2026 Gear Abstinence Thread

[Geek99]

On 17/01/2026 at 17:41, Richard R said:

 

Please don't disembowel yourself with a bass - Imagine the headlines!! 😱

 

(And the pain, the mess, and the effect on your poor wife of course. But mainly the headlines in the Sun)

Use a guitar instead, they are without any value and by covering it in blood and intestines no one will want to play it, which is an ideal scenario 

[Stub Mandrel]

When a man is tired of buying basses, he is tired of life.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 20 by Stub Mandrel
A crab is a red fish that walks backwards. Damn I think I have Boswell and Johnson muddled up.

[tauzero]

I have sacrificed myself for the sake of finding out about the M-Vave Blackbox. I don't think I can get away with claiming it as a Tier 2 as it can be used for both bass and guitar, and I'll be using it for bass (and possibly guitar too).

[Richard R]

Looks quite fun - let us know how you get on with it.

[Richard R]

On 20/01/2026 at 00:13, Stub Mandrel said:

A crab is a red fish that walks backwards. Damn I think I have Boswell and Johnson muddled up.

 

Apparently Spanner Crabs are red and  walk both forwards and backwards rather than sideways. 

[Stub Mandrel]

Had a VERY close call today. Went to A-Strings to buy a strap button (essential repair) and a set of strings (consumables). Took my brothers...

Played two really nice basses, either of which I would have been happy to bring home, an Epiphone EB3 and a Squier Classic Vibe Bass VI. The latter was set up really well and was actually a delight to play, especially fingerpicked like an acoustic guitar. The EB3 needed some work on the nut and action, and the neck pickup was weak (it could be raised) - but the mudbucker didn't sound muddy, just rich and lots of girth 🙂

So with one brother determined to get me to buy one and the other not exactly trying to dissuade me, I thought hard about this thread and a rather obvious timber join on the Bass VI.

 

[Richard R]

Good man! Well resisted.

[Chienmortbb]

Well I only bought a new bass because I had to go short scale from a shoulder injury. However, I really am gassing for a Behringer Meatball.

[2pods]

I think I'm out already with a Tier 2   fail.

 

I couldn't resist the Aguilar Bass Suite, though I won't be able to get a shot of it until later this week, owing to house problems

[Richard R]

1 hour ago, Chienmortbb said:

Behringer Meatball

 

Is that like an IKEA meatball in almost all respects, but a bit cheaper and looked down on by snobs and Swedish purists?

 

[Franticsmurf]

1 minute ago, Richard R said:

Is that like an IKEA meatball in almost all respects

The IKEA Meatball has a muddy, almost 'wet' sound and is most definitely not suitable for metal. It's most interesting feature is that you can plug the input and output jacks anywhere on the body of the unit. I should add that my example was quite poorly made (I suspect the materials have something to do with it) and the casing collapsed the first time I tried the stomp function.

[Chienmortbb]

Do you think Behringer do a gravy, jus or reduction to go with it?

[Stub Mandrel]

1 hour ago, Chienmortbb said:

Do you think Behringer do a gravy, jus or reduction to go with it?

 

Dingleberry Jam of course.

[neepheid]

Well well well, that's the first month done and dusted, and haven't you all been a good bunch of abstainers?  Mostly.

 

But what an odd January - no-one fell in the first week, so there wasn't a lot to laugh at.  Some interesting twists and turns in the whole justification racket (with some enjoyably robust debate - love it), and a few speculative "what if?" type queries which will be monitored closely.

 

January summary - 1 T1 fail and 2 T2 fails.  37 out of 38 still in (T1), 35 out of 38 still in (T2).  Well done all, I'm genuinely impressed, or sorry if you've been eating beans on toast this entire month.

 

February warnings - I don't know if it's the same in all local authorities, but up here we've got two months off the council tax Feb and Mar.  Don't let that extra scratch in your pocket lead you down the path of temptation!

Edited 1 hour ago by neepheid

[bass_dinger]

3 hours ago, neepheid said:

we've got two months off the council tax Feb and Mar

 

Same here, in my Kentish local authority.  I think that Thames Water also give us a two-month payment holiday too.

 

I may need to buy a better set of in-ears Replacing my Linsoul ZS10s with some Shure AONIC 215 Wired earbuds. 

 

I find that the ZS10s distort when I give the B string some welly, whereas the Shures that I borrowed for a professional gig, were clear and strong. T2 fail?

 

I also want an ipad, to run Song Select, because paper printouts don't really work in my current gig. T2 fail again?

[Machines]

Possibly for the first time in over 5 years, no purchases for me in Jan, not through lack of trying though - I just haven't found anything that made me need it.

[Chadu25]

I survived Jan! I‘ve sold a couple of gears and had purchasing power but thankfully I’ve not given in on anything! My goal is to stick with just my Yamaha and Anagram. Focus on gear mileage and playing more. Feb let’s go!!

Edited 1 hour ago by Chadu25

[Mrbigstuff]

48 minutes ago, bass_dinger said:

 

Same here, in my Kentish local authority.  I think that Thames Water also give us a two-month payment holiday too.

 

I may need to buy a better set of in-ears Replacing my Linsoul ZS10s with some Shure AONIC 215 Wired earbuds. 

 

I find that the ZS10s distort when I give the B string some welly, whereas the Shures that I borrowed for a professional gig, were clear and strong. T2 fail?

 

I also want an ipad, to run Song Select, because paper printouts don't really work in my current gig. T2 fail again?

I would have pretended that the existing IEMs were broken due to distorting and a replacement is necessary 😉

 

Also iPads have so many uses they can’t be classified as music gear

[neepheid]

52 minutes ago, bass_dinger said:

 

Same here, in my Kentish local authority.  I think that Thames Water also give us a two-month payment holiday too.

 

I may need to buy a better set of in-ears Replacing my Linsoul ZS10s with some Shure AONIC 215 Wired earbuds. 

 

I find that the ZS10s distort when I give the B string some welly, whereas the Shures that I borrowed for a professional gig, were clear and strong. T2 fail?

 

I also want an ipad, to run Song Select, because paper printouts don't really work in my current gig. T2 fail again?

 

Well, if no amount of settings tweaking can make them work satisfactorily then I guess they are "defective" and it's not your fault they've been insufficiently spec'ed...

 

As for the iPad, I wouldn't even bother reporting it, IMO it's consumer electronics and out of the scope of any tier of this challenge, regardless of what you use it for.

[SimonK]

6 hours ago, neepheid said:

Well well well, that's the first month done and dusted, and haven't you all been a good bunch of abstainers?  Mostly.

 

But what an odd January - no-one fell in the first week, so there wasn't a lot to laugh at.  Some interesting twists and turns in the whole justification racket (with some enjoyably robust debate - love it), and a few speculative "what if?" type queries which will be monitored closely.

 

January summary - 1 T1 fail and 1 T2 fail.  37 out of 38 still in (T1), 36 out of 38 still in (T2).  Well done all, I'm genuinely impressed, or sorry if you've been eating beans on toast this entire month.

 

February warnings - I don't know if it's the same in all local authorities, but up here we've got two months off the council tax Feb and Mar.  Don't let that extra scratch in your pocket lead you down the path of temptation!

 

I think you missed my T2 fail after needing to get some wireless IEMs (11th Jan on page 5 of the thread).

Edited 2 hours ago by SimonK

[neepheid]

51 minutes ago, SimonK said:

 

I think you missed my T2 fail after needing to get some wireless IEMs (11th Jan on page 5 of the thread).

 

Thanks for pointing that out.  First page edited, Jan summary will be amended shortly.

[Maude]

Also my bowing out on the 14th Jan. 

No bass yet but money changed hands. 

[neepheid]

2 minutes ago, Maude said:

Also my bowing out on the 14th Jan. 

No bass yet but money changed hands. 

 

Well, your post seemed coy, I was unsure how final it was.  Plus we don't know what it is yet, so I can't accurately record what caused your exit.  That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!

 

[Maude]

On 16/01/2026 at 20:34, Maude said:

 

Not that being first is a win in this thread, but my post above is a confession.

Money has changed hands. A bass is travelling across the sea. 

 

That's why I posted this a page or two later 😁. 

 

[neepheid]

1 minute ago, Maude said:

 

That's why I posted this a page or two later 😁. 

 

 

Let's not dirty up January any further, I'll have to check back previous years but I think it might be a record breaking one.  Plus international bass purchasing can be stressful so let's not jinx it with a declaration just yet, eh?  We eagerly await your imminent arrival and I'm taking an executive decision to mark your failure down as date of safe arrival.  Not the same thing as getting a next day delivery from Andertons etc. is it?