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Bass or Travel?

sifi76

sifi76

Mar 14, 2007
447
174
New Zealand
#1
Hey guys.

I'm having a bit of back n forth between an issue and figured some fellow bass players might want to weigh in. I've booked travel to Europe coming up, but I'm having second thoughts, mainly because it's a lot of money involved in terms of travel and expenses etc (even though I am staying in hostels on the cheap) and on the flipside of that my current atk bass is starting to have some serious issues, and probably needs replacing or using the travel cash to step up to something better. So now I'm left with a quandary. While I'd like to go see the sights, it's not a 'must do or I will die' situation, as opposed to the clinical depression I'm likely to experience if my bass is out of the picture. I can cancel the tickets easily enough, with just a minor fee extracted, but I wonder if I'm just getting cold feet etc.. I'm sure lots of people do this when travel is involved. Any thoughts? What would you do in my situation.. also given the fact I don't get paid a lot of scratch in my job, so it's a big investment either way.. and yes I know travel etc is subjective. But still, throw in your ten cents if you have it.

Cheers.
 
#6
friskinator said:
Agreed. Also, what kind of issues is your bass having? Could you do the trip and have enough left over for bass repairs?
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It's the input which on the atk is a proprietary piece of kit, can't even open it up to clean it etc. The bass is a bit finicky in general so I might just replace the eq. But I was thinking about the possibility of used basses. I'm heading to Europe, so depends on the market. I'll be in Cologne for a few days so I wonder if the big Music Store Professional shop has anything.
 
#7
Heck, I'm in the sads on those rare occasions I'm away from my bass for more than 3-4 days. I'd also have a hard time going away knowing I'd have no bass to come back to, if fundage dictated a further wait. No backup til you can travel and repair your #1 a month or so later??
 
#9
There has been some recent research on happiness, and one of the conclusions is that experiences make us happier, for longer, than possessions. It might seem like the opposite would be true - the trip will be over in a couple of weeks, while you can keep the bass for decades - but the fact is we quickly get accustomed to a new possession and return to our baseline happiness level, while significant memories make us happy well into old age. The odds are in your favor if you take the trip.

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#12
I would get your bass to a shop first to see what the problem is.

I would hate to cancel a month wandering around Europe over a loose wire.

Basses are very simple machines. There's not a lot that can go wrong. And no one part of them is incredibly expensive.

My answer is that you don't have enough information to make an informed decision. Once you know exactly what's wrong with your bass you can make the call then.
 
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#14
sifi76 said:
It's the input which on the atk is a proprietary piece of kit, can't even open it up to clean it etc. The bass is a bit finicky in general so I might just replace the eq. But I was thinking about the possibility of used basses. I'm heading to Europe, so depends on the market. I'll be in Cologne for a few days so I wonder if the big Music Store Professional shop has anything.
Click to expand...

The jack isn't anything special. In the US you can get on [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] for $14. Here's one for NZ$15.50. If you have active pups, you need the stereo version. If the jack has gone bad, it could be intermittently stopping the battery from powering the onboard pre.
 
#15
dreamadream99 said:
Wise advice.
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Agreed. There is zero volume loss, and nothing physical in terms of neck bow, fret sprout etc. It's just super scratchy and poppy at the input. So yeah, given how much that part is the bass can be sorted out. I bet my brain was playing a game of "but wouldn't you like a better bass" GAS, but I can look into that over in EU anyway if I see something. And another poster was right, I might not get another chance to travel etc.. chances are I might even regret not going anyway. Cheers guys, that gave me the push I needed
 
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