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Ok. It's time to talk about what things cost. We've put our prices up to reflect the new UK manufacturing and have already had several angry emails from potential customers. So I want to address a few things. The cost of manufacturing in the East Even if we'd kept our manufacturing in India, our prices would probably have gone up 30%. This is due to the cost of wood going up. Shipping prices skyrocketing. Import Duties (we used to get our instruments tariff free on an EU trade deal. That's now gone). And just simply the factory in India raising their price. So although our new 60% price increase seems a massive jump. It's two jumps in one. One of which we were already absorbing. The sustainability of manufacturing in the East First - it's a bit wanky - but it's not too environmentally friendly shipping guitars all over the world by ship. Ships are massive polluters. It's not a great idea. But even that aside - all the manufacturing capacity at the Indian / Indonesian / Korean manufacturers is being bought up by the big boys. Smaller manufacturers like us were being pushed to the back of the queue ALL the time. They're just not interested in manufacturing for us. A move to the UK We know that if the ONLY thing we're offering for the increased price is that it's made here - then people are going to see that for what it is. So we are taking advantage of the fact that we can now work more closely and flexibly with a UK factory to squeeze in some improvements. Chambering / Weight Relief, Boutique Woods, Better Finish, Carbon reinforcement in all necks, Blind Fretting, Rolled Edges on Fretboards, Better parts. ALL of these are included in our price increases. So you're getting a lot for our money. Come along on the journey with us. We KNOW we are going to lose sales. Spending £850 on a bass is a lot more than £530 on a bass. We are not worried however about where we sit in the market. It's a totally fair price for what you're getting. Our confidence in the market on the whole is a bigger concern. Higher bills, national insurance and inflation makes us worry that people might not have the money to buy a bass. But it is what it is. Come on a journey with us while we build a proper UK build bass brand. It's going to be fun! Thanks for letting me ramble.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/apr/07/pink-floyd-reform-to-support-ukraine

Yeah, it's common, people.

Just found my 1983 Westone catalogue which includes the 80s pointy Raider as well as the better known Concord and Thunder basses.

STP are a band I've always kind of liked but never really taken much time to really listen to them. Yesterday I put on Core, I'd never realised before just how interesting their bass lines are. I spent most of yesterday evening working out Plush. It's always great to suddenly discover something I already knew was so much more interesting than I ever realised.

It's been a long time since I've owned a Status (the last was sold in 2006 to buy a motorbike) and is one of a couple of regrets about basses I've sold over the last 25 years. This one cropped up in the local shop and I simply had to have it - I never thought I'd get the opportunity to get my hands on another as they don't seem to come up all that often let alone at an affordable price. Whilst this one is different than my previous example (the last one was a six-string for starters), it exhibits that exact same 'instant playability' and feel - something I've found unique to Status basses and even my beloved Warwick needed tweaks and a setup to get it exactly where I wanted it. It sounds absolutely killer through the Trace Elliot 'mini mighty' rig! Super tight, punchy with that 'immediacy' that's quite tricky to put into words. Suffice to say, I'm very pleased with it and it's great to have a Status back in the collection - I feel it fits in great with the Warwick, Jazzes and Yamaha. ❤️

Came across this kind of accidently after being in the market for a 70s style Jazz with blocks, matching headstock, etc. Played one of these many years ago and remembered really liking it so I pulled the trigger and it arrived yesterday, it's in pretty awesome knick for a 2006 and these seem to be hard to come by now so im very pleased! Not had a chance to plug in yet but first impression are very nice, update to follow...

Scaled down from the Schmidt Array, so here is the new setup on a Rockboard Tres 3.0 with a Mod 1 Signal chain is: Bass>Mod 1 Input A>Cali 76>Morningstar ML5>Origin '64 BassRig>XLR and 1/4" outs both go to the Mod 1 for feed to the desk with Cab Sim, and straight to an amp if used. ML5 Loops: A>Octamizer B>TRS splitter cable to B on Mod 1 C>HX Stomp with Bright Onion Momentary switch. FX Loop of Stomp to C on Mod 1 D>Prometheus E>TRS splitter to D on Mod 1 Using the TRS jacks on the Mod 1 with ML5/Stomp FX Loops means I can insert any pedal(s) either in front of, after, or into the Stomp's chain itself (and move it about as needed). I haven't got the required TRS splitters yet (apart from the one within the Stomp's loop) so one of the Mod 1 outputs is connected to the Headphone out of the Stomp for now, but that's how it will be used in future. Here's the underside: There's a Temple USB adpator so I can charge my iPad, and a GigRig Doubler to power the Cali76 at 18V. Everything powered by the Generator.

Last weekend was the Bass & Guitar show in Liverpool. I had the opportunity to be on the Bass Direct stand for the weekend helping with product demos and made a couple of bass sales (Cort A5 Plus SC & Kala U-Bass). It is well documented in other threads that the weekend was fairly quiet, which gave me the opportunity to try out most of the instruments I liked the look of with no limitations. The most popular basses were without a doubt the Dingwalls, a good mixture of those who had never played a fanned fret before - and some who are diehard Dingwall fans. Lots of people went for the D-Roc 5 to try out - it was moderately priced (for a Dingwall !), and had a stunning aquamarine flake finish. It was definitely the most popular instrument I saw being demo'd and was with me too. As a passive instrument, I expected it to sound a bit dull compared to the NG/Combustions, but it did not. It was mostly plugged into a GR Bass head and 2x12 carbon fibre cab. It was without a doubt the most thunderous yet clear bass sound i've heard to date. The pickup switching was very good and there isn't a bad sound available from it. Every time someone tried it out I was hoping they'd put it back, because otherwise I couldn't have it. We got to the end of Sunday and it had survived, so I agreed a sale whilst we were packing up and took it home that day. The only downside, is that I will have to lose 1-2 basses to fund it, but i'll get over that quite quickly. And here it is just before the show opened - I hadn't played it yet nor considered buying it.. should have got Sheldon to sign it but in the fluster of packing up I didn't think of it (i'm 2nd from left).

During the first lockdown I ended up having a listen to a few bands I’d heard the name of (and people I knew rated/recommended) but had never gotten around to hearing anything by them. STP was one of those bands. Not all to my taste, but ended up liking a few bits and bobs, but I ended up really liking the bass parts. Even more so after I watched this. To me, he comes across as a really nice and humble guy, who is hugely talented. Well worth a watch…

I did this course during the first lockdown. I was a stubbornly pick-only player beforehand; after finishing the course, fingerstyle plucking felt completely natural and it's now my preferred technique. Of course the Technique Accelerator covers a lot of other stuff, but this particular area of improvement gave rise to a sea change for me.

So, it's actually officially happening! We've broken ground today on building a studio rehearsal room. It's going to be a big old beast... circa 40sqm. Time frame to completion is around 8 weeks. I shall update in due course, but suffice to say I am quite excited about having a proper studio rehearsal room! 😁 The band will be moving in as soon as its ready and will save use between £200 and £250 a month in practice room fees.

This is a very good point. Shipping anything halfway across the world by sea is bad news. Container ships are the biggest transport polluter in the world. They run largely unregulated enormous, archaic engines on cheaper bunker fuel (basically the crap left over when producing oil and it’s derivatives) and a single large container ship going back and forth between the Far East and UK for a year generates the same amount of pollution as 50 million cars! Anything we can do to reduce goods being shipped long distance will really help.

The Precision sounded better on all examples to me. I like Stingrays but only when they're sitting in the mix a bit more - solo they sound a bit like a duck.

Distortion and square waves don’t obliterate speakers any more than an undistorted signal of equivalent RMS power, and in fact is easier on a speaker mechanically. A square wave of the same peak voltage as a sine wave has twice the thermal power but the same mechanical power. This is probably the root of most misunderstanding about the topic. Now peak power is something entirely different, a sine wave always has a peak power that’s double the RMS value, it’s purely two ways of using math to describe the same thing.

Handsworth revolution - steel pulse

Found some stuff I picked up in my youth!

Catherine Howard Rick Wakeman

May mute the sustain a smidge though.

OK, here goes: i) I'm really not a fan of the Jazz/Precision shape. Or Fenders generally. ii) Sunburst finishes generally (especially sunbursts where the colour goes from black to yellow). iii) Maple fingerboards. iv) Hi-gloss finishes that look like furniture. v) Terrible headstock design (ie Cort, Sandberg, Chowny, G&L). vi) Anything with a single pickup (I'm just of the opinion that a twin pickup set up is way more versatile tonally). vii) 'Does it come with a hardshell case?' If the answer is 'no', then well, no. There's probably more.

i've been quietly reading this thread as it has unfolded and my main reattion at the new prices was that they are a Bargain! for a uk made instrument (made by a very well respected workshop) i think they're actually pretty cheap, the quality will be top notch and the lead times won't be affected by the long waits for containers to be shipped half way round the world. all i need to do know is start saving my pennies and decide which one i want! Matt

Just found my G&L catalogue picked up 40 years ago when I was gassing for an L2000E. (I ended up buying a Stingray from Peter Cooke's instead which I still have).

Congrats on the new bass! A logical step on from your old Redsub Coliseum I guess? How does the Ding compare in terms of balance & weight etc? All I can say is, thank god for the copyright issues. The new shape is far better to my eyes. I love that little kick at the back, by the controls. It looks sleeker, a proper 21st century Bird (there's a song in there somewhere).

Sandal in the Wind ～ Elton John

A compressor will reduce any signal above a certain threshold a certain amount. Usually that's a ratio say 4:1 and active on most notes you play, certainly when you play hard. A limiter is a high ratio like infinity:1 but usually set at a higher threshold, so usual playing is unaffected but can provide a 'point' where the signal is reduced at a certain limit. Both have their applications and most compressors can do both if they have a ratio control that goes high enough. For example the Boss LMB3 is just as much a compressor as a limiter.

Shhh! Keep your voice down

There`s a dedicated Ashdown ABM600 thread, Dave. As a proud ABM600 owner I`ll heartily recommend them, best amp I`ve ever had.

I understand. I'm playing at the Back Room at the Green Hotel. I'm in the band for a UK tour with Greg Douglass, who was the lead guitarist with Steve Miller.

They’re my favourite rock band ever. Very dynamic, from huge rock tunes to delicate acoustic melodies and everything in between. This is one of my favourite album tracks - I don’t know what bass Robert is using here but the tone is fantastic. 😊

+1 It goes straight into marketing but I think the odd thing about this thread is how unexcited the tone is. chowny are making better instruments, in a better way and here in the U.K. to drive better quality. It’s something to be excited about and use as a basis to sell from.

There is only one 'power section' on the ABM600 (I think the misprint / confusion here is that the 1200 has 2 x 600) , the sockets are both parallel. If you plug a 4 ohm cab into one, you have a 4 ohm load. If you plug 2 8 ohm cabs into the sockets, you have a 4 ohm load (which is what I do). if 2 x 4 ohm is used, you will be running at 2 ohm, which it is not rated for

I grew up listening to AC/DC. Iron Maiden etc. You know, all of the NWOBM bands but I can honestly say that when Grunge came along I was in heaven. So many great bands came out around that time. I got into STP when they released their first album and I have always loved their sound. I feel that they never really got the recognition that other bands got and maybe that why they slipped past many peoples radar. Thanks for bringing them back to our attention.

Way back when I first started playing bass, I was in a band with some friends. We only ever played a couple of local gigs, but one of them was a memorial concert for a young guy who had been killed in a car crash. He had been the singer with another band that we were friendly with and I always remember that Plush was one of the songs that they covered.

I couldn’t wait so swapped them last night and set them up so they’re both playing just how I like them. Overall I’m much happier with the look of both, just need a tort plate for the sunburst now.

Working For The Yankee Dollar - Skids

Must be the Fender sticker and Squier neck plate adding £160 over the value of a new one then. GLWTS etc. 🤠

Welcome aboard. I’ve bought via DV247 before. Fairly low cost item (Schaller MM Machine heads). I had no problems. Usual fairly impersonal internet transaction. Click, pay, email confirmation, stuff is delivered. Its certainly a legit company. As with a lot of companies these days though you can only really find out how good are bad they are when things go wrong. If there is no way of getting hold of a human with the wit, will and ability to sort out the issue at hand the low cost element and slick UI all become window dressing hiding the rot! Someone may post with a horror story or outright praise but my transaction was smooth.

I bought my Flea jazz a couple of years ago as an alternative to a roadworn jazz that I didn't want in the colours available. It has turned out to be a superb bass - the only jazz that I can use the bridge pickup on a blues gig! I didn't buy because of Flea's signature, more because of the features that don't seem to be available in any other fender Jazz at a reasonable price. The stack knobs take time to explore but there are some different tones in there. Frank.

This is just nutty, my fave STP track and Scott telling that this is not about being a macho sex god. Best STT live track for me