Obrienp

The way Trump and his Team are going at the moment, I think Armageddon is not far off.

Agree; the way China operates locks the recipients into their debt and their orbit. Often it comprises of a mix of aid and loans, or an offset agreement in return for access to natural resources, making the recipient country reliant on China. Very often they are countries that the West has little interest in (no natural resources, unsympathetic regime, just wealthy enough not to qualify for aid but with poor credit ratings). Once in China’s orbit, it is going to be very difficult to get them back. WRT your second point, I am seeing memes on Facebook sponsored by Reform with the message: “ Don’t forget to pay your taxes this year: other countries are relying on you”. The thing that is really upsetting, is that people I know, who are decent folks, are sharing this shiz, including the drummer in one of my bands!

I think there might need to be a separate “arguing about VAT” thread, while the rest of us worry ourselves sick about what Trump is doing to the world order. Last time round Trump betrayed the Kurds, who had been a staunch ally against ISIS and the other factions in Iraq. It looks like he is shaping up to do the same to Ukraine and the rest of us in Europe. He is a treacherous bar-steward, with no morals, or principles and very little intellectual capacity (or is he just too lazy to concentrate and inform himself). Informed view (of non-lackies) is that he is actually a very poor negotiator (despite having had a book ghost-written about it for him to put his name on), with a string of failed businesses behind him. This seems to have been born out by recent concessions to Putin before negotiations even started. His only interest in this is the glory of Trump, as far as I can see. He wants to say he sorted the war, like he said he would. He really doesn’t care about the principles involved, or the sacrifices he will force on the Ukrainians, or the long term consequences of capitulating to the world’s bullies (after all he is one). Yes, Europe is going to have to step up, right at the time when the money pond has been drained and other demands are at their highest. Pretty well every country in the democratic world has the same domestic issues of aging population, over stretched health services, housing crises, lack of confidence in conventional politicians, rising populism, suppression of the free press, rising immigration, etc, etc. Having said that, a number of European countries already spend more on defence than the NATO target of 2.5% of GDP. They tend to be the ex-communist block countries nearest to Russia. Their expenditure may not look that impressive next to the USA’s in monetary terms but as a percentage of GDP it is admirable. Western European countries such as the UK need to pull their weight but if you were a politician would you favour spending on weapons over the NHS?

I bought a replacement stereo jack socket for my Maruszczyk, which I don’t think counts as a fail, as the original was on the blink. I was about to fail big time by buying another cab but the band I intended to use it with has suffered a huge wobble in the last few days. The wobble almost provoked me into throwing in the towel but I decided to see if we can still ride it out. Time will tell if I am going to need that cab. At the moment, I’m not about to spend a big chunk of cash on something I might not need, so I’m still on the wagon.

The fan comes on pretty quick with the Gnome. I haven’t tried using it in an acoustic situation, so I couldn’t comment on how intrusive it would be. I don’t find I notice it when using it for solo practice. The Gnome is a very aggressive little amp and you have to play with the EQ a lot to get it neutral, which means that it can sound a bit unpleasant with a FRFR type cabinet, until you sort the EQ. On the other hand, I find it livens up my Barefaced Two10, which has a vintage voicing. I currently have the iPro (280 watt) version but I had the base 200 watt version before and the same applied. I can’t speak for the 600 watt version. There’s also the TCE Bam 200 in the cheap, compact amp category. I have no idea what that is like but as it and the Gnome can be found pretty cheap used, they might be worth a punt.

I’m with you on that. I have the fretless version. The neck is just so well finished and comfortable for a relatively cheap bass. No hum either, which is good for mass produced stuff. I can understand the OP’s “problem”. WRT the knob; they look a bit parts bin to me. No luck on fleaBay, or NorthWest Guitars?

What you thought is probably nearer the mark for a lot of them.

It’s American speak for Directors : Chief, as in Chief Technical Officer, Chief Executive, etc. it’s widely adopted in the UK now. You rarely hear of a Managing Director, Technical Director, etc, in a Tech, or IT company.

Interesting. My experience is that you really need to call them to get reasonable communication. I bought a Nordstrand Acinonyx from them a few years back because they were marginally cheaper than Bass Direct. It was probably a year between ordering and receipt of the bass but a lot of this was down to Nordstrand. There were a few false alarms, when they thought the bass was going to arrive and then didn’t. It did arrive eventually but I didn’t get the impression that Bass Gallery were trying to expedite delivery. Similar experience to @attackbass: I was amazed when it arrived to find it was just in the inner Nordstrand box with no extra padding. How it survived the courier, I don’t know! I don’t think I have ever received a guitar, or bit of kit, from an online sale that wasn’t double boxed.

Yep but it’s not German VAT @18%, it’s UK @20%. Presumably Thomann remits that to HMRC on your behalf, having collected it at point of sale. This is why the price seems to go up marginally when you enter your UK delivery address, when buying from Thomann. However, the point is most countries globally do what the EU does, so I don’t think this can be counted as a tariff, or trade barrier unique to the EU.

Most countries do that as far as I am aware. It’s the basis of duty free sales. The goods are not being bought in country. If you buy privately, some companies cover the import duty and other sales taxes in your country: e.g. if you buy gear from Thomann, they deal with all of that for you.

That’s the story as I understand it. I think the original was fretless and you can get the Bass Centre version fretless for a hundred quid more LoL! I thought about the Bass Centre Wyman bass but it does look weird and it’s quite a wide nut (41mm).

Kinda.

This is why I have about half a dozen music theory books and the same number of scale compendiums. I have yet to find an explanation that I can understand. As for the circle of fifths….. Fortunately, I have got to a place where I know enough theory and have enough practical experience, to be able to come up with reasonable bass lines on the fly. They may not be the most original but they work. BTW, I rarely use the minor pentatonic on its own but it can be unavoidable, if playing rock and blues based on riffs. I do like the advice, attributed to Victor Wooten, that you can only ever be one semitone out and the groove is more important than the notes.