Kiwi

he's included guitars though, still a lot of basses just by themselves...!

I forgot to mention the impact on second hand instruments as well. Watch those climb in the same way they did for Warwick and (perhaps more understandably) Wal. It's about adding something extra to a bass worth $100 and then charging $700 for it because the marketing have found a way to create mythology for the difference...roasted necks, for example. In other market sectors, used cars or financial products, there are laws against misleading claims...but it's not relevant to any market sector, like guitars, that has mythology to fall back on. The marketing department can spin a story that evokes a sense of living your dream...or anything else that can translate into bragging rights (e.g. limited edition colours) without making a single claim about tangible (and therefore actionable) benefits and there we go.

I'm waiting for a special edition 'Landlord Magnolia'. Repainted about twenty times in multiple shades of heavily chipped cream emulsion, complete with authentic brush strokes, cat hair and cigarette ash and a random assortment of screws in various sizes and shapes holding pieces of hardware on. Because: 1) The asking price doesn't reflect the actual cost of making them any more than a Louis Vuitton handbag price tag is justified in the cost of a bit of printed leather, some polyester lining, some chinese made faux gold hardware and about half an hour of labour. 2) The asking price doesn't reflect inflation. 3) They get to charge more for their mid-level instruments because they have turned their previous mid range instruments into halo models. The only justification for increasing the prices is because they want to and they are going to continue raising prices until they see a significant drop off in sales. And when that happens, it doesn't really matter because most of the brand-related interest will then focus on the mid level instruments where they'll be arguably making more money anyway because they're cheaper to produce. I think they don't care about a small number of people complaining about prices. If a small number of people DIDN'T complain, it would suggest they're not charging enough.

Mine hasn't changed in 5 or 6 years and I'm struggling to remember some but I do remember taking full advantage of the pre recession exchange rate when the US dollar was worth 50p and international shipping was half the cost. Sierra Precision - hated the ply body. Westone Spectrum II - hated the ply body. Jaydee Supernatural Mark King (which was my only bass for 12 years) - great bass, only sold it because I got an offer too good to refuse. Still hanker after a Jaydee some days. Jaydee Custom jazz - I assembled the parts and gave them to John to make a body from. Unfortunately the Moses graphite jazz neck flopped about too much. Warwick Streamer Rock Bass - surprisingly great bass. Pine body. Status Groove 5 string - also great bass. Very growly. Ken Smith BSR5GN - my first halo instrument, loved it although perhaps not the best for stage work as it was a bit mid scoopy. Pedulla Pentabuzz - a keeper, loads of mwah. The best wooden neck I've ever played - action is ridiculously low. Modulus Sonic Hammer - I sometimes miss this bass. It was really playable but it was highly aggressive sounding too. Growly though. Ken Smith BSR6GN - I wanted to channel John Patitucci. I failed. I could have rented the fingerboard out to Heathrow as a third runway. Ken Smith BSR5GN fretless - because I wanted a twin for the fretted. Sold to Randy Hope Taylor who promptly had Martin Petersen slap frets on it. Musicman Stingray (78) - had a mutilated Warwick Thumb shaped body with some goddawful sexist sci fi fantasy art airbrushed on the front. I managed to find a road rashed replacement body from the same year and I still have it. Musicman Stingray (status neck) - probably my only real example of sellers regret. Not quite as growly as the Modulus, not quite as warm as a Cutlass but a practical alternative to either. Alembic Series 1 (graphite) - still have it. Bought from the bass player in legendary Canadian band Spirit of the West. Musicman Cutlass 1 - neck like a banana, sold it eventually after talking to Rob Green. Alembic Elan 6 - heaviest bass I've ever owned, very dark sounding also. Modulus Quantum 5 Sweetspot - really brittle sounding, maybe because the neck was too rigid. Modulus Quantum 5 Sweetspot fretless - neck like a banana, had Rob Green plane it and I sold it on. Bartolini pickup was a great match though. Pedulla MVP5 - as a twin for the Pentabuzz, but the sound wasn't quite right for live work. Celinder J Update (the Skarbee bass) - nice but a tad aggressive sounding compared to my fave Celinders. It was on a recording though. Celinder J Update (96) - early model, warmer than the Skarbee but had a weird Les Paul pot arrangement. Came from a danish session player. Sold to thin the herd ahead of emigrating. Celinder P Classic - great bass but I just didn't use it apart from in a demo vid for my band at the time. Musicman Cutlass I - bought from the US, ex Cliff Williams. Neck like a banana. Musicman Cutlass II - bought off Ebay for a steal. Neck like a banana. Spector Euro 6 - ex-Sound Control bargain, I used it on stage for a year to force myself to get used to 6 strings in anticipation of the Shuker arriving but gave up eventually. Shuker Headless 6 - great bass, superb workmanship, but @Dood's headless 6-er is more my thing. Don't you just hate it when that happens? Still have it. Spector NS5CR (tobacco sunburst) - lovely sounding bass, really thick neck which I liked. Only sold it as I needed to thin the herd down. Spector NS5CR (natural) - still own it, a bit of a BC ho bass. Neck needs some attention (one day) but sounds growly just like the Smiths but with more midrange and therefore much better for stage work. Steinberger XL25A - a surprisingly fantastic sounding bass - really warm and deep. But I couldn't get on with the 13mm string spacing or the ergonomics. If only they'd made a through neck full body model... Pangborn Warlord (graphite neck) - still have it, is being restored currently Fender Jazz (1978) - it was pretty average...boring even. But it looked nice next to my preEB Stingray from the same year. Status Series 1 (graphite thru neck) - still own it, I like it more every year. Very playable, very well made. Sometimes it can sound like my Alembic Series 1. Really want to change the electronics to control the mids and low end. Dual band comp on it sounds great and tames the highs in a way that the eq doesn't. Self build headless 5 string with graphite neck - ergonomically flawed body designed by myself, but it sounds really good. If I could, I'd remake the body and probably add an extra soapbar closer to the neck. Chinese made 5 string - the atrocity that shall not be named, out of respect for the trees that died for it. GAS list: Vigier Passion V string (so long as the neck is straight), Hagstrom Super Swede for those Rutger Gunnarsson moments, early 90's Status Series II 5 string for those Britpop moments, Celinder J Update 5 string (in blue w/ birdseye maple neck), 1982 Gibson Ripper, Industrial Radio Pro 5

Someone would have had to sign off on it as well. There are plenty of references to worship amongst the rest of the listings for appearances, so it looks like they're being very calculating.

Music doesn't need belief. And even if it does, believe in what? The only context I can think of is gospel and if the intent is to appeal to musicians of faith then it seems like clumsy, maybe even patronising example of value signalling. Please tell me I'm mistaken.

There seems to be something very deliberate and calculating about the use of the word "believe".

A bit of trivia, John developed the original design with the help of a number of Basschatters back in 2004 or so.

Look at it this way, it's enough to get someone elected US president these days.

Someone should open a click and collect in Calais or Le Harve

So much this. It works for me and it works for my students. The passion keeps us going during the challenging parts and we all learn faster when we're absorbed in what we're doing, regardless of how old we are or what we're learning.

I didn't moderate the thread.

it goes on and on, my friends Some people started watching it not knowing what it was and they'll continue watching forever just because this is...

Me too, I used to cite that as an excuse for not being able to play as well as Mark King many years ago. Then I discovered he was one too...and that was the day the excuses ran out.

Not now we ate them all.

Oh where to begin...engineering firms in China generally don't do small and none of them are local in the sense they're within reasonable driving distance - they locate outside main cities to keep costs down. The best I could hope for would be a friendly guitar manufacturer with CNC capability but most of them aren't that friendly unless I'm going to order hundreds of instruments from them. Apologies @Andyjr1515 for what I now realise is a thread hijack. I'll retreat back into my cave.

I only play fours if they give me something I can't get from a fiver. I have four fivers and two fours. There can be a tendency to play too many super low notes on the fives though which can muddy things up a bit. Some extra discretion is needed on when to flap those trousers.

I saw promo vids for this so long ago that I wasn't even building back then...

Thank you so much!

Do you guys know a place where I could get perspex templates made off a scaled CAD drawing?

And there are the criteria that need to be met for a libel claim to be valid, one of which is demonstrating that damage has been caused to reputation. I'm no lawyer but I'd speculate it's a bit difficult to damage something that is already in tatters.

It would cost about £250,000 to bring a case in front of a judge. He's not serious in the slightest.

Steve never sold the rights, just a license. The license ran out. BTW, a pickup maker in Finland has started offering reproductions of the Wal multicoil design in different configurations to suit a variety of humbucker equipped basses and string spacings (15-19mm): https://www.rautiaguitars.net/multi-coil-bass-pickups.html?fbclid=IwAR1lrAqnXDSXEV9oRuoWwuiYv9dHfBb02OQKQ1GmPSPJ_hAKCqXeBWxkn1s He's been mentioned already but Lustihand Devices offer a Wal/Alembic style filter based preamp as well, low pass with shelving frequency boosts. I'm going to let him know I've posted on here and maybe he can contribute. He only has a FB page at the moment, no website as far as I can tell. Information on the preamps is available from the pickup maker's website, PDFs on some of the products are below: https://www.rautiaguitars.net/uploads/1/0/1/7/10174351/nfp_manual.pdf https://www.rautiaguitars.net/uploads/1/0/1/7/10174351/double_nfp-special_4s_document_text__2_.pdf https://www.rautiaguitars.net/uploads/1/0/1/7/10174351/double_nfp-special_56s_manual.pdf There are sound clips as well.

Technically, the Mad Cat was a homage to the Hohner TE80/The Prinz...which was a homage to Fender...