neepheid

Honestly, the internet dogpile on G&L or Sire headstocks (or whoever has been deemed not to be flavour of the month this time) is really boring to me.

I appreciate the concern, but I'm OK if some get passed over. I'd much rather that than have someone come up to me and go "hey, you've got X bass, don't you?" and I'm "ahh yeah, sorry, I left it at home - maybe next year, if I still own it by then!" I've already decided to rein things in slightly - I'm not going to take the extra 1x12 cab. Going to take the Markbass combo and the TC Electronic BH250 head as a headphones only amp - which might be handy if things get loud in the room anyway.

The trouble I have with this very sensible statement is that all my basses are different from the usual. I don't own a single Fender product right now. I can think of at least five off the top of my head that people have expressed an interest in seeing. I joke about being mad (the whole journey is mad anyway) but I'm not trying to take over the whole show, or use number of basses as some sort of weird flex (which would be pointless as I know there are plenty of people out there with more than me). If I'm overstepping, or anyone feels like I'm impinging upon their available space and/or enjoyment of the event please tell me so and I'll rein it in, I can handle a home truth if it is required.

Nine out of ten? So you're calling me a weirdo then, is that it?

Whoops, forgot that, for now at least, I'm a two Thunderbird household, so have another Epiphone in your face!

Reverse threaded truss rods are the work of the Devil.

I still have a long term plan to spec an SB-1. I hope I'll still be able to when I'm in a position to do so.

Check for yourself - while plugged into an amp of any kind but not turned up too loud, tap the pickups with something metal like a small screwdriver in the various switch positions - it will be obvious if you're missing a coil.

I might have simply muted the group rather than outright left, but nonetheless your ire is justified. Try to put it to the back of your mind and enjoy your hols. Really not cool for the singer to drop a bomb then rebuff all attempts to sort it out before you leave. I get that he's having problems, but you can't pull the emergency cord like that, then sit on your hands.

I'll have you covered at the bash with my Wunkay. A shottie of my Wunkay for a shottie of your Performer?

It was a hastily chosen simile... don't read too much into it

Colour me interested. Both those rough ideas of dates are OK for me at the moment, but bear in mind that, for me at least, gig dates for next year are starting to come into next year's calendar. Kudos for avoiding May, this may not have been your motivation, but that's roughly when the NW England bash has happened for the last couple of years.

It's like choosing only some of your children to go to Disneyland though...

It is beginning to dawn on me the enormity of the task that lies ahead of me. 14 basses (15 if I get my JC fixed in time), 2 amps, the ironmongery. I know I keep saying "go big or go home" but is it getting silly?

I have a Tonerider Duke in my Fazley Hot Rod (the "ratlet") and I'm very impressed. Between this and the Entwistle PBXN (neodymium) - I don't see any need to spend more on a split P pickup.

I am interested in the baby one (XS-1) but only if it represents a big leap forward from the TC Electronic Brainwaves I currently use. Now can we please get all the guitar noise out of the way and someone please demo it with bass?

Twice in a month? Unheard of! The Inevitable Teaspoons will be playing next Friday night (3rd October) at Drummonds in Aberdeen.

Like me - it's not so much the basses in and of themselves, it's more that I feel like a complete twit when playing one. Appreciate that it's a me problem, not the bass's fault - but I get around it by not playing headless basses. Anyway, this thread is going off the rails in a classic BC kinda way. So how about G&L and their alleged woes, eh?

Aye, be careful what you wish for...

There is no 100% correct bass for everyone. This forum would probably half in size if that were not true...

It's like a vending machine of tones!

All this talk of nut widths reminds me of another sign of decline - I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that they reduced the variety of neck options for their made to order basses. If I'm remembering correctly, then that's not a good sign either, is it?

And lots of folks don't... like me.

I'm a big fan of G&L basses. Although I currently only have one (a CLF L-1000) I have owned several Tributes in the past, and they've all been excellent instruments. I only sold them because I was pack shuffling (or fundraising) and figured I could easily buy them again if needs be. Whoops, that might have been a miscalculation, given the information swirling around the internet. Honestly, I've felt in my gut they've been in bother for a while. They gave me the impression that they had retreated to their home market - there has been little to no stock in the UK/EU for many months now (the recent burp in availability of Tributes and a single Fullerton Deluxe bass at GuitarGuitar is an anomaly - trust me, I've been keeping an eye on things). Thomann don't even list G&L as a brand they carry any more. That's a red flag, when your products aren't even listed on presumably Europe's biggest music retailer. Ever since I got introduced to G&L instruments at a bass bash and fell in love with them, I always got this feeling that they were like a "secret owner's club" and "best kept secret" type of outfit. Back in the day, that might have worked in a "when you know, you know" organic kind of way. But these days where if you don't make a loud noise about yourself and your products in a flashy, attention grabbing 10 second short video you're officially a behind the times loser, that just isn't sustainable any more. No-one apart from old farts care about Leo Fender's "DNA" in the instruments. Frankly, even though I am an old fart (in Internet terms at least) I don't give a monkey's about it either, never did. You've got to move with the times, or step aside. I really hoped that after they finally dragged their website into something approaching a modern, contemporary design a couple of years ago that it would signify a shift in focus/attitude but it seems that was only window dressing at best. I hope they pull through. Apart from my direct affection for the brand and its products, from a purely selfish point of view, you know what the second hand market will do with the news that there is suddenly a finite supply of something...