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Bill's correct. I think the blue Ashdown drivers were Sicas, so were of reasonable quality. However, the BF is a far superior design and will certainly be more efficient (and therefore louder) than the Ashdown. I'd put the money towards a more powerful head, rather than throw it at another cab, no matter how cheap it is. 30w is really only adequate for home, studio or acoustic gig use for a bass. Guitar players can get away with 30w amps on gigs because they do not want clean sound or extended low frequencies, both of which need power.

I'd post this on the Sound On Sound forum and see what response you get there.

I believe there's "magic" in any bass from ANY era if the user believes there is rather than any intrinsic magic.It's all wood,magnets and screws with some strings attached ultimately.

After some fettlement… yup. Very happy to have an 1100s back in the fold. Wish I could remember where my old sunburst one went.

I bought my first Fender, a new cherry sunburst 1981 Precision when I was 18 and had to work all Summer in Bejams to afford it. It has had a few upgrades - HiMass bridge, aged pearl pickguard, EMG GZR pickup but lives in its case as the body is made of a special kind of ash that seems to be closely related to concrete. My bitza precision is much nicer to play, but I can't bear to part with the old one event though I hardly play it.

I've always played bass and guitar - started at the same time really. It was all the fault of Brian May and Steve Harris! Over the last 40 years I've probably done about an equal amount of gigs on guitar and bass with quite a few of the guitar ones as frontman / singer too. For some reason I find singing while playing guitar easy but almost impossible with bass. Different mindset I think. 40 years of buying gear I didn't need! I'm not in a band at the moment. About a year ago I ended a 12 year stint doing big band jazz as I needed a break. I really enjoyed it but it was time to go. Over that time I got so used to playing in flat keys that anything else now sounds really weird! I am now writing new stuff a bit which I haven't done for a long time and I've been putting together bitsas for the first time ever. I'm enjoying that a lot. I am just starting to get the urge to gig again but I'm not sure whether for guitar or bass. I think I'd like to sing again if I can get my voice back into shape - I haven't fronted for 20 years. Whatever it is though it will be a power trio, or 3 + singer. There were 25 people in the jazz band and I'm craving simplicity! Top Tip: If you leave a band to have a rest - DO NOT TELL ANYONE! Within 10 mins of me telling friends that I had quit the big band I was getting texts with "you've still got your gear.... right?"

It’s the handles at the front of the amp which make it a VERY snug fit. I know this because I just decided to buy one. It’s better than the Trace bag though!

Surface area by itself means next to nothing. What matters is area x excursion, ie., displacement. BF lists it, Ashdown doesn't. In any event you're not going to get anywhere near what the BF you have is capable of with 30 watts. 300 would be more appropriate.

I love my PF101 - it just works and sounds good in a musical way

Even “from a given specific era” seems to bestow the most magical and expensive qualities these days, rare serial number or limited edition not needed. Just enough that it came off a production line in a given year having been made the cheapest way. of course, whilst time has passed the wood has become magical

My current cab is an early Barefaced 1x15 compact - lovely cab, very easy to move and a superb sound. However, ive been trying to get away with using an Ashdown Little Bastard head live as we do use a decent PA and all DI into the mix but finding it falls JUST short. I have the opportunity of a dirt cheap Ashdown ABM 4x10 (UK made, blue speakers) and was wondering what the volume difference would be from a 1x15 to a 4x10 (im very much aware of the limitations of a 30w head). I know Barefaced are supposed to be super efficient so that further muddies the water as to exactly how much more volume a 4x10 box would throw out?

I did the same with a designacable Mogami and Lyric HG. I understand the snake oil arguments and agree to a large extent. I use ATC powered monitors and when I asked the company for cable recommendations, was told just good quality cable and connectors – nothing special required. However, back to bass cables: in my comparison, there was a small but noticeable difference – one cable wasn’t ‘better’ than the other, though I preferred the Evidence Audio - a little more presence in certain frequencies (mainly upper-mids). It wasn’t a blind test and there could be price-influenced prejudice/expectations or some imagination involved. On repeating, I had the same perception and preference. Make of this what you will – I still use both cables extensively and I’m happy with them pretty much equally. Good cable, good connectors and attention to detail in construction to ensure robustness. Plus careful coiling and storage, and even greater care in who gets near your cables. It’s difficult to go wrong really.

The Barbanera didn't stay too long. It had a small fault, which while it could have been corrected by sending it Triungolo, the always on drive annoyed me way more than the Moog did - it seemed to have a different character in the low mids to the Moog, at least to my ear. It was a solid filter, but it had its own slight flavour when placed side by side with the Moog (less obviously different than a Xerograph or DUSK though etc). I eventually settled on the Dr Scientist DUSK as it just sounded better to me, be it with a touch less warmth (but then, I wasn't looking for warmth) and a more controllable 'hifi' sound. The PastFX has a dedicated level switch so you can balance the drive... low drive, high volume for a cleaner sound at the same volume etc. The addition of true bypass (which can be turned off for those who want the old Moog vibe) is a great touch. It means you can dime the drive if you want a heavily overdriven tone from it, but just bypass it like any other pedal. The Drive character is very faithful to the Moog. Honestly, I think anyone would be hard pushed to tell the PastFX apart from the Moog on a blind test. Until (if) the 251 gets expression through, I am planning to run both the DUSK and the 101 on the board, with the DUSK performing LFO duties (multiple wave forms and tap tempo), into the 101, which can sweep cutoff after them. That stacking of cutoff resonance is really cool, and it means I get a tap tempo LFO with expression control of the cutoff, which is halfway towards Moog MP-201 territory.

I recently purchased a compressor from John, and I couldn't be happier with the experience! It arrived faster than my morning coffee brews—talk about speedy delivery! The packaging was top-notch, making it feel like I was unboxing a surprise gift rather than a piece of equipment. Everything was exactly as described, and I felt like I scored a deal! It's clear that John pays attention to detail. Thanks a bunch!

It arrived. Still showing on GuitarGuitar as processing, no despatch email and no tracking email but it's here.

DG uses Evidence in his studio as well. Have you had yours cryogenically frozen? That's supposed to be a noticeable improvement in sound as well.

What made you pick up that first bass at the start of this long and winding road? I wanted to be able to have more chances to play in bands and every other person was a guitar player. I was always fascinated by bass lines and was more suited to the rhythm section, even on guitar. I can trace my original jump to bass to Pino’s playing on No Parlez. However, I was asked to play guitar in a band again, so some years back with the 6 string razor ensued. What brought me back to bass was listening to Chris Maresh playing with Eric Johnson and realising that’s what I really wanted to do. Do you still have the same fire and enthusiasm? Do you still love it? Probably not the same fire and enthusiasm and as to love, difficult one, I still love bass lines, but not that bothered if it’s me playing them (I’ve not been feeling it recently - definite ennui). What has changed along the way? Your taste in music, taste in basses? I’ve become better, that’s for sure. My taste is pretty much as it was. My taste in basses is always changing (GAS innit) and have just come out of a dalliance with short scales, having returned to my custom 33” basses. What was the first bass? And what’s the latest? First bass was a Yamaha BB300, the latest is either a Squire P or NS EUB, I can’t remember which came first.