and I can definitely see the benefit of stuff that I learned on the bass when I'm playing the guitar, and stuff I'm playing on the bass that is informed by knowing guitar chords and progressions. I'm a much better musician now than I was 25 years ago when I was playing the Grey Horse, a product of all the experience I've had in the meantime, whether that's playing different instruments, in different bands playing different styles of music, whatever So while I understand you wanting to concentrate on guitar, I'd say that you should leave the door to the bass open, hang on to your gear, certainly keep your favourite bass, and see if you feel the urge to play coming back in a while

I haven't played one of those - I assume that it's OK, although it's difficult to track down the exact specs One difference I do notice is that the fingerboard is rosewood rather than Wenge, which is the German made standard, and allegedly part of the Warwick growl. I also note that they are passive electrics, so no active eq. Quite a nice demo at the end of the video - doesn't sound much like I do on my $$, but that's mainly due to the playing style. You get the growl when you dig in

can you post a link? It depends on whether the model is NT (neck thru) or not - the NTs have very slim necks, the bolt ons slightly less so, but not hugely noticeable until you get past the 15th fret

Agreed, although the "we asked and the EU said no" is the line being spun on this over the weekend One apparently well informed piece that I was reading over the weekend made the point (actually to do with fishing rights, but it applies across the deal) that there is little to be gained from complaining about the deal because the EU are unlikely to come back to it within the next five years - they work in five year cycles, and after all the stress and posturing from both sides over this deal, they are not going to start picking away at it in the meantime.

I quite like the Warwick headstocks- functional and a little understated, rather than “look at me, look at me” like a lot of them on this thread

I never liked the four string headstock from Wal, but one of my absolute favourites is the five string version: My outright favourite though is the Rickenbacker - very not a Fender, but a classic. With an honourable mention for the Thunderbird

Without trying to steer this into a political debate, as I understand it, all the restrictions come from the EU side, and they dug their heels in during the trade negotiations. Parliament can debate it for as long as it wants but it's not in their power to change this

I feel your pain. I also had the rosewood question (or, rather, can I confirm which type of wood the guitar is made from, perhaps to see if I slip up by declaring something forbidden under CITIES) when getting sent something from the US last year. The fact that I was actually getting a Bigsby didn't stop them, and when I pointed out that it wasn't a guitar, it was an aluminium part for a guitar, they then went back to the seller to get confirmation...why they did't ask the seller in the first place is beyond me, in fact, why isn't this covered on the standard forms that the seller completes in the first place? Have to say though, my seller used UPS who dealt with it through their depot on this side of the pond, as well as the payment of all the duites due, and it wasn't too painful

Glad it's sorted I also wonder if sellers who send significant volumes to the UK - Thomann perhaps, who have a UK website - will take the approach that Amazon do when sending stuff from the USA, to take payment of the VAT so that it can be declared and paid at their end to speed things up, and so you receive your order with no nasty surprises

I wonder if there's some advice circulating in Germany advising shops to wait for further guidance on shipping to the UK, particularly given how the trade deal has only just been approved It might be worth dropping one of the sellers a line to ask how long they anticipate it taking before they are accepting orders again. Very annoying about Warwick, and no help that my next place to recommend for their spares is Thomann Might be worth contacting a UK Warwick stockist to see if they have a better route to getting hold of stuff - Andertons for example

Annoyingly I just tracked down an LP that I have been after at a reasonable price, and the German retailer who has it for half the price it can be bought for over here has put a temporary ban on any sales to the UK. Amazon.de also has it...but for twice the price I suspect it's get sorted once everybody adjusts to the new arrangements

see - cats are great for the economy 🤣 I'm probably laughing harder than I should at something that was quite upsetting for you at the time - sorry

Never had a problem from any of my cats when playing vinyl However, prior to flogging most of them (vinyl, not cats), my old cat did sharpen his claws on the bottom row of all my albums. Little sod My current cats show no inclination to do the same thing...but I do now put them (vinyl, not cats) all in PVC sleeves Worst they've ever done to my CDs is scatter them around the room when chasing a mouse

If you have downstairs neighbours then they may not like you for getting a sub woofer for the .1 part of the set up but while they still aren’t common, a lot of the 5.1 mixes are genuinely stunning - I guess like quadraphonic would have felt back in the day Rush’s recent re-releases, as well as Jethro Tull’s, are probably the highlights of the stuff I have, although there’s a 5.1 mix of Ace of Spades in the latest Motorhead box set that is well worth listening to (added bonus, the DVD also has their appearance on Tiswas) not all are as good - the 5.1 mix of Doolittle by the Pixies didn’t do anything for me

so you haven't yet got into the 5.1 mixes on DVD and blu ray? Life changing...