Ed_S

If it's the shop I think it is, I've had a few issues over the years, be that couriers causing damage and requiring a replacement to be sent, or just returning something for being kinda disappointing or not quite as described, and everything has always been sorted to my satisfaction thus far - occasionally with a free strap or strings to say sorry. I don't see any reason that they'd class me as a special customer worthy of VIP treatment either. Absolutely not questioning the validity or challenging the veracity of anyone else's experiences - just commenting on my own. I did have a problem with a shop when I tried to sell my violin. They actually sold it to me as a handmade German violin, but when I stopped playing and took it back for them to sell it on commission they described it as a cheap Chinese kit violin which wasn't really their thing. When presented with the original invoice they changed their mind and agreed to sell it, but then after a significant amount of time with no news we chased them up and were told that they couldn't find it - we must have collected it back from them at some point. They eventually located it - filthy, stuffed under a bench in the workshop, case seemingly never opened since the day it was taken in, and after a less than cordial conversation they brushed some of the detritus off the case, pushed it back across the counter and suggested that we never darken their door again. Oddly enough, I hadn't planned to. I don't believe they're trading any longer.

I have a MicroThumpinator if that's similar?

SSL Labs usually gives you a fair idea of what's going on, and their tests won't complete for the BD site due to behaviour which "usually happens when there are multiple TLS servers behind the same IP". Before failing, the tests return the SAN certificate I'd expect, and also a seemingly unrelated wildcard for a shared SSL CA which seems to belong to a hosting provider called Heart Internet. The IP of the site sits under the ASN for Host Europe, but in a block assigned to Heart, so that ties up. I don't get alerts from either my home systems or our secure gateways at work, so I'll continue to look at the pretty pictures on the purely personal assessment that it's more likely a sub-optimal configuration than anything malicious in that one particular instance. Yup! And and don't trust my assessment either - you've paid them to keep you safe and they seem to be doing an alright job.

Aaah right, for some reason I thought that the 400 had a similar (just smaller) module to the 1000 and that the Mi amps had ICE modules of some variety. I’ve lost track, though, tbh!! Just as long as you don’t know something terrible that I’ve not heard yet about whatever’s in mine!! 🙂 I don’t think there was anything technically wrong with the EVO3 I had - it just had no poke! I traded it back at the shop and the lad who’d sold it to me instantly called the bassist in his band to come and buy it cheap. He used it quite happily for a long time afterwards. Long live the IV and V, and fingers crossed for that lunchbox!

What would you say makes the power modules they used in the 400/1000/2000 'not so good' compared to more recent ones? I had an ABM500-EVO3 and it was probably the most disappointing amp I've ever owned (ratio of what it promised to what it delivered) but then I got the 1000, which as far as I can tell uses the exact same preamp board but strapped to an Anaview module, and that's probably the most exciting. Consequently I've always thought of those modules quite highly and I even looked round at other amps that might use the same one - sadly all I could find was the Tech 21 dUg 1000 which always seemed to be that unhelpful combination of hilariously expensive and broadly unavailable anyway. I digress! A lightweight ABM in the CTM-30 box would be kinda cool, and for me they could happily get rid of the compressor and sub-harmonic to help shoehorn things in.

I can recommend Crown XLS power amps - light, loud, not overly expensive, don't need a doctorate to operate, and never caused me any problems. I like them for powering monitors because they have built in adjustable HPF/LPF per channel, so you can keep unhelpful frequencies off the stage, and you can also Y-split one input to both channels if you just want to use the same monitor mix for both wedges. The older (silver) 1500 or the newer (black) 1502 in particular I reckon are a great balance between size, weight and power. Like everything these days they seem to be in short supply, but if you can find one then I doubt you'd be disappointed with it for that application.

From memory, two or three 12AX7s in the pre, and a pair of 6L6s plus a couple of 12AX7s for driving and rectifying things in the power.

TB Raxx pre and Classic 60 power. Hardly ever use it, but sounds alright when I do.

Just as long as we don’t start a separate thread for those PJs with a specific set of after-market pickups installed. Not sure we need the joy of PJ and Duncans.

Nah, I get that totally and I don't feel in any way attacked for my choices - nor should you! If the kit you use allows you to feel good, so your recording / rehearsal / gig connects and comes across with some bounce in it, then that's all that matters regardless of which personal criteria got satisfied to let you feel that way.

Even if you're right and lightweight gear didn't come along because the tech was better, I personally reckon gear is better because lightweight tech came along. I want storing and transporting, loading in and out, and setting up and tearing down to be as trivial and literally painless as possible. They just aren't important aspects of the gig as far as I'm concerned, and I can't see how the audience would ever care how difficult I'd made them for myself. They might care if there's less energy and interaction on stage and I look like I don't want to be there because I'm clapped-out or injured before I even play the first note, though. Any improvement in sound that I might gain from using heavier kit is nothing compared to the improvement in performance I can give by not doing. Or to put it another way, my audience isn't there to check out my humping capabilities. Mercifully!

Good memory - he did have a bit of a malfunction didn't he! I think I was still getting over seeing Y&T for the first time at that point. But aye, that funky little repeated lick that Cass plays on Stand Up - simple but serves the song so well.

I saw him in 2003 when he was playing with Gary Moore, and he was really good. Anyone who can keep their part of a classic rock three-piece absolutely solid and never let the bottom drop out of the sound gets my vote. He's on the Gary Moore - Live at the Monsters of Rock video, which was filmed in Sheffield at the show I saw. Will have a look at the Skunk Anansie set while it's on iPlayer - I don't really know much of their material but always thought Skin had a cool voice.

Sadly true, but a lot of stereo power amps go down to 2R on a single channel so one of those and a preamp is always an option. To be honest I don't use both cabs together all that often, but if I think I might have trouble hearing myself then the taller stack helps sort that out whilst keeping the stage volume down. And if we've got a bit of a bigger stage, it looks pretty nifty as well! I'm not using them to deafen anybody, I promise 🙂

I've just done some very rough calculations and I reckon I've sold about 40 basses on in the last 20 years, and I regret selling about 4 of them. If I'm honest with myself, though, only one of them would actually be any use to me now, so that's.. what.. about a 2.5% legitimately-bad-decision rate? Leads me to believe I get rid of things for decent reasons, which is good because another 4 are currently on the block pending a decision. If you already regret selling loads then maybe you just need to get a decent padlock and have a word with Big Yellow 🙂

A 4ohm 2x12 and an 8ohm 1x12 to give you a 2.67ohm 3x12 rig with all three getting the same power - why is that so odd? I use the G2 Super Twelve and Midget, which were sold to work together exactly that way, and the Super Twin is just the G3 Super Twelve as far as I can tell.

I think 2.67ohm capability would have made it more interesting to me personally - I have a matching 4ohm 2x12 and 8ohm 1x12 which it would have stacked with very nicely. I'd maybe think the same as you about the potential userbase, but for the fact that it's apparently been produced in direct response to players asking to bridge the 1200. I guess that in itself perhaps suggests they want their 1200W into a single cab, which is fairly likely to be either 4 or 8 ohms - fair play. But then, is giving 750 to somebody who just explicitly asked for 1200 really going to appeal if they're already rejecting 600?

You know, I guess that might even answer my other question about the 3/2 vs 2/3 on different SR models. When you retrofit the premium tuners to the non-premium basses, the G does take on a bit of a naff-looking angle due to the increased width of the shaft compared to the stock tuners. Putting 3 underneath means the G is further to the right and therefore straighter. I can live with that slight visual demerit in trade for the much nicer-looking tuning keys on the GB707s, though.

Have to agree. Never quite worked out why the lower numbered 5-string models are 3 over 2 but the premiums and prestiges are 2 over 3, though. Not that it matters at all - they both look fine. I also quite like the somewhat similar Spector headstock that tends to grace their 5s, but I'm much less enamoured of the version that seems to be used more often on their 4s.

I'm always a little surprised by how many people I know who say that a drink makes them believe they'll play better or have more fun on stage. Having a drink before getting on stage makes me firmly believe I'll play worse and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy so I have no fun at all. I'll try to concentrate on things that just need muscle memory, fixate on the mistake that just caused, make another mistake whilst analysing the last mistake... all whilst totally ignoring the audience and feeling quite disconnected from my band and the music. In short, I'll actually play significantly worse because of the knowledge of the alcohol, not the alcohol itself. I know that I can enjoy what the CMO would call an irresponsible amount of Scrumpy Jack in the comfort of my own home, then pick up my bass and play along to Spotify just fine whilst feeling well and truly under the influence, but that knowledge doesn't translate in any way to public performance so I gig sober.

I put D'Addario EXL160S medium nickel rounds on my Talman 30 and thought it felt and sounded loads better for it. It had previously got D'Addario ECB81S regular-light chromes on it, which were alright for tension but just a bit uninspiring in the sound department. I installed a set of Seymour Duncan quarter-pounders too, which helped it to sound even more assertive when the heavier rounds went on. It's basically got the picking/plucking-hand feel and overall sound of a standard scale P/J but the novelty and/or utility of being a 30".

I reckon it's a thing because we make it one - we're looking out for and dwelling on anything that didn't go quite as well as in the great rehearsal we just had, where in any other circumstance we'd just dismiss it and move on. It's like I know that one beer doesn't affect my playing but I'm looking out for mistakes if I've had a drink, which maybe even contributes to me making the mistake in the first place, and if it doesn't then being disproportionately aware of it probably contributes to me making the next one!

I found out by accident that I'd ended up playing some basses with longer scales than others because I tried a new brand of strings and they weren't quite long enough to get over the nut before starting to taper. Nobody in the shop told me when I was buying the basses in the first place, and at that time I would have been looking in the printed catalogues rather than on a website to find out myself. I just worked on the basis that a different instrument is going to feel different because it is different, so I blindly switched between 34" and 35" for years and never knew. Talking specifically about my Spector Rebop 5s, as well as the bridge being where it is in relation to the body, I've found that the overall body shape at the upper bout when seated, and the rear strap button location when standing, both also seem to naturally bring the whole bass back a bit which leaves the neck pretty much where I expect to find it after playing a 34" Ibanez SR. Contrast that with my old BC Rich Warlock 5 which was also 35" scale, but felt like it should come with field glasses to sight the headstock when seated and forced you into back-injuring contortions when standing, and I'd have to conclude that overall ergonomics affect playability much more than an inch in scale length.

I once saw Oliver/Dawson Saxon at The Trades in Rotherham. My mate's band were supporting and their bassist sounded great with an Orange OBC410/115 stack and his AD200 just ticking over. Dawson had two Ampeg SVT something-pro heads going at full chatter through a pair of matching 810s. Even with my pro-plugs in it was punishing on the ears in such a small venue, and it was hitting me in the chest so damn hard that it felt like some sort of arrhythmia kicking in. I lasted maybe a couple of songs before I had to admit defeat and walk out. There's a lot to be said for staying venue-appropriate. I think modular vertical 3x12 is my favourite configuration and the most I'll ever require on stage. A 1x12 for when that's all I need, a 2x12 for when I need a bit more, and both of them together for special occasions. In reality, though, my absolute favourite cab is the one that I don't have to bring, move around or take home again - the one that belongs to the headliner or the venue that I can just plug into for 45 mins and then offer thanks and/or a pint in rental. I'll tolerate and make-do with a lot where that cab is concerned! 🙂

Yeah, totally agree if you've got a real attachment to the instrument. I didn't in that particular instance so I moved it on before it got any worse - pointed it out of course, but ultimately left it to the next owner to decide whether to get that job done. I actively prefer the sound of NPS rounds these days, though, so whilst I didn't switch to them to avoid fret wear, it's an added bonus that they're a bit kinder in that department.