fretmeister

£900 can buy a single underpowered head, that then requires spending out another £500 for a cab to go with it, or it can buy a 500W to 700W head AND a suitable cab to get out gigging straight away.

Maybe, just maybe, the Mesa 350W will last twice as long as the other options… but who is going to find out? All options will be well out of warranty by that point and then we’ll have Mesa spare part prices to look forward to. Unless Mesa have had another sabbatical from the UK and EU market again and we just can’t get them anyway.

I realise you are trying to avoid the issue, old equine chap, but £900 for a 350W  Class D amp is taking the piss no matter taxes and exchange rate are. I’m also aware you have no say in pricing, so this isn’t personal.

 Nobody gives a proverbial about anything other than how much folding has to be handed over to be able to take one home.  
 

It’s too expensive here, and in the EU, and in the USA. Geography and taxation are not the issues. 
 

Rightly or wrongly power is high on many buyers feature comparison lists. Combine that with Mesa’s absence from the market in EU and UK means your 350W is not looked at as a luxury product, it’s going to be looked at next to the lower powered Mark Bass, Ampeg, and Ashdown Class D stuff, and some of those are under £450!

Ampeg Venture V3 is £436. 

Yes, of course I know they are not assembled in the USA. But what American companies are seemingly unable to comprehend is that non Americans simply do not care about that.  Most of us won’t even notice country of assembly until we plug it in for the first time after we’ve bought it and taken it home.

Cioks DC7 for the win.

Buy it right and buy it once.

loads of power and expandable.

Again, still nothing to do with Gibson upping prices across the board.

They’ve clearly decided that their market is the well off 50 year old or over with little or no interest in anyone else.

Now that Epiphone are regularly over £1000 as well, there is nothing to encourage youngsters to want to try the brand.

I know that long term Mesa employees don’t want to hear it, but your new overlords belong in the same category as Darth Bezos.

£900 for a 350W amp is taking the piss, no matter what country it is in.

I didn’t say gone up compared to the USA. 

Gibson do have form for massive price rises across their brands with no perceived increase in quality or features.

Their “entry level” Les Paul (Studio) hit £1500 before it was discontinued this week.

I went to try a few about a year ago, and actually bought a LTD EC-256 for £400 instead as it was better in every way. 

The guitar stuff has gone up amazingly too.

It's almost like a litigation hungry, over priced guitar builder is in change now…

I bet he can only gig on a Tuesday lunchtime. 

I was really tempted by one 1 on eBay the other week. It went for about £375! 
 

I should have bought it.

19 minutes ago, Obrienp said:

All the LaBella flats I have tried (except the nylon covered) have had a weird stickiness about them. I don’t know whether it is a reaction to my skin, or a generic problem. I’ve tried cleaning them with lighter fluid, rubbing alcohol, string lube, etc to no avail. I always end up taking them off (with the exception of the Hofner Violin bass I had) and regretting the considerable sunk cost. Perhaps the low tensions are different.

 

I have been using Maruszczyk flats on my Mezzo and find them to have a really good smooth feel to them. They are also about 2/3 the price of LaBellas. However, they only just fit. They are designated short/medium and the G only just makes it over the nut before the silk starts, so they might not fit some basses.

I have the same issue with La Bella flats, especially when my hands are sweaty. The low tensions were worse!

On the Deep Talking Flats I have solved it… before I install them I give them an extensive rub down with Wet & Dry paper to rough them up. It makes a big difference. I wouldn’t have bothered if I didn’t like their tone so much.

Dunlop make some good medium scale flats. They fit fine on a Mezzo. Eye wateringly expensive though.

19 hours ago, TheRev said:

I'm technically still in a band I joined in 1997. Had a couple of rehearsals, then the guitarist said he was away with work for a couple of weeks and he'd arrange rehearsals when he got back. Never heard from him again.  

That reminds me of Mika Hakkinen a bit.

Technically he’s still on sabbatical from Formula One but hasn’t heard when he’s coming back! 

Those new prices! Ha ha hahahahahaha 

I really wanted a TT-800 but they can jog on now.

19 hours ago, matt_leblanc said:

Do you guys know if only the masterpieces get the "vibration body treatmen"?

Or do more models have It?

I'm pretty sure it's only the Masterpiece - on their configurator if you spec Masterpiece and click the More Information thing then it shows the vibration and heat stuff. On the other finish options it does not.

1 hour ago, martthebass said:

I’ve always used a heavier gauge set on my shorties than the longies. Don’t know where I got the advice from; all mine are 50-105. I find I can easily pull the G off the fretboard on my G&L if I don’t do this…..crack handed, that’s me.

Me too. I'm a 40-100 on a long scale, but 45-105 at least on a shortie.

Another vote for Newtone.

Measure up the entire instrument and they'll make you a Steel or Nickel round, with either a round or hex core. Choice is yours. Very nice strings.

Wampler pedals.

Once upon a time they put out a book about effects. The book contained cut & pasted copy from a much smaller pedal maker to which Wampler had no involvement. They didn't even give credit to the original author, let alone pay them any money. No hint was given that the prose didn't belong to Wampler. The original prose was very specific to the original author.

Other pedal makers such as the genuine legend Analogue Mike from Analogman quoted some of the original work and gave proper credit.

Wampler can f*ck off into the sea.

2 hours ago, Aidan63 said:

I have tried again today using the service@ email address posted in the other thread.....we shall see if it works this time

Facebook is usually the quickest.

I've always had quick responses from them!

And I just remembered there is Hardcore Reserve between Hardcore and Masterpiece. 
 

Reserve has some gentle fretboard aging. HC doesn’t have any, Masterpiece has loads.

Masterpiece 

You can see the board and back of neck aging.

The fretboard and back of the neck looks too new to be a Masterpiece. IIRC fretboard and back of neck aging only happened on the Masterpiece and not on the other aging options. 

That’s an older shape.

The designated Masterpiece aging was introduced relatively recently. I think there was some cross over of the old shape still being available and the Masterpiece but I don’t know the dates. I had an old shape in the heavy aged and it does look similar.
 

Contact Gregor Fris via the Sandberg Facebook. You’ll get a quicker response.

The Masterpiece includes vibration treatment and is a real step up in cost.

I think the answer is to get a Two10 and a One10 and an amp capable of running at 2.7ohms or under.

It's an approved mix on the BF website.

The you can take 1, 2, or 3 cones as you need.

You're welcome!  

B and C - a MM style.

But apart from that I'd measure up a 60s and 70s J and work out the relative positions and pick the one that I liked best.

What's the weight please?

I've got one of these:

Levy 4.5 inch strat

and some of these:

Black Buckle strap

Both nice. The 4.5 inch one is very expensive though. I don't use it a lot anymore as I've got rid of the heavy bass it was on.