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COVID Lockdown gear changes?
Anyone else have any gear changes while we've been locked down by COVID?
I traded out my Peavey Fury, Schecter Omen-8 and Ibanez BTB405 (and an Orange combo amp) for a Fender Special Edition Deluxe PJ and a Squier CV 70's Jazz 5. The neck on the Ibby never worked for me, and while the Fury was nice the Fender PJ is much nicer. And that Omen-8, while sounding cool (and looking pretty bad-ass), just wasn't very useful and just sat in the case.
My wife is still skeptical that I came home with less gear than I left with on that visit to Music Go Round. I most certainly did - one less each bass and combo amp! The keyboard and acoustic guitar for my daughter are hers, not mine!
Aside from the new Glarry 5-string I just picked up on the super-cheap (as noted in another thread) I haven't changed much. I got a new clip-on chromatic tuner and some new Fender picks. As for the Glarry 5-er, my only complaint is some of the frets need smoothing on the bottom of the neck; the skin between by thumb and the first digit of my index finger on my fret hand is feeling like sandpaper from rubbing against them. But that's a simple fix. Other than that, I'm really impressed with its quality for such an inexpensive instrument.
Between the new bass, tuner and picks (and all the shipping) I've spent about $125 on new gear. Which, to someone as frugal (read: cheap) as I am, is a major expenditure. I paid for it with what was left of the first stimulus check (yup, I stretched that puppy out for NINE WHOLE MONTHS – I told you I was cheap!). The recent $600 check is already gone (bills) but if the next one comes through, as much as I want to buy an actual bass amp, I'm not going to spend a dime of it. I'll get my adult daughter a (late) Christmas gift with it, but that's it. I've been using the same little Rocktron amp for the past fifteen years or so, so I figure a few more won't hurt.
You mentioned keyboards – for the last several years I've really been wanting to learn piano. We had an upright piano in the house when I was in high school, but while my sisters and mom played it, I never got around to it. I was always too busy with my many hobbies and preoccupation with girls. I did teach myself to play the main riff of the Halloween theme, and I worked out a piano version of the Star Trek theremin theme, but that was the most time I ever spent on it. I'm thinking of hitting up my uncle, who was a gigging musician for a few decades, to let me use his keyboard but he's not in the best of health and I worry he'd think I was trying to take advantage. I don't know. We'll see.
I actually bought a yamaha digital piano in May and have been learning to play during the lockdown.. here's a fairly recent video of me playing:
I'm still a beginner, but being proficient in other instruments really helps with the progress.
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I actually bought a yamaha digital piano in May and have been learning to play during the lockdown.. here's a fairly recent video of me playing: I'm still a beginner, but being proficient in other instruments really helps with the progress.
Great! I started playing organ when I was about 6 years old. I never became very good at it.
Later, much later, I picked up the bass at 50.
Regarding the question of the OP, apart from strings, I didn't buy any gear.
I want to have a Darkglass bass pedal, but I'll wait till I can try a few at a well sorted music store.
No, havent done any changes for a year now maybe. Got 5-string german made Warvick and dont see reason to change. Works damn fine.
I picked up a 2000 mim active deluxe jazz bass a while ago. I've been having fits trying to get the action low enough to play comfortably with no luck. More often than not it just hangs on the wall as a decoration.
Changed the bridge, nut and levelled the frets… Still played like a pile of poo. In the back of my mind I knew it was the truss rod. I decided to take it to a local youtuber/luthier (Dave's World of Fun) and sure enough he calls me and tells me that the truss rod is bent at the 7th and 8th fret. After some discussion we decided to replace the neck with some “old stock” he had and went with a fretless ebonol neck. Not sure how I will like the ebonol but, at least now I have a playable bass and I am looking forward to owning a fretless.
I purchased the bass from a reputable community based music store so, yesterday I dropped by to inform them that they had sold me a piece of junk. When I arrived at the store there was a notice stating that after 45 years they were shutting down. What a nice kick in the butt. I paid $425 for the thing with the intention of reselling for $550 - $600. That won't happen now.
This is the first time in over 30 years that I have ever had an experience like this. I guess I am lucky but, really disappointed to be ripped off that way.
That stinks Guinny. Whenever I buy from a store I make sure the bass is playable before I leave - if they won't fix it I don't buy it. With private sellers I'll take a few tools along in the car to do a quick setup if needed. If it doesn't seem like it will get to where I want it, or they won't let me adjust it before buying, I don't buy it.
It's also sad that the local shops are hurting so bad. Guitar Center seems like it may be shutting down, opening the door for a lot of local shops to thrive again, if they can survive long enough for the opportunity.
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That stinks Guinny. Whenever I buy from a store I make sure the bass is playable before I leave - if they won't fix it I don't buy it. With private sellers I'll take a few tools along in the car to do a quick setup if needed. If it doesn't seem like it will get to where I want it, or they won't let me adjust it before buying, I don't buy it.It's also sad that the local shops are hurting so bad. Guitar Center seems like it may be shutting down, opening the door for a lot of local shops to thrive again, if they can survive long enough for the opportunity.
When I bought my G&L, new from a store, I asked them to prepare three L-2000's with different finishes and body woods, so I could compare them. So they did. I was also given tools to adjust the instruments to my preferences. I left the store with the one I really liked the most.
If I buy from a private seller, even from a friend, I want to play the instrument and adjust it whenever required. I also check the neck with a straightedge and I check if the trussrod works properly.
I’ve just been buying more. Recently, I traded in a Squier Bronco Bass for a Toby Deluxe V and an Epiphone Viola for a Music Man Stingray. I love them both.
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Later, much later, I picked up the bass at 50. 
