AnalogBomb

[quote name='baseline9' timestamp='1361283565' post='1983842'] Just as side point - some of this should be down to the "promoter", venue or whoever is organising the gig. I find too often them putting too many bands on one tiny stage with far differing styles of music so all you get is football crowds coming to see their "team" and then leaving. Surely they would make more money on the door and at the bar if some thought went into the night, themes, music releases, visuals etc.. there are other ways to make money without pillaging every poor band that plays. Having two or three, good like for like bands on is better than mashing four or five together just to rake in some cash. For the record, these days I shy away from these types of gigs, I'm sure I'm not the only one and that's kind of sad in a way, not doing a gig because you know its going to be organised poorly, but it does happen all too often and I remember its not always been like that! Sorry I have gone a bit off topic! [/quote] Yes to all!

Has anyone ever had anybody move their amp? I lent my amp to a couple of bands at a gig once, went downstairs for a pint, came back up to watch and was like.. eh? I waited until they had finished and asked them 'just what the actual f**k do you think you're doing?' They could tell I wasn't impressed! I've got no problem lending to folks that I know, as this, for me, really reduces the risk. for example, I know a guy who is a sound lad, great bass player and takes time to learn how to use the gear. If everyone was like him.......

This scenario is all too common to me.... I've lost count of the times that I have brought all of my gear to gigs (even when we're not headlining) to be asked 'ere mate, can I use your amp?' - this is when my face turns an ashen grey looking colour. My main reason's being, I like to think of myself as an easy going, nice guy, who doesn't like to upset people and so I have in the past pretty much said, 'err Ok'. This was until recently. We had a gig at a local club in Bradford and I took my then combo, (Ashdown ABM EVO ii 500) and set it up and for once in it's life, got a decent sound! Then ther other band turns up and all I can describe it as is.... 'Do you want to start a band?' 'OK, I've got some rad tunes and a zany haircut, do you know anyone who plays bass?' 'My mate plays bass, but she's only been playing for 3 months' 'no worries, how hard can it be?!' I think you get where this is going. So she turns up, doesn't even ask to use the amp, but just plugs in (which annoyed me no end), then has the cheek to say, 'I don't like it, it's not my tone'. I know that, because it's my tone. So she fiddles around with the EQ and then I come to plug in - nothing. Nada. Zilch. Turns out, she'd turned the input level up to max and completely blown the speaker, which cost me £100 to replace. Not good. I've also literally walked on stage during a guys gig in Leeds once and turned my amp down as it was in the red constantly. I also can't understand how people don't know how to use gear and I know this is a massive bugbear of people on BC! For example, when I had the Ashdown, folks would just plug in and turn the output dial...... and look perplexed when nothing happens! I mean, for me, if I was using another amp, the first thing I'd do is look for a mute button! I agree that gear share is sometimes necessary, just for ease of transition, but for gods sake, please just ask and I'll talk you through it! I also get that some folks maybe just can't afford to buy a decent rig for whatever reason, but I don't know if anybody else thinks this, but I tend to find that there are people around who if asked, will refer to themself as a 'Bass Player' and people who just play bass cos it's the only way they could get in a band. I class myself as the latter.....

This is all ace! I have to say I'm proper made up with mine! Apart from the scratchy tone pot on my lh500, for which I have ordered the required contact cleaner (I hope!) Yep all in all, one of, if not the best amp I've played!

I've recently made the move to Hartke after trying out various other brands (Ashdown, GK, TC, and ahem, err laney) and I have to say I'm dead pleased! I picked up an LH500 head in a trade and it packs a punch, both in volume and tonally. Best of all I like its no nonsense EQ! I'm playing through a transporter series cab too. Having heard various opinions on Hartke, just wondered what people thought in general?

Hi mate, I'm selling a Yamaha BBT410s if you're interested? I'm after £125 and its a great little, compact cab and on casters! Drop me a PM and I'll send you some pics if you're interested?

I've played through one of these before and I got a pretty nice sound using the Brit Classic amp model I think. Personally I'd never buy one myself, but I imagine you can get a pretty decent chorus from them. Suppose it depends what you're after?

Cheers guys, this has been really helpful.

Thanks hubrad, I'll give it a go! I'm guessing this will involve taking the case off? (Forgive the naive questions!). I might take you up on that offer of having a look at it! Cheers

Hi Guys, Just wanted some opinions/advice on this: My Hartke LH500's volume pot has started to become a bit scratchy, so much that's is causing the cab to hiss when it's turned up. It's not just happening when adjusting the volume either, it's a constant scratch/crackle. It's not a massive problem but when playing, but I'm a bit worried it's going to get worse or start to cut out or fail altogether! Does anybody know if this will be an easy fix? A massive issue? OR worth getting it serviced? Thanks in advance.

Maybe I was being a bit 'hot headed'. The BH250 is a great amp and I love mine, so I was just probably a bit more frustrated that it was going to be out of action for a while. In a turn of events, I'm sending mine to Real Electronics in Sheffield (I have to pay the postage) and they'll make the repair. I know what people are saying about the manufacturing process and the impossibility of things being right 100% of the time. This to me, doesn't make it right. For companies that invest god knows how much in R&D to release a product, that has to be recalled a few months later, should be covering every angle. I could understand it more if it was a cheap, tacky product, but it's not. It's a reasonable price, but still £235 is a lot of money to me and I'm sure many other people. Anyhow, rant over, it's happened and I respect TC for being so open about the whole situation.

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1358862432' post='1946162'] Throughout history, stuff has broken. I say good on TC for taking it on the chin and being open about it. [/quote] I see what your saying her mate, but stuff shouldn't be prone to breaking when it's been out no time at all. Yeah, good on TC for recalling it, that's responsible, but make sure things are right at source, then they will save themselves the trouble of having to recall god knows how many units!? It's just a major inconvenience, not just for me but for many other TC users. As Jimryan says, I still really like TC, but it has somewhat tainted my view of them. I always used to think when I saw product recall signs in the shop windows 'thank god I didn't buy one of those!'

I've just emailed a centre in Sheffield that deals with their UK based repairs and the TC Support team. I'm pretty mad about this, why can't stuff just work the first time.....

I must say, I enjoy having a cople of pints before a gig, but I know my limits. When I was younger, I regularly used to get blind drunk - it wasn't a nice feeling as you tend to start to enter that sober scenario half way through and generally feel like poo. The singer and guitarist in my band are well, terrible drunks. It's really starting to grate on me recently how they can get so pissed and basically not give 2 s***s about the gig. Our guitarist can't remember songs we've been playing for years! If our singer isn't up for it, he gets hammered. Sort of making me consider my position really. I don't invest money and time in good gear and practice to be made to look like a fool. This happened to anybody else?

I've got a Hartke LH500 and run it through one of the Transporter Series cabs and I really like it. I've had Ashdown amps before and although, there is no doubting the quality, they just weren't for me! Just found them really woolly (humour me!) and not too versatile! But I guess you like what you like!

Great doing business with Graham - he bought my Hartke Bass Attack from me and paid the same day. You can definately have confidence when dealing with Graham. Jonny