2025 Gear Abstinence Thread

[Geek99]

1 minute ago, StickyDBRmf said:

I wanted bagpipes. The price shut me down.

Was that an auto-correct of “bagpuss”?

[bass_dinger]

Others: "I bought a new bass. I spent big money.  I failed. "

Thread inhabitants "oh well done! Share some photos. It's lovely!"

 

Bass_dinger: "I bought a recorder. I spent £17. It's only Tier 2"

Thread inhabitants "arghhh. Terrible idea, terrible instrument."

 

 

To ensure that this thread is not derailed, I will find (or start) a recorder thread - and everyone can insult the instrument over there, instead!  Bring your bagpipes too.

 

https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/509120-the-recorder-woodwind-instrument/

Edited February 4 by bass_dinger
A link

[tauzero]

5 hours ago, bass_dinger said:

Others: "I bought a new bass. I spent big money.  I failed. "

Thread inhabitants "oh well done! Share some photos. It's lovely!"

 

Bass_dinger: "I bought a recorder. I spent £17. It's only Tier 2"

Thread inhabitants "arghhh. Terrible idea, terrible instrument."

 

I suppose that I should confess that a few years ago, I bought Mrs Zero a recorder. The current Mrs Zero, that is, not one of the former ones, so it wasn't some form of punishment.

[Suburban Man]

On 03/02/2025 at 11:07, Phill said:

Not a “pitty party” between Christmas & new years I had to move a lot of bass equipment sadly, due to the financial strain and illness. So I may be out shortly unfortunately as I have to get some sort of DI/Pre Amp to get gigging again properly. 

Whilst not wishing to put temptation in the path of a fellow musician (but immediately doing so…) I have a nice Sansamp for sale 

 

Just call me Wormtongue 🙀

[Obrienp]

I must be a gear abstinence incel! My wallet has been safe by dint of the fact that all Barefaced, LFSys and similarly desirable lightweight cabs posted for sale on BC have been located hundreds of miles away and the sellers won’t post/courier, or they just want a bit too much for my budget. I would probably fall off the abstinence wagon pretty quickly, if a LFSys Monaco or Monza came up within easy driving distance (or post available). I missed out on a Monaco last year because I was on holiday abroad when it came up but it was snapped up by a friend, so all good.

[Obrienp]

@neepheid, sorry if someone else already suggested this but why not get the original pickup rewound? Might be cheaper than a replacement and you can specify exactly how you want it to sound. There must be a tech somewhere near you who can do that. As a guide, my local luthier charged me £40 a couple of years ago to rewind and convert to separate coil leads (for the single/parallel/series switching) on a MM style pickup, which had been (badly) resin potted. He also potted it properly in wax.

[neepheid]

9 minutes ago, Obrienp said:

@neepheid, sorry if someone else already suggested this but why not get the original pickup rewound? Might be cheaper than a replacement and you can specify exactly how you want it to sound. There must be a tech somewhere near you who can do that. As a guide, my local luthier charged me £40 a couple of years ago to rewind and convert to separate coil leads (for the single/parallel/series switching) on a MM style pickup, which had been (badly) resin potted. He also potted it properly in wax.

 

I'll see how it goes.  The Jack Casady pickup is an odd beast, being low impedance so I dunno if that needs some specialist knowledge.  Have made some enquiries about getting a direct replacement from Epiphone via a dealer so let's see what happens.

[neepheid]

Epiphone don't like money it would seem.  I tried to source the loom via a couple of dealers - one just said no, they aren't a parts dealer, so I aimed high and asked Andertons.  Epiphone told them no, they can't procure it for me, it's for warranty repairs only.  That's lovely - how do out of warranty repairs work then?  Just chuck it in the bin and buy a new bass, yeah?  Up yours, Epiphone!

 

Anyway, I'm in bigger bother than that.  Spied a bass I've always fancied, and the only thing that stopping me pulling the trigger is that it's in Canada and it's a bit overpriced.  My powers of abstinence are weakening... if they drop the price (because it's been up on Reverb for 3 months) then I'm screwed.

Edited February 11 by neepheid

[Mrbigstuff]

3 minutes ago, neepheid said:

Epiphone don't like money it would seem.  I tried to source the loom via a couple of dealers - one just said no, they aren't a parts dealer, so I aimed high and asked Andertons.  Epiphone told them no, they can't procure it for me, it's for warranty repairs only.  That's lovely - how do out of warranty repairs work then?  Just chuck it in the bin and buy a new bass, yeah?  Up yours, Epiphone!

 

Anyway, I'm in bigger bother than that.  Spied a bass I've always fancied, and the only thing that stopping me pulling the trigger is that it's in Canada and it's a bit overpriced.  My powers of abstinence are weakening... if they drop the price (because it's been up on Reverb for 3 months) then I'm screwed.

Is it that rare? I wouldn’t want to be on the end of those import duties! Regarding the pickup, I think your previous plan of an upgrade is fine. You don’t need that level of hassle from Epiphone.

[neepheid]

Just now, OliverBlackman said:

Is it that rare? I wouldn’t want to be on the end of those import duties! Regarding the pickup, I think your previous plan of an upgrade is fine. You don’t need that level of hassle from Epiphone.

 

Yes, it's rare.  No, I'm not telling you what it is

 

Import duties are a fact of life when buying oddball stuff, you have to factor them in before you buy (+25% back of a fag packet maths will do) and judge whether or not the whole escapade is acceptable to you or not.  I imported a Yamaha BB1200 from Japan (Ishibashi) and maybe the yen was having a hard time but even with shipping and VAT/duties it still worked out cheaper than sourcing one locally, so it can work out sometimes.

RE: Epiphone, I dunno what else to do, I've tried to do things the "right" way and have been frustrated at every turn.  I'll probably sit and stew about it for a while longer and wait for any other pre-adjudications come in.

[msb]

Importing gear gets expensive. What looks like a good price turns into “I’ll never break even on this one”. But if it’s a rare piece , it might be the only route. I’ve imported from the US to Canada , and every time say , this is the last time. 
Neepheid , where in Canada is the bass?

[neepheid]

1 minute ago, msb said:

Importing gear gets expensive. What looks like a good price turns into “I’ll never break even on this one”. But if it’s a rare piece , it might be the only route. I’ve imported from the US to Canada , and every time say , this is the last time. 
Neepheid , where in Canada is the bass?

 

Reverb listing says Toronto.

[ezbass]

1 hour ago, neepheid said:

No, I'm not telling you what it is

Spoilsport.

[neepheid]

Just now, ezbass said:

Spoilsport.

 

Pfft, if you see it, you'll want it too.  I guess that would solve my problem from a gear abstinence point of view

 

[ezbass]

8 minutes ago, neepheid said:

 

Pfft, if you see it, you'll want it too.  I guess that would solve my problem from a gear abstinence point of view

 

Maybe, but I won’t do anything about it. It seems that last year’s abstinence challenge has broken me, other than the roller bridge I bought (which is fantastic BTW, should have done it ages ago, Bigsby tuning stability to kill for), I just can’t be bothered at the moment. This sucks .

[Mrbigstuff]

16 minutes ago, neepheid said:

 

Pfft, if you see it, you'll want it too.  I guess that would solve my problem from a gear abstinence point of view

 

Is it this one 😂 https://reverb.com/uk/item/86377042-custom-made-viking-axe-bass-guitar-free-shipping-hard-case

[neepheid]

11 minutes ago, OliverBlackman said:

Is it this one 😂 https://reverb.com/uk/item/86377042-custom-made-viking-axe-bass-guitar-free-shipping-hard-case

 

How did you know?

 

[Chienmortbb]

11 minutes ago, neepheid said:

 

How did you know?

 

You'd get arrested for carrying that on the street.

[SimonK]

...so I heard banging and commotion, came downstairs and lo and behold my Trace 4x10 had given birth to a healthy baby 2x10, a £40 lovechild from Facebook marketplace - I didn't even know she was pregnant and now have to find room for another cab to feed!

 

I'm guessing blaming my 4x10s infidelity isn't an excuse to still be in this?

 

 

[bass_dinger]

4 minutes ago, SimonK said:

...so I heard banging and commotion, came downstairs and lo and behold my Trace 4x10 had given birth to a healthy baby 2x10, a £40 lovechild from Facebook marketplace - I didn't even know she was pregnant and now have to find room for another cab to feed!

 

I'm guessing blaming my 4x10s infidelity isn't an excuse to still be in this?

 

 

If that was a recorder, everyone would be laughing at you! However, I see that it is not (it only has two holes on the body).  So, well done, it's lovely!

 

And for £40, it would be rude not to.

[neepheid]

£40 is a score!  Great for your wallet, bad for your abstinence though...

[Richard R]

2 hours ago, OliverBlackman said:

Is it this one 😂 https://reverb.com/uk/item/86377042-custom-made-viking-axe-bass-guitar-free-shipping-hard-case

 

Shame it's not headless.  Well I assume it isn't - there isn't a photo of the tuners anywhere.

[Richard R]

14 minutes ago, SimonK said:

 

I'm guessing blaming my 4x10s infidelity isn't an excuse to still be in this?

 

No.  Good story though 😅

[Mrbigstuff]

3 minutes ago, Richard R said:

 

Shame it's not headless.  Well I assume it isn't - there isn't a photo of the tuners anywhere.

I assume it decapitated itself

[tauzero]

9 minutes ago, Richard R said:

 

Shame it's not headless.  Well I assume it isn't - there isn't a photo of the tuners anywhere.

 

Photo 2 shows the whole instrument including the HB style headstock although you don't get to see the rear of the headstock.