All Activity

Good evening basses, I’d like to replace a mark bass nano amp with something else……I use it with either one or two barefaced 110 cabs, which sound great with the acoustic image head from my coda combo. nano sounds ok with electric bass, but I’m mostly on upright for which it gives a lot of boom, far too much salt, pepper, spice and colour for my taste. The AI is getting old and we all know the issues attached to that, though I hope I get lots from it yet. So I’m looking for a backup head - light, sturdy, reliable and an honest straight forward sound. I’m tempted to find a 2nd hand GK md 150…( though my one did last one did 30 years ), but I feel that might be a regressive step. I imagine the market might have something more new and reliable - I’ve no doubt that I’m not unique in my preferences! thanks in advance for any tips or shared experiences of good and bad used. Christian ps ai users, I have found an amp maker who thinks he can fully service AI gear. I’ll report back with a name if it works out

Not a matching headstock. Phew!

To be fair, he switched off tweeters in the larger cabs 🙂

After years of playing with the same gear, I’ve decided to order a Monza. I was torn between a Monza and a Monaco. Stephen really helped me along in making the choice, although ultimately I had to make it myself, and I went for the more compact and lighter option. I’m very curious, especially whether the cab will provide enough headroom, particularly during rehearsals with a band that has two guitarists, a solid drummer, and a keyboard player who really digs in on his Hammond plus Leslie. A second Monza is always an option, but I hope I can manage with just one. It’s quite a gamble to put your money on a speaker cabinet you’ve never heard in person. I based my decision purely on the posts here on Basschat, the specs, and the info on the website. The cabinet itself (the wood, the bracing) already looks like a beautifully thought-out piece of craftsmanship. I don’t think it could be better. I’m as excited as a kid for the delivery and will of course share how the Monza performs in the field—both in the rehearsal space as a stand-alone and as an addition for stage sound. Live, I always play with my band using in-ears and PA. I could even leave everything at home for gigs and just take my bass and pedalboard with me. But according to our sound engineer, some bass sound should also come from the stage itself. The drummer does that naturally, and the guitarists bring amps and cabs as well. People standing at the front of the stage also deserve the experience of a live band, not just PA sound coming from the sides. It might seem like a noble goal that I’m making this investment for the audience, but of course I’m really buying it for myself (haha!). It’s great to have the finest gear and to purchase something from someone who puts so much heart and soul into their work. That part is definitely not a gamble—I was 100% certain about that and have complete confidence in it. Whether it stops at one Monza, I’ll let you know. If it does, then we’re truly talking about innovation, evolution, and refinement that I can benefit from now, and that younger bass players will also benefit from later.

Sometimes I will see a photo of someone posing with a guitar or bass, and it annoys me to see that they are clearly not playing it. Thumb on the strings. The other fingers holding the guitar up. No strap. Am I the only person who is annoyed by this sort of thing? Probably....

That's why I decided to stop playing bass, I can't play this well ... slightly out of tune. Congratulations Chris. I'll take the Kawasaki H2, good Sir, should you also provide some horses to your servant.

Good evening basses, I’d like to replace a mark bass nano amp with something else……I use it with either one or two barefaced 110 cabs, which sound great with the acoustic image head from my coda combo. nano sounds ok with electric bass, but I’m mostly on upright for which it gives a lot of boom, far too much salt, pepper, spice and colour for my taste. The AI is getting old and we all know the issues attached to that, though I hope I get lots from it yet. So I’m looking for a backup head - light, sturdy, reliable and an honest straight forward sound. I’m tempted to find a 2nd hand GK md 150…( though my one did last one did 30 years ), but I feel that might be a regressive step. I imagine the market might have something more new and reliable - I’ve no doubt that I’m not unique in my preferences! thanks in advance for any tips or shared experiences of good and bad used. Christian ps ai users, I have found an amp maker who thinks he can fully service AI gear. I’ll report back with a name if it works out

Yeah, that is of course my Grainger Hades on the right. I think a few folk thought it was just "too mad" to have a go on, which was a pity. Naturally, sonically, it's set up for me, so precision with flats it most definitely is not. Noisy? Not really. Loud? Absolutely! I don't think that one can play a bass that visually striking quietly without appearing silly. Especially not when you're playing through a Laney Nexus and one of your Monaco cabs.

That was my second thought, TBH. Astonishing that Barry Gibb, Barry Manilow and Barry White are all from your home town... Along with @Stub Mandrel four legends all from Barry. Fixed that... Rob

In Holland they have or had a cultural heritage project where they digitised people's rare vinyl and upped the quality through several processes and also through combining the best bits from different copies if available. You'd order a CD-R of a rare album, and would then receive their latest, best version. Methinks that if a tiny country can do it, so can a commonwealth.

The ‘prototype’ thing is a bit vague…can you clarify at all? If this is a prototype, but one he has built at your request, that is something that should’ve been agreed between you prior to construction. That should involve him informing you where there might be issues eg. ‘Jazzmaster style electrics on a bass being unorthodox’ or ‘the colour might not turn out exactly how we think’ etc. That said, if he has built it from scratch for you, that in no way would excuse the scratches and finish imperfections. The only way you could excuse these as a ‘prototype’ is if it was an instrument he had previously built for testing purposes and it had seen some use before you decided to buy it.

This reminds me of an 'incident' with our old Keyboards Player, Hugh McKenna from the Sensational Alex Harvey Band. Hugh was not very technically literate (but a brilliant pianist). The battery that supported the motherboard of his Korg gave out and we promised to replace it for him before a gig. We had done our research and printed out various instructions on how to do the 'op'. Said battery was buried about 3 mother boards down, so we had his keyboard spread over quite a lot of the stage before successfully replacing the battery. Huw was quite nervous but we exuded an air of confidence. When we put it back together and it went through its set up was the point that I discovered that Keyboards could be tuned to different pitches (I didn't know this at the time). We opted for one only to discover that it didn't conform with all our instrument tuning. We ended up tuning by ear as the audience were wondering what's going on by then. At the very last minute I found the menu option for correct tuning (causing us to have a second panic), but at least Hugh was happy!

Actually I was just baffled that it left me off the list...

Must not give in!! https://www.andertons.co.uk/fender-american-professional-classic-precision-bass-faded-sherwood-green-metallic/

Fritz keeps Vlogging us!

They have. Or if they haven't, they probably will. Maybe. The Standard American (but it will be made in Mexico)