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2020 Gear Abstinence thread.....


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Just now, Al Krow said:

So this weekend I've had a narrow escape with a bass whilst running about like a headless chicken looking into it. Beaten by a buddy to a drum pedal and somehow managed to turn on a sixpence to just avoid getting another cab. Dave's already bought out the stock of most UK retailers' GK amps, so at least I'm safe on that score.

 

Could all change on the 23rd 😉.....

......probably not though.

 

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2 minutes ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

Apologies if this has been asked before....

It's my birthday this month. If I was to be given a bass as a gift, thereby not having paid for it myself, am I still in the challenge? 🤔

It will have been our great pleasure to have known you mate.

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2 minutes ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

Apologies if this has been asked before....

It's my birthday this month. If I was to be given a bass as a gift, thereby not having paid for it myself, am I still in the challenge? 🤔

I would say Gifts are ok. 

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I would have thought so. Unless you bought the bass this year to give to the person who is going to give it to you. Then even if they paid you back for the bass you still bought it originally in this year.

If all you did was stand outside the music shop with your nose squashed against the glass until someone bought you the bass then you're fine. And a lucky man. What do you expect to get?

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4 minutes ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

 

Split decision then 😂

Gifts have got to be OK, surely?  Though maybe not if you and the giver have a joint account.


(Full disclosure: I wasn't in, but I would be out now having bought a cheap  BDI21 V-Tone Bass to experiment with)

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8 minutes ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

Mrs H asked me what I wanted before Christmas and I forgot about it 🙄

Stand down - panic over. Apparently I'm getting a new computer chair 😀

Screenshot 2020-02-02 at 21.20.14.png

Panic over - thank gawd for that! 😁

That is one seriously sexy chair. And it's a 5er to boot.

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Gifts:

If the gift is entirely unsolicited (you were not aware of it at all), then you’re fine, you did not seek to acquire gear. If someone sought your guidance on what they might get you, then that is not allowed, you willingly engaged in the acquisition of gear that could have otherwise been avoided (directed the purchaser to another gift etc).

Si

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Clearly have too much time on my hands first thing this morning...I thought it might be useful to put what's ok / not in one place, after our recent debates on the matter.

Here's how I've been approaching it (before I crash and burn in Feb 😁)

(BASS) GEAR ABSTINENCE CHALLENGE 2020 – RULES OF THE GAME

Why? To focus on making the most of the existing gear we have rather than get distracted by the next ‘shiny new thing’.

What’s a fail? Any purchase or trade of new or used bass gear. 'Bass gear' = anything in your signal chain that you use to make or augment your bass sound /tone.

  • basses, amps, cabs, pedals, PA gear (if your bass is DI’d into this)

What’s ok? Anything to look after or organise your existing gear or wear & tear related. Any non-bass gear. 

  • strings, gig bags, leads, pedal boards, PSUs for pedal boards, repairs or identical replacement of existing kit, lessons, software related to existing kit
  • non-bass musical gear (this came under a stricter Tier 2 for the completely hair shirted last year) e.g. music software not related to existing kit, keyboards, guitars, drum machines etc.

By concession: unsolicited gifts of gear where you had no say in the matter!

When? Any purchases between 1 Jan 2020 to 31 Dec 2020

 

If I've got that about right and we're all broadly in agreement, I can ask @bassfan to put it at the bottom of his OP for ease of reference.

Edited by Al Krow
Updated to exclude the 'Tier 2' stuff as with 2019...
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As this is a bass-gear only abstinence challenge, I think it could be the year of getting a decent drum machine for me! Very tempted by the Roland TR-08 and / or the Beat Buddy. Although some have said I'm only putting off the inevitable falling of the GAW! 

Thread derail: any of my fellow abstinence monks already got themselves a decent drum machine that they could recommend? 

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34 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

As this is a bass-gear only abstinence challenge, I think it could be the year of getting a decent drum machine for me! Very tempted by the Roland TR-08 and / or the Beat Buddy. Although some have said I'm only putting off the inevitable falling of the GAW! 

Thread derail: any of my fellow abstinence monks already got themselves a decent drum machine that they could recommend? 

Do you have a DAW?  If so I would recommend getting EZ drummer or Superior drummer, and learning the ins and outs. Not only will it give you much more flexibility than a drum machine it will also give you endless hours of programming fun.

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31 minutes ago, Crawford13 said:

Do you have a DAW?  If so I would recommend getting EZ drummer or Superior drummer, and learning the ins and outs. Not only will it give you much more flexibility than a drum machine it will also give you endless hours of programming fun.

Cheers - I'm going to be using Ableton Lite as that comes free with the Focusrite kit I have and seems to be pretty decent.

I did check out the trial EZ drummer and I found the interface tiny !! Which was a chore / off-putting. And I'm guessing that having an actual unit will be easier in any live situation than a laptop. I appreciate that the software route is going to be cheaper, but as I'm saving all this money on not getting any bass-gear... 😀

Edited by Al Krow
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Had a band practice last night and used my precision (that i've had for years) for the first time in this band. I must say it was wonderful, I also tried some Kallium drop set strings for the first time and after spending a while setting it up properly am really enjoying this bass.

 

So the moral of this is that gear abstinence has actually done for me what it supposed to do and helped me appreciate the gear i have. I give it another few weeks before I change my mind and want something new!

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On 29/01/2020 at 19:35, lozkerr said:

... My pedal board currently lives in a roadie-proof flight case and it weighs a ton. I decided tonight that my power-lifting days are over and I need to put my pedals on something lighter before tomorrow's rehearsal. So if Scayles or Guitar Guitar have a board that isn't cast from depleted uranium, that'll be me.

Joined you in getting a "GAC 2020 exempt" smaller pedal board - discovered the budget Harley Benton pedal board range at Thomann and they have a perfect size for my Zoom B1(X)-4 multi in the shape of a 17.5 cm deep board.

The HB 50M with hardcase plus their HB Iso-5 pro PSU should be just the ticket and comes to exactly £99, which conveniently means free shipping! 

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30 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

The HB 50M with hardcase plus their HB Iso-5 pro PSU should be just the ticket and comes to exactly £99, which conveniently means free shipping! 

I ended up with a Pedaltrain Classic 2, which has enough space for my Boss ME-50B, Eden Glowplug and WDTI as well as the footswitch for my amp. There's still space for more toys, but I'm hanging in there for now. Cost me 115 quid including soft case.

The weight saving over the flight case is incredible. Really glad I bought it.

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2 minutes ago, lozkerr said:

I ended up with a Pedaltrain Classic 2, which has enough space for my Boss ME-50B, Eden Glowplug and WDTI as well as the footswitch for my amp. There's still space for more toys, but I'm hanging in there for now. Cost me 115 quid including soft case.

The weight saving over the flight case is incredible. Really glad I bought it.

Likewise... I ended up with a Pedaltrain Nano... which is ideal for my EBS Microbass II and a Boss tuner. It all looked a bit silly on my Diago hardcase, which is rather like a small suit case and weighs a ton (it did have more pedals on it originally). I had some points owing to me from Andertons so got it almost free.

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Yeah I invested in a PT2 (really good size aren't they) and then sold the heavy tour case and got myself a swanky mono gig bag for it to save on weight, but to hopefully provide really good protection ie best of both worlds. 

Funny thing is, looks like I'm going to end up just using my smaller boards (a Metro24 and now this HB 50M) and that swanky mono bag is in serious danger of remaining very mint at this rate!

Edited by Al Krow
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Well if @lozkerr and I aren't disqualified by a retrospective reinterpretation of the rules by the powers that be and his side-kick, relating to whether smaller / replacement pedal boards are bass gear or merely a non-signal-chain accessory to help us make the most of some of our existing bass gear, I think at current rates of progress I could be on target to make a surplus from gear sales and gig monies for the first time since I took up the bass back in 2013. That is both a pleasant and slightly scary realisation! 

How long has it been since the rest of my fellow trainee monks on this thread similarly made a surplus from gear sales & gig monies? 

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