Marvin

I don't have to record myself to know how crap I am...

A report in either The Independent or Sky stated that many scientists believe 'normal' is 2 to 3 years away. And that is contingent on the vaccines being successful and their roll out worldwide being successful. Impatience and '1st world' boredom is probably the factor that most endangers vaccine roll out success worldwide

I've still got my signed 1st gen V7. Haven't changed anything (bar the strings...and I took the batteries out as at home I always have in passive mode). I love playing it.

I got to the bit where the writer started explaining Class A and gave up. It made no sense at all, and clearly the writer shouldn't have stated that the reader need not worry if they knew nothing of electronics.

Mostly no. Most of the Sire basses you have to preorder. The waiting time for one similar to mine is about 3 weeks. Others are over 3 months.

I've just had a quick browse of Thomann...and their prices are quite expensive now. To replace my Sire V7 with one from Thomann would be £359 +vat. The VAT takes it to £430 (plus possible courier charges). The same bass is £389 from the only UK stockist. For someone as boringly nit picky as me then the no VAT is clear, however I can see a lot of people (mainly guitarists and drummers) not paying that much attention to the small print. Then of course getting any item over a trade border if it needs a repair is not going to be easy I imagine. No more Thomann for me.

Looks like a gig in the Matrix (I only say that as that's what I was watching last night)

Ebola lasted for 3 years (although they still have outbreaks now). We have 38000 people in hospital in the UK and 1400 Covid deaths yesterday, and during the week it almost hit 2000 per day. The UK doesn't have a robust test and trace system, it's always too slow and doesn't react hard enough. The result is that the UK is never ahead of the situation. In many ways the whole of Europe is treating this as flu outbreak. In countries that have dealt with it more effectively it's been treated as SE Asia treated the SARS outbreak... EDIT: And just to illustrate where priorities are in the UK, I've just seen on my Facebook feed that Taunton Race Course, which is one of the mass vaccination centres (aiming to vaccinate 900 people a day) was closed today for...the horse racing meet.

Someone in Indonesia, employed in manufacturing, could expect to earn about 2.8m IDR/month, which is about £145 per month (that's net, not gross) If you were on min wage in the UK, your take home is approximately the £1000-11000 mark.

I somewhat flippantly said that it'd be January 2023 (I'll be 50 then) before gigs would be back in any meaningful way. With the way that the pandemic has been so grotesquely mishandled in the UK I'm coming to the opinion that this may well be the earliest gigs might be in any way back.

I've read that article a number of times now and nowhere does it say that 'Glastonbury' or the Eavis family or their farm will go bankrupt having to cancel this or any other year's festival. There is a part that says Festival Organisers in general are asking for a govt backed insurance scheme if they have to cancel festivals, which is quite another thing. It is something that smaller festival organisers need.

I borrowed a 6 string Harley Benton bass from a mate for a practice at a mutual friend's house. It was foul. The action was quite high and on the underside of the strings you could see an actual build up of grease from his fingers, it was like 2 or 3mm thick in places. It made me almost physically sick.

Yep, it's a pretty good place for this. I put out a shout for bits and bobs a few years ago as I was repairing my local schools' basses and guitars. I received more than enough. Great stuff it was as well.

If it's in the T&Cs and on the list of exclusions (which people should read before purchasing) that an item isn't covered, if a customer then goes on to buy the insurance then it's pretty much their own fault for wasting money. If you read most couriers list of exclusions for what can be sent in the first place it's a surprise they're in business, they exclude almost everything bar a cardboard box with bubble wrap in it.

Totally agree. The whole ethos at the beginning was affordable, quality instruments, which was what the V7 was. Basses like the V9 and V10 make that original sales pitch look quite cynical now. I wouldn't get rid of my original V7, but I'm in no way interested in the new expensive ranges. As I've said, I'd rather they'd have brought out a P3 to match the V3, or maybe a P5.

Surely it's not beyond the realms of possibility to put their pre amp pedal (as illustrated above) in a box with a power amp, and at least a 212 lightweight cab, to create a decent lightweight gigging combination.

I've never owned any TE gear but I'd really like to see someone take it out of the hands of Peavey and do something with it. TE have a grand total of 7 products on the market at the moment, and only one of those is actually a head. For such an iconic brand it's being treated in a pretty appalling manner. I've never owned any Ashdown gear either, but I hope they don't sell out to someone else

It must be said the John Paul Jones and Geddy Lee's 'dink' phases were ok though...weren't they?

That could cause inflation. Tax doesn't pay for govt spending. Deposits aren't used by banks to provide loans. Economics is ever evolving.

This was a message put out on social media by one of my favourite UK bands, a really great group of hard working guys... It's pretty self explanatory and it's not good.

A P3 or P5 (to go alongside the respective V versions) would have been more interesting to be honest.

One of my favourite UK bands that tour/gig almost constantly and would tour Europe maybe 3 or 4 times a year (festivals and gigs). So for them any limit blows a massive hole in their touring schedule. I'm not even sure the band may be viable, as gigging is their main income. And I doubt that if they decided that gigging in Europe was too expensive and problematic that the number of dates they do in Europe could be offset with dates in the UK. There are only so many times you can play the same venues in a year. At one point they were doing over +250 shows a year and probably a quarter to a third would be in Europe.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/298259546971359/permalink/2145526592244636/?sale_post_id=2145526592244636 £100, in the Bristol area. Not mine, just happened to see it

Also, I don't think people realise that well known brands don't always come to UK direct from place of manufacturer. From the packing labels on the last cab I bought - it was made in China, shipped to USA, then shipped to Netherlands, finally to be be shipped to a UK online retailer.

The only thing uncomfortable about that article is that Larry Elliot is employed by anyone to comment on economics, let alone be and Economics Editor. I didn't even bother with him when I did economics at University