Looking at selling your gear?

 Where to sell your gear in Southampton

Look no further, go to Powerhouse Music in Southampton. Very friendly and accommodating staff. Also not only about selling your gear but if you're looking to buy used or second hand gear like effects pedals, guitars, amps, speakers, etc. This is the place to go to. I actually struggled before buying musical instruments or gear and ended up buying online most of the time, but now there are at least 4 music stores around Southampton City Centre. 

The other one that's just opposite Powerhouse Music is Hobgoblin Music Shop. Another friendly music store to go to but they are more specialised store for acoustic/folk instruments.  They also buy, trade and do commission basis if you're interested in selling your old instruments. Lovely place to hang out as well to try instruments that you wanted to learn or to purchase.

There are two more shops near the train station and it's The Guitar Store and Becketts Music LTD. Let's start first with The Guitar Store. Don't go to this shop!  They got a culture there that says "we don't need you, you need us." They got an attitude of being a "snob." Although, the owner is lovely and accommodating, but the staff are worst to be working in a guitar store. I've been in the UK for nearly 17 years and I always go to Southampton but I've only entered this store about 5 times. And four times out of 5 were all bad experience. Only once, when I met the owner, where there's proper customer service happened. He asked me if he can help and if I needed something and even offered if I want to try out some instruments or gear. The first time I was there, nobody entertained or asked. They just look at me as if gauging if I got the money to buy or not, or if Im there to just annoy them and not buy. They don't know that for a person to buy any product, you need to interact and promote or market what you got. So after 5 mins or so, I left the store and went to Becketts Music LTD which is just around the corner past their store and that's where I bought my first guitar. The owner of the shop immediately asked me if he can help and if Im looking for a specific things. So I said Im looking to purchase an electric guitar. He then asked me what sort of budget I got. So I said, Im just looking for a budget friendly guitar, which is between £150-200. He then pointed to me three guitars that are within my budget and he offered for me to try. He took it and accompany me to the corner where there's an amp. I tried the first guitar and it's ok but I wanted to try the second one which was the Lyon by Washburn HSS. It sounded great and it feels great. Better than the first one. And then for comparison sake, I asked if it's ok to try the third one. And yeah he let me try the three guitars he suggested. But, the action and the sound of the third guitar wasn't to my liking. So I decided to purchase the Lyon by Washburn. He gave me a good deal where he paired it with a Stagg practice amp, 15 watts I think and then the guitar came with a gigbag, strap and lead. Ready for rehearsals. And in total, he only charged me £129. I left from The Guitar Store where nobody entertained me and came out from Becketts Music LTD with a brand new guitar. 

I lost track with our topic, so yeah The Guitar advertise that they are buying used gear but when I went there, they weren't interested. I gave them a list of the items and immediately they said to sell it privately. I mean may be perhaps it was in good faith so I can get more out of it. But in a business sense, they could've rip me off and buy my gear super cheap and sell it double or triple of the price. Coz anyways, Im already letting go of those gear. But no, in just a couple of seconds, immediately said to me that its better to sell it privately. I did ask about commission basis where I will just leave my stuff there and once they managed to sell it, they will just then give me commission. But no again, he said we only do commission for high end or expensive gear. That may be the case, but don't you feel insulted. It was like saying your gear are worth nothing. Anyways, so same scenario, I went to Becketts Music LTD and tried it there. 

The guy I spoke to at Becketts Music LTD was ok, very accommodating and said the same thing to sell it privately but was more of compassionate. He gave me his business card so that if ever I get stuck in selling my gear, I can email or call him and we can talk about it. 

That's when I ended up at Powerhouse Music and they bought all my gear. No fuzz, pure business. Now they're displaying my gear at their store and it's a potential income immediately for them. And a bonus, word of mouth or advert for them. Because I am now sharing my experience on where to sell your gear in Southampton. 

Share your thoughts guys on the comments section below. Cheers!

How to use the WendyLett

How to use and put the WendyLett in an open bed (unoccupied) or closed bed (occupied) setting. Tips on how to prevent the person from sliding and the difference between a normal mattress versus an air-flow mattress.

There's instruction manual when you buy the WendyLett. Also make sure to attend moving and handling trainings so you get updated on how to use your equipment. Every year there are changes. So whatever you're seeing on this video might not be the one that you will be using or it depends on the trainer that you have. 

But overall, this is a background or idea on how WendyLett looks like and how to use it in general sense. 

My new band The Wildcards based in the south of England

 The Wildcards

- We are a 4 piece (Vocals, Guitar, Bass and Drums) Rock and Pop Cover Band from the Southampton area with a passion for making and playing great music. We are the ideal band for local festivals, weddings and functions. 

It's really fun playing with this group. We are very diverse in terms of music and personalities. But we got one thing in common, the passion for music. Jen and I were together as an acoustic duo and we always wanted to form a full band. We did quite a few jams with other musicians and played as a full band but more of collaboration, jamming or as requested basis. But finally we found our group.

To cut the long story short, I was looking for a drummer to complete our full band concept when I found a post on JMB. That's when I found Macca. He wanted to form a band. So I contacted him and tried to reach out. He's already got musicians he can tap so all he needed was a second-guitarist and a lead vocalist. It was perfect for Jen and I. 

On our first arranged meet up jam, Jen and I were going to come and meet them (drummer, bassist and lead guitarist), unfortunately the bassist had an accident just before the meet up and he was also singing for the male songs. That's when we improvised and changed things around. Jen had to learn male songs and we adjusted the key. I contacted Sherwin to play the bass. 

We had a really good first meetup. I was struggling a bit because Im not used to wearing in-ear and good thing we didn't use click (metronome) because that was the plan. Macca was the one who introduced in-ear to us. I mean I know in ears because when I make youtube videos, I use it. Plus Ive been to a lot of gigs and have seen them using it. And I've had the chance to do some recording with previous bands so we were using headphones during recording sessions. I was playing mostly rhythm and Steve was our lead. He's really really good. He just ask what's our song and he plays it instantly. No copies in front of him. Just his guitar, pedalboard and stack amp from Pure Rehearsal Studios. That's where our first meetup was. But after that first meetup, Steve after few days messaged and said that in terms of distance, he's the one that's a bit too far from the group and will struggle if we are going to push through with regular rehearsals. So he gave up the lead role. 

So yeah, we meetup most Tuesdays as our preferred rehearsal evenings every fortnight or once a month until our bassist struggles with the Tuesday arrangements. That's when we look for a new bassist. 

Then Thomas came, bringing a different energy to the group. He's got unorthodox style of playing bass. Very versatile and he's got ears to tiny details to the songs. Easy going but also puts out his opinion most of the time. I would say he's full of surprises. He can learn songs really quick and even transpose on the go as well. 

Then after a couple of months, we got our first gig at the True Story Brewery for their summer bash. Then it was followed by our gig at HMV Southampton for their Live and Local act. Then gig at the Wig and Quill, then at the Devizes Inn and the rest is history. 

We got gigs thats just kept coming til next year 2026. And also, we've started writing songs and looking forward to make it happen this 2026. 

Follow us on facebook: The Wildcards

And Instagram:  The Wildcards25

Looking for affordable podcast mixer or for your band?

 I was looking for affordable desktop mixer that can be used for my podcast and for my band's silent practise. I found this on ebay, really good mixing console for its price. Obviously second-hand but after I cleaned it, it looks new.

When I tested it, I was really surprised. Sounds amazing. I owned a Behringer Xenyx 1002fx and Im happy with it until we used it for band's silent practise. It can't handle all the instruments and vocals. It gets distorted/clipping and the in-ear concept isnt good. But the bonus to that mixer is that its really portable and it's got built in effects.

On the other hand, this Behringer MX802A is heavier, bulkier and got no built in effects. So you might need to think about that. It's not really massive but it's bigger than the other one. It's got FX send and return so it's not a worry that it doesnt have built in fx.

Leave in the comments section if you own one of this and what's your experience.