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funkypenguin

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Everything posted by funkypenguin

  1. Thanks for the warm words! The build itself was just over 15 months from order to completion, a lot of the waiting prior to that was all about squirrelling away the money! It was well worth the wait though, it's been my main bass for around 18 months now and has been everything I hoped it would be and more!
  2. I'm getting a little bit of that when I listen on my phone but nothing on my laptop, through monitors or through headphones....interesting, thanks for the heads up there! something to look at for when the whole project gets mixed!!
  3. When you say recorded artefacts, are you talking about the harmonic colouration that almost sounds like distortion? If yes, that's a characteristic of the Hellborg power amp. It's something I really like, but I get that some really don't Noted regarding optimising the sound for different devices!
  4. Thanks Interesting that the sound makes you feel like you're listening outside the room, there wasn't any top end rolled off on the amp or the desk although it is quite a dark sounding bass.
  5. Hey everyone Here is my complete recording of Bach's second Cello Suite in D Minor, the first part of a larger classical recording project that I'm hoping to get finished and released this year! Any thoughts, please share them! Hope you enjoy my work!
  6. In my experience? John East, Jon Shuker, Fodera, Gruvgear, Mogami and Thomann.
  7. I think time of year has something to do with it, a lot of the people I mentioned the gig to were away on holiday. Fantastic gig in any case!!
  8. Really sorry to hear this, met him at the North East bash and he was an absolute gentleman
  9. I wouldn't think so, they've a full order book so unless they take on and train more builders to bring the wait times down the way that Fodera did back in 2010, I don't see why they would change their business model. Would you be happy to pay the corresponding price increase that would come with scaling up production/employing more luthiers that can build at the same level as Paul? What is it about the long wait that's putting you off out of interest? Is it that you're worried your tastes will change in the interim? I would think that the long wait would be ideal, in that you can spec precisely what you want, no holds barred, and you've a long time to save up the bread once your deposit is paid Ben
  10. If they want a Wal enough and are prepared to save/wait, it's doable I've never understood the whole lawyer/dentist stereotype, the guys I know with higher value instruments are all a. serious players and b. gig them regularly.
  11. Those contractors would also have to be paid and fully trained to Paul's standards, so while it might impact waiting times, the prices would correspondingly increase. Ben
  12. I can't cover my bass on my contents insurance so I use Allianz, and they cover both my basses and my rig, and that covers everything including unattended vehicles. Ben
  13. Exactly. I've flown with mine to the States and back with minimal fuss.
  14. Had a couple of gigs with my new bass recently and I'm absolutely loving the shorter 32" scale length, kind of wish I'd switched earlier!
  15. My question to your colleague (were I in your position) is why has his friend taken these gigs if he isn't going to fly with his bass? My father in law owns an electrical installation company and he wouldn't dream of turning up on a job without his tools, so why do musicians feel they can turn up with no gear? I can understand needing to borrow/hire a rig if you're in another country, but a bass can be flown easily enough (I would get another seat on the plane if I were flying anywhere in Europe via budget airline). If he doesn't want to, then that's his choice and he should be looking into hiring one. As for lending gear....I've seen what happens when people lend gear in good faith to people they don't know. Hard no from me, for my rig or any of my basses.
  16. The shop's location, rent, overhead, materials, paying an entire team a living wage to NY standards, taking care of the entire team's health insurance (having worked in the states, this is Expensive), their pension plans and training a new generation of luthiers to take over the business once Vinny and Joey decide to call it a day since they're not getting any younger. Having googled it, Jason talks about why the Pii costs so much in this thread, his username is JustThumpin https://www.talkbass.com/threads/does-your-ability-limit-what-you-would-spend.1154501/ I know you're an Alpher guy Kev, and I would be interested for them to work out just what they end up making per hour on their basses.
  17. Some of the materials they use are very expensive (such as CITES certified Brazilian rosewood), others are very time consuming to work with (such as Buckeye), but it's a combination of factors that make Fodera so expensive, as Jason explained in that talkbass thread. Some people seem to think that Fodera are raking in money but met them and talked to them at some length, they're really not.
  18. I remember reading somewhere (I think it was another post by Jason) that the presentation ii takes somewhere in the region of 250 hours to build because of the hybrid design they use on it (I'm no luthier so I couldn't say why it takes so long but I'm told the entire thing is proprietary and hard to make). After they built the first Presentation II for AJ, they then calculated how long it took to build and priced it accordingly. It's worth noting that they weren't profitable for most of the companies existence and were close to going bankrupt when Jason came onboard In the interests of full disclosure: I've a Fodera arriving tomorrow, so I'm not unbiased. Further disclosure: I also went to Warwick to get a quote on what it would cost me to have the same spec made, albeit with a couple of detailed alterations (Streamer body). Their quote came to more than I've paid for my Fodera inclusive of VAT.
  19. Fodera make a 10% profit margin on any instrument they make, which is hardly printing money Kev. They pay a decent living wage to their entire team, whereas I'm pretty sure that some of the smaller luthiers such as Shuker and Alpher (once they factor in how long each instrument takes in man hours) aren't even working for minimum wage. If you want a better breakdown of their business model, the link below is a breakdown that one of the partners (Jason) did of what goes where in terms of finances. It's not all to do with them being in NYC (although it's certainly part of it). https://www.talkbass.com/threads/so-many-people-are-selling-their-foderas.881417/page-3#post-12628306 And since someone mentioned Alembic, a 4 string series II STARTS at $35250.... http://www.alembic.com/prod/prices.html
  20. Hey Everyone, For sale is my last remaining Vanderkley EXT112 cab, I've switched over to using my Hellborg rig so this is now sitting gathering dust, and with a new bass incoming any day now I'm having a mini cull of any gear that isn't earning it's keep. It's been fairly heavily gigged since I bought it in 2013 but is still in perfect working order, although some of the carpet covering has gone a little fluffy (see photos for details!). I bought this secondhand and there was no cover. Technical specs can be viewed via the link below. https://vanderkleyamp.com/cabinets/ I'm happy to deliver this anywhere in Greater Manchester (I'm based in Rochdale) and in West Yorkshire (where my folks live) but other than that it's collection only. These are around £600 new, I'm looking for £300. Ben
  21. I use the Warwick Hellborg PR40 preamp going into the Mono 500w power amp. It's stupidly heavy thanks to the transformers in the power amp but it's the best sounding amp I've yet played through, and the Preamp sounds absolutely beautiful recorded.
  22. Definitely a horses for courses thing with instrument weight, I've never really understood the preoccupation some players have with sub 10lb instruments but then my Warwick breaks the 11lb barrier and I've never really struggled with it even on long gigs (a 4 inch wide strap definitely helps). If you've found your 'keeper' bass in that Squier, then thats awesome, keep it, enjoy it, play the frets off it some people go down the custom route because they want something really specific from their instrument that isn't available off the shelf, at which point (and this is always assuming that you know precisely what you want and why you want it) you need to really trust that the builder a. knows what they're doing and b. understands what it is that you're looking for from the instrument.
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