tonewheels

Good suggestions. The SLO seems to be hard to find and also usually comes with the horrid 3-band EQ and one too many pickups. I'll check out the cheapo Sterling options.

I've used a Stingray for 20 years now and, whilst I love the sound, I have had an enduring hate/hate relationship with its neck. I came to it after about 20 years of playing a Ricky. Much more comfy. Been playing various Jazz basses lately and it's the neck for me but not the sound. Status will apparently do a graphite MM neck with jazz profile. Not a great look but OK. Opinions? Need light tuners?

[quote name='ern500evo' timestamp='1433347369' post='2790341'] you may already have what you're looking for! [/quote] Feels like cheating though! All that gain for no financial pain. Got a black rosewood. May add a maple 'burst when they come in to stock.

[quote name='MoonBassAlpha' timestamp='1433248421' post='2789328'] That just reminded me, one thing you never see these days is acoustic lenses. You used to see them in big PAs back in the 70s. I guess it's for mids/treble not bass though.. [/quote] I believe acoustic lenses were superseded by line arrays which produce much the same result, better horizontal dispersion and greater EIRP in the vertical axis, but across a larger frequency range and with more control.

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1433141825' post='2788102'] Try getting your hands on a CIJ Marcus Miller signature Jazz. Then add a John East Retro preamp. That would certainly tick all of your boxes! [/quote] Odlly enough, I've just taken delivery of one of the Sire Marcus Millers. Fantastic finish for an El Cheapo, not so good setup but easily fixed. May be all the bass I need but I'll have to play it in over a few weeks. Controls are a bit busy for my tastes but sounding pretty good.

This is all very well but it's very subjective. Objectively, a beer crate is the ideal solution. You can't argue with science.

I went for the GK MB Fusion 500 paired with a Barefaced Super Twin. Really happy with it. The pre gain doesn't really go into distortion which is a good thing. Feel that amps that can go into full fuzz are aimed at heavy metal types and it's an immediate no buy for me. Balancing the gain against the master rather seems to go from GK to Ampeg which are the two places I want to be. And the EQ is simple and just right. Could probably live without the channel switching but can happily ignore it.

Thanks chaps. I'm Jonesing a bit for an Overwater. Mainly because I can specify with 16.5mm string spacing. I'm prone to muscle cramps because of a vitamin D problem and because of that I play with a very relaxed right hand which isn't anchored to the pickup covers and just hovers over the strings. To be honest, I also find that this gives me a lot more control and speed than my old, rather Neanderthal, technique which kept my hand in permanent tension. A close string spacing further economises on movement. Need to try one I guess.

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1432764607' post='2784853'] passive sound or active super jazz? 4 or 5 strings? 60's or 70's jazz sound? [/quote] I'm easy on active or passive but I suspect that I have active tendencies for the added punch. 4 strings definitely Probably more of a 70s sound

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1432764134' post='2784847'] in bass direct or bass gear or the gallery trying everything they have in stock. See what speaks to you. [/quote] I was in bass gear a couple of weeks ago. Nice custom shop guitar in there.

Rationalising all my gear to concentrate on the best gigging setup I can. I've already retired the '70s SVT stack in favour of GK MB Fusion 500 and a Barefaced Super Twin with which I'm absolutely delighted. I've used a Stingray for 20 years but have come to realise that it's too big a sound for my style these days. A jazz is far more suited. Heroes are Jaco, Norman and Bernard. So I'll have up to around two and a half grand to get a reasonable quality instrument. That's enough to get a SuperJazz like a Sadowsky, a nice custom shop job or a '70s vintage. I did wonder about the Bass Collection Blockhead - if it's good enough for Norman... Obviously I'll get out and try a few but opinions are welcome on where I'd start.

I've been building and modifying valve guitar amps for the last 20 years. Not enamoured of most of the UK DIY kit firms because they tend to concentrate (quite understandably) on Bassman architecture amps with British (EL84 or EL34) valves. Fine for heavy metal and weedy as hell for bass (ironically) but not really for me. I've just moved from a '70s SVT/8x10 rig to a Barefaced/GK setup but would still like to have a pure valve option. So I'm looking to a 200W, 4 x 6550 design, passive high impedance tone stack (not that horrid CF Bassman/Marshall thing - don't know quite why but it seems to suck bottom end) in a 17" cabinet so It doesn't look dumb on top of a 1x12". The most expensive part is going to be the iron. Unfortunately the market is populated by chancers. Hammonds are expensive to import. The major UK firms take the piss because they're ripping off the Hi-fi gullible. I used to use Ripley Transformers who were fantastic, doing custom iron to any spec for less than half the price of the UK's leading off the shelf brand. Unfortunately they seem to have retired. And, of course, you needed to know how to spec the transformers (download the Radiotron Designer's Handbook for this). So, anyone know a decent transformer supplier? Anyone interested in a joint project?

I had a Richard Allan cab with two these about 1983. Terrible thing. Totally untuned. I managed to find the T/S parameters and built a 1x15 cab to partner a Trace 410 and AH500X. Still not good. Saw sense and went back to an SVT and 8x10.

Norm used 2 x K140 for a long time with his Trace head. If it's good enough for Norman.....

This business of power amp clipping destroying your speakers comes from the hi-fi world where usually amp outputs and speaker handling are pretty well matched. The warnings about clipping come from a concern about the clipped audio having substantially increased HF content and thus sending more power via the crossover to the tweeter which then melts. Perfectly reasonable argument IMHO. The gain issue which really gets my goat is in the guitar world where poodle rockers are sold "high gain" amps. Actually the (dreadful) sound of these monstrosities usually comes from a low gain stage before the master volume. This has a high value cathode resistor to drive the valve into a very non-linear low gain regime which generates lots of harmonics. I guess you need some high gain to recover from the damage wrought by such an abomination but the sound of these amps is decidedly "low gain". I guess it would be difficult to sell to the neanderthals who use them using such an unmanly term though.

If you want an 8x10, try to find one before they went all specmanship. The late (post mid 90's?) cabs with more than 350W handling were horribly scooped and excursion limited. Yeh they took more power but they were far less efficient and sounded awful. The same sort of philosophy that motivates chavs to install 1000W stupidly inefficient woofers in their cars.

After much helpful discussion with Alex I've pulled the trigger on a Barefaced Super Twin (cloth of course). Going to run that with the SVT at first then see if a head change is feasible. From discussions with Alex and around the web, the weediness problem in miniature heads isn't down to Class D in itself rather than the pathetic PSUs they try to squeeze into those boxes. This is particularly true of the reservoir caps. Mind you the Ashdown is pretty skimpy on Farads itself - only 4700 uF. Won't need a compressor then.

Trying to post a better picture [url="https://flic.kr/p/r6j72Y"][/url][url="https://flic.kr/p/r6j72Y"]IMG_0567[/url] by [url="https://www.flickr.com/people/23058270@N04/"]Dai Stanton[/url], on Flickr

My 1964 4001s or Rose Morris 1999. Been using it for 36 years. [attachment=189011:IMG_0567.JPG]

Thanks for all the replies chaps. Made me realise that I'm probably best sticking with a light weight Class A/B head like the Ashdown. Played with a few mate's rigs over the past few weeks and it's made me realise that a lot of the on-stage punch of the SVT stack is because of the height of the cab so I'll probably go for a light 6x10 like the Retro Six10. Should be good for 130dBA with the Ashdown. Plenty for pub gigs.

I've been gigging with a mid 70s SVT and slightly later 8x10 for the last 30 odd years. The time has come to stop. Too knackered to move on my own, wife fed up with the room they take, band leaders insisting that, although I use them for the tone not the volume, their sheer presence just makes neanderthal guitarists and drummers turn the volume up instinctively. Also I don't want to drive a car fitted around my rig. I want a rig that fits in my car. So I've swapped the Volvo Estate for a BMW 5 saloon. I'm playing in blues, funk, country and kind of psych bands. Tone heroes are e.g. Bernard and Norman. So punchy, warm and well defined. Don't need stupid lows or stupid highs. The obvious port of call for a cab is Barefaced, since Alex seems to be an SVT nut. The Super Twin seems to fit the bill. Then there's the head. All kinds of Class D possibilities. Any recommendations? Candidates seem to be a used GB Streamliner, a GK MB fusion 800 or an Ampeg PF800. I've also inherited an Ashdown ABM 500 Evo iii which I've yet to try with the 8x10. And I want a minimum of controls. Still perplexed as to why, all of a sudden, someone decreed that bass players needed a gain AND a master volume control. FFS! I obviously wasn't at that meeting. Just need a good sound and a volume control. It's not bloody hard! Questions are: Barefaced a good choice? Alternative cabs? Which Class D? Should I be bothering with Class D when the Ashdown weighs sod all anyway? And the next question, how best to dispose of the Ampeg gear? Basses: '89 Stingray, '64 Ricky, '61 Hofner Artist, '99 Jazz, Custom Jazz fretless

May well be interested. Big Tim Blake fan - though more Gong era for me. Got a modular synth setup and have spent ages getting Tim's sound Laid back sounds good. Where in London?