molan

All the time. Maybe I'm just too trusting, lol

Played a small pub gig last night and thought I'd try my recent acquisition - a Mexican made Flea Signature. At the break I was thinking how nice it seemed to sound on 'stage' (I was using a Jule Monique Dove Cage and Demeter power amp through a Bergantino 2x10 so had a decent backline which would always help). The realisation then hit me that I'd never actually gigged with a Fender before! I own a 63J a pair of 68J's and a 64P and have owned several US and Japanese J's and P's. All have been played a fair bit and rehearsed with but never taken out live (well, not by me anyway). I've gigged plenty of 'Fender style' basses from Sadowsky, Alleva Coppolo, Celinder, Lull, Modulus etc. No idea why I've never grabbed one of the Fenders before, maybe just not my #1 basses at the time. Anyway, it was fun to play, no worries about batteries, stayed more or less in tune and sounded pretty good to me and to the two bassists in the audience apparently. Must do this more often 😂

As far as I know all the issues were fixed after a terrible launch period. It's not always the case but the early ones that did go bang tended to crap out quite quickly. If you were to come across an earlierbone that's been out gigging a fair bit it 'ought' to be ok.

[quote name='Billy Apple' timestamp='1475126874' post='3143208'] It's a pity the store is closing, the kissing was the best bit. [/quote] You can always pop round mine for a snog 😘

[quote name='Lw.' timestamp='1475160786' post='3143595'] I thought the new-ish German-ish pro-series [/quote] Fixed it for you. . .

[quote name='Lw.' timestamp='1474965715' post='3141804'] How would Warwick be able to make decisions like that now when they don't know what trade deals will be in place? Was this in the press or just a made up internet comment? Not that there's anything wrong with requesting money up front for sales - we as customers have to do it all the time when ordering things. [/quote] It was a public statement direct to all UK dealers from Hans-Peter himself. Dealers used to get a short credit window which allowed them to check stock, balance cash flow and maybe move an odd instrument quickly. Post Brexit (in fact maybe a week before) all dealers were told that payment for every instrument had to be made in full in advance before Warwick would ship anything to the UK. With demand for Warwicks already dropping rapidly over here and the resulting low margins there's not a huge incentive to hold a lot of stock that has to be paid for in advance. The new Pro series manufacturing schedule is a little random as well. Dealers can log in and see exactly what's available but for certain models and colours the wait time was sometimes not even specified - they literally could not get a delivery date so couldn't really take customer orders for these. Full German built instruments have also become very expensive. Last time I checked there was only 1 for sale in the whole of the UK. Even the ex-demo and show instruments available to dealers from Warwick in Germany are pretty expensive compared to many other brands. Add all of this to a fall in the exchange rate and it results in very few new instruments being available for sale (or even demo) over here

Another big vote of confidence for D'Addario customer service. As a dealer we sell quite a lot of their strings and our service team are fantastic and so helpful

Quick tip for anyone who likes the Neotech straps but found they aren't quite the right length. The Sadowsky Neostrap is more or less the same thing but comes in 3 lengths instead of 2

[quote name='ricksterphil' timestamp='1475087787' post='3143004'] Best music shop experience I ever had was in a store in Birmingham Me and my band were buying a Traynor PA.....well actually the drummers dad Harry was paying (we were in our teens) How much we asked? £400 said the salesman (should point out this was the 70's) How much can you knock off asks Harry (the drummers dad...keep up folks) Oh I reckon no more than 10% off says salesman bloke. Well Harry wasn't happy with that and a session of good old fashioned haggling went on which culminated with us half way out of the shop, with Harry sticking to his offer, before the manager gave in and we got the PA. £240 Harry paid ....that's a 40% discount! Never forgot that encounter, learnt much about the art of haggling that day [/quote] Is the shop still there?

[quote name='Twigman' timestamp='1475085271' post='3142965'] go on then humour us [/quote] I never kiss and tell

You should hear the stories the people in music shops tell about some of their customers 😂

4 Ritters is probably a bit indulgent 😂 Although I've spent more on Foderas 😱 Actually, owning a Jule Monique with Demeter Minnie power anp and a Demeter D800 head at the same time is pretty indulgent too 😬

[quote name='fleabag' timestamp='1474893311' post='3141274'] That takes the biscuit for weirdness. As an Oxon resident myself, which/where is that pub ? [/quote] Henley on Thames - the one 'rough' pub in the town It's right behind the Town Hall and diagonally opposite what used to be the police station. I live in the town but haven't been back there since . . .

My favourite weird pub gig was when I roadied for an evening for a friend. First half went ok but at at the break we heard sounds of shouting, then a scuffle and then glass breaking from the small patio / smoking area. The landlord had apparently picked a fight with a couple of locals. He then turned all the power off and then told the entire pub to F-off and barred everyone present from ever drinking there again saying he'd remember all their faces (this included me and the band). One of his bar staff got the power back on as the punters drifted out and told us we'd get paid but should scarper quickly. The landlord then had another fit of shouting and threw himself out of the pub shouting that he wouldn't let himself back in again He headed off to the car park right next to the police station and attacked a copper who promptly locked him up for the night. The pub was not only opposite the police station but also the magistrates' court. Needless to say he lost his licence pretty soon after. . .

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1474806859' post='3140621'] He was also a total crook & was known for selling fakes & forgeries of many high end US guitars & basses. [/quote] I thought all his copy basses were clearly sold as representations of vintage instruments and not sold illegally? I know that the Ernie Ball company threatened him with legal action after he was building replacement bodies for some of their guitars (not basses from what I remember) and he made a public statement apologising if anyone thought his replacements were original parts. I don't remember ever seeing him being formally indicted for anything though and the US is particularly litigious

[quote name='neepheid' timestamp='1474805825' post='3140606'] Sounds like a blowhard with a chip on his shoulder to me. The truth usually lies somewhere between the extremes of this guy on one side and slavish fanbois who will stomp on you (in the Internet words sense) if you dare say anything negative about the motherbrand on the other - EBMM forum springs to mind [/quote] I agree although, unfortunately, Ed R was just about the biggest single guitar shop in the States for a while and probably had more influence on the general public than any of the various web forums. He was a very extreme character and, of course, isn't around any more to rant on stuff like this.

I don't think Ed Roman's famous rant about G&L build quality helped their reputation much. "I hereby rescind any positive recommendations I have made regarding G&L instruments. I hereby will no longer recommend the G&L product to my customers. And I will buy back any G&L guitar that was purchased from me within a two year period for full price paid" He was always something of a maverick but was one of the biggest names in US guitar retailing and offering to buy back any G&L he'd sold was a pretty big knock. I must admit that we tried stocking them for a while at BassGear and they were very slow moving so we delisted them.

I've seen an 'Ocean Magma' finish in the flesh - it looks stunning!

Are there many "bass layers" in Oxfordshire? It sounds like a fun pastime - I might need some instruction on exactly how to lay my bass first though 😬

[quote name='BassTractor' timestamp='1474406705' post='3137857'] Shshshshshsh! The potential customer already has a Terror Bass, and I need new glasses! Seriously though, I've told him I believe the Streamliner basically has a different character rather than more guts, just in case he thinks 900W into 2 Ohm is a lot more than 500W into 4 Ohm. [/quote] Sorry - I didn't read the very first post properly. I thought some was just asking for opinions of each amp