DaytonaRik

Free VSTs including a tube screamer, guitar amp sim, chorus, delay... https://www.nembriniaudio.com/collections/free

That late? Once the self-centred orcs start being their usual selfish selves then those infection/case numbers/data will soon start to return to their former levels.

I've got an older Gen 3 iPad that I still keep kicking around as it runs Behringer's X-Air and X-32 Apps for my XR-18 and X32 Rack respectively - it means that I don't particularly worry about anything happening to it (I have at a push run the desk from a phone!) and it's heavy enough to beat the local hoodlums to death in the event of an incident actually occurring at a venue!

Ditch the BT Home Hub for better results. I moved to a cheap-as-chips TP-Link 1350 router and I get a solid 45mbps over wi-fi. I think that's about the max of my current BT line speed, unless I upgrade to the next tier which has only recently become available. Living in the sticks I get BT, BT, or at a push I can have BT!

I've tried to use this time to learn as much as I can about recording techniques, improving my home studio, writing new material, learning how to use iMovie to create my Strings To Sticks YouTube channel, start to learn to play drums, get the guitars out again and start playing 6 strings as well as things I'd never have learned on bass - all of this just gives me something to think about other than how repetitive things are and how isolated we can feel. I ride road cycles and luckily there is always lots of Discord chat when I ride in Zwift (easier if you Google it!) so it's like being out on a club ride with my mates. Similar with learning new studio tricks/techniques - you get involved in online discussions which gives a sense of belonging to a community.

Without a doubt - trying new material in a styles that I'd never have considered prior to the l/d. Playing unplugged versions of things in a trio (acoustic guitar, bass and vocals) where the bass is much much more prominent and I have spaces to fill has improved my playing massively.

I have both a Gibson and an Epi IV as a spare...and I really struggle to tell the difference between them in feel and sound, certainly in a mix.

Agree completely! The Slate hybrid is excellent, and the FG-2A LA2A clone is tops! They've got 3 (I think) 1176's too, each with transformer switches which (apparently) make a difference...not that my fatigued ears can tell between them!

Might be worth a look - as a Slate subscriber I've got access to a plugin for every occasion already!

This is true - I as thinking the same thing when I saw the list in the plug-ins folder 👍🏻

Until Pete showed them the *right* way to play one!

Still nothing from UPS here - 3 weeks after the order and 2 weeks after it was delivered.

It's a pain to install as it chucks 3GB of plug-ins onto your machine, of which one is registered for use 🙄

I've already got a bunch of 1176's but hey - can't beat another one for free!

My sadly not a '65 and Epi equivalent spare.

Absoflipinglutely gorgeous!

As much as I love Thomann - their prices were always hard to beat - I suspect that there will be a shift in my spending towards UK sellers. That said - DV247 is a European outlet but with a UK store/front end so VAT is already applied - that might just take the guesswork out of things BUT if I can occasionally be the beneficiary of some missing paperwork then that's always a temptation to see if you can drop lucky again!

Total order value was about £700 so I may have been a lucky one? I'm still expecting a communication notifying me of the sum owed and that I have 28 days to settle my account!

I placed an order with Thomann on 11th Jan, received the goods 18th but had no communication from the carrier before or after the delivery that I have an outstanding sum to pay them 🤔

Noooooooooooooooooooooo! Ya can't beat a bit of T'bird rock action!

Did you get the bill from UPS pre-delivery?

Is Thomann still offering free shipping on items over £100?

Even if you flip it, it's still nowhere near the £53 that @bassist_lewis was charged on a £136 item!

A quick check of the Government Trade Tarrif website https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/commodities/9207901000#import would show, for example, guitars to be subject to 20%, 2% 3rd World Duty and 0% import duty. - £500 guitar + £100 VAT and £10 3rd World Duty = £610 plus a small brokerage fee of say £15. Total additional fees £125. I'd suggest people start asking questions if there are dubious looking sums being requested.

Brokerage - aka handling is usually that kinda figure from all of the carriers. Does anyone out there know the current import duty (if any) of musical instruments into the UK - the online one I usually use has it at 0% so just VAT is payable?