Ed_S

Oh aye, they're that alright! Still makes me smile every time I use it 🙂 For the record I had a 600 for a while as well and there's absolutely nothing to complain about there either. And an original shiny RM800 which wasn't far off the ABM600 to be honest. I wanted to buy a Tech 21 dUg Ultra Bass 1000 as I came to believe that it used a very similar power module to the ABM1000 and I was curious to see if it had the same slam in a different implementation, but the price of those things was always too much to justify for an experiment. Anyways, I digress!

I was probably a relatively early adopter of lightweight gear - my Markbass LM2 was my introduction and has a 2007 date sticker which won't be too far off when I got it. I've been using lightweight gear ever since and personally have never had an amp die on me which isn't the result of a publicised and acknowledged problem with parts or manufacturing. The fact that my main amp is of conveniently negligible size and weight, and in case I feel it's any less reliable for it I can carry a backup amp that I barely know is there, just makes my gigging life so much happier and more enjoyable than lugging a single amp around that's ultra-reliable and universally-repairable but I have to carry into a venue like the Húsafell Stone. That said, I'm not a fan of manufacturers in any field who try to shoehorn too much into a product, and that's the creeping problem that I see potentially reducing my personal level of choice in lightweight amps. I want an amp for playing live, so a DI out is handy but I won't buy one that has a headphone out and auxiliary in for jamming along to tracks at home, or a built-in effects setup with a phone app to configure it, or anything that requires software updates for different voices, or has a Bluetooth input or a USB interface for recording into a DAW etc. I just see it as something else to go wrong, something that I'm paying for which I don't need, something which may have introduced a design compromise or diverted attention, budget and board space away from the bits I need to be as good and durable as they possibly can be, and something where you can almost guarantee that in 5 years nobody will have a phone that still runs the app that they discontinued 2 years before that. Just give me a one-trick pony with a trick that I like. The heft and authority and general volume thing... I'm currently satisfied that it's a design issue, not a technology one. The amp I've experienced with the most power and authority is the Ashdown ABM 1000, which has a lightweight power section.

Rather than trying to run through an arbitrary list of things, I always do the idiot check in my head as if I'm setting up. I'll visualise taking everything out of their bags and boxes and then step through using each item to set up, checking that each extension reel, cable, patch, pack, battery etc. that I 'use' is packed where I think it is. The exercise only ends when I've imagined picking up the bass, putting my earplugs in, looking at the set list and, with pick in hand, am ready to go.

I still don't know half of the proper names of ours! They don't get numbered, but they have a working title that relates to how they sound at the start, and often we continue to know them by that title even when a proper one exists. If you nick one of our setlists (never really got why people do that with local bands playing originals, but it's very nice that they're enthusiastic and I don't mind in the slightest) you'll get things like 'dun-dun' and 'dugga-dun' mixed in with the more recognisable names 🙂

I had an SP212 a few years back - picked it up second hand as it was going cheap and I was interested to try one out for myself given that I'd read a lot of people commenting less than favourably from an engineering standpoint, but some saying they sounded good irrespective. I had an original Terror 500 to pair it with so it looked very much the part, seemed like it would take a lot of punishment, and I must admit I quite liked the sound in a band mix - quite 'big' without being overpoweringly loud. Sadly I couldn't get rid of the smell of the previous owner's cigarettes and didn't much like the weight of the thing, so off it went to its next owner and I haven't actually missed it. It was responsible for a fun moment one rehearsal. I'd taken the terror straight from a gig where it was paired with the SP212 and whilst I'd switched it to 4ohm, I hadn't altered the volume control before plugging it into my BF Super 12. It was pointed straight at one of our guitarists when I flicked the standby and played the first note. I nearly cost him a perfectly good pair of strides that day.

I saw my first bass come straight out of the box. It was a good brand, it came well set up with decent strings, and it had no hardware or fret issues. It was a great (and very lucky) place to start, but at the same time it gave me no reason to disbelieve the guy in the shop who said that "you only replace bass strings when they break, and they rarely do". So I didn't. And because I really like having clean hands, those strings stayed non-grotty and were on there a long time. That also meant that I didn't clean or oil the fretboard, never polished the frets, never adjusted the action or intonation, and because it was clearly a stable neck I never touched the truss rod. It had passive VVT electronics and they never stopped working so I never opened the cavity cover either. My friends at the time would take their guitars to a local shop to have them cleaned, re-strung and set up, so had I not grown up to be such a massive gear-slag, that may have been it; one bass that keeps working until it stops and then gets repaired by somebody whose job it is to know how... and repeat. In fairness it worked like that with my violin before I was a bassist. I tuned it and cleaned the rosin dust off it, but anything else was done by the shop where I bought it. 22 years and a lot of basses that weren't quite so perfect later, the first thing I do with a new one is take it to bits and check that it's not hiding any issues, give it a clean, polish and tidy-up, and set it up with new strings. I haven't invested in learning to do fret work other than polishing and sorting out a bit of sprout, so a bass with actual fret problems is a bass that's going back, but I've learned how to do most other maintenance and hardware or electronics modifications, and within the bounds I've set for myself I'm satisfied that I'm not likely to make a mess of anything. I personally don't buy second-hand instruments but that's just because they never end up feeling like they're 'mine' - that seems to only come from having cut the tape on the original box. The care and maintenance record is also a concern, though; it's been the previous owner's absolute immutable right to do with that instrument as they see fit, so I must assume they have. It may play 'like butter' because that's what they've been rubbing it down with every night before bed for the last 10 years! Of course, I would never tell anyone not to do precisely what they want with their own property within the constraints of the law - I just elect not to buy it from them when it hits the market. I'd rather buy new and take the financial hit in exchange for a clean slate of my own and a warranty.

I had a one as my main gigging amp for ages and it was great. We're not a quiet band in the slightest and I always found it provided the right amount of volume to be good for stage monitoring when the PA is decent and doing all the hard work, and similarly good for going backline-only in a small room that doesn't warrant a massive PA so doesn't have one. Of course it can fall down when you turn up to a room that should have a decent PA but doesn't, though at that point you'll still probably find it goes louder than you expected on its own, and hopefully there's a cab lying around that you can borrow. I had the NY121 cab as well, though it only went to one gig in the time I had it, and it didn't actually need to; I only took it because it was an out of town venue I'd never been to so didn't know what to expect, but in the event the combo would have done fine on its own. I started travelling even lighter - just taking a Nano 300 head and plugging into house cabs or pre-arranging to borrow a cab from another band - so I sold the combo and cab to free up some room. Ended up missing the combo, though, so I bought a new one with the much nicer leather handle ..and then the world went down the pan so I've not had chance to use it yet!

I didn't keep mine because as much as it was impressively loud and genuinely sounded good, I impulse-bought it without considering whether I actually had a use for it. I practice and record using headphones/mixer/preamp and I have a Markbass 801 combo which would be smaller and easier to carry than the Thunder and my smallest cab to any venue where that combination would be viable. If having a fanless practice amp had been at all important to me, though, I'd most likely have kept it as it really did sound alright.

I can relate to the ire of the OP. I had my eye on a bass at a different shop (for absolute clarity, not BD) before xmas and noticed that it had been reduced in their winter sale and was now listed as warehouse rather than shop stock as it had been last time I looked. I rang up to check on the condition and was told that it was a brand new one which had never been out, and (when asked directly, given my suspicions) certainly was not the one from the shop which had just been moved back to the warehouse for easier shipping once the come-and-get-me price tag went on it. What arrived was dusty, had multiple dings on the edge of the body and one on the back of the neck, had a piece of veneer lifted and snapped off the body, had no plastic covers on the hardware and a hang-tag/case/manual/box that didn't match the serial on the headstock. It clearly wasn't as described, and wasn't a particularly nice example either so I can see why it might have been the one they just couldn't shift. They accepted that it wasn't right and processed a collection/refund, but because of the time of year and availability of couriers I had to spend the fortnight over xmas and new year negotiating a big box of disappointment at the bottom of the hall, which needn't ever have been there had my direct and unambiguous question been met with an accurate answer. Hell, even if they'd just said "you know what.. I have no idea and honestly I'm not going to put any effort whatsoever into finding out for you - either chance it or don't!", I would have been a bit taken aback but I could have worked with that. For the record, my own experience of BD has been overall positive and I've always got on fine with Mark.

I applaud them for providing such variety, but I'm personally finding less and less to get excited about. Given that the finishes in use on the artist signature models are essentially sunburst, black with red bevels, white, black, blue, red, amber, natural, and vintage burst, and all but one have either black or cosmo-black hardware, maybe it's not so unusual to want a premium bass in a more conventional finish.

I really like Ibanez gear but it seems there's an ever-decreasing amount to lust over if you're looking for a 5er from the Premium range that doesn't have fanned frets, no frets, gold hardware, no headstock, a ramp, an f-hole, a pile-of-twigs-inspired artist inlay, wooden pickup covers or just a really weird finish. I wish they'd do a simple but classy SR Premium model in a couple of conventional finishes with Nordy breaks or singles, the usual preamp (but with dome knobs, not the cheap plastic things) and black or chrome hardware - surely that would require no additional parts, tooling or product development time on their part and appeal to enough people to be profitable. Of course, then they'd also need to actually make some of them and get them over here so you could buy one without the opportunity to do so feeling like some kind of honour being bestowed, but that's another matter. As is the availability of spare parts given that a lot of their hardware is bespoke and there's a great online parts catalogue to tell you exactly what the code is for the thing you want... you just either can't find it, or can't have it delivered to this country. I digress. An SR1305-SB was my recent birthday gift to myself, and I can't see much else in the '22 range that I'd be tempted to send for.

I buy PLI as I consider it just another running cost that comes with my hobby and I feel happier with it than without, but even so, if anything did go wrong then if only for my own peace of mind I'd always like to know that I'd tried my best to mitigate any risks I'd identified and wasn't being negligent. If I could demonstrate that fact, I reckon my insurer might find it useful as well, especially in the face of a chancer. I'm not an electrician but I was trained to PAT test as part of a previous role, so out of habit I visually check everything I use and make sure it's looking ok from the point of view of a 'competent person'. I've seen a lot of gear provided by venues and brought in by other bands which is an instant fail upon visual inspection, and whilst I've not hacked any plugs off (yet) I've told the owner and/or refused to use things.

I would say that the thing which makes me sound 'like me' on most instruments is my playing style rather than an innate tone, and if I sound fundamentally different on a given instrument it's because it actively forces me to modify my playing style, usually by feeling physically awkward in some way. If somebody associates me - as our lead guitarist does - with a specific tone, I'm inclined to believe it's because that's what they generally hear in combination with my playing style at the point where they're best placed to recall it. Years of rehearsals playing the same genre of songs on broadly the same bass and amp in the same corner of the same room with the same number of people in it who are also playing broadly the same instruments and standing in the same places, for instance. I dial in a suitable tone for the room and genre within the bounds dictated by the gear. The ideal is that I leave the settings mostly flat, bring up the master until the sound tech tells me to stop, then play.

At this point I can usually get a sound that will suffice from all but the most knackered of gear, though most of the time I'm not altogether sure what MY sound even is - it's probably fairly generic to be honest. Our lead guitarist once said the sound he most associates with me is "a P bass on full, played through a Markbass with the filters off and EQ off", so by rights I should be able to get somewhere close to that through just about anything! I agree that expensive gear won't instantly or magically make you a better player, but even if it's just that a more expensive instrument draws you in and makes you pick it up and practice, and owning it gives you a bit of swagger on stage so you look like you're confident and having fun, then I'd say it's still kinda played a part. If you get the same kick out of having found something equally pleasingly and inviting but inexpensive, or if the music is reward enough on its own, then more power to your savings account! You absolutely can find an amazing tone from a £100 bass, especially if you have the time and means to go hunting extensively, but in terms of just ordering one I'd generally fancy my chances of avoiding the duff one in a small pile of £1K instruments more than just happening upon one of the exceptional examples in a big pile of £100 ones.

Yup, I used to do the false-economy shuffle; want the nice one but buy a mid-range model instead, spend enough on upgrades to get worryingly close to the value of the one I actually wanted, realise that it didn't hit the spot because it wasn't the one that I actually wanted... but at the same time not be able to bring myself to unpick what I'd created, so trade it in as-is at a massive loss... repeat. I often wonder whether some of those instruments are still doing the rounds, because most of them were actually pretty good to begin with and I sure didn't skimp on the futile overspend. Never seen any of them out and about, though. These days I buy the one that I actually want and leave the spec alone as much as possible.

I’ve gone for a fairly boring 3m straight to silent straight to test the water.

Cheers - must admit it's not a brand I'd heard of! Looks like there's a company selling on Amazon that constructs with, amongst other things, Gotham GAC-1 Ultra Pro cable and Neutrik ends. I might give one of theirs a try just to get a feel for it. That's interesting - the silent jack that I had fail on me was actually bought recently (well.. if we just forget that the last two years are a thing - maybe 2018) and all the ones that I have from back when they were a new product are still alright. I guess there's no accounting for luck and you can never know the age of the stock a company is using to make their products, though. I do like the sound of that LLX... and it seems that Amazon will also send me a Sommer made with LLX and Neutriks. So that's £70 on two cables that I don't really need and had no intention of buying this morning! All in the interest of science. 🙂

I bought my Jake L4p+ off the shelf from BD and at that time, in Fender terms, it was basically like paying MIJ level money for a MIA quality bass with weight relief and a custom pickup combination - didn't have to think very long about buying it. It's not absolutely flawlessly perfect if you just want to sit and stare at it, but it feels and sounds great to play.

I started off with a Klotz KIK cable which was thrown in with my first bass twenty-odd years ago and rather spoiled me when it came to ubiquitous brands of the time like Planet Waves, as they just never felt particularly good by comparison. I tried Monster cables on the recommendation of a friend - they're reassuringly expensive, feel solid and work just fine but are too thick and inflexible to be truly comfortable on stage. Can't say I ever noticed any issues with the plugs being oversized or anything like that, though. Then just so as not to leave without buying anything, I picked up some ClearTone cables from the Award-Session stand on the way out of a guitar show in Pudsey. Those three cables have done countless rehearsals and gigs over the years since, never causing me any problems at all. In short, a well assembled combination of Van Damme cable and Neutrik jacks is very hard to beat as far as I'm concerned, but I've also never had any problems with Klotz, Cordial and Sommer cables, as well as Switchcraft jacks. I have had one Neutrik silent right-angle jack go bad on me, but it has moving parts so I guess you have to accept that increased likelihood of failure is the price you pay for the extra feature. I'm always game for trying to find even-more-flexible cable - can you recommend any specific brands / products?

I was doing alright until the other day when I managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory by buying an Xotic Bass RC Boost pedal. Boost pedals seem to be a 'thing' at the moment so I figured I'd get involved; the RC was on end-of-line anyway and then a voucher turned up, so you know.. why not?! Turns out the answer to "why not" is "because the only useful thing it did was underline how much I liked what I'd already got when I turned it off". I can't be bothered with the faff of returning it and I don't do private sales, so that's another one for the back of the cupboard until next mass-trade-in-day. To balance things out, my best of the year is a Fender USA Pro Jazz 5 (new, but original Pro, not Pro II) which, although it immediately needed a Hipshot A bridge buying because the one it comes with had sharp grub screws sticking out of it and I'm not a fan of avoidable hand injuries, I've really enjoyed getting to know. Reviews indicated that some people didn't like the pickups very much, but I think they sound really good.

I owned an ABM600 for a while but it just couldn't compete with what I already had; the ABM1000 is still where it's at for me and is on a very short list of kit I've never even considered moving on. I really wanted to be able to justify a pair of neo 4x8 cabs for it when they came out, but I just couldn't spare the space so it has to make do with my Barefaced bits.

I got my G30 when they were very first released and it’s still going strong - never caused me any problems and the battery door and belt clip are still attached (and I do use the clip, not a pouch). I bought a spare pack just in case but I’ve never needed it. Both guitarists in the band bought them, and one of them converted the bassist in his tribute band; thus far I’ve not witnessed any issues or heard of any regrets that aren’t cheap-battery related. I admit, I wish there were more channels available, but for the price I really can’t fault it as a system. I bought a smoothhound a while back as they were getting good reviews on here, but I didn’t get on with it at all.

Great little amps - especially at that price. I used mine for most if not all of our gigs from the end of 2017 until things dried up at the end of 2019, and I dare say I’ll still be using it when things get back up and running for us - whenever that is. I have bigger and ‘better’ amps, but I just couldn’t beat that one for sheer convenience. Usually just ran it into whatever cab the venue provided, and to say they were mostly cheap old 410s that had seen better days, there was always enough power output and a useable sound to be had.

Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro are my personal favourites for bass practice and tracking. I also use AKG K702 for mastering and they’re not quite as good for bass, though very light and comfy.

I’m personally yet to have any problems with them. My last order arrived a couple of weeks ago and the time before was only back in April; both arrived really well packaged with no delays (and plenty of automated email updates) and no hidden charges. I last needed to return anything to them back in mid-2018 but it was a problem-free experience at that point. Shame if they aren’t managing to give everyone the same treatment as some of their deals can be very keen.