The Dark Lord

I use a preamp floorboard with stereo output. Put one of the outputs into the 2 x 10 combo and the other into the MB450 head which feeds the 1x15 bass cabinet. That's 600 watts of power. PLENTY. I only need to run the whole lot on 3 out of 10 for regular pub gigs or 5 out of 10 in a village hall type gig .... which gives a nice clean sound if I want it. The mic of 2 x 10 and 1x15 (both with tweeter) gives a great spread of deep lows, tight mid range and good highs. Running two amps at low volume gives good protection against amp failure. If one fails, I'll just turn the other one up. I also have the option of using either set of speakers as an extension cab ..... giving 450 watts of output. And, I get to stand in front of a big Marshall stack. Very rock n roll.

[quote name='Lozz196' post='921819' date='Aug 11 2010, 05:41 PM']Out of my 5 Precisions, 3 have string-thru bodies, 2 being the MIA Standards, and one the CIJ 51 Reissue. The MIAs seem to me to have a "smoother" sound. Less "spiky", and have that "felt as well as heard" quality to the sound. The MIM, even with the upgraded Fender pickup is noticeably different. At a practice, when using my MIM, our guitarist asked "wheres the beefy bottom end gone?"My Classic 50s is nearly there (same pickups as MIA Standard), but is just a bit away from the MIAs. So in my view, string-thru is better, though seeing as an MIA Standard is over £800, and the Classic is just over £500, is string-thru worth an extra £300 - probably not. But both my MIAs were 2nd hand so didn`t shell out the extra for them [/quote] I agree it is a difficult one. I expect there are a lot of people that will either not notice the difference or will even prefer the sound of a MIM or a MIJ. I suppose I started with a MIA and use that as a benchmark. Maybe if I had started with a MIM then I would have preferred that sound. Who knows/

[quote name='cameltoe' post='906411' date='Jul 26 2010, 10:32 PM']You've obviously not tried a 90's CIJ or a Roadworn........[/quote] I have tried the Road Worns - both the P and the J. I bought a Red RW Jazz late last year - but sold it to buy a new USA Black/Maple. The Road Worns are very good, but FATALLY, they don't have string thru body. That is essential on a Fender P or J. I have tried many without, and you don't get the same sustain and the sound is very slightly harsher. ALL of the P basses I have tried without string thru miss a little bit of the lows. The Road Worn guitars, on the other hand, are very good - I have a 50s Strat and have just bought a new 72 Tele Road Worn Custom. The guitars hold up very well against my USA Strat. You just can't beat a good USA Jazz or P Bass. But that's just my opinion.

[quote name='Ham fisted Bass' post='205768' date='May 24 2008, 11:48 PM']Given that the P-Bass has been around for 50+ years does anyone in the world of BassChat disagree with this sentiment that, whatever your 'vibe' that the P-Bass will deliver...?[/quote] To me, the Fender Precision is THE bass. Everything else is less. Just make sure you get a USA once, then plug in, turn the volume and tone knobs on the bass to "full bore" and you will sound like you are playing a piano. PERFECT. A USA Jazz is nearly as good.

[quote name='leonshelley01' post='545961' date='Jul 21 2009, 07:13 AM']There seems to be a pattern here. Maybe I won't buy the 1x15 cab then! I don't really need it as I've never had the volume on the MB4210 past 4 anyway and I love the tone as is. I was only going to get one to raise the height of the amp. Maybe I should just get one of those Quicklok amp stands instead?[/quote] I would urge anyone who has one of the MB combos to get the 1x15 extension cabinet. BUT I will also give you some words of warning! Firstly, I bought a 2nd hand (2 years old) MB4210 (2 x 10 combo) from a local recording studio. It was in perfect cosmetic condition. It's a great sounding amp and 300 watts. Very flexible, loads of great sounds available - and plenty loud for just about any size gig. I bought the 1 x 15 extension, partly for the fact that it gives an extra 150 Watts (boosting the whole thing to 450 watts) .... and partly because it makes a cool looking stack. I've gotta say, I loved the sound of the 2 x 10 combo on its own, but the MBC115 1 x 15 cabinet brings it to a different level. It brings a lot more warmth to the sound - just makes it sound fuller. ... also, it looks like a proper bass stack. There is such a range of sounds, that I am sure, whatever you play, that you will find the sound you are after. I would go as far as saying that, I think, it is not possible to get a better bass sound ..... especially as I play either a USA Jazz or Precision through it. PERFECT. Now here are the words of warning !!!!! When I first used the combo, I noticed a slight ringing sound whenever the classic channel was engaged. This is quite a common issue according to all of the posts I have seen in various forums. No doubt a valve problem I thought and I resolved to investigate that later. Next thing I know, the amp fails on me during a band rehearsal. It started "farting" (another common thing I have come across in forums). It got worse and worse until the classic channel failed completely. HOWEVER, you should note that this was ONLY the classic channel. The modern (solid state) channel was completely fine - so the amp did not fail totally. I just switched to the modern channel and continued. I bought a new ECC83 valve (the amp only has one valve - a pre amp valve) for £12 and decided to replace it myself. Accessing the valve isn't easy. You've gotta remove 8 bolts and extract whole amp chassis from the cabinet - which stubornly wants to stay in. There is a speaker lead that gets in the way too. When I got the amp out, I saw a possible reason for the ringing sound. There is a rather flimsy valve retaining clip, which wasn't clipped in properly and could easily have been vibrating. I also noted that the whole amp looked rather flimsy on the inside. The PCB that the valve connects to is not very substantial. Also, a few of the retaining nuts used for the chassis bolts had disintegrated. I had to replace the errant nuts and i seated the valve and fitted the retaining clip properly - and all works well again. So, it has a GREAT sound, but is definitely built down to a price. Having said that, at less than £450 new (or £300 used like me) it is incredible value. I'm gonna add the MB450H head to my stack and that should give me the added security in case I get a failure during a gig. It will also look extra super cool. I really recommend this amp to everyone - but recognise the pitfalls and build some failsafe into it .... and you'll be fine.