stevie

I did a direct comparison between the Retroglide and the RM500 at the last SW Bass Bash. No idea why it should be, but the RM500 had noticeably more punch or kick to it.

The threshold has indeed been scrapped for commercial transactions, although it may not apply to gifts, as you say. It was known as the Low-value consigment relief (LVCR) and meant that goods valued at £15 or under weren't subject to VAT. No more. https://www.ecommerceaccountants.co.uk/post/ecommerce-vat-changes-2021. I bought some items valued at under £15 from Ali Express last week and was surprised to see that they now charge UK VAT. On the other hand, I sold some small-value stuff to Italy yesterday on Ebay and the question of VAT didn't even come up. Maybe the VAT will be levied in Italy. No wonder everyone's confused.

Not only that, but you don't even get the theoretical 6dB at all frequencies.

Here's an excellent video comparing the Mesa cabs, including a couple of the oldies. I really like the sound of the 15.

The matter was raised at PMQs today.

Agreed. The black fascia looks the business.

It does sound like the sub harmoniser thingie might be on.

You have my sympathies: there's not much point having lightweight gear if you have to carry a brick round with you to stop it going walkies. But I don't think you can blame the amp for vibrating "itself off the top of the cab". It's the cab that's vibrating. Other cabs which don't do this are available.

Here's an online tone generator: https://www.szynalski.com/tone-generator/. If you can locate the frequency and play it continuously through your speaker, it'll be easier to pinpoint the source of the problem. The most likely culprit is a duff glued connection - so look for locations where the cone, surround, centre dome and suspension are glued, or else faulty glue joints in the cabinet itself. Don't rule out things rattling inside the cab, like speaker lead-out wires or internal wiring. It could be anything, but I did see a couple of these drivers where the domes were not properly glued to the cone. So I would check that area closely. I may have misunderstood the OP earlier. Did you replace the horn flare but not the compression driver? If that's the case, you still need to consider the possibility of a faulty compression driver.

And while you're at it, get a refund for the horn he sold you.

There are three places this could be coming from. The tweeter - which you've now eliminated as a source of the problem by fitting a new one - the bass driver and the cabinet. To locate the exact source of the noise, it would help if you can record and play back the notes so that you are not playing the bass while you are troubleshooting.

Must have been dropped from a ten-storey building.

Because of competition rules within the EU, companies cannot be prevented from shipping to other EU countries. Now that we're out, Fender can legally prevent Thomann from shipping to the UK in order to increase the amount of business that goes through Fender UK. Is my guess.

Last I heard Gibson had just been saved from bankruptcy with 500 million dollars worth of debt and were considering going into ukeleles (seriously). Funny old world.

I would imagine that anyone working in Europe gets paid in euros.

Although a drop in the value of sterling could well compensate for the extra administrative overhead.

I reckon there's some confusion here with port sizes here. The 118mm size you've mentioned is correct for the larger 50-litre cab. However, if you want to fit that tube to a 30-litre cab while maintaining the same tuning, it needs to be about 250mm long, which won't fit. I'd suggest you recalculate with a 100mm port, a size that's available everywhere.

For the many people who depend on the EU for a living, this is stinky poo, there are no two ways about it. If I were in your position, @knicknack, I'd do the same. However, when the COVID situation is finally resolved and the work opportunities open up again, I'm sure you'll be back working in Europe again. It just won't be so easy.

Maybe 'pathetic' was a bit too strong. Pointless then.

Rear panel mounting is fine and a single port tube will work better than two (less friction).

I didn't call musicians pathetic - just to be clear. If there are any figures for the percentage of musicians who voted to leave the EU, I'd be interested to hear them.

It was clear from the outset that leaving the EU would end freedom of movement. It's also what the country voted for - twice. As Nigel put it, no more "spending British taxes on foreigners' jobs". So it's hardly a case of the EU digging its heels in. Why should the EU make an exception for our touring musicians? No UK touring musicians means more work for European musicians. We wanted control of our borders. We've got control of our borders. While I sympathise with the musicians who are about to lose their livelihoods, they are not unique in that respect. That petition is another example of the UK wanting its cake and eating it. It's pathetic, delusionary, has absolutely no chance of success, and I won't be signing it.

I bought one of those third hand devices years ago but I hardly ever get it out. The trick is to make a mechanical connection first if you can. So, if you're soldering wire to a jack socket (for example), poke it through the hole and wrap it round once. That way, the connection will stay put while you use the soldering iron.

Things are in the works.

Hmmm. The mods are in exactly the same position as everyone else with a business. They can't do anything because they don't know where we'll be on Jan 1st. Nobody knows. Maybe the government will decide to exercise its new-found sovereignty by bringing back purchase tax. VAT is an EU invention after all.