Wil

I remember that being a great read

My idea of dexterity practice is whacking Super Mario World in the Snes with a pot of coffee next to me. Works a treat!

+1 to that, and well done for writing a balanced review even when you knew there was likely to be a backlash.

[quote name='mildmanofrock' post='686262' date='Dec 16 2009, 01:05 PM']You get out of a Barefaced Cab what you put into it. It's a cab that mirrors your bass and amp settings. Without coloring your sound like many other cabs. So EQ your amp until you get the sound you love. It doesn't take much for me and my Big One: I just boost the bass and drop the mids a bit. It will take whatever EQ you throw at it. But you're in control, not the cab.[/quote] See, this is the sort of thing that can be misleading, because it makes out that the cab will do anything you want. If you like the sound of speaker distortion and a big mid range hump then it probably wont, which I think Alex himself has said. As Rob said to me the other night in a moment of zen like wisdom, any cab basically equates to "speakers in a box", they're not magic and no matter how well designed something is, it's going to have an inherant character that may or may not float your coracle.

Alex does pay for his section, afaik.

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='685819' date='Dec 15 2009, 10:21 PM']Uh? I just wanted to know why you previously suggested that there was a 'supression of discussion' on this forum. What did you mean?[/quote] Certain subjects are off limits and we all know it. I doubt a thread about the Big Beef Chief, Bassthing68 and Bass Ferret would last long, for instance (I'm not intending to stir up those hornets nests again, but I think they're good examples of the point in question).

[quote name='AndyMartin' post='685594' date='Dec 15 2009, 07:22 PM']You keep repeating this statement as if it's a fact. There are a small number of people who bash Ashdown ad nauseum, and many of those haven't even owned any of it. The vast majority of Ashdown users are perfectly satisfied with it and it is immensely popular. I also don't ever remember there being a "fad" for Ashdown gear.[/quote] It was a few years back, might even have been on Bassworld. I do remember it though, and it does happen with all sorts of gear on here. If it's not Ashdown it's EBS or Markbass or Genz Benz or Schroeder etc etc etc. Doesnt mean the gear is bad, just that percieved popularity changes like the seasons.

Imagine how bad the people who didn't like them feel!

Jah, it was me who mentioned the lack of mids, but as mentioned by others and alluded to by myself that could be any number of factors at work - impossible to say without running a different bass (without Barts ) and amp in front of it first.

[quote name='BottomEndian' post='684635' date='Dec 14 2009, 10:46 PM']OK, I know the Vintage is light -- I've got one. But ABOVE HIS HEAD? The new ply must have made a [b]serious[/b] difference. Or Rob's been down the gym.[/quote] Literally above his head. I kid you not. Owning a flightcased Ampeg head will give anyone strong arms, mind

Sounds about right based on what I heard in the short time I was there. Definately had more of an old school sound, more blooming bass than tight thud in the chest, for want of better adjectives.

My 2p, as I have seen said cab in action in Rob's capable hands. It is really, really, and I mean really light. I literally watched Rob lift the cab above his head last night. ABOVE HIS HEAD! As I heard it in action while at rehearsal, I can attest that is pumped out a reasonable volume with the Ampeg driving it at full whack (not quite as ball shatteringly loud as my old GK Neo 212 and 112 rig, but could be the voicing - to my ears it had a very scooped tone even with the mids on the amp whacked up, but then again, Rob's Pedulla does have the dreaded "mids? what do you mean, mids?" Bart pickups ) It was (as the name suggests) a very vintage tone, so I can see why Rob had the tweeter added (which was, I can also attest, a bit hissy? Not sure if that is something that could be related to the tweeter itself or signal path however). I have to agree with Rob, I wouldn't fancy gigging it for any length of time in the sort of venues I've been known to gig in as it didn't feel particularly robust (I wouldn't trust it to withstand a hefty knock from a cymbal stand in the hands of a drunken support band drummer), but that I guess is the trade off for the franky staggering light weight. I can see it suiting some bassists for sure - if you're playing motown with an old school tube amp you'll love it, and I guess that's what it's aimed at.

I bought Finbar's 1212L - exactly as described, very well packed and excellent communication

Lordy, I want that P bass!

Pretty much sums it up. I'd like to make it clear myself and Alex have conversed via pm so we know where we both stand - I myself find threads like this very interesting, but generally they get to be most interesting when the debate starts.

[quote name='silddx' post='680207' date='Dec 10 2009, 01:19 PM']Check out Scott Thunes then. '63 Precision, Boss chorus pedal, pick. Zappa. Amazing. I use what's appropriate, which is fingers 95% of the time. Damped pick tone is almost impossible with fingers though.[/quote] I think you posted a vid of you playing one of his lines recently? Top drawer stuff. The bassist from NoMeansNo uses a pick to great effect, while I'm at it. And I do love the driving bass that Fat Mike lays down in NOFX with a pick - couldnt do that tempo for long with fingers.

Really Alex, you're taking the piss now. You've lost my custom, I'll tell you that much - how can I give you any credibility when you're happy to modify and delete people's posts on a whim when they dont follow the track you want the thread to take? I'm sure you'll delete this also, so pointless ranting on. Disgusted of Bristol.

I find myself more impressed with decent fingerstyle, but I do like the tone of bass played with a pick and I know that playing well with one is by no means easy. Slap leaves me cold, invariably. I'm biased though, as all my favourite players happened to play with their fingers.

I have to say I wholeheartedly agree with his sentiments about testing the merit of a cab with your ears. I do see the place of the science behind cab building but I also know I love the sound of the apparently poorly designed Ampeg 8x10 at full volume, much as I also like old British motorcycles despite them having a tendancy to fall apart if looked at too hard.

All I can say is, I've seen you play live about 5 times Barney and it always sounds awesome. I personally would carry on as you are, and tweak the LM2 to give you the stage sound you want. And hurry up and bring out another record, I've nearly worn holes in my copy of City Of Thieves!

Yep, a fair bit. I'm allergic to nickel, which is quite a common cause of eczema (especially if playing bass seems to aggrivate it), so I use Elixer strings which help no end. Besides that, keep you hands moisturised regularly with E45 or similar (best I've used is dermol which I got on prescription - it's mildly anticeptic as well which helps prevent your skin getting infected, which can easily happen if you've got weepy eczema on your hands and then play on sweaty, dirty bass strings!). If your hands flare up badly then steroid cremes like hydrocortizone or eumovate can really help bring your hands back to normal. Whatever happens, make sure you dont let it get infected! If it looks angry, and doesn't respond to over the counter steroid cremes then it might be infected, in which case it will not improve until the infection is gone - see your GP. I spent about 2 months fighting off infection in my hands, had two courses of antibiotics and antibiotic steriod creme and in the end it still only went away when it felt like it, seemingly. Really crippled my playing for a while.