BillyBass

A lot of reviewers are paid and they don't hide it. Bass the world are paid, for instance, and they often review Ashdown kit. You have to read between the lines a bit with the obviously paid for reviews. They will praise certain aspects of the product and demo it but you can't really learn much from a YouTube demo though. Low end Lobster does great bass guitar reviews on his YouTube channel. He buys the basses himself and then flogs them on afterwards, consequently he can call a bass 'Fender's turd' for example.

Guitarguitar in Edinburgh has a couple in stock, not quite so far to drive from Fife. Edit. D'oh! Just seen this was posted in February!

I didn't get any impression my Musik Productiv RM800 EvoII was B stock. Looked brand spanking.

Another vote for Pinegrove 4" straps here. I have three of them.

I don't get why they sell the same amp on Ebay and their online shop, but they Ebay prices are way cheaper. Their Ebay listing does say 30 day returns, so you must be right.

So now you've flogged your MarkBass, you'll be needing a new third amp then😉 I was looking at the Gallien Krueger amps as an alternative to the darker MarkBass but then Musik Productiv came out with the deal on Ashdown kit and pairing my MarkBass with my Super Midget gives a great tone so I'm going to control myself. I notice Polar Audio sell the same GK heads directly from their website but are much dearer than their Ebay page. I suppose this is due to different return policies? I.e. buy it for £100 cheaper but forego the opportunity of sending it back within the first month.

There is already a Guy Pratt Ashdown compressor. I was told he does use it but he also has another three compressors he uses.

I think what @Phil Starr was referring to was that over here quite a lot is blamed on Brexit (as well as Covid now). We are currently suffering from a lack of petrol and diesel in petrol (gas) stations due to a lack of truck drivers. This is caused by Brexit and a few other things. Countless European truck drivers have gone home since Brexit, so although there is plenty of fuel in the refineries, its not getting to the petrol stations. It wasn't a dig at the U.S. more of a "You are having problems too then?"

Hopefully you'll be posting some pics when you get the Cort back from the luthier...or it didn't happen!

One option would be to make use of the really cheap deals on Ashdown kit at this German retailer: https://www.musik-produktiv.com/gb/bass-guitar-amplifiers/ashdown/ I, and several others on here, have bought Ashdown kit from them in the last couple of months and so far everyone seems to have no complaints about the process-I'm talking Brexit related customs issues etc. Most of the good stuff has gone but I notice you can still buy either the 112 or 115 Evo IV Pro Neo cabinets and either the Original or RM Evo II 300w heads, for a little over £400 for hand and cab.

it is isn't it. I can't believe you get this on a £900 bass @Ricky Rioli and @LukeFRC got me going and I've been on the configurator too. The birds eye roasted maple fretboard is an extra on their custom builds!

You'll go blind!

These work well for metal:

As a Rolls Royce compares to a Fiat. The photos on their website don't do it justice. The body colour of the 'white' is sort of a jasmine white. Jasmine white being the colour wifey chose for our lounge and hallway walls! It has a slight yellow/green tint. I would have checked the black one if they had had one in stock but the last black one is in Scotland. The neck, the playability, the versatility, the price...and the deluxe gig bag😉, sealed the deal; the colour is growing on me. Snap one up before someone else does, they aren't making any more.

I did try the Lakland. Its a nice bass. I was slightly underwhelmed I will admit but that is because it didn't give me anything, tonally, that I didn't already have. Its a passive PJ. The neck is Jazz like, certainly narrower at the nut than a P bass but perhaps slightly deeper than a Jazz, I could be mistaken. The inlays are really nice but they would look so much better on a darker fretboard as the maple is so light in colour the inlays don't stand out at all. The body-and matching headstock-colour is not exactly blue, sort of a blue/grey silver metallic. Its a good bass and worth the £1200 they are asking for it. Its Asian built but they look it over in the U.S. before shipping and they do the 'Plek' fret treatment. I opted for a cheaper and, I believe, superior bass in the Balaguer (I've started a NBD thread about this).

Yep! 'Steve' was the bloke sorting me out, he can play a bit of bass.

Not to be outdone by @spacecowboybelow, I also bought a bass at Newcastle Guitarguitar yesterday. A Balaguer 'select series' Goliath. And here she is: Double humbucker with pull pots for each pup's volume that turn the pups into single coil. So it can be a jazz, and also a HH. Practising today I really love the bridge pup soloed, it has a lovely bark to it. It's very light, not weighed but would estimate at 4kg or less, so I don't know why it's called 'Goliath'!. The neck is gorgeous, see the pic. It also feels fantastic. I can see no improvement on this with any American made Fender. Apparently the 'Select Series' are made in a factory in Korea with 7 luthiers, so not mass produced a la Cort in Indonesia. It was £899, with a deal so mid range, price wise but the quality is way above MIM Fender (of which I own two). I feel like I've got a top of the range bass for a steal.

I bought a Balaguer, I'll start a new thread about that shortly, but another I looked at was a Lakland PJ in ice blue metallic. Luverly, inlays but it was £300 dearer than the Balaguer.

Congrats. I bought a bass there yesterday, Newcastle Guitarguitar are doing good bass business at the moment. I had my eye on a couple of basses that they advertise but weren't on display. Of all those on display, I did like the colour of the Aged candy apple red Player Plus Jazz.

They also often post a photo of a bass on a set of scales too, with the weight in lbs clearly shown. I went there once to try out a particular bass. I didn't buy it but they were very helpful.

That really was quite good

The Lakland is one of the basses I am keen to try.

Pm’d

What I’m after is a versatile bass, so PJ or HH or a combination of the two are what I should be looking at I suppose. I’m in Northumberland for a week and before driving back down to London on Monday I’ll pop into Guitarguitar Newcastle, and maybe the PMT around the corner, and try a few options in my budget.

Yep