NancyJohnson

When I was working in jewellery, it wasn't uncommon for retailers to buy overstocks at a discount or if they were carrying stock that wasn't moving, reach agreement with us to reduce the selling price in turn being paid a contribution (credit or stock) against every unit sold. I'd hope that they had something like the latter in place here. At the end of the day, GAK are probably selling enough Les Pauls and SGs for them to negotiate this kind of deal.

Just as an addendum to this, despite Elixirs being on both basses for so long, they still retain a distinct brightness; they've never really gone off. I'd say there's a slight dropoff in zing that you get from any string really, but once that happens they remain stable for a very long time.

Someone else can pull the trigger on this one, my credit card is staying firmly in my pocket here (I've got a huge bass bill incoming soon); I'd rather put £399 against that! Hmm. Why not for me? I just didn't like it in the slightest from the first time I saw it really. I think it was over on the LBO; a photo of some bloke in his back yard...I seem to remember comments over there being along the lines that it was just a mocked-up joke on Gibson as they weren't really making anything decent at the time. I'd say at the time I was more disappointed with the design than anything else and (while I'm unsure which model came first now), it now reminds me of a Fender Dimension bass, but with a boxy headstock. Strangely, the lack of colour combination options for body/pickguard was also a negative point (black on black would look good better) . They should have gone the whole hog and put clover-leaf machines on it too, like a Ripper. Ultimately though, I'm a Thunderbird bloke; reverse and non-reverse.

I'd used D'Addario's for a looong time and had gradually migrated to Elixirs on all my basses. Honestly have nothing bad to say about D'Addario, but for me longevity is a major thing and claims the Elixirs lasted up to six times longer than conventional strings was the thinking behind moving to them. I don't feel any coating when I'm playing and the sets on my main two basses that have been on for 10 and 9 months. I might give EXPs a go...£35 for a set EXP170-5SL is worth a punt.

All Gibsons are built in the USA. Looking at the price, it would be tempting to buy and get it refinished in a nice matt/satin black. Clover leaf machines, black scratchplate.

I know some people really like 'em. Not me, but anyhoo, get 'em while they're hot: https://www.gak.co.uk/en/gibson-limited-edition-five-string-eb-bass-vintage-gloss-natural/87261

Cough, on the subject of spelling errors, cough, I drove past a kebab van a few days back and on the side of it was a painting of an angel...you know, floaty blonde girl, wispy dress, wings, halo. The name of the seller? Angle Kebabs.

Good use of raft.

He's a member here, isn't he?

There's a couple of live tracks up on You Tube with the new guy, from the Sirius Radio gig where he made his debut. The new track and and an old one. He does have that SW vibe going on. I really would like to see them come back big; they're just too good not to.

Thing is, it's really just a visual aesthetic and likely has any effect on the tone. (If they're all manufactured this way, they're all going to sound pretty much the same, so you're not going to have a reference point anyway.) Also, didn't MM just bring out a 4-string Stingray with A 5-string pickup in it?

OK, briefest of updates. A couple of weeks back, the NRT5 was in paint. Right now Lull are waiting for the bridge to come back from being chromed as the original had a flaw on it after the chroming process. Mike Lull is apparently chomping at the bit to build it/bolt it all together (and get me off his back too, I suppose). The waiting is getting unbearable. I honestly don't know how some guys wait 18-24 months for a bass to get built.

Black Friday? I was in John Lewis, Reading on Saturday and picked up a pair of Sonos Play:1 thingies for £149 each, £50 off. And, yes. I know there's a new version before anyone says anything, but frankly, I'd prefer not to have an all hearing Alexa thing in my house.

Early Japan. Those first two albums. Man alive, they were nothing like the Roxy Music copycats that came towards their first demise. Scratchy glam, punk, cod-reggae, weirdness. Derided by many and adored by even less at the time. It was just so good.

I've got a Presonus USB interface. I have a Sony cassette deck, connected that to the interface via a pair of phono-to-1/4" jack cables, but the line out signal was too hot, so I bought a little box that sits inline that lowers the output level of the cassette deck. Works fine, but god, it's a slow process.

When I saw the prototype of the EB on a website, it did just look wrong. The body was all curvy but the headstock just looked wrong all square...they could have done something so much nicer IMO, or at the least put some clover leaf machines on it. Anyhow, both the EB look awful.

Dagnabbit! In the diary.

Uncle Henry has gone?

XTC. Everything on shuffle. Makes my day go fast.

I believe Gibson are supposed to be $600m in debt. The brand has been mismanaged for years; they've been passed from one holding company to another since the late 1960s, they've misguidedly acquired too many businesses and closed them down indiscriminately, too much litigation against other brands for copyright infringement, the recent issue with the illegality of ebony and mahogany imports led to a huge fine and loss of most of the wood as well. They also have one of their manufacturing plants up for sale. But what do Gibson do? Rather than buck the trend and shift some manufacturing overseas to take advantage of cheaper labour costs, they stick with USA production and hike prices annually. Little innovation and what they have bought out recently has admittedly been awful. Look at their 2018 range...I mean honestly, who is going to pay £7,000 for a Les Paul because it's got a 'collectors edition' mark on the headstock and a number, when they can pick up a 2017 model for a third of that? It's a nonsense. They're not a bijou maker turning out small numbers (like Gabriel Currie or Frank Diemel), so they need to stop thinking they are; Andertons list nearly 200 [edt] Gibson guitars on their site with a retail of over £1,000; nearly half these retail for over £2,000.

Hamer were bought by Fender. Crying shame, but at least my FBIV will appreciate.

I saw what you did there.

I bought a couple of sets of the 5-string Nickels. I've used them before...and at £18 a set, it was too good a price not to turn down. Christ, if Spector are putting their name on them you'd hope that they weren't terrible.

Yes, sorry, GT1000FX. It's 'just' a powerstage; to be honest, to my ears it sounds fine, whether or not it's supposed to be for guitar or bass. I had a day up in the Midlands with the Matrix guys about a year ago and their attitude ultimately came down to the unit being fine for whatever you needed to push through it...bass, guitar, keys, PA. It's reasonably priced and weighs very little...I have it housed in a Gator 4U rack with a Korg tuner. Easy!