Ed_S

Hi all, A couple of months ago, I bought a GK MB200 on the grounds that 'hey, it's so cheap and small, I might as well give it a try' and somewhat irritatingly (for my wallet, at least), with everything set to 12 o'clock, it's turned out to be one of those sounds I've had in my head for years but never been able to quite achieve. My question is, if I want the same sound but more volume, where do I go in the MB range? On paper the 500 seems a sensible bet, but what about the fusion and 800, and even 800 fusion; do they have the same basic tone as the 200 just with more features to play with, or is the 200 one on its own because of the 'stripped back' nature of what it is? Is what I'm listening to just GK in general and everything they do will hit the spot? Any advice greatly appreciated!

Yup! Squier Vintage Modified Precision to be exact, and it worked really well. Once I realised it was going to work for gigging I went a bit further and put Schaller locks, a BAII and a SD Quarter Pounder on it too, but the change of bridge was purely aesthetic and nothing to do with the stringing; the BBOT it came with was on it for a few months and worked absolutely fine. Mine's actually set up for use in C,F,Bb,Eb but worked fine in BEAD when I first modified it. And since pictures prove it happened...

Also watch out for Tech21 gear which has separate 230V and 240V versions for use in Europe and the UK respectively. I found out the practical way; by blowing up a brand new RBI

[quote name='The Dark Lord' timestamp='1365237562' post='2036975'] Aha. Now, that gets me thinking there may be another factor for me. I used it last weekend with a Barefaced Compact. I heard before that they are a really loud cab and thought nothing of it. I'm telling ya. If I had used the whole volume available, I would have blown all of the windows out. Maybe those little Barefaced Compacts really are loud cabs? [/quote] Never used a Compact myself, but my cabs are Barefaced Super 12 for stage and Markbass 104HR for rehearsal. Both are 4ohm and I've never seen either accused of being 'quiet' before

[quote name='RandomBass' timestamp='1365097271' post='2035360'] I really think I should give the MiBass another go. I had one for a brief time, but didn't think it was anything special volume wise - but posts here (and other threads) seem to contradict my findings. [/quote] I'll back up your findngs.... I picked one up near-mint second hand a couple of months ago (the asking price was such that I could try it and almost guarantee my money back if I didn't want to keep it) and although I quite like the tone and don't plan to get rid of it, I have to run it flat out on the master to get the volume I need for my classic rock and metal bands. By comparison, I only have to run my GK MB200 slightly above half. Don't get me wrong, I do actually quite like it, but 'nothing special volume-wise' feels like a fair assessment to me.

[quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1364402000' post='2026007'] Lets not be hasty with weight/size. The Fender P 5 I played a few months ago was extremely light for a normal American Standard Precision. I would be guessing at 9lbs. They all vary. [/quote] You're quite right - I've just done the un-scientific 'get on the scales with and without' test with my 2012 USA P 5, and the difference was 8.75lb. [quote name='magcom1977' timestamp='1364412858' post='2026207'] I'm not sure about a Lakland. I've heard many good things about them but that oval bridge plate puts me off. I'm so shallow. [/quote] I'm glad I'm not the only one who doesn't like that bridge plate

Depends if it fades out on the CD, especially solo-to-fade; listening to how the band that wrote it decided it should end live can be a useful pointer, even if you don't follow it to the note.

Never tried the Ashdown but I owned the Eden for a while - 4ohm version exactly the same as you're looking at - and used it with my Little Mark II as a home practice rig. It was a good, loud, clean sounding little cab and I only got rid of it to raise cash for a Barefaced Midget (my other cab is a S12, so I know where you're coming from), the rationale being that I didn't need that much power for playing in the house but I needed more power for my smallest gigs so the Eden didn't quite 'fit'. Nice little cab for the money, though. The only minor demerit for me was the lack of a speakon connector round the back; it's just a single recessed jack socket. No big deal, of course, I'd just have preferred a speakon.

Looks to be a thread over on the other side where some lad's had himself one made... http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f8/my-2010-alembic-jason-newsted-elan-5-string-715015/

[quote name='molan' timestamp='1359718926' post='1959241'] Tried an Ashdown again yesterday just in case my view was clouded by those Nasty rehearsal room heads. But no, it was still horrible, lots of flashing lights, VU meters, eq options etc etc. However, it failed to do the basic job of reproducing an even half decent bass tone Mind you, some people love 'em so what do I know! [/quote] [quote name='paul_5' timestamp='1359816966' post='1960706'] I'm a bit undecided on the 'Ashdown' sound. I had a MAG head for a while, and that sounded great through a Trace Elliott 1153 cab. I've also been lumped with them as backline on last minute gigs and have had nothing but woolly thumps out of them. Still better than the Carlsbro Stingray though. [/quote] When I saw this thread appear, the first thing I thought of was making uncharitable remarks about my old ABM-500(evo3) head which is, even if maybe not the worst, certainly the most disappointing head I've ever owned. It was bought with matching 410 and 115 at some serious expense (to me, anyway) and proudly taken straight to rehearsal.. where it completely failed to cut through tonally and could barely be heard even with the taps fully open. The true disappointment was in the fact that I liked the basic tone of the amp in the shop (well.. I did buy it!) and played solo it seemed to be plenty loud enough. It wasn't. I owned it for a couple of months, rehearsed it, gigged it, poured over the instruction manual and twiddled with every control and fader it had, and still it completely failed to work for me. The real kicker for me with Ashdown gear is that I've heard plenty of EB/MAG/ABM setups sounding just fine when in punter-mode, but have likewise borrowed plenty (sometimes even the same rig I've just heard sounding fine) that seem to turn to utter dross in my hands. So, still being conflicted when it comes to Ashdowns and with this thread in mind, when I saw a MiBass 550 in pristine second-hand nick at my local music shop yesterday I decided on the spur of the moment to give them one last chance... and having jumped in at the deep end and taken it straight from shop to rehearsal again, am oddly glad I did. Ok, it's far too quiet to be called a 550W amp, but with all the Deeps and Shapes and EQs turned off, the basic tone of the amp with the master fully open and the gain set to never hit 'red' is actually quite pleasingly smooth and translates that character well into the room, just slightly 'sitting back' in the mix but not getting lost. In terms of raw grunt, it *just* managed to hold its own at rehearsal with my 5 piece metal band so on that basis there's no way I'd risk it at a gig with that band, but I think it'll do much better in 4 piece rock covers territory and likewise I have quite high hopes for it in acoustic-duo land. So yeah, I've finally found an Ashdown that can stay... just as they discontinue the bloody thing!

The XLS1500 is certainly some good - I have a couple that power my PA system but I use them for bass too. Given that the 1000 is the same in only slightly smaller bunches, I can't see you struggling to be heard provided (as others have said) you can give it enough at the input.

[quote name='ThomBassmonkey' timestamp='1357401950' post='1922157'] I don't like the Boss tuners. In my experience they've been horribly inaccurate (my bass has been more out of tune after using the tuner than before on more than one occasion) and difficult to tune with. The guitarist in my band has one and I never like using it. The previous ones I've used have all been the same. I don't know if the TU3 is better, but the TU2 has put me right off them. [/quote] I'd have said a TU-3. Whilst I've not used any of the ones that have caught your eye and fully expect the SR to be technically better for accuracy, I've done setups with my TU-3 which have been checked against a Peterson afterwards and found to be basically dead-on. For live use it's much quicker to 'lock on' to a note than the TU-2 was (as-fast if not faster than the DTR) and has an extra bright setting for the LEDs so you can usually see it.

Yeah, same here - sounds like my sort of thing but sadly I'm likewise lacking time to devote to another project. If I hear of anybody suitable, I'll be sure to let you know. Have you already got posters up in Practice Sheffield, Yellow Arch, Attic etc? Starting a thread on Sheffield Forum landed us our singer, so that's always worth a shot, too. All the best with the search!

[quote name='Mog' timestamp='1357025800' post='1916438'] What if bassist X auditioned for a gig with band Y who are highly regarded within a certain genre, say Brit Pop. After the auditioning process the band realises that bassist X is the most suitable in terms of technique and attitude and offer him the slot. However bassist X is endorsed by company Z and is obliged contractually to play their basses. The basses company Z produce are not what would normally be used by a Brit Pop band and Band Y tell Bassist X that he must use another company's product. Obviously Bassist X would have to explain to Band Y that he cannot use another bass. Does band Y allow bassist X to use the bass from company Z therefore employing the most suitable person for the job (musically at least) or do they move on to another bassist who is willing to play whatever is required aesthetically but is a weaker musician technically? [/quote] Maybe if Bassist X was well enough regarded to have an exclusive endorsement and Band Y are well enough regarded to draw his/her interest, then Company Z would be happy to produce another 'Company Z Artist Series Bassist X' model with both the necessary technical aspects in place and the desirable aesthetic aspects considered? Just for the record, in answer to the original question, I used to only play 5s (didn't own any 4s at all) and for heavy metal originals, classic rock covers, acoustic singer-songwriter stuff and a few jam nights here and there, I never got any grief (or even that many comments) because of my extra string.

I had the ABM-500 e3, ABM-410t and ABM-115c and found the head to be nowhere near adequate for my needs. Interestingly, the same cabs with my old Hartke HA2000 were overpowering to the point where I eventually got rid of the 115c and just kept the 410t, which on its own, taking a maximum of 120W from the Hartke, never got above 4 on the master volume (in a loud metal band with a blast-beating drummer and two guitarists with Peavey 6505 and Boogie single recto). To be fair to Ashdown, another head that did manage to keep up quite well when I borrowed it was the MAG 600; it sounded much louder, more 'lively' (maybe less 'sophisticated') than the ABM and cut through the mix much better, so if you fancied a full Ashdown stack and didn't get on with the ABM500, that might be an option to consider.

Yup, agreed - we've tried a few and settled on a shared Google calendar as being the best option for us as we all have gmail accounts and decent phones to link them to.

Most threads about lightweight power amps tend to agree that Crown XLS, Peavey IPR and QSC PLX series are all good, solid amps. I can vouch for the Crowns - I have two XLS1500s that I'm very happy with.

My nice and simple (and cheap!) rig, kept just in case I should ever find myself back on guitar duties in a band (looking less and less likely the longer I leave it, but never say never). For the time being, it lives at the studios for our rhythm guitarist to use at rehearsals because it's better than it sitting in a cupboard doing nothing! So yeah, Marshall MA50H and 1936. The MA series took a bit of stick for sounding duff, but I honestly think that was because people weren't getting them out of their bedrooms and opening them up. I'm yet to hear a straight-up 50+ watt valve guitar amp with no attenuation or fancy digital tricks sound as good at bedroom levels as it does when you let it breathe a bit. For good or for bad, this one certainly sounds like a Marshall to me!

I always liked Metallica's "Kill 'em all" album, and that was released the same year as me.

A couple of weeks ago I decided to sport a bit of cash and a part-ex on something different to my usuals and ended up walking out of the store with an SR505. It played fine in the shop but then developed a buzz after a couple of days. No big deal, I though, and grabbed the tools to adjust it... whereupon I found out that the truss rod was completely stuck - no movement at all. So that was the end of that - I took it back and got another Fender instead! I think my point in posting is that if yours is perfect and never needed a tweak... might be worth checking that you can actually give it one should the need ever arise!

If epic/symphonic/power metal is your thing, then "Circus Colossus" by Leverage is hard to beat production-wise.

The Yamaha P3500S is a brilliant workhorse of a power amp - mine once ran flat out at a party in a field for pretty much 12 hours straight and it was barely more than lukewarm when I packed it away; the fan didn't even come on. Sadly I don't own it any more as I just can't cart that weight of gear so I swapped it for a pair of lightweight Crown XLS1500s (which I can also thoroughly recommend) but if you're able bodied and don't mind carting it, I can't say a bad word about the Yamaha.

[quote name='Graham' timestamp='1355552171' post='1899826'] Megadeth - Tornado Of Souls [/quote] Now you're talkin'! We cover that and it's always fun to play and gets a great response. My favourite cover at the moment, however, is probably Dio - Killing the Dragon.

I'd spend the extra fifty quid and get a Peavey Envoy. Just my opinion, but tiny practice amps generally sound pretty rough on the distortion channel unless they're the modelling type, at which point you seem to be paying a fair bit for something that won't take you much past your bedroom. I'd always favour a 'proper' amp that will play quietly at home but also cover rehearsals, jam sessions, gigs etc.

Lead vocals - Gary Hughes (Ten) Guitar / backing vocals - Dave Meniketti (Y&T) Lead guitar - Alexi Laiho (Children of Bodom) Keyboards - Jens Johansson (YJM's Rising Force) Drums - Anders Johansson (Hammerfall) As for the 'alive or dead' vote, just put me in any given line-up of Rainbow and take me on a tour of Germany