2025 Gear Abstinence Thread

[OliverBlackman]

I completed this year after life outside of music took a dive. Let’s see if I can make it again in better times!

[AndyTravis]

Just bought a bass.

 

still in.

[paul_5]

I’m in. Got to finish a compressor pcb that I bought last year and finish fixing my DHA VT1 dual custom; neither of which were bought in 2025, and I reckon I’m good. 
 

[Richard R]

Hi all,

 

Happy New Year!

 

I was going to post the rules summary today, but instead have to deal with a water leak in the house. Carpet in the bedroom partly lifted, looks like I'll cutting floorboards tomorrow to find the problem. 

 

And  special thread-derailing prize to whoever comes up with the least/most appropriate song for this situation.

 

[tauzero]

1 hour ago, Richard R said:

And  special thread-derailing prize to whoever comes up with the least/most appropriate song for this situation.

 

You're fixing a hole where the water gets in

And stops your mind from wandering

 

Simultaneously the least and most appropriate song, as it's about the water getting in, but in the original lyrics it's from a direction 180 degrees away from your current situation.

 

Alternatively, Here Comes the Flood by Peter Gabriel.

[King Tut]

I’m going to give this a go for the first time - where’s the dotted line?!

[Marvin]

I'll throw my name in. I don't think I'll be buying anything 🤔

[Richard R]

Updated the first post in the thread with the Rules as I understand them 🙂

 

Currently on the starting line - plenty of space left:

@neepheid

@Richard R

@SimonK

@Franticsmurf

@barkin

@Velarian

@Phill

@AndyTravis  - I have high hopes for you this year Andy - because I'm somehow going to tell Iris that you've joined this thread and I reckon she'll make you toe the line!

@prowla

@ezbass - I think you're in?

@bass_dinger

@Jono Bolton - Refinishing hasn't come up before.  Probably out, but we'll have to put it to the jury in March.

@SumOne

@Lozz196

@bassbiscuits

@Mudpup

@miles'tone

@tauzero
@Suburban Man

@fretmeister - yes repairs and consumables are OK

@OliverBlackman

@paul_5 - let us know what the compressor sounds like when you've built it

@King Tut

@Marvin

 

@Shockwave

@NJE

@jimmyb625

@mr zed

@wavemaker

@lozkerr

@Downunderwonder

@BillyBass

@Stub Mandrel

@Quatschmacher

@mikebass456

 

 

Edited 16 hours ago by Richard R
Added newcommers

[tauzero]

On 30/12/2024 at 22:47, Richard R said:

- Genuinely unsolicited presents, which you had no involvement in choosing.  (So going out with your partner to play a bunch of bases, choosing one, and then them buying it for you would be a fail. But we would all applaud and cheer you and your partner and want to know what you got and why!)

 

And whether she/he has a sister/brother.

[ezbass]

7 minutes ago, Richard R said:

I think you're in?

Not even slightly! I appreciate that you think I have 24 months of GAS control, but I mean to flex my buying muscles this year (now watch me buy nowt).

[Richard R]

4 minutes ago, ezbass said:

Not even slightly! I appreciate that you think I have 24 months of GAS control, but I mean to flex my buying muscles this year (now watch me buy nowt).

 

Can we leave you in and start a sweepstake?

[ezbass]

2 minutes ago, Richard R said:

 

Can we leave you in and start a sweepstake?

Go for it. I assume I’ll receive a piece of the action, a race horse receives a bag of oats, after all. No? Ah well, it was worth a try.

[bass_dinger]

23 minutes ago, Richard R said:

Jono Bolton - Refinishing hasn't come up before.  Probably out, but we'll have to put it to the jury in March

So, I had a bass refinished last year, but when I received it, it was a bass in bits, and the body was without a finish (it had been fully removed by the previous owner), so the refinish was judged by Challenge Jurors to be a repair.

 

There was some debate about whether my refinish was a frivolous and unnecessary vanity project, or necessary to bring it back to factory originality.  However, the jury concluded that it was allowed. 

 

So, precedent seems to allow a refinish where it is a genuine repair.

Edited Wednesday at 18:39 by bass_dinger

[SimonK]

...is getting a nut re-cut by a luthier a fail along with new strings & a set-up? My reading of the rules seems to suggest this may be OK...

[Richard R]

6 minutes ago, SimonK said:

...is getting a nut re-cut by a luthier a fail along with new strings & a set-up? My reading of the rules seems to suggest this may be OK...

 

That's maintenance, you're good.

 

 

[neepheid]

3 minutes ago, SimonK said:

...is getting a nut re-cut by a luthier a fail along with new strings & a set-up? My reading of the rules seems to suggest this may be OK...

 

In the allowed section:

 

"Maintenance/setups that only involve work on existing aspects of your bass (ie no purchasing a preamp to add to it)"

 

I think this counts as maintenance. If you wanted to be super picky then the new nut should be the same material as the old one. But clearly you're replacing a faulty nut so I'm not feeling picky.

 

Pass from me.

[Richard R]

8 minutes ago, bass_dinger said:

So, I had a bass refinished last year, but when I received it, it was a bass in bits, and the body was without a finish (it had been fully removed by the previous owner), so the refinish was judged by Challenge Jurors to be a repair.

 

There was some debate about whether my refinish was a frivolous and unnecessary vanity project, or necessary to bring it back to factory originality.  However, the jury concluded that it was allowed. 

 

So, precedent seems to allow a refinish where it is a genuine repair.

 

I must have missed that entirely.  @Jono Bolton will have to make his case to the jury come March.

I'm just the clerk of the court (though a fairly opinionated one) 😉

 

[bassbiscuits]

Tidy. Being a skint mature postgrad student should help keep me on the straight and narrow. 🫡

[Shockwave]

I am in. But I fully expect to fail. I am a glass half empty kinda guy so I am never disappointed. 

[NJE]

Bought a P bass yesterday, so I’m in! Can I buy a strap?

[jimmyb625]

I'm in again. I got through '24 unscathed and there's nothing on the horizon that I think I want. 

There may be something wrong with me.

[mr zed]

A couple of pedals were my downfall in 2024. Can't honestly think of anything else I need (although need and want are 2 very different things). Sign me up for 2025 please Richard. I have high hopes this year.

[TimR]

20 hours ago, Richard R said:

Hi all,

 

Happy New Year!

 

I was going to post the rules summary today, but instead have to deal with a water leak in the house. Carpet in the bedroom partly lifted, looks like I'll cutting floorboards tomorrow to find the problem. 

 

And  special thread-derailing prize to whoever comes up with the least/most appropriate song for this situation.

 

 

Check you don't have any Holes in Your Shoe before you start. 

[TimR]

Bought a lightweight amp and a lightweight cab, a pedal board, a tuner and a drive pedal last year. Although the tuner was a replacement for my failed one (so obviously doesn't count).

 

No need to buy anything this year, although I'm currently hankering after a waistcoat and fretless...

 

 

Edited Wednesday at 21:47 by TimR

[Richard R]

A fretted waistcoat would be more interesting. And only a Tier 2 fail at best.