Musicman20

I've no idea how anyone who plays an instrument could not understand the sheer fun of writing music, an actual song, that doesn't revolve around how technical anyone in the band is. Writing a song, from scratch, including lyrics, then putting it all together with everyone helping with their own part, is an amazing part of music. It far surpasses any cover work or 'doing it for the money'. Technical proficiency does not make you a good musician. There are many many great bass players in 'indie'....

[quote name='Sercet' timestamp='1490695926' post='3267079'] Shouldn't that be "Or maybe fewer people?". It feels like a question. [/quote] 😂

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1490692951' post='3267041'] Or maybe fewer people ... [/quote] My apologies for not reviewing my post before clicking 'Post'.

Makes you wonder how on earth they make it so cheap! Looks really good!

[quote name='Osiris' timestamp='1490641751' post='3266739'] Well, I made it to bass direct at the weekend and A/B'd a number of amps through my own cab. [size=4]The Genzler Magellan 800 was the one that I ended up taking home.[/size] Much as I loved the tone of the Mesa Subway 800, in light of the above, all I can say is that I'm glad I didn't buy it I'll try and get a NAD thread going for the Magellan once I've had more time to put it through its paces. [/quote] Excellent choice, and a very reasonably priced amp. You will also get stellar service should you ever need it from Mr Genzler himself.

[quote name='Kirky' timestamp='1490377242' post='3264772'] The Cribs are a great band and the Jarman brothers write and record some really good songs and put on awesome shows. They do a huge amount the promo and band admin themselves and are very approachable, decent, down to earth guys. I can't think of anyone more worthy of a sig bass. [/quote] Agreed.

In the end less people will buy the product, because we are all becoming conscious of being ripped off.

[quote name='hiram.k.hackenbacker' timestamp='1490229705' post='3263509'] I own more USA Stingrays than any other type of bass, but I have played many others types including Sub's and 34's. I can tell you that I have not found one non-USA Stingray that is a patch on the real thing. The build quality and options on a USA are far superior to anything achieved on a non-USA. I fear we will run around in circles regarding the sound which is subjective, but I would argue the same on that count. Case in point, this arrived yesterday.... It's a USA Stingray 4HS 'Starry Night' SLO with MHS. I'm fairly particular about my basses as some here will attest to. I would not hesitate one second to send it back if it didn't meet my expectations. Hand on heart, I can't think of a single way that this bass could be improved. [/quote] Oh my! That is surely one of their finest limited runs?!?! I love the HS configuration. Why they aren't more popular i'll never know. It's the exact same Stingray tone plus 4 other great tones including the neck pickup alone which has a very woody and hollow traditional tone which you would not expect from Musicman.

Hmm, quite forward thinking....could be quite cool!

I've tried a fair few of the more budgets versions of a Stingray I found they were not that close to the real thing. There is something in the aesthetics, feel and overall 'quality' that I do not think matches a real Stingray. I would not buy a budget model new. I would buy a real Stingray second hand or see if a new one can be had as a deal. The £ and price hikes really push them away from normal players now, which is crazy, but it is happening with a lot of manufacturers. Luckily I got my Musicman fix way before all of this, and I love the high quality and feel/tone they all have. I would buy another 6 string guitar from them if the UK prices hadn't jumped up so much. Most of the time, you really do get what you pay for.

[quote name='Osiris' timestamp='1489950295' post='3261043'] I hadn't really considered the Magellan. A mate of mine had one of the Gens Benz heads a while ago (I don't remember which model) but I always felt that it had an unpleasant bump in the mids that was difficult to dial out without radically eq'ing the amp. But he played it through Mark Bass cabs which seem to have a reputation for a low mid bump, so maybe it was the cabs, or maybe the amp and cab just didn't work well together? Dunno. But it had initially put me off the Magellan. And for the record, I like to have the mids present in my tone [size=4] [/size] However, the Magellan has got rave reviews all round so I'm happy to try it and see what I think. A few people have said that it can get that warm, vintage tone that I like, similar to the Tone Hammer. And it looks to be a lot more versatile than the TH too. The specs and features are broadly similar to the Subway but the Mag' is £200 cheaper. Tempting.... Do you have one, or have you ever played through one? I'd be interested to hear what you think of it. [/quote] Unfortunately not, I just love the Genz gear and have two amps and a cab by them so if I needed to, personally I'd try a Genzler 😊

Another example of 'dealers' causing pricing issues. In 2017 we don't need 'dealers'.

[quote name='Bridgehouse' timestamp='1489752720' post='3259453'] Bass Direct have the EICH and a tonehammer in, and a D800 - you can compare and contrast and choose your favourite flavour. As an extra thought, if you find the EICH or D800 does a better job, you could always pick up the tonehammer pedal to get that sound when you need it. Less of a one trick pony then..? [/quote] Good call! A clean amp with the TH pedal! Plus then you have the TH pedal for recording or gigs where you can just turn up with a high end DI.....OR, use the pedal with backlines that are supplied and get the TH tone.

The Tecamp cabinets, particularly the one you have, are/is really good. I would stick with that cabinet! I sold mine to help with moving house but I regret it. In the end I picked up a Genz NX212T which isn't so far off so I'm happy. Agreed that an Eich amp would be a great match.

The TH350 prices are all over the price, but are around £420-450.

If Gibson actually just stepped up to QC as good as Musicman and PRS, they'd sell a lot more instruments anyway. I've recently played a lot more guitar and I am astonished at some of the guitar forum posts about poor workmanship on £2k Les Pauls. I want a nice classic tone of a Les Paul but I am not risking buying one.

If I was in the market for a new amp, I would choose the Genzler Magellan - £675.

I imagine, from a business and cynical point of view, the TH350 stock in the UK is pre-price rise/pre £ slump. The TH500 isn't. That price difference is insane. I also think £829 for an amp that has been around for a good few years is incredibly high. It is basically Mesa Boogie tier of pricing. If I were you, I'd look at another brand. Aguilar make amazing gear but the prices shot up way before the £ slump, and the £ slump has made it even more expensive. The TH500 used to be around £600 not that long ago. Whilst not related to the TH500 as it wasn't around, The Bass Merchant used to order Aguilar in directly and the pricing was much fairer. Another example of a bizarre business structure of having 'middlepeople' who essentially act as dealers, storing the product....sometimes helping with problems (often, it's just easier to get hold of the company directly, e.g. like Genz Benz).

I'm pretty certain a lot of nitro checking happens with the environment it is kept in. If you take an instrument out of a very hot house into a cold venue and do this repeatedly without letting the instrument warm up a little, chances are it will start to check. I have a few nitro instruments and now I understand nitro, I am less worried (although I would still be a little gutted if it were proper damage) if the paint reacts a little. It's almost like 'oh well, it's nitro.....it'll react at some point.'

Nice instruments but not £408 nice. That's way too pricey.

Bass is definitely a different world, even when it comes to just reviewing a cab or pedal. It needs a bass player to have that knowledge of why we need totally different things to guitar.

[quote name='KevB' timestamp='1489069636' post='3254145'] However from some of the sycophantic nonsense you'd think he was the first person in the history of music to sit down and perform a song on acoustic guitar that he'd written himself. [/quote] That's exactly how I feel. When I see documentaries on someone, for instance, Kurt Cobain or the Beatles, writing their own songs from a young age, and not needing a team of corporate writers behind him, it makes me wonder what the fuss is about. 1000s of musicians write their own music and play it on their own. It is braver, I agree, but someone like Jake Bugg, (especially earlier on), is far far better, much better guitarist, etc. I find that ES has basically no catchy guitar parts...at all. Just the same old stuff. Best of luck to him though....if I could be in his shoes I would be.

[quote name='uk_lefty' timestamp='1489073083' post='3254183'] I bought a cab from them a month or so back and got some "loyalty points". Anybody know what, if anything, you can do with these? I gave up looking around on their site for info. [/quote] Yep - if you buy again you can take the money off of the next order. Works out pretty good if you buy something expensive or during the time they have 2x/3x loyalty points. Considering GAK used to dominate adverts etc, and I'd never heard of Andertons, (say 7-8 years back or more), Andertons really are at a level that most other stores need to compete with. E.g., loyalty points, genuinely good service, good shop, excellent online reviews, etc. GAK are way behind even with just their website.

I think they've started to use Lee #2 now, from their guitar department, who is actually mainly a bass player first and foremost. Danish Pete is an exceptional player.

I don't know why, but I just cannot listen to Ed at all, not any of it. Something really grates me about it. I've got no problem with pop music, but I just don't like his songs at all. I must have poor taste as everyone else seems to praise him.