mcnach

I've been using it with several bands, but mostly with a 6-9 piece (it varied over time), with horns, keys, percussion... Ska/reggae mostly. The amplifier has plenty of power, how loud it gets it'll depend largely on what speakers you use. I find the 2x 210 cabs I use (stacked vertically) give me all the volume I want and some. If one day I felt it wasn't enough, I'd be looking at adding bigger cabinets rather than a different amplifier, to be honest. The D800+ power rating is not shy.

That's how I use mine with 2x Barefaced Two10 4ohm, total 2 ohm. I borrowed a D800 once and I tried it at a rehearsal session side by side with a Markbass LMIII and a Genz Benz Streamliner 900. I liked the D800 best, but I found its character a bit 'dark'. Still good, but the D800+ just sounded a bit more the way I wanted before I start playing with the EQ, and the adjustable HPF is a great thing to have. It's pretty versatile. Between the voicing control and the interplay between bass control and HPF you can get a very wide range of sounds... and then there's the EQ with dual semiparametric mids. Is it truly 800W? I expect so. Mesa tend to be pretty honest about their specs. But you know that 800W won't be twice as loud as 400W, right? It's definitely loud, or it can be, with the appropriate speakers. I'm very happy with mine, nearly 5 years on.

Tuners. I also thought that they're all much of muchness... but those in the PB-20 SBK felt soft even before it sheared. Hard to describe, they feel thin and light. I have not yet changed strings on the MB-5 SBK (also 'stealth black' series), but they feel the same and one of them is already feeling like it's getting stuck. I'm going to add a drop of oil and hopefully that will keep them going a while, but they aren't solid. I have never encountered this before. It's a really soft metal. It's not great, but again, how much was the bass? I really like everything about it, so getting new tuners doesn't seem like a terrible deal. Weight? Who knows. Ash tends to have a grain that looks nice... but it can be very light or a boat anchor. Not all 'swamp ash' is light either. I don't expect these basses will be the lightest but hopefully the smaller body (compared to a Jazz) will make it a bit less hefty. I'll be able to tell you by the weekend The MB-5 I've got is not heavy at all, but it's not ash either. I think it's basswood. Shape? Now that's very subjective, like colours. I don't care whether they're a copy or not. But I like it. I'm not in love or anything with it but I think it looks pretty good, especially in natural or sunburst, although if they had had a black satin finish I would have gone for that.

£181 for the JJ550P... all included. I just had to.

I'm so impressionable... I just went and ordered the JJ550P above. 😂

Sometimes people put screws on leftover holes and it can look quite alright.

Hmmm, the 5 string natural JJ looks very attractive, and it's got a nice and wide string spacing at the bridge it seems. If they weigh less than a small planet I can see one in my life in the near future.

I've had mixed results (although on the whole I'm a fan). Precision style one in stealth black... I went to replace teh strings and one of the tuners just sheared. It appears to be made of some very soft metal that reminded me of the horrible horrible pickup screws on a Maruszczyk Jake I used to have. But pretty happy with the stock electronics. MB5, again in stealth black. This one is still stock. The pickup sounds just like I hoped it would and I don't feel I need to replace anything. It's the same kind of metal as teh other one but at least this one is working ok, for now. I am still using the stock HB strings because to my surprise they feel and sound just right. I had to fiddle with the nut slots and a few sharp fret ends, which took all of just-a-few-minutes... that's all.

Unfortunately the HPF and LPF are not frequency-adjustable on the Q-strip.

Or longer cables, and keep the amplifier outside the room. It does seem like a faff, but a friend of mine did that for his recordings at home and it was quite good (the amplifier controls don't really get tweaked much during a session), and minimal £££ investment.

I wonder how many TM5s your video has sold I know that I would have gone TM rater than VM had I seen this before I got mine. Don't get me wrong, I love my VM... but I think the TM would have been more my thing (there were none to try in the shop 'though).

agh, that sucks mightily for you I'm actually a bit relieved, because I want one , but I should be sensible and keep saving for more importnt (albeit boring) needs. I have not been able to try one, even, but it sounds like something I would really like and now that I'm getting slowly but steadily into gigging again post-covid... However my D800+ keeps bringing a smile to my face everytime I use it.

I'm not convinced that anxiety is the reason. I think the main reason is boredom. The amount of time musicians have to spend hanging around just waiting is enormous. That's ok when you play weekends, and return home at night. When you're travelling around it gets tedious fast, and alcohol and other substances start to appear regularly.

I've gone off the idea, to be honest. Everybody seems to advertise something but then it isn't. I am considering an alternative evil plan, but no mudbuckers, the universe says no. :shrug:

I give up. New "Artec" pickup arrived from a different source (no Artec model labels or anything). It looks slightly different from the previous pickup, but it's still a 1.2 KOhm one. I won't try again.

They make it too easy, that's dangerous!

Thank you! Some of the sounds I heard in demos were pretty good, especially synth/pads, but some of the others were very variable. Of course I only heard a small fraction of all available, and for my intended purpose (demos of ideas for the band) they'd do. I went with the MU50 mostly because I remembered that I could get some very useable sounds out of my old soundcard's general midi if I edited some of the built-in ones, so having the ability to edit sounds seemed a very good option to have... but I also like the format of teh MidiEngine and the other units, especially the bit about powering them via USB (which my keyboard can provide), so if I don't get along with the MU50 for whatever reason I will probably try one of these.

What do you think about the sounds in it?

Good call on the battery, given its age! I'll ask the seller if they ever replaced it (they had it from new they say). I haven't found many details, but it looks like it uses a CR2450 and that indeed it is soldered but people claim it was easy to get to.

Ah, that's a great idea! Thank you! Thank you for the offer, I'm only looking for a ring or two but in black. But I can easily create a PDF of what I want and get someone like gigink to cut it for me in black acrylic or something. Why didn't I think of that before?

Not being one to dwell in indecision... I just bought the Yamaha MU50. The ability to edit sounds is too useful, after I had a thought. Thank you for all the comments, really appreciated!

Yeah, it' pretty basic, but I don't want to spend a lot right now and I just want some basic sounds to use for demos etc (our keyboard player has an extensive array of keyboards and toys that would put any of my attempts to shame ). The sounds seem fine, nothing amazing but fine. I'm also considering something like a Yamaha MU50. It's ancient, from the 90s, but the sounds seem to compare better, the display is a lot better (actual instrument names rather than numbers, for starters), and you can edit parameters. The only thing making me hesitate is that it's very very old. I found one in great condition, at £175, which is about £75 more than I wanted it to be but it may still be a much better unit... I'm hesitant. Hmm... Miditech Pianobox Pro, or Yamaha MU50?

The keyboard is powered by its own wall wart style power supply. It has a DIN midi out (there's also a USB type-B but I'm not sure what it's used for, I need to get the manual), which I suppose is what I'd connect to the external sound module (like the one I linked to), and the sound module has the audio outs I intend to use. So it looks ok to me?

It's an M-Audio Keystation 61 es: https://m-audio.com/products/view/keystation-61es