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I bought a hefty weight bit of kit from Ash and it arrived all well and with packaging the kids appreciated near Christmas!

Wages, rents, wages, energy costs, wages, commodity costs, wages did I mention wages? Anyone seen the price of RAM these days?

Eve Of Destruction - Barry McGuire

I was given a plexi bass from an old forum friend in California , and about 3/4 of the way in I found a Batwing Harmony I could not pass. I had been looking for one for years. No plans to purchase anything more , I think I’m more than satisfied with what I have , I should sell several amps and some basses so I’m definitely going to sign up in the New Year. I’ve managed to stop buying things simply because the deal was too good to pass up. At least I’m hoping that will be the case next year.

Is that the famous BBC Tele?

yep. they were great.

Sorry, but somehow missed this. No, I don't have a 5-string but from what I've read numerous times elsewhere, they can definitely handle that extra string.

Currently enduring a massive bout of ‘Ray GAS, £3k for a US example new and that’s not the most expensive, that’s in Fender Custom Shop money, territory.

Is that "The Hamsters" with 'Snails Pace Slim' who used to spray his fretboard with WD40? Superb band, I saw maybe early 90's in at the General Wolf in Coventry and Lichfield Arts doing a Hendrix tribute.

When I finally ‘jumped ship’ to the low end, I very nearly went for one of these. I can’t remember what it sounded like (are they really ‘Ray-alikes?) but I do recall some weight. One of Joe Bonamassa’s early bassists, Eric Czar, used ATKs.

Yes, exactly my point. I could go on forever with examples...so why not! In 1984 (such a great year for bass, not least of all because the Bass Centre at Wapping opened its doors and a generation of British bass players emptied their pockets) a new pre-EB Stingray was £525. That's £1725 in today's money. That's half of what a Pino Signature Stingray will cost you now. High-end bass prices have gone up in real terms when most other luxury goods have become more attainable, generally speaking. The reasons for that are probably very complicated, but to a certain extent I think the reason is that manufacturers of luxury products have discovered that a big part of what gives whatever they are selling value in the eyes of the public is a high price tag. The price confirms that what you are buying is superior quality. Warwick can probably make a Thumb Bass more economically now than in the 1980's and their profit margin on each unit will be greater, but by pricing a proper German-made Warwick bass at £7775 they are making a statement about where they consider their basses to be in terms of marketplace position. They are saying we are up there with Fodera, Wal, F Bass et al. Some people might even believe them.

Mine should arrive just after Christmas!! Just need LFYS to start building a 212 cab 4ohm rated 1000w and I’m set !

Maple board on a SR4 neck - any thoughts? What does everyone think? It's going to be available for sale once finished.

I guess it depends on circumstances. I saw The Hamsters play numerous times in pubs throughout the country. I suspect they made a reasonable living and a 3K instrument would be worthwhile. I know a photographer that used a camera and lenses costing way more than 3K to photograph plenty of bands - many playing in pubs.

Another LHZ installation yesterday. This time my first LHZ-04 (it’s a smaller version of the LHZ-03) into a Korean-made NS2000/4. The passive EMGs came out (up for sale here) and some actives went in. This is my very first solderless installation. It came with the pre-wired jack and the EMGs just clip on and away you go. It had a full fret level, and dress yesterday too with a fall off from the 15th fret, new strings and a fingerboard glow-up. It plays and sounds fantastic now. Ideally it should be refretted bt I think I just managed to squeeze one more out of it before having to get the serious gear out.

I think ending up with the double 4 is the best possible outcome. They are great amps - knowing your music Rob, going beyond bass if you do have or acquire a pickup or mic system you can move across all your wonderful guitars the double 4 will reproduce all the tones perfectly. I use mine as stage amplification for my woodwind instrument.

I think the point here - for me anyway - is why would I spend £3k on a bass if I'm just doing pub gigs?

Here’s the modern equivalent of that stylus: https://www.audioaffair.co.uk/ortofon-dn-165e-replacement-stylus/ (EDIT: I now see @Hellzero got there before me with that…:-)) I suspect you could also use any of Ortofon’s OM range of styluses (https://ortofon.com/collections/om-hifi-concorde-series-1), which all fit on the same cartridge and run from £40 up to spendy - the OM10 used to be a fairly standard fitment on decent mid-price turntables, and the OM20 is a nice step up, albeit three times the price. Or, as @Matt P suggests, change the cartridge - the Audio Technica ones he suggests are very good and open up a whole range of different stylus options. It can feel a bit daunting, but I’d say if you can do basic setup on a bass you’ll probably manage fitting and aligning a new cartridge. I’d also agree with @Dan Dare that if you’ve never replaced the belt in 40 years it’s probably a good idea to do so. Thakker in Germany is a good source (https://www.thakker.eu/en/belts/turntables/), but I’m sure there will be UK-based suppliers too. Whether you need any other maintenance is really down to your judgement about whether everything is running and moving smoothly - if the platter isn’t making any unpleasant noises, and the arm raises, lowers and tracks across the record smoothly you’re probably good to go. You can also download apps that use the motion sensor in your phone to check whether the rotation speed is right (a worn belt can certainly affect that). Finally, you might just check you’ve got your tracking weight (the downward force on the stylus) right - that might be a cause of the original bending. Plenty of guides online for that. HTH

Yes, if you go to rifffactory.co.uk/gigs they're all on there. Headsticks are playing in April which will be my first chance to play on my own stage! 😂

hah, I had not noticed that! No idea what it was but I can assure you there are/were no weapons, real or "play"

That Bridge 'n Monster Pup Surround... Mighty Meaty... like a Telecaster on Steroids! And love a natural finish

Expensive or not expensive I would still take the bass out and play it . What is the point otherwise of owning a nice instrument? It's like buying a nice car just to have it parked in the garage

My Thumb NT cost £900 in 1988, which apparently is the equivalent of £2750 in today's money. The equivalent would be a Masterbuilt, €8900 plus shipping. That's wildly outstripping inflation, and shoots past "too f*cking expensive" into "you've got to be f*cking kidding" territory.

Ha there we go. Tim typing exactly what I was saying at the same time