molan

[quote name='Marvin' timestamp='1399649546' post='2446331'] Mansons is an hour away, but there again bass wise I wasn't impressed last time I went there. Actual basses, ok but Amos and cabs, very wanting. That's it. So I shop online. [/quote] You should be in luck, there are plenty of online dating sites these days. Specifically finding an Amos may reduce your chances a little but I'm sure he's out there somewhere waiting for your call

[quote name='RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE' timestamp='1399570522' post='2445504'] Me too [/quote] Me and Vic from Bassgear are going too

Sounds good, that'll be about £115 - £120 after taxes and post office clearing fees so should be below a typical UK price

I've always really liked Lakland basses and, for quite a long time, I'd have rated the Skyline series ahead of a lot of US made Fenders. However, Fender US QC seems much better since about 2010/2011 onwards and Lakland prices were creeping up so the price differential got a lot closer and I'm sure a lot of buyers would choose a Fender over a Lakland purely because of the brand name (I've experienced this first hand many times!). If the new Lakins came into the UK straight from Dan then they ought to be under £1,000 (based on the current £ to $ exchange rate) which would make them very competitive if the quality compares to Dan's previous work.

BestBassGear are great - I've used them for quite a few things. Shipping can be a bit hit and miss. I've had an 8 week wait for one thing and another got held at customs and returned I've always had to pay import duties (average between 25 and 35% of the initial cost - the latter because of the way they value some items for shipping).

The 4x10 has gone as well now

Maybe stop using the cat to block the flow of large bodies of water - might put it in a better temper

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1398938254' post='2439139'] Be great to see one of these Carvin amps at The Herts Bass Bash if you`re coming along this year Barrie. [/quote] I can bring the whole range - they are all tiny and don't weigh much Only problem might be if we sell lots - another went today. . .

The top one is a guitar I think?

When I started using a Gramma pad in my little music room the number of complaints from other members of the household dropped considerably. I didn't really notice much difference personally but it definitely seemed to help isolate the overall vibrations resonating around the rest of the house

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1399065322' post='2440750'] Once again because they could. What so many people seem to forget is that back in the 70s these were just mass-produced instruments and the Musicmaster was Fender's "budget" line for people who needed the Fender logo on their instrument but who couldn't afford a Precision or Jazz. They weren't any big deal and relatively cheap and therefore ripe for "customisation" and modification as it took the owner's fancy. [/quote] Relatively speaking they were surprisingly expensive. I bought mine in '79 for £120 - I was earning £200 a month and it took me quite a while to save up enough money to buy one and I treated it like it was a very precious thing indeed

Saw them at Oxford on Tuesday. Didn't miss Anderson at all but I wasn't overly impressed by Geoff Downes - he can play all the parts but having his back to the audience almost all night was a bit odd. Howe & Squire were, unsurprisingly the stars of the show. We were right in front of Steve Howe (who is looking a bit scary these days!) and it was amazing to see him that close. Really good show and the flow of material worked fine for me. Didn't bother me that it was a bit out of chronological sequence and the addition of Roundabout as an encore made up for the lack of Fragile as an album

[quote name='aldude' timestamp='1398935252' post='2439107'] So ..... I got a B1000, and used it in anger on Tuesday evening at rehearsal. And ... wow this thing is loud. I mean, this thing on it's minimum volume seems pretty loud so I would keep the "active" switch enabled or turn down the bass - I'm in a loud band anyway though so it doesn't matter to me! Sounds lovely though. I don't usually use tube overdrive because I don't really like it ... until now! It adds a growly grit to the sound that I quite like and is less harsh than other tube preamps I've tried. The amp also seems very, very transparent. That is, anything that I seem to play seems to come right through - I tend to play a bit percussively when I get excited and that definitely comes through. It's also quite high on the treble side so that needs to be toned back, I usually have to turn the treble up. All in all it seems like a pretty decent amp. We shall see how it fares at a gig this Saturday night! [/quote] If I remember correctly the 'treble' centre point on the B1000 is set quite high (as is the sub bass) so cutting this back a bit should just soften the top end a bit without compromising nicer elements of your tone. Cutting some some sub bass and high treble still leaves you with bass / low mid / mid / high mid to play with for more 'traditional' tome shaping too

[quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1398893483' post='2438864'] There are some places I've emailed offering about £900 up for a 5 string P or J with hard case, standard spec. Pretty good! [/quote] One thing to watch out for Gareth is that if you order a Carvin that isn't sitting as a 'stock' bass in the Uk then it's exempt from the EU distance selling regs because it's classed as 'personalised' and/or a 'custom' product. This means you can only return it if it is faulty. Obviously part of the whole custom build process is to specify something you really want but if it turns up and you don't really like it it can't be returned like a standard UK stock item. This holds true for all custom builds - everything from a bespoke Sei or Shuker to a Fender or Sandberg Custom Shop. There may be some grey areas if it doesn't quite match what you thought you were getting IE the green you ordered isn't as dark as you wanted etc. but I wouldn't want to challenge these in court

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1398877101' post='2438592'] The thing about Carvin is that is you look at the prices in US dollars and they are very competitive... look at the prices over here and they cost a bomb. Pick something of their's and google the model name- the top hit tends to be the American page- look at google's cache of the page and you get to see the US prices. [/quote] A lot of the differential is just the usual deal of adding shipping and UK taxes and import duties that pushes UK prices. On a £600 bass you have to add about £125 shipping and then £185 duties and courier clearance fees. That brings UK equivalent up to £915. That's a 50% increase on the US price Of course this is the most basic spec price and the shipping fee and courier clearance is flat for all models so upgrading spec brings the UK pricing closer to US (although the 23% VAT and duties will always be there). Every Carvin is built to order and some options are great value compared to a lot of custom builders. My favourite is the Birdseye maple board which adds just £25 to the price of a regular maple one! Their build times are great too, approx 8 weeks from order to completed instrument. They are never late either Official list price on a PB5 starts at £972 in the UK which isn't bad for an all US made instrument. If you speak nicely to a dealer they will discount off that base price as well to bring it pretty close to the £915 figure

I've got a Diago Commuter that works well. I recently downsized to a really small board so don't need it any more. If you decide to go for a Diago then zap me a message and you can have first shout before I stick it up for sale

[quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1398766508' post='2437308'] Cheers Molan. I will probably try a set of these on an incoming bass... [/quote] The answer was along the lines: 'We will be getting these in stock but we don't know when or how much they will cost. . .'

I've asked the La Bella boys for pricing and availability dates