FDC484950

Because they’re now charging the best part of £3K for an ABZ (which is “Canadian” but used to use Chinese Combustion bodies, not sure if they still do), which is about as basic a bass you can buy - passive, no top, simple neck etc. And they charge upwards of £4-5K for the AB1/2 and Fodera money for the Z and Prima ranges. I’m sure there’s a load of labour-intensive handwork but £5K for a basic bass with a painted finish is silly money in today’s world.

IMHO if I was in the market for a new bass where I wanted a particular group of features either Maruszczyk or Sandberg are streets ahead of the older and more established manufacturers. The kind of paint that goes into a bass isn’t particularly hard to find or expensive and if being made to order it’s not like you’re being forced to buy 5000L in advance, so little cash flow impact. MM risk going from a common sight in most decent music shops/online retailers to ending up like Warwick - but at least they offer thousands of combinations for the high price.

Some people have a different approach to hygiene, as in they are aware of it but studiously avoid it at all costs Personally a bit of play wear/dust is fine but when it starts going green or has caked filth on it I’m just not interested.

So a Stingray Special 5 H in black with chrome hardware is £2,200, but the 2021 one with black hardware but otherwise looks identical is now £700 more? Personally I thought they were over-priced at around £2K. It seems like they’re going full bespoke pricing - which is odd given there are half the number of colours available, none of which really do it for me. Very strange...

Transit cover is there for two potential problems 1) Damage in transit 2) Item lost Maybe the answer is bulletproof packaging, don’t bother with insurance and pray it’s not lost in transit? What’s annoying is that music shops can send anything with a business account regardless of Ts and Cs you get as a private shipper (economies of scale I guess). I recently ordered a Fender which was delivered directly in a gig bag in the original box from Fender (factory sealed). That box made it from California via the Netherlands to me in perfect condition with no other padding/packaging than a small bit of extra cardboard top and bottom. Given how flimsy some hard cases can be (e.g. vintage Fender), it does make you wonder why a hard case is mandatory for those couriers that DO offer musical instrument cover?

I don’t remember seeing the Stingray Classic on their site do a long time now (as you say, maybe due to COVID). The fact that both MM and (Far Eastern) Sterling ranges have been mentioned does suggest no (US) Sterlings available in 2021; I’d hope that as they still appear on the MM site, albeit with colour discontinued against each option, means they’re not being dropped. On a more positive note it’s nice to see that the Bongo no longer has that hideous sparkle pink and blue finishes. It seems burst colours are the fashion this year - as other have said, some of the colours are good but I’d have preferred them solid rather than with a dark edge. Charcoal Sparkle is also not I colour I would have dropped.

Nothing about the Sterling. Given the page says color (sic) discontinued does this mean they’ve dropped them??

OK, so you ship something worth £1, or you ship something worth £1,000 of the same weight and volume. Should the cost to you be the same? The result (ie risk to the insuring party) if there is loss or damage isn’t. This is why most couriers now refuse almost anything fragile. If you insure your car (think 3rd party rather you causing damage), the cost is based on risk, part of which is replacement or insurance cost. And when you do make a claim, watch the insurer do their very best to wriggle out of paying anything, or give you a ridiculous offer. It’s the way insurance works and always has been. Couriers do stump up - for what is covered in their Ts and Cs. Now in the case of the OP it seems like malicious damage so may go beyond the couriers Ts and Cs - I wonder if a small claims court application (don’t have to go through with it, the threat may be enough) or some strongly-worded text to someone high up may help? Ultimately the only way to effect change is to vote with your wallet - if everyone stops using their services maybe things will change. But maybe not!

I think that’s a general MusicMan trait. I believe it is to maximise string spacing across what is a fairly thin neck (although not as thin as some). Some decry it loudly as a design defect (like the weak G); others adapt and get on with it. The first time I came across it on a SR5 the G kept falling off the fingerboard. It was pretty annoying but I guess I got to live with it. Having said that, I don’t recall having the same issue with any other bass I’ve played or owned.

The only downside to buying in the UK is that of choice. In the case of the OP there are likely no left hand US Sterlings for sale anywhere in the UK. MM are not delivering anything as stock in 2021 (that was the answer I had from a UK retailer when enquiring about a bass in a finish they did not have in stock). Same dilemma I have/had - I’m hoping as all the colours say discontinued on the MM website that 2021 colours come out - more choice of Sterling colours, lighter hardware but keep the pickups and preamp the same and I’d be interested. However, if UK retailers get more UK customers from those who won’t buy from Europe, maybe they’ll have correspondingly fewer European customers? Hard to tell, I don’t know how much exporting is done by the likes of PMT, Andertons, GuitarGuitar etc. If they’re not importing significantly more volume it’s unlikely the choice will increase. In any case there’s still not likely to be US Sterlings available here because there never were many if any sent into the UK. If MM have truly moved to the custom build only model it could be months or more to get your chosen bass - and no ability to return as it will be a custom order. Ho hum...

Yes, sounds right to me. One of those examples perhaps where the sound it “modal” - so key of A major would fit the chords but it has a B (Dorian) minor sound. I also agree it’s E rather than E7, so Bmin7, Dmaj7, F#min7, E. Checking the official video on YT (for Get Luck) you can see Nile Rogers playing 7th shapes for the first 3 chords and a barré on strings D/G/B the E (so notes B/E/G#). That chord being E again reinforces a more modal sound as E7 would pull more to A major. And a cool bass line from Nathan East

I imported a bass from the States that arrived just before the new year. I knew the score so the moment it landed and hit customs I rang them. They calculated the bill (slightly less than I had calculated it, probably down to exchange rates), I paid it, they gave me the reference. It was delivered two days later (although the driver wouldn’t release the goods until I gave him the reference as no-one had told him the charges had been paid). I think they’re doing their best in difficult circumstances. Their tracking info is sometimes rather vague and often it appears nothing is happening (e.g. the day before it was delivered it said it was still at the airport awaiting customs release - next morning there were four tracking updates including out for delivery, three of them dated the day before!)

Thomann seems to have a good stock of Music Man basses - 4 and 5 H and HH and USA Sterling. It’s one of the reasons I originally went with them as I couldn’t find any dealer in the UK with more than a few, and they were all single humbucker models. Personally I much prefer the Sterling (5 string) look with the original scratch plate and surface mounted controls - but you almost never see them for sale here.

I bought a Stingray 5 HH from them. It took a couple of days to ship as they were busy before Christmas and obviously COVID etc may have impacted service. I got it before Christmas. Within a few days I decided I really don’t like the tone on the newer special (really scooped, even fully boosting the mid doesn’t remove it and didn’t like any of the 5 pickup settings - odd as I had a Sterling 5 HH and liked it), so I asked to return. I got an automatic UPS label, arranged a collection supplying the ref on the label via UPS app (free). UPS collected before Christmas. It nearly got stuck when the French closed the border but made it through and was delivered back to them before the new year. Within a couple of days them of confirming receipt I had a full refund (and didn’t have to pay for the return). I really cannot fault the quality of service offered and once shipping and customs is smoothed out I wouldn’t hesitate to order from them again.

Mine was late 80s and was a Paduak top. Princely sum of £989 from The Bass Centre. And this was when a Warwick Thumb was about £1,600! Oh how I wish I’d kept it seeing what they go for now...

Is it just me or does that anniversary bass with the silver sparkle body and headstock look totally out of place with the pale, plain maple board?

Let’s be clear about a few things as the courier market for (relatively) fragile items has contracted significantly over the last few years. I researched this a while back and was quite surprised by the results. 1. Forget about sending a bass unless you send it in a hard case in a cardboard box. I haven’t found any UK courier that will offer transit cover above basic without both. Some won’t offer any compensation. Sellers on here that say they’re sending it in a gig bag in a box are in for a shock if they try to claim for damage in transit. Even if the courier doesn’t state it explicitly they’ll do their best to wriggle out of it under the pretence of insufficient packaging. 2. Read the courier’s terms and conditions closely - not the 3rd party (Interparcel) as you could end up in a 3-way struggle should you violate courier terms. Even though your contract is with Interparcel you may be disappointed as they don’t always reproduce all of the courier Ts and Cs 3. 3rd parties are very convenient but they’re not shipping the goods. If you have issues then you again end up in a 3-way conversation. Your contract is not with the company who is shipping the bass. The last 3 times I’ve shipped a bass I went direct to UPS and they were no more expensive than Interparcel (and the last time I tried, UPS didn’t even appear). Their app allows you to get a quote and go ahead and get the labels etc very easily (not much harder than Interparcel in fact) 4. If the bass is over £1,000 you may not be in luck. I closely checked Hermes, DPD, TNT, DHL, UPS, Parcelforce, Yodel and others. After digging quite deeply in UPS Ts and Cs (on their website, because Interparcel did not show it) was the £1,000 limit for damage OR loss. None of the other couriers offered more than £200 transit cover. Parcelforce and TNT offered no cover at all (not sure whether that’s changed). 5. Pack the parcel for a nuclear hit. It’s the only way to avoid a claim for damage

Lead time is a combination of demand vs resource. I guess Wal has a very small amount of the latter and quite a lot of the former. When I bought mine from the factory (back when it was in High Wycombe) it took 7-8 months end to end, and that was kind of in their heyday when it was Pete and a few others (Paul appeared towards the end of that period and was rather young, but clearly knew his stuff, when I first met him!) It’s hand building, one at a time, and I’d expect with an operation that small that they don’t order raw materials as the build goes on until they’re actually needed. If it’s 1-2 people with an order backlog of 50-100 basses then that would probably easily account for the lead time. Until they got a business manager, Fodera were quoting 2-3 years, with a much larger shop and staff. Be honest, it’s not “working pros” buying them anymore - I was back in the late 80s/early 90s and there quite a few of us - it’s a collection piece for those with the money and/or desire to own them - and they are unique.

So just a newspaper article rather than published, verified statistics, then? It Is the FT, hardly the most impartial journal! ‘Restructuring’ is just a euphemism for whatever means is required to reduce headcount... In any case as you say, it’s likely that the number of people permanently working in the City, as opposed to employed by companies that have their main offices in the City, will be so different, any future stats will be hard to decipher. /off topic

Frickencrapper.

What’s the V stand for in the model name? Vomit-inducing?

Any word on whether the 1506MS will ever turn up? I remember one for sale on here used but since I could see stock of the EHB basses I’ve not seen one for sale in the UK...

...and not even made by KS anymore!

Do you have stats up to the end of 2020 and projections for 2021 to back that up? And probably financial services rather than just the city would give a clearer picture. EDIT: City of London website only has data up to 2019. It says highest number of jobs but smallest increase since 2012. Very hard to know at what level jobs will be for 2020 due to the combination of that pandemic and that other political thing. What I do know from a pretty sizeable group of current and ex-work colleagues in the City as that every large financial services co is looking to either move or cut London staff - again not necessarily down to that political thing, but it won’t be far down the list of reasons I suspect.

Fixed