Richard R

2025 Gear Abstinence Thread - updated with "Rules" I spent New Years' Eve in the company of a good friend who has just retired from teaching recent law graduates how to actually practice law (teaching them soliciting). We were talking about how English Law develops over time and is set more by what the judges decide than is written in statute, though it is always worth looking at the letter of the law. With that in mind I went back over a few years' worth of these threads to see if what I remembered as the rules were actually written down anywhere definitively and how they evolved. With that in mind, these are the 2025 rules as I understand them 😁: Tier 1 Challenge During the calendar year of 2025 (01/01/25 - 31/12/25): - No bass gear purchases/trades whatsoever, be that amps, pedals, basses, accessories. Tier 2 challenge (should you play other instruments, engage in music production etc) - As above, but extended to your other musical gear Allowances in both tiers: - Consumables such as Strings (sticks, skins, reeds, batteries etc) Buying a set of new strings that happen to be attached to a bass is out. - Maintenance/setups that only involve work on existing aspects of your bass (ie no purchasing a preamp to add to it) - Breakages. If something breaks through no unusual intervention of your own, and is unable to be repaired, you may replace it. - Already committed purchases. If you have purchased something in 2024, you are able to take delivery of it within 2025. If you have put down a deposit on something before committing to this, which then requires a final payment within 2025, that single payment permitted. - Genuinely unsolicited presents, which you had no involvement in choosing. (So going out with your partner to play a bunch of bases, choosing one, and then them buying it for you would be a fail. But we would all applaud and cheer you and your partner and want to know what you got and why!) - Educational purchases, ie tutorial books, lessons, anything that furthers your playing is permitted. Buying a proper usb sound card so your on-line lessons work better would probably be OK. Buying one because you might have on-line lessons but haven’t boked any is definitely out. (A bit like the cops overlooking you speeding to take your wife to hospital to give birth, but they wouldn’t overlook you speeding to a date where you might get her pregnant!) Ammendments: Without setting precedent for future years: 1.Normal cables are allowed this year, even if they aren't replacing breakages. (Wireless or any non-conventtional systems aren't) 2.Purchases made with music-store specific loyalty points are allowed. We could get tighter with the definition, but let's just allow if for now. (But I couldn't use the Amazon points I am racking up on work travel and hotels to buy a set of machine heads) 3.Asking for gift vouchers for a present then spending them on gear is still a fail when you spend them. Straps, plectrums and sundries are still OK. Grey areas: - PA equipment has been a Tier 2 fail, but if it’s for a band you don’t play in but do sound for then we can probably argue it’s OK. - There used to be a convention that things not in the signal path didn’t count. So straps, stands and the like were allowed. I'm cool with that - what do others think? - Parts for bitsas I think are out. MOST IMPORTANTLY This is a bit of fun. The idea is just to make us think "Do I really need it?" before buying something, and to maybe focus on playing more than purchasing. Nobody will get punished for buying another Fender, or even a Ric, it's your time and money to do what you wish with. So see how long you last, enjoy seeing how far you and others get, and let's try to keep the economy flatlined for as long as possible. List of those in and out is on P2: https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/507822-2025-gear-abstinence-thread/#findComment-5395815

I have no answer to any of these questions, but I look forward to seeing the build.

Hope you feel better soon @beely.

So the question - is @neepheid stepping down or carrying on? His post suggested he would step down, but we don't have a definitive answer and I need to know if I have to order a black cap and gavel before the year is out.

I rather like that 🙂 Shame I don't have £2k to blow as an experiment to find out what it sounds like.

Welcome aboard!

In the diary.

Useful tip. 👍🏻

tort: in common law, civil law, and the vast majority of legal systems that derive from them, any instance of harmful behaviour, such as physical attack on one’s person or interference with one’s possessions or with the use and enjoyment of one’s land, economic interests (under certain conditions), honour, reputation, and privacy.

Nothing bass-related, not even an Amazon voucher that could be put to musical use. But a lot of books, which is always a good thing.

https://www.ndsmcobserver.com/article/2023/05/the-future-is-behind-us And for a much more in-depth discussion: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2005/feb/24/4

Better than a WiNO. I would like to have singing lessons, just to be able to hold a tune for more than a few bars before going hopelessly off piste.

My son was explaining to me on Boxing Day, in a discussion about cultural assumptions and language use, that there is one culture that assumes the future is behind you. The reasoning being that you cannot see the future, but you can look into the past, therefore the past is in front of you and the future behind you. So welcome back.

If it's not that, then maybe shorting across the battery terminals somehow?

Yep, jack is wired incorrectly. The socket should be a stereo TRS socket, with the -ve line of the battery running to the ring, then from the sleeve on to the circuit board ground. There is no current flow until a mono jack is inserted, bridging the connections.

Though there are still a few days left I think it vanishingly unlikely I will be buying anything bass or music related. If @neepheid doesn't want to start next year's thread then I'm happy to. As long as we all accept that the idea is to basically be happy with what we have and to play more. However - arguing over ridiculous interpretations of what is a pretty straightforward principle is definitely part of the fun 😁

Welcome aboard!

The question the OP asked was "Will BassChat survive the Pnline Safety Act". I believe the answer is yes. Merry Christmas Everyone!

Welcome aboard!

BC will remain pretty much unchanged. We already have a well defined policy which says that religion and politics aren't permitted (so that's the two biggest subjects for argument gone) and that the moderators will deal with any post which is referred to them as being offensive. The moderators' word is final and not negotiable. This works very well already, posts are sometimes referred, words are had, usually the situation is resolved, very occasionally people are banned. I see no reason for it to change.

Welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard! Looking forward to watching the documentary.

Surely the best way to keep Ped out of prison is simply for us to not start posting illegal comments? Of course the corollary is true, and a co-ordinated attack by hundreds of fake accounts using VPNs from abroad could overwhelm the moderators, make compliance impossible and drive him straight into the arms of OFCOM (In practice he's completely safe as what would actually happen is we would get distracted by asking what breed of pigeons are best for metal)

I'm still in. I really need to fix an issue with the Roland GK-B2 hex pickup for the V-Bass modeller that took me out last year. Until that's done no more bass purchases, so I'm good for a while next year too.