Visited today with my boy, the deciding factor was ACS being there, so I had my custom earplugs done as well.
Some really good stuff there and a fun afternoon wandering around. My son came back with so many stickers and plectrums, but other than the freebies the highlights were:
1. Vintage Bass Room - some really lovely gear and it was nice having a wee chat. I was very taken with the Wilcock Long Scale, that nearly got me, it was just a lovely sounding and playing bass and top quality build. I was thinking about it for a few hours.
2. I played the prototype far east made Dingwall SP-1 PJ 5 string. Not much of a 5 string player these days but what a bass. Played beautifully, build was superb and sounded great with a nice 4 way pickup selector. Might be in trouble if the production model 4 strings are that good.
3. Absolute Music had a 77 Stingray that just floored me. I very nearly called the wife to warn her it was coming home but did resist even after a second visit. I think that bass might haunt my dreams and I’m still thinking about it.
4. Realising that I know what I like and what I need. I wasn’t tempted by much gear, most of what I tried was superb quality and sounded great (Spector Euro comes to mind) but it wasn’t for me and the GAS remained low.
On the whole it was a great show for not much money and I will be going back next year. Only downside for me was the noise, but the quiet time came around quickly. I actually found the bass room worst of all, a mix of heavy overdrive pick playing and frantic slap at the same time can drive you potty! It made it hard to try a few things but almost everyone had headphone rigs which was great.