Lozz196

Not Fender, but a mate of mine bought a Gibson Les Paul Custom and it was a rotten guitar. He bought it based on the playability and sound of my Les Paul Studio that I had, and he was really disappointed with the Custom, it just didn`t compare at all. It just shows that there can be rotters amongst all ranges - and stars too.

Same here, my fave is the Para Driver but I can use pretty much any of their stomp-boxes and get very the sound I want. The Para Driver nails it exactly for me, and of course each has their own flavour so they can`t all do what the other does exactly but on the hoof I can get a workable sound from all those I`ve tried so far.

Well I`ve only had one Ashdown item not work properly, was a dodgy tweeter on a cab and they replaced that for me free of charge. I don`t know if everything would be dealt that way, but in my dealings with them they`ve been excellent. I really rate them, both their products and the way they deal with their customers, and them being only an hours drive from me really helps if I ever need anything modding/fixing/looking at. Rather than sort couriers etc I`ll just pop the item over and explain what is occurring - the usual charge to enter the workshop is a packet of biscuits, no getting through the door without one 😀

Sqymbals - square cymbals. The size of the cymbals case for travelling with - especially on flights - is ridiculous, so make cymbals square and then they can fit in a regular suit-case.

Alder gets my vote, seems to be more balanced across the tonal spectrum, ash is quite toppy, mahogany nice and rich in the lows. I have a bass made of pine and that`s rather nice too, a bit in the middle of ash and alder (but not the dictionary of course).

Def, in the 5 years we`ve been together I`ve got one gig, the drummers got one gig, and the focused singer has got the other 200+. His hard work relies on us to be swift at advising if we`re available as another band may get the offer if we`re not.

Yes, it`s all very well being a democracy, but that can swiftly turn to an idiocy. Someone has to lead, fact of life, and it`s then up to both those who choose whether to follow or not, and the leader as to whether they want those people following them. An army marches to the pace of its slowest member. If the slowest member is impeding progress for whatever reasons there are then 2 people who need to make a decision.

Most people get a lunch-break, or finish work at some point throughout the day, at that point they can look at messages then, and similarly check calendars which are usually on the same device that receives the message. It`s what I have to do in general as I don`t get a signal in my work-place. I`d look at sorting band admin a bit quicker, yes it sounds like the guy is a bit over-bearing but typing three letters at a maximum (if asked available for a gig, Yes or No should suffice) and pressing the send key isn`t the biggest demand he could make, it may well calm him down no end to get timely responses.

For a warmer tone than GK I`d be looking at Fender Rumble series, Ampeg BA series, or Ashdown AAA series - having had all brands my personal recommendation would be Ashdown, but any of these should fit the bill.

I had a Classic 450 and my experience of the amp was similar to the above, it was plenty powerful enough and sounded great as well. Likewise with the BH250 that I had, unbelievable amount of power for such a tiny little amp, and no slouch in the quality of sound either.

Only been using Ashdown for the past 2 years, Dave, and my Rootmaster is a 500, 800 is just showing off imo 🤣 , but my opinions are pretty much the same. I`ve bought/sold a lot of Ashdown gear to get the "right" set-up for me - all have sounded great, just wanted to find the most efficient set-up for my needs and now have it. The sound, reliability, value for money, I just can`t think of buying a different brand of amp/speaker now.

My advice would be to go to see some local bands, and when you hear a bass set-up you really like the sound of, look into that make. There are so many different factors and in all honesty pretty much any modern lightweight amp will be plenty good enough for a covers band doing a variety of different styles. However you mention upgrade, what`s the current brand/set-up you`re using, what do you like and dislike about it (sound-wise) that is probably a good place to start.

Getting a graphic equaliser with an overall level slider and cutting that should do it. However, as @thodrik has one and says that reducing the gain doesn`t impact on the sound/doesn`t lose valve warmth, I`d try that first.

Most of the ones I`ve used to be honest, but mainly the ones with 10 inch speakers, and especially the 610. Not been too bad with the ones containing 15 inch speakers. I know speaker size isn`t an indicator of sound, but in general I`ve found that the TE cabs containing 15s seem to be voiced to be lower/less trebly. The 1x15 TE combos have been ok after knocking down those mids a tad, but a mate of mine had a 1x12 combo - no idea what range - and it seemed it just hit that spot where it was the dominant sound in the mix no matter what else was going on, and no adjusting eq would defeat it.

Ah, Ashdown amps, a conundrum if ever there was one. They really don`t get the kudos they deserve imo. Sound great in the mix, are easy to get a variety of great sounds from, and are very reasonably priced new, let alone second hand. Ok, some of the amps/cabs/combos are heavy in relation to some of the other modern gear that`s about, but when you hear the sound in the mix, well that weight is worth it, certainly to me. And they`re not stupidly heavy anyway.

From reading this in your position I think keep the two you helped design as prototypes, they`ll be irreplaceable, and keep the Jazz. Comments/sentiments like "kick yourself forever" show that bass really means something to you, and you may well come back to bass playing - like many of us on here who have taken breaks, keeping at least one bass is a wise idea, but given the design aspect of the other 2 I think they have to be kept as well as the Jazz. And taking a break, why not, I`ve been in that position, left music completely for about 4 or 5 years, didn`t play, go to see bands, or even buy any music, I just had no interest, like the spark had gone. But it came back, with some it never does, but don`t feel bad about wanting to take a break, nothing says we bassists have to be playing all the time, and buying and selling even more (well maybe some small print on Basschat does say the latter, lol).

Yep, I`ve found when using TE cabs that they are like ice-picks in that upper mid area. I`m fine with the amps, just the cabs but now I`m aware of what to do to get them sounding ok-ish - pretty much exactly how @VTypeV4 explains as above, well I`ll use them if needs must. But in all honesty I do prefer not to.

Two great rock basses there, Rik.

Nice set-up of amps there, Martin, am only slightly jealous 🙄

I think it depends on stage size Mick, on regular pub-size stages I don`t really notice much difference between my Ashdown RM-500 and ABM-600 (through the same ABM410 cab), but get on a bigger stage and the ABM shows its pedigree. I`ve used a fair few Class D amps on big stages and whilst they were loud enough there wasn`t that pleasing bigness of sound. Now it does bring into question that if an amp is loud enough for the stage, and you have a monitor mix as well, does it need that extra weight to the sound - well no is the honest answer imo, but to the "but do you want that extra weight to the sound" well that answer is yes.

I`m going to put this in capital shouty language, to emphasise it: DON`T USE PARCELFORCE, THEIR LIST OF PROHIBITED ITEMS INCLUDES MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS They`ll take your money for insurance, then should something happen to the item it was your fault for not reading their T&Cs.

I don`t think we underestimate ourselves, far from it, it seems that we all have a good awareness of what the bass is/does, which I`d hope would be so on a Bass Forum. It`s just that in general the bass is a support instrument, and sonically it`s easier to hear the notes of the guitar, so people are more aware of what the guitar does. I know in my band that if I were to just have a regular Precision straight to desk sound, and played the same notes but without the same aggression/attack the band would sound radically different, so I`m aware of what my contribution is to the overall sound - to be honest in a 3-piece there`s no real place to hide anyway.

Yep, we obsess over every tiny little detail but I`ve seen many pro bassists just turn up with a Squier (not JV I should add) Precision or Jazz, plug into whatever amp is there, get a workable sound at sound-check and the audience go crackers when the band play. As usually they`re singing along to the words, or yelling the guitar solos.

Pretty spot-on imo.

Awesome, just and a look at the gigs above and rather annoyingly am away for the ones I can get to - am sure I`ll catch you guys at some point tho, I`ll make it a mission on which I have to succeed.