How are you liking the new subway pre? I'm over the moon with mine ! I'm still pinching myself, can't believe the msrp is only 200 on this thing! I would put it into the same category as the ampeg sgt di and the markbass vintage pre as far as features and performance go. Just too good of a value to pass up at this price IMHO.
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G.A.S. Exhaustion
- Thread starter Count Bassie
- Start date
I am at the point where I don't usually obsess about bass gear. I have bought and kept gear that does not really suit my tastes all that well. For me, it makes sense to keep items in a collection that I would be unlikely to use for work, but IMHO it's less sensible to keep tools that I can't imagine ever using.
As part of a collection, items can serve as a reference and provide perspective. Many of my amps were bought because I was curious about all the hubbub on TalkBass. Although some of them don't really suit my taste, I still enjoy playing them in my basement. Every time I plug in, I think wow this amp sounds great! But that does not necessarily mean it would work for me live.
Perhaps ironically, I struggle to get what I consider to be a nice tone out of my Mesa Strategy Eight:88 in my basement, but I think it could possibly work really well for me live. I doubt I ever find out for sure.
Then again, I don't tend sell stuff. Over a lifetime I have sold an MTI era SVT and 810 that I bought new. Regretted it even though it was not the right rig for me to use live. But that is when I still expected my gear to earn its keep. I also sold a pretty awful Kay upright that I bought for $200. I sort of regret that too, since I have not bought another upright to replace it.
As part of a collection, items can serve as a reference and provide perspective. Many of my amps were bought because I was curious about all the hubbub on TalkBass. Although some of them don't really suit my taste, I still enjoy playing them in my basement. Every time I plug in, I think wow this amp sounds great! But that does not necessarily mean it would work for me live.
Perhaps ironically, I struggle to get what I consider to be a nice tone out of my Mesa Strategy Eight:88 in my basement, but I think it could possibly work really well for me live. I doubt I ever find out for sure.
Then again, I don't tend sell stuff. Over a lifetime I have sold an MTI era SVT and 810 that I bought new. Regretted it even though it was not the right rig for me to use live. But that is when I still expected my gear to earn its keep. I also sold a pretty awful Kay upright that I bought for $200. I sort of regret that too, since I have not bought another upright to replace it.
This just made me think about how absolutely insane the idea of a piano is. "Here's almost 100 strings, every one of which has a complex mechanism to hit it with a hammer. Each string only plays one note, is nearly impossible to tune, and is difficult to replace. And oh yeah, the whole thing weighs more than a horse."
And the $20,000.00 minimum typical cost to restore an average Steinway if you include black nitro refinish, back in the 90’s!
I spend 6 years in a GAS fog. I think I've owned every major boutique brand, and nothing ever satisfied. So I got rid of it all and bought 2 Fenders. A 4-string AV II Precision and a 5-string Am Pro II Jazz. They're both great... maybe not quite as slick as a nice Mike Lull, but still pretty dang nice.
With these two, life seems simpler. And playing is actually rewarding in a way it wasn't when I was chasing the gear high. I'm sure I'll have more boutique basses sometime in the future. But for now, this is a very freeing way to live.
With these two, life seems simpler. And playing is actually rewarding in a way it wasn't when I was chasing the gear high. I'm sure I'll have more boutique basses sometime in the future. But for now, this is a very freeing way to live.
I’ve been really happy with my gear and haven’t even been looking for anything else.
Then I saw that the Dingwall John Taylor’s were on sale…
And I just bought one.
Then I saw that the Dingwall John Taylor’s were on sale…
And I just bought one.
I love the variety of instruments that I have acquired over the years. They all have their own thing going on. Today I'm going to gig my Status Stealth and Sadowsky Modern. Last weekend was a PRS Grainger 5 and Fbass BN5. Tuesday was my Euro Spector for a songwriting session. It's nice to have choices.
Changing up keeps you fresh. Somewhere there is a formula so you can calculate optimum number of basses, to maximize variety without unduly increasing maintenance overhead?
i blew up my practice amp about three weeks ago, but it lived a very long life (electronics issue not a blown cone)
anyway, trying to motivate to go get a deal on a much higher watt lightweight combo this weekend, but i'm
just not feeling it for some reason, maybe the low low price is concerning me or maybe i'm just sleepy from doing
instrument refins all week at work
anyway, trying to motivate to go get a deal on a much higher watt lightweight combo this weekend, but i'm
just not feeling it for some reason, maybe the low low price is concerning me or maybe i'm just sleepy from doing
instrument refins all week at work
Don't look back, so many good "practice" level amps out there now, for relatively low prices.
I don't know why you don't just spec out your ideal Lull P4 (or P5) and be done with it.
+1!
And, I'll add:
Back in those days, there were usually more than several brick and mortar music stores in most towns and cities in my area.
Stores who actually had, in stock, on the floor, what I would consider gigging level equipment.
Equipment that you could audition/hear/touch/compare and want without having to make long road trips or go through the hassle of having equipment shipped to you and then the expense of returns if it wasn't working for you.
Luckily for my wallet, what few fairly local music stores that are still in operation only keep in their bass area, bass starter packs, inexpensive instruments and what I'd consider bedroom practice combos.
It's been years since I've went into one of those stores and they've had a bass, amp, cabinet that I had gas pain for.
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I didn't like the sudden absence of brick and mortar establishments.
My GAS was instantly terminated the day I started learning as an older player, the Cello. My first instrument was chkd and tweaked by my tutors luthier so it was perfectly playable ..yet still I could barely hold the thing let alone play it. All thghts of spending more money evaporated in a second to be replaced by darn hard work, and even now four years later buying a 'better instrument' would be pointless and would make no difference at all to the way I sound.
I really miss being able to walk into a local brick and mortar, play through and put finger prints on everything that was upper-level and bass related they had on their floor.
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