AndyTravis

“Hello, Gibson...” ’hi, I want to be a Gibson dealer’ ”ok, order £35k worth of gear up front...and you can be a dealer” ’I haven’t got £35k...’ ”then p*ss off” that doesn’t include the fact you’ve then got to keep that up for each quarter. And if you don’t place the order, you’re shoved to the back of the queue when the new models are announced. They want their money. oh, and if it arrives smashed, faulty or marked...and you don’t report within 7 days (meaning you have to check every guitar over and people then accuse you of selling ex display because the box is open...) you’re stuck with it.

Well, guitar shops paid my mortgage for a number of years. From my perspective a few things. Yes, the internet is the big issue. 1. A warehouse with boxes guitars/amps etc is vastly cheaper to run from a website than a chain or even singular shop. 2. Big chain guitar shops need to shift units so the service suffers hugely (the chain I worked for now no longer offer a repair/restring service) which means people aren’t interested in going. 3. The big brands need to shift units...so go with the big chains with ridiculous dealership demands. I think the last buy in for a Gibson dealership was £35k. Small chains cannot do this. 4. The markup/margin/breadwinner is accessories - see point 1. A website for accessories once set up will run itself. 40-50% margin on branded strings and accessories, own brand/Chinese import accessories 60-75% - again, smaller stores haven’t got that buying power. You don’t need to ‘try out’ regular slinkies, so you don’t need the experience - you just buy them 15% cheaper online... 5. Second hand...a shop will buy a £200 retail bass for £100 as a part ex. Why would you part ex for £100 when you can sell it yourself for £180/£200 on eBay/Shpock/Gumtree/Facebook/Basschat. So the shops used to be more varied, and interesting - now they’re not. 6. Trend. It’s actually not that cool to be a muso at the minute. In the 80’s/90’s music was a bigger deal. Kids now don’t want it like we did. 7. Money. I haven’t bought a new (from a shop) bass in the 5 years I’ve not worked in a music shop. See point 5 - why buy new when there’s a glut of cheap second hand gear online...see point six...less buyers, more gear... I could go on...think that covers most of it.

I’ve sorted it. But just handy for anyone who wanted a black Yamaha (official) one

Worked in a storeroom with a guy who used to give me grief for preferring RHCP to FNM (I believe there was a spat between Kiedis and Patton) - the guy just wouldn’t stop playing Mr Bungle. found it hard going.

Nope. Need a slightly thicker gauge to make it less floppy - I know a lot of people swore by the labella flats for these.

There was one on eBay for £60 last week! The passive one

Deffo going to replicate something similar on the next batch of tunes we write. Get a chorus pedal and some overdrive

Love the bass solo on Kindergarten and the groove of “land of sunshine” great band

I have one being made - they only ever did black. And I want a white pearl. I’ve e-mailed them though and after 2 days replied I needed to e-mail another company who holds their spares...who’ve not replied yet. Always handy to have a spare...especially if there’s another BB up the road which might become available soon 😉

But if it’s got tidy routing, get a clear one...here’s one @TimAl did for me

@TimAl would match that, easily. and Jack’s while very good at what they do have recently quoted me a price I couldn’t quite believe for a pretty straightforward pickguard. included in the quotation was a “£20 template surcharge” - frustratingly, the pickguard I need is one of the ones they use to advertise their service, but they make them and don’t make a template for future reference. So if I don’t provide my own template (in this case the original pickguard) how do they propose to make me a pickguard. screamed “idiot tax” to me, so I’ve gone elsewhere and will get as good a pickguard for a third of the price with someone less local but who I’ve used before. if Tim did the material I require I’d only ever use him - he’s done loss for me before and it’s all been excellent.

Look better than the kickass though 😂

They’re a dear do though - as much as the schaller I was struggling to justify. might get 2 x gotoh 201b’s had one on another fender and really liked it and I had one on my peavey G bass...

Try and get them to sell you a pickguard for one for any price...

Tell you what I love listening back to rehearsals too since we’ve started taking a zoom handy recorder

I enjoy the social element too - I like getting together, we all know our parts - but I’ve always enjoyed the fun aspects too.

I did this in January last year, I needed head space and more time. Thought I was actually going to stop playing and sold a lot of gear. Just before Christmas the singer from the previous band got in touch and wanted to work on some of my ideas. Just about to do some recording, got a great new band with the singer from the old band and I’m having a great time. Like any relationship breakdown, there are plenty more fish. Give yourself some time and then find something you enjoy, not something which is taxing.

It’s seen off 2 x bb1100’s and a 1024x

so gutted I didn’t buy this one and no...orange not for sale...