binky_bass

There's a few threads around focusing of companies that do things poorly (and these threads genuinely very useful!) But in the interest of trying to promote 'good news' I thought I'd start a thread where we can mention companies that do things right or that go above and beyond. (If such a thread already exists then I shall gladly take my lashes). So, my first nomination is Pinegrove Leather. Maker of fine Leather items, mostly straps and whatnot. I own a few Pinegrove products, most recently was my purchase of a rather funky bright orange and black 4" padded leather strap that was in their 'special offer' section. After I bought it for an already heavily discounted price due to a few marks on it, Rod (owner) contacted me to say he'd noticed a few additional scuffs that he didn't capture in the photos, he gave me the choice of a refund or a bit more money off. I happily accepted his offer of a bit of off the top and the strap arrived 2 days later. Honestly, if Rod didn't mention the few minor scuffs, I'd not have thought anything of it as it was advertised as having a few minor blemishes anyway. It goes to the honesty and integrity of Rod and his business. Absolutely excellent products made here in the UK, fantastic craftsmanship and top notch customer service too. Definitely worthy of a shout out. What other business are worthy of a 'doing things right' shout out? It'd be good to hear about other such instances!

I'm a natural lefty but made the choice very early on to play righty. It was weird for a month or so, then became absolutely normal. I'm VERY glad I did learn righty as the instruments available on the second hand market for lefties is about 5% of that of the right hand market. Maybe give it a go for a while? If not, then there is a left hand section on Basschat market place, have a look there and see what takes your fancy! Buying second hand is definitely the wise choice, if you end up not liking the bass you can sell it on and break even!

I do agree with this statement, and that is exactly why I have a very low opinion of BD. I'm glad you had a positive experience, but your experience is not my experience by a long long stretch. Write your positive review, this is a fair thread that needs both sides of an opinion, but don't write it in such a way that demeans those of us that haven't been as fortunate to experience what you have. Trust that we are not children and that our poor experience is valid as we trust that your positive experience is valid.

The 6 string I had also had similar humbuckers. Looks to be exactly the same construction as yours. It was a great bass, the platform the Cort A series basses were built from. You've got yourself a great bass there!

For £75 you got an absolute steal. If its all now in working condition with a decent action etc then £75 is absolute pennies for a bass of that quality. Tanglewood stopped making them because they couldn't sell them at the price they needed to to actually make money. The 6 string version had an RRP of £699 back in 1996, I'd guess the 4 string would have RRP'd at between £499 and £599. Factor in inflation etc and you've got a bass that by today's standards would rightly cost close to 4 figures.

Yeah, they are pretty decent basses. They don't change hands for that much, but they are built to a high standard. I had the 6 string version and it kept up with basses 3 times the value. Wenge necks, maple solid body, pre-amp design by EMG.

Tanglewood Baron. The Cort A4/A5/A6 are essentially the same as these. Tanglewood only produced them under the 'Baron' name for a few months. Less than 200 produced I believe. Great basses if you can get one.

Sadly I'm going to have to bail out on this... Myself and the wife are currently down with COVID and I doubt you want me coming and infecting you all!

They give that same impression in person too... I had the unfortunate need to visit the store a few weeks back and had to deal with an exceptionally rude member of staff, massively patronising from the get go, made a clear point to make the occasion as awkward and difficult as possible, shouted across the store for my bank details while other customers were there. All the while another member of staff was attempting to find a specific bass for a customer that had bought it online, the staff member came downstairs about 5 times with several completely different basses to the one the guy had bought, each time the guy said 'no, that is again not the bass I've bought'. The staff member even came down with a left handed bass and tried to pass it off as the correct bass with the customer having to insist he is not left handed. It all just feels like unless your some quasi-famous customer or you're ready to drop 5k on a bass without asking any questions, you're just an inconvenience to them. Such a shame that they act this way, its a very poor reflection of the bass playing community.

Final adjustments made...

Ian kindly sold me his Trickfish Bullhead 1K after a discussion about a temporary loan. He was good enough to drop it off at Bass Direct and wait a few days for BD to process a refund for my 'old' head. Done a few deals with Ian, they've always been super smooth and easy! Will no doubt do another deal with Ian at some point in the future!

I used 'joinmyband.co.uk' with some good success. I put an ad out as an available bassist, met two guitarists, then we put an ad out for a wanted drummer, found one within a week and did the same for a vocalist. So within 3 weeks we got a full new band together which is so far working quite nicely!

There was a review on YouTube from a guy in The States that bought something from these choads. It wasn't even the model they said it was! And it was damaged (not in transit) which they'd 'forgot' to mention. They're an absolute con racket.

Hi all, So after having issues with my GR Dual 1400 head (returned today to Bass Direct - still awaiting the refund!!) I was able to do a deal with @Bunion for his Trickfish Bullhead 1K, and I'm very glad to have done so! I've only played this for around 20 minutes, but it sounds great so far... super straightforward, no frills, just a super solid amp with a really useful EQ section. It's lightweight, super powerful and QUIET! No loud fan noise or electric hum. Just silent running and loud performing. Goes great with my GR AT410+ cab. All in the right weights 18kg and is capable of 1000w+ of power! An excellent bit of kit!

I've travelled twice with instruments. Qantas allowed me to take a hardcase on the plane and put it in the overhead locker free of charge. British Airways didn't allow the above, the bass went in the cargo hold in my Airline-proof flight case. If you're travelling, and local-ish to Essex, you're welcome to borrow my Airline-proof flight case. It was made by Rock Hard Cases out in The States and it is literally bomb proof. If you put a grenade in it, and stood 1 foot away, you'd be safe.

I've not checked to be honest, but I think this will be finding a home locally! I'll let you know if it hasn't gone this week.

Evening all, I'm unfortunately having to return my GR Dual 1400 and as such am in the market for a new head. Top on the list are the Bergantino Forte HP and the Darkglass 900 V2. Which would you go for? Thoughts? Cheers!

Slight change of set up... Over the last few weeks I've been really enjoying having a smash on the drums, to the point where today I picked up a rather nice Mapex Storm kit with a big bag of much better cymbals! I need an extra stand with a boom Clamp as I have a Paiste 101 18" Crash and a Meinl 10" Spalsh I can't set up yet. I also need to work on the general set up too but here's the kit now thrown together...

Is to buy one.

Very good advice @Doctor J, thanks. The size of the rack toms seems to prevent me from being able to mount them low and flat in a similar way to your picture as the heigh of the kick drum just doesn't allow for it. If I move the 8" tom and the 12" tom that are mounted to the clamp on the crash stand so they are in such a position as to be similarly low and flat, then I'm finding that the 12" tom is miles from the 14" kick mounted tom and I can't get the 14" tom to be as low as the base of it would smash into the kick drum itself. I mean it's 'playable' the way I have other set up. But it's not really set up in an overly efficient way to maximise economy of movement. Any advice on what I'm doing wrong here? I feel like if I set them up to be flat-ish, then the toms would be too high up without being able to go lower because of contact with the kick drum.