Machines

First concert - Run DMC (Reading Festival 2001) Last concert - Dream Theater (Symphony Hall, Birmingham, 2017) Best concert - Haken (O2 Academy, 2017) Worst concert - Manic Street Preachers (Reading 2001) Loudest concert - Periphery Seen the most - Fear Factory Most surprising - Slipknot Next concert - none lined up Wish I would have seen - Black Sabbath 1999

Dare I challenge why it has to be American made ? Is this a genuine preference for US instruments based on their quality, or an ego led requirement ?

Assume in my post, that everything I buy has been suitable in terms of weight, playability and looks. This is a subject specifically about cost.

I guess personal circumstances are relevant too. I made most of the big purchases when I was living on my own and had the spare cash following redundancy/divorce/house sale. Since then i've got remarried and my priorities are quite different to then. Whilst I have a bit in the savings, i'd feel immensely reckless and irresponsible to have the same mindset now as a couple of years ago. Yes I do work hard and deserve some fruits of that labour, but I see my resources as collective and the potential of it not solely my own. I'm finding i'm changing my mindset generally away from 'collecting' anything to a more efficient and minimalist lifestyle. The whole concept with expensive things I've applied to my car as well, going from a 2016 Skoda Octavia (cost £22k) now to a 2008 Mini (£3k). No more £300 a month on 'renting' a car you don't own. Also moved from a large 3 bed bungalow to a 4 bed terraced house saving a bit per month. I am earning the same amount of money as before (if not more) but just ensuring it is spent more effectively.

In the last 2-3 years i've had some very decent gear and have found that it doesn't really bring me any more happiness than the cheaper stuff I thought it would make obsolete. In this period I've had: Musicman Bongo 5 HS Dingwall NG3 Fender Marcus Miller Jazz Musicman Stingray 5 HH Spector Euro 6LX And having traded or sold them all, I'm currently gigging (in order of preference) Squier VM Jazz Yamaha RBX775 Fender MIM Precision I think the reason for my fickleness is that i'm playing pub gigs for 50 quid a couple of times a month, and taking £1k+ of bass seems a bit ridiculous. Also since I know I can do the same job with cheaper stuff, having a few grand of instruments in capital doesn't seem as sensible as cash in the bank for real life things (car repairs, booking a holiday, etc) Anyone else gone through expensive stuff and reverted back to beginner/average stuff ? The GAS seems to always want to move me up in the market, but I know deep down it's a waste of effort, i'll feel guilty after the purchase, and will sell again within a few months. But if I know I will not lose money (even sometimes make a bit), and have the spare cash, it does feel like a fun hobby 😎.

Sounds like it's downtuned with the wrong gauge strings. That said, they don't look like utter tripe and I am considering a dabble on the 6.

I've got a 2005 and had it's a keeper. Judge it individually.

I was offered £600 by them for a Musicman Bongo 5HH, I then sold it for £1300 at BassDirect (minus 20% obviously).

I had an ATK200. Took bridge off out of curiosity and it was just like a normal bridge but a bit, bigger.

Wood.

Nice. Proper Stingray killer they are.

I've used Zoom multi FX since I started playing, I like the way they're laid out and are moderately simple for on the fly changes. My current B3n is great, however since updating the firmware it randomly crashes if it's been on a while requiring the power to be reset, it tends to keep doing this after it has once (not overheating). By good chance, it has only done this at home and never a gig so far.

In 2005 I recall going into Sound Control Manchester and they had about 30 Warwicks. They just are a bit passe nowadays.

They have hardly anything in stock if you look closely at their website. 1070 products to order, 29 actually in store. Of which 5 are Yamaha/Ibanez.

My other basses are all passive P and J types, this is quite different obviously. The preamp is crazy had to turn it right down, less is more with this thing.

Yesterday's news, today !

From your location - I would suggest PMT Nottingham.

I really don't need this, but it looks nice. Bought 2nd hand from GuitarGuitar Birmingham last week. Learning curve is pretty steep as i'm usually on 4 strings, but i'm getting there. Not brave enough to gig it yet.

I'll bring my GenzBenz Neo 350w and EICH 112 cab with something I haven't sold by then. Could be something I haven't even bought yet. Gas is fun.

Finally one on a weekend I don't have the kids. Count me in.

I turned it down at £425 despite it only being a mile away I wasn't that excited about it really. Wanted a bargain but more than the bass itself.

I'm unsure if these instruments have any particular unique selling point that other brands at this price point may have. The fact they are backed up by Dan Lakin to me means they will be great instruments, but so far they look very anonymous in an ocean of Fender clones. (with Lakland at least, the oval bridge is distinctive). The previous fate of the 'D Lakin' basses was quite tragic also, they seemed to not sell very well anywhere despite being good instruments. I would expect these to be on par with Skylines in general, if not made by the very same factory (and i'd wager they are).

I had a similar experience with a J&D Jazz bass with DV247, the courier lost it and DV247 took too long to sort, so I cancelled the order. It made me realise I didn't actually want it. I then didn't use them for 2 years until they were the only place that had what I needed in stock, but this experience was without fault so they were redeemed.

Sounds like you didn't really want the bass that much if a few days delay puts you off the entire purchase