tomlyne

Hey there, better late than never. I got my Amp Three in 2017 and have never looked back. Fantastic sound on double and electric - important to have good pre-amps to match signals. Never had a moment where it didn't do the job all the way up to venues like the Barbican in London or the Festival Theatre Edinburgh. Mind you, beyond a certain level, the sound people look after the front of house. My son is running the DarkGlass Alpha Omega with a custom 2x12 cabinet and we can get pretty similar sounds going with the same jazz bass. I know amps are very personal and you can make almost anything work. But I worked through a lot of gear before I settled on this AER including a whole range of David Eden, SWR, Phil Jones, Gallen Kreuger, Ampeg and Fender. Maybe some of the modern gear would be nice to try, but, I do lik this AER - It really works well(I wish it had 2 inputs though?!?!?!?!).

[quote name='dub' post='1311788' date='Jul 21 2011, 05:19 PM']I did something I haven't done in years today. I went into a shop and tried out a bass. It was a five string jazz style Sadowsky with a maple neck. I just wondered if they really were that good. It was! ahh well better start saving. The guy in the shop said he reckoned that Sandberg basses were just as good (I don't think that's the way to sell a bass, he didn't have any Sandbergs in the shop) So now I need to find out about Sandbergs. Maybe I was wise to stay out of shops all those years.[/quote] I just had the identical experience last week. I've been playing the same 4 string Fender Jazz since 1983 thinking I may go to my grave happy with my choice and playing a bass that could do anything (wellll, within reason) . . (ok I think about nice Alembics). Back to topic! I spent an afternoon in guitar guitar Edinburgh because I am looking to incorporate a 5 string for the purpose of incorporating a 5 string. The chaps in the store were great and very accommodating and I played everything there. For my taste and style it came down to the SDR1205 (Ibanez) which was a real surprise to me but the quality and feel of the neck, the intonation and the string spacing was totally on. What a great bass. But then I noticed a Sadowsky metro 5. I had never played one before and thought it didn't look terribly special. So I strapped it on and started playing and initially I was thinking this might almost be as good as the Ibanez! But I did like the way the strings felt under my fingers though the Sadowsky strings felt like train tracks - hard and unforgiving - I like strings that give and move - was wondering what DDRs would feel like. This was all before I plugged the basses into an amp, I was just playing for tactile response. I need something that puts itself where I already live so I can take this extra string and put it to good use. Its started to dawn on me how very very good the Sadowsky really was as I played a bit more and let my fingers roam without forcing anything. As part of the process I swapped basses every few minutes to keep myself aware. G&L, Lakelands, Fenders, Squires, Musicman, Ibanez, I forget the rest. . . ahhh there were no Sandbergs in the shop at that time . . . . if only there had been an Alembic to compare. I took the sdr and sadowsky to plug in and contiue the play. For the money (£969 or so) the SDR1205 was doing such an impressive job. Where it fell down was the ttotal number of knobs and switches on the thing. No one in the shop could really tell me what they all did and as hard as I tried I couldn't make sense of them all and in the heat of the moment all I want is quick access to tone and volume. So bring on the Sadowsky metro black 24 V or something like that. Again, I didn't think it was really pretty or good looking but now it already felt like my bass. Plugging it in was the first time, for me, I ever considered a low B string anything other than annoying. There was the sound and clarity. I intend to run my five string with a High C configuration as I am working solo with a singer but it was very interesting to hear the low B so clear and strong. The whole bass was strong and clear all the way up and down and across. The tone and volume are very intuitive and the split active preamp (if thats what it was) is what turns up the distinctive Sadowsky sound. I like that, I like it a lot. Sadowsky, hmmmm. So I have been working on creating some sort of funding package since last thursday. I find it a bit unnerving how I have been so steadfastly happy with my bass (and yes I have played hundreds of basses over the year only to return to my Fender with joy every time). The Sadowsky is a great modern instrument and for the money. . . . . well . . . . as a musician there really isn't any money is there . . . . so it has to be about blood and passion. I'll get the money somewhere, at my detriment, and move on up to the Sadowsky. I think it has trumped my Alembic fantasy as well. But I was really struck by what 'Dub' said in the initial post and now that I have been in the shop I have to admit to my attitude changing, and for that I am very thankful, it opens a new world. Wahey!!!! (oo, I realise I wrote quite a lot - think I needed to get this all off my chest as I don't have anyone to rage endlessly about bass to here in the village - thanks for listening) Tom

Hello, I would be interested to hear from anyone with an Alembic 5 string in Scotland who may be interested in selling or trading. I know there are basses in the south and I am just trying to find something a bit closer to Edinburgh. Thanks Tom Lyne

Hello all, I have put up my MultiComp amd MicroBass II for sale on Ebay. Some of my favourite gear but I just never really use them, and have my eyes on some new studio monitors. So if interested, they can be seen MultiComp here ---- [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=190204679125&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT&ih=009"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...E:IT&ih=009[/url] MicroBassII here ---- [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=190204680510&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT&ih=009"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...E:IT&ih=009[/url] Thank Y'All for lookin' Cheers Tom

Ahhh, the flighcase! A week ago my 20 year old GK 200MB (the second of two the same age) finally gave up the ghost. In a hurry, I found myself driving to gutar guitar in Edinburgh the next day to take away a brand new Phil Jones Bass Flightcase. Its been less than a week but its been a busy week and I confess to having an enormous grin on my face. Most of my work is double bass with a piano trio or acoustic work with singers and acoustic instruments. If I'm in a big band I get the David Eden out, but this flightcase has totally woken up my brain. I think PJB has addressed the real issues about the placement of bass sound and how to work it on stage and in a playing situation. I let the soundpeople worry about front of house and I concentrate on a full, beautiful sound for playing with. The PJB Flightcase has the extra power and deep bass to make you feel it, and standing next to a powerful drummer, it will not let you down. It has speakers on the front and the top with acoustic bass tubes designed to send the long bass waves out the front. The manual tells you to put the amp on the floor. If you stick it on a chair next to your ear, like we've all done with the little amps, the Flightcase will not work properly. It needs the floor, and possibly a wall right behind it; or even better, in a corner, because it uses these surfaces to support and project the bass frequencies. But having said that, you can plonk it down anywhere and just start playing and you will love the sound. That is if you like a tight but well rounded bottom. The speakers sound great, the EQ is effective, I get a fantastic sound out of my old Jazz Bass as well, and I just look forward to using the damned thing. I am enthused by this amp. You can check out their stuff from a technical point and read all the acoustic imagery yada yada yada, which I did and was impressed, but it was the first 3 seconds when I plugged my double bass in at the shop last saturday and played a low G, It went up both legs, circulated in my gut briefly before charging up and impressing my heart. My brain had no chance to offer an opinion, I had already bought the amp.

I like the looks of the Epifani UL110. I have a Gamba 3/4 (http://www.thesoundpost.co.uk/westbury%20bass.htm) and chose to use the Realist. It has been a fantastic change because it has one of the most clear and un-colored sounds I have come across. The output is a bit low but I use an EBS MicroBass as a pre-amp/fancy DI box and either a GK200MB or a David Eden Traveller . . . and often I can play acoustic on stage using only the pre-amp for the front of house sound. . . But I digress into gear-talk. . . The point is, I am very surprised and pleased at how well the Realist works. I play with a couple of really quite loud drummers and have had no problems with feedback or sound control. I also have to say this Westbury Bass is really a fantastic piece of kit, however, I look at the portable ones and think how nice it would be to take my own bass with me when I am touring, rather than taking pot-luck and playing basses provided at each new city. . . but that adds a bit of excitement and sense of the unknown. Cheers