Burns-bass

2 minutes ago, oldslapper said:

Gordon Bennett these prices! 
Makes Andy Baxter’s look like Poundland 

Wonder how much that Bespoke bass I sold you would be worth I’d Mark had played it!

10 minutes ago, wateroftyne said:

 

We see it all day, every day. It's all around us.

Ain’t that the truth.

On an unrelated note, I wonder why a museum in the Uk doesn’t purchase these and ensure they remain here.

Music and culture is arguably the UK’s biggest gift to the world and we should celebrate it. 
 

These cultural artefacts have changed more peoples lives than pretty much any modern art piece…

13 minutes ago, Pseudonym said:

 

Oh, I don't know if the world is any madder for doing this kind of thing. Some people have more money than others. Some have more talent and renown than others. In this case, the latter is being rewarded by the former, and a couple of charities get a decent chunk of the proceeds. Is that really such a terrible redistribution of values?

Guess it depends who’s buying them. Inherited wealth? Tax dodging billionaires? Tony Blair?

It’s great that 25% is going to charity and I have nothing against Mark. In fact, he, Clapton and Gilmour are all massive supporters of charity and should be commended.

It’s the explicitly and egregious show of wealth on display. 

Frightening.

Obviously a monster player and a good egg, but my god, some people have some cash to spend. $65,000 for an 80s Les Paul? World's gone mad...

1 hour ago, Beedster said:

Chris Wood, bassist in Medeski, Martin, & Wood, and The Wood Brothers. If you like a bit of jazz fusion, the former is worth a listen, a bit of contemporary bluegrass, the latter. Luckily I love both so his playing ticks a lot of boxes for me, not only a great technician, but very inventive and creative in the way he approaches a song. Tone he squeezes out of his upright is pretty special, but his electric playing on occasion sounds beautiful. The Hofner always struck me as an odd choice, not one that's usually associated with a virtuoso player, which CW most certainly is. But given he could probably choose whichever instrument he feels best translates his imagination into musical form, he must see something pretty special in his Hofner 👍

 

And despite having pretty much got rid of all my electric basses, I'm very keen to own one - even for a while - just to see whether there's some mojo there 🤔

Without wishing to derail the thread, I love both these bands. I heard the Wood Brothers on the radio once and it was one of those moments where I had to stop the car and write down the name of the band. The tone that guy gets out of a double bass is incredible.

Like Chris, I love this bass.

I’ve got  one of the FSR versions and the neck is utterly beautiful. It did have a unique smell that’s now dissipated. 

3 hours ago, Lozz196 said:

Mexican Standard, around the £500/£600 mark I’d say

I’d say that’s pushing it. Last one I sold was £375 and that was a 70s reissue.

You might get lucky but they’re £700 new, so I’d suggest a bit lower would secure a quick and easy sale.

54 minutes ago, Beedster said:

 

He's got himself in a monkey trap entirely of his own making. Probably the only way out is to get some professional advice/help to structure his debts and obligations to customers, come clean to those customers by opening up authentic and honest channels of communication, and possibly seeks some form of coaching/counselling to help him avoid doing the same thing al over again. But all of that would require a level of bravery that most people don't possess, and the ability to sacrifice short-term security for something perhaps more meaningful. But he may simply see no option. Most people who do bad shit aren't bad people, they just f*** up and fall into a spiral of covering up with each stage making everything worse still. I've seen it happen to some good guys who had real talent but poor business sense, started out trying to do good and ended up hated by everyone. Not saying this is the case here as I don't know anything like enough of the facts, but I doubt he set out for things to be this way. 

 

I'm not meaning to be insensitive to or in any way critical of those who've lost their cash

I've done a bit of digging, and my sympathy is drying up somewhat.

I've checked companies house, and he's claiming the company is dormant, but he's not liquidated it, which means he should still has liability.

https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/08835334/filing-history

He's also claiming that it's dormant, while trading under the same name and account on Reverb – which is a bit naughty (and maybe someone might want to report him?)

1 hour ago, Wolverinebass said:

That is true. I have done exactly as you say on some occasions. To give you an example. A couple of years ago my brother passed away. After arranging the sale of his flat, the people downstairs land grabbed half of the garden which belonged to his flat fencing it off and put a set of French doors in a supporting wall without planning permission. Now, the offer gets pulled, they've caused structural damage and I'm easily going to win taking them to court. Obviously they're not going to pay, so what's the point? Now, I had to sell the flat for almost a loss because of these idiots and we are talking way more than the value of a bass here. Even if it were a series 2 Alembic. Ironically, I was just executor. I wouldn't have got anything anyway.

 

I wasn't advocating physical harm on Mr Letts. Just thought it might be the case that at some point he's going to get someone who might try to get a refund in a less polite way. Though for £1600, I don't think I'd bother going that way as it wouldn't be worth it. He's not going to cough up.

 

However, that being said. His reputation is shot to those who know and he may or may not be an incredibly sad, pitiful figure.

Totally get it – and I'm so sorry to hear of what happened to you at a time of immense personal stress. 

The way you conduct yourself and the person you are is really the only measure of success as a human being. On this, Jon has absolutely failed. He is, as you describe, a sad and pitiful figure – something I'm sure he knows. Same as our fraudster friend.

I read an interview with Tyson Fury where he was asked how he would react if a cleaner stole £50 from his house. The interviewer thought he'd say something stupid like "I'd beat them up". Instead, he confounded expectations and said he's sit the person down and asked them what had gone so wrong that they would do something like that.

I agree that I may feel differently had I been scammed by Jon, but in the end, I'm pretty sure he realises how pathetic he is.

4 minutes ago, Wolverinebass said:

That's grim. Whilst I appreciate that clearly the guy has dug himself into a hole, he's been incredibly duplicitous about it.

 

This isn't waiting almost 2 years for a Wal as I did or 3 years for a Grainger (which I should get in a few weeks). Quite a lot of the latter was due to covid and their resulting backlog before anyone asks, this Letts bloke is just taking your money and trying to run. Or hoping you'll give up.

 

Were it me, I think a few of my friends in Edinburgh would be called. The fact that he's now saying he can't afford 50 quid a month. Nah, I'm not buying that at all. That's the problem with this idiocy. You can easily take someone to court and win, but then they'll just turn round say they can't pay and thumb their nose at you. Sod that.

I'm not sure whether implying physical harm on someone makes you morally superior to the fraudster or not...

Sometimes, you have to chalk this stuff up to experience and weigh up the emotional turmoil of getting angry and upset for years against the financial loss. The guy is probably bankrupt, his name in tatters, and his likelihood of resurrecting the business low. I mean, if you search for Letts bass this discussion is one of the first results.

1 hour ago, binky_bass said:

@EddieG - Letts has 4 or 5 basses for sale on Reverb. You could instruct the bailiffs to seize them to be sold at auction, they might collectively make enough money to pay you back. Jon would also be far better off just paying you your money if the choice given to him was to have all the basses seized and sold or to pay you want he owes you. 

He’s a Ltd company and these will be owned (one assumes) by a new one, meaning the poster has no claim on it.

Instinctively, I feel sorry for anyone who has been scammed.

This is going to make me unpopular, but I also have a slight sadness for Jon. He’s obviously got limited business knowledge and priced these basses far too low. He’s then been overcome by demand and simply can’t cope. All the while, he’s working hour after hour and likely making a loss on the instrument.

The way he’s handled this is awful and upsetting and it’s terrible people have lost money. 
 

But anyone who has operated a business can tell you of similar companies who have gone through the same thing.

I’m personally involved in legal action against someone who is doing *precisely* the same thing as Jon here. It’s sad and pathetic and reflects that person’s total moral failure, but you have to hope there’s a chance for them to redeem themselves (or you’d lose all faith in humanity).

8 hours ago, Downunderwonder said:

What kind of psycho goes after musicians at 50 quid a pop? Shades of Mick Mason.

It’s because it’s what’s considered A fairly inconsequential amount. The police won’t bother and most people will write it off as an experience. Therefore, they’re more likely to get away with it.

29 minutes ago, kodiakblair said:

Two totally different things.

 

Ed is well known and respected as a player, author and bass guru. He does straight up honest reviews.

 

Lobster fella is selling folk on mods. He does his initial video then does another after he's had someone swap the pickups, whether they actually need swapping or not. He's looking for YT checks for video, kickbacks from his embedded links and lastly cash in his back pocket when he punts the bass on the QT. 

Thankfully I don’t watch YouTube (unless people post videos here).

if I want to watch white middle aged men play guitar and bass poorly while talking rub ish I go to one of my band practices. 

A lot of these reviews are people excited at having new gear rather than an objective appraisal of a guitar. 

One of the benefits of someone like Ed Friedland doing a review compared to the Lobster guy is that Ed takes stuff on the road and really puts stuff to the test.

£99 is a throwaway amount for some people, and I’ve been caught up in this before, buying some HB stuff etc. I’ve convinced myself it’s good quality but it’s really not when you start taking it on the road. The HB pickups are weak, the tuners flimsy and the overall feel is cheaper than a Fender. 
 

It’s cool if reviewers want a cheap guitar, but don’t try and convince me it’s as good as an expensive one.

1 hour ago, Paul S said:

 

Trouble is you all live in Southampton  

Thankfully not (Bristol!)

My cover band has this chat and we only do gigs within 45 minutes of Bristol.  We’re lucky enough that this still means we play lots of gigs, but means relatively early nights. 

57 minutes ago, prowla said:

 

A lot of Italian bands used to play Dynelectrons, a copy of the original. Great if you can find one!

Will still see the remaining books for £20 delivered… come on you know you want to!

4 hours ago, Beedster said:

Sold 

Paid for the holiday this year…

11 hours ago, EssentialTension said:

 

Still has the mutes too, very unusual.

The strap on its own is worth £200.

19 minutes ago, SamIAm said:

I've seen 'How was you Gig' and 'How was your rehersal', but could not find one for Jams (Apologies if this was simply due to my poor searching!)

 

So ... I shall kick things off.

 

A few weeks ago I posted a 'I play bass, can I come along' ... the response was 'We already have a bass player' 😕 Hmmm ... where in the rules does it suggest that only one bass player is the max!?

 

Anyhoo, a week or so later I received a message ... "we need a new bass player weekly, might you be interested". Ha ...  I was on it like a rash!

 

So, last week I went along and whilst being a bit timid, I really enjoyed it.  Feedback was good and the fellow who hosts it even suggested I should turn up the volume ... I like it!!

 

This evening I went again ... OMG, WHAT a blast!

About 10 of us, playing through a bunch of leadsheets for a couple of hours ... and all really nice folks to boot!

I was not doing anything sophisticated ... root/fifth, with an octave now and then.  Some chromatic approaches, varying the beat from time to ... time, even throwing in some thirds when it seemed appropiate.

 

I really felt in the groove and it will take days for the smile to disappear from my face.

 

Now I just need to find the magical sequence of plugins on my Dwarf to get a nice upright like sound ...  

 

Sam x

 

95% of bass is about turning up on time, following the chords and doing the basics.

Finding the groove is what we live for!

A hell of a player this guy. I remember one summer  ailing all of “and out come the wolves” after an ex girlfriend gave me the CD.

Might get the Thunderbird out and have a crack this morning! 

37 minutes ago, TimR said:

Good SH basses disappear very quickly on Facebook marketplace. 

In my experience that’s usually because one of the scumbag bedroom dealers has got there first.

Prices go up over time shocker!

You can get a perfectly good, giggable bass for £50. You may not like the name on the headstock, but the Ibanez bass I got for £50 was streets ahead of anything I’d owned in the 90s.

I picked up a vintage Japanese Squier for a tad over £100 last week. You can still get good stuff without breaking the bank.

Love this. The simplest solution is almost always the right one.