binky_bass

It's not a comparison to BF as that's probably one of the rare cabs I've not owned, so this is probably a moot post, but... out of all the cabs I have owned (Mesa, Markbass, Orange, Trace, Marshall, Laney, Phil Jones, among others) the GR cabs are right up there with the very best in terms of how they perform. I find my GR AT410+ to be more or less transparent, really articulate and obviously super light. They are excellent bits of kit IMO.

I love the look of that bass - saw it a little while ago (on Jen's mailing list), but I completely agree on the tone... really quote poor to be honest, and the playing of that chap is a bit 'basic'. He might very well be an excellent player, but that video does not at all showcase how exceptionally good I believe that bass is in reality.

The 10 acoustics (bar one of them) are all 'Anniversary Edition' Crafters, they all have a different inlays (Dragon, Twin Birds, Peacock, Salmon, Cranes, Wind Surfer, Pegasus, Moonlight and Sunset) and are all the top of the range spec. The '10th' non-Anniversay one, I picked up recently for a very good price, so couldn't resist! Same spec as the others, just not an 'Anniversary' one. (Fishman pre-amp, Solid Spruce top, Solid Rosewood back/sides). The two basses actually got delivered this morning from the same seller on eBay, we arranged a good price for both which was exactly equal to the cost of a Schecter I sold earlier in the week! One is now tuned standard, the other Eb, Ab, Db, Gb.

Does anyone own a Crafter acoustic? I've just taken count this morning and it seems that I now own 12 of them! They are, in my opinion, very much underrated. The really budget ones are fine for the price point, but not anything to wrote home about, but the ones at the higher end of the Crafter spectrum are excellent instruments. Absolutely beautifully made, the inlay work is near flawless (no wood filler around the inlays!) and they are all solid wood, typically spruce tops with either mahogany, Rosewood or bubinga sides and back. Admittedly, most I've bought needed a little fettling to get them just right (sanding down the underside of the saddle to lower the action at the bridge) but once correctly set up they are great players!

Two of the cracks look like they're sprouting from screw holes... I don't suppose you've over tightened those screws causing the finish to crack slightly? Is the bass still under warranty? Or have you tried to get in touch with the retailer directly to explain the issue? Maybe they'd be able to help?

Would love a 'block user from my sight' button! 🤣

PM'd

Same questions posted by same user on Talkbass. Says it all.

@nilorius - Furniture making and luthiery are probably the most comparable industries there are in regard to wood working. if you compare an ACG/Wal/Fodera to a piece of IKEA furniture, then yes - I absolutely agree with you, there are next to zero similarities. So in that context you are right. Similarly, if you compare a cheap Squier Bullit to a master built piece of furniture, then again, there are minimal similarities. But... if you compare hand made basses to artisan/boutique/hand crafted furniture making, then the wood working similarities are extremely close to luthiery. I expect you could ask any luthier, of which there are many on this forum, and they would agree that their craft is extremely comparable to furniture making.

On the flip side of Wednesday's ridiculous encounter... I just collected a rocking crib as our son has outgrown his newborn crib already. The couple were so kind, they gave us some extras with the crib that weren't part of the sale, they then offered to give us a few other bits and pieces for our son without wanting any extra money - really genuinely very nice people! Good to be reminded that there are decent folk out there after having dealt with that utter psychopath on Wednesday...

@Rayman - I don't disagree with your point to a degree, but it's also similar to saying 'art is just canvas and a bit of paint'. If painted by me, then yes that's all it is! If painted by a master artist, then the value and the want to own is exponentially higher. I buy basses I like and enjoy owning and playing for me, not for anyone else. A Harley Benton will perform fine in most gigs and are very well made, but it's not an ACG/Conklin/Bee Bass, and never will be. A copy of a Picasso is fine, but it's not the same as owning an original. That's kinda how I see it... but as always, horses for courses!

Another message from the aforementioned gentleman... bearing in mind I've made no contact with him since he sent his last message. His version of events is spectacularly skewed, we must have been in different dimensions or he had taken a very large dose of something 'special' on his journey home that day. Clearly he is after an arguement. He'll not get one.

Yup! I'm SavageMonkeyMaster! 🤣 That's what happens when you made your eBay account when you were 16! (20 odd years ago!)

What. The. Fug... I've just had to call the police when collecting a Peavey acoustic from a VERY unstable chap in Rayleigh, Essex. I won the auction and paid via PayPal, all good. Arranged to collect the guitar at his (his parents) house this evening. Turned up at the agreed time, his dad answered the door as the chap wasn't home yet. His dad was perfectly nice. The guy gets home, shows me the guitar, and there's a massive crack on the top... there was no mention of this in the advert and the photos (all 3 of them) were quite poor quality so it couldn't be seen. When I pointed out the crack (I didn't ask for any refund or part refund, I just pointed it out) he went absolutely mental! Screaming at me, telling me to F-Off out of his (his parents) house, telling me he'll call the police, refusing to hand over the guitar and refusing a refund (which I asked him to process when it became evident he'd not hand over the guitar). He followed me out of the house filming me with his camera phone while screaming at me, his dad tried to call him back into the house. I told him my son was in the car (car was a meter or so away at all times) and that he needed to take a step back, he then threatened me and my baby son, his dad eventually got him back in the house. I decided to call the police as I'm not having someone threaten a baby, and if they're going to threatened a baby and act in the absolutely insane way he did, what else would they do? I could hear him screaming at his parents inside the house after... he then sent me a rather offensive message via eBay while I awaited the police (see below), they arrived and listened to my side of events, I told them he'd filmed everything which was great for me as it highlighted to the police exactly how crazy he'd been and exactly how diplomatic and level headed I'd been! They then went into the house, spoke with him, watched his footage and then told him that he was the one that escalated himself for no visible reason. He then refused to process a refund via eBay, so I spoke to a rather excellent chap at eBay who forced the refund on account of me not providing the seller with the collection code thus in their eyes it wasn't collected (which it wasn't!) It was a bit of an insane encounter! Never in all my near 20 years of buying and collecting many-an-item from eBay have I ever come close to the insanity that befell me this evening! I feel sorry for him to be honest, to be that unstable can't be an easy life to live for him or his parents. Still... utterly crazy and unacceptable. This is the message he sent me on eBay (which is almost entirely false) while I was awaiting the police, those that have met me will know just how absurd and offensive this message is:

If anyone is in the market for Guitar/Bass Wall Hangers, I just bought these from Amazon and for the money they're very good indeed. These hangers are just as good as the String Swing brand that usually cost around £20 per hanger. They obviously don't have the closing clasp that the Hercules hangers have, but for £18 for three, these represent the best value hangers that you can buy (in my opinion). In my studio I have String Swing and Hercules, and now three of these! They do the job just as well, look just as good and are about 1/3 the price. No complaints thus far! https://amzn.eu/d/90Y8DgD

I had that once, I explained it to eBay, they reviewed it, then waived the selling fee when I relisted the item.

I'd have had a wicked hot curry, then used the sound hole of the acoustic as a lavatory before sending it off...

As mentioned in my post above, its to do with the size and weight of the collection - the larger and the heavier the items they collect, the less other items they can collect and thus the less they get paid. They're system will show the size and weight, so they pull up, get out, then don't knock and get back in the van and drive away. That way their trackers show to their bosses that they were there and then they can go on and collect 3 or 4 smaller parcels instead of your one big one. It's a shìt system and it promotes a terrible service.

Similar experiences here with DPD. On two occasions I've had drivers stop outside my house, wait a moment, then leave. Both occasions were when they were supposed to collect an item, if fact on both occasions they were Mesa Boogie Powerhouse cabs (a long saga with GuitarGuitar which they worked very well to resolve) and a PJB can destinedfor Ireland. The second time, I saw the van, took photos, zoomed in on the number plate, van number and face of the driver, and low and behold, he just drove off... After calling DPD, they got in touch with the driver who was made to return immediately, he very begrudgingly collected both cabs (one was being the PJB cab destined for Ireland), and when putting them in the van I saw him kick (like he was taking a penalty!) another parcel that was on the floor of the van, he kicked it with such force that the item hit the back wall of the van. Despite both cabs being unbelievably clearly labelled, they then managed to deliver the GuitarGuitar Mesa cab to Ireland and the PJB cab to GuitarGuitar!!! Drives DO NOT like collecting large parcels, it takes up room in their van and quickly pushes them over their vans weight limit, so they drive up to your door, wait a moment to trigger their trackers that show to their bosses 'they were there', then they bugger off and go and collect the little things of which they can fit more in the van and thus get paid more. I do blame the drivers, but I also very much blame the lay structure that encourages thus behaviour.