Ed_S

I play guitar, but wouldn't go as far as to call myself a guitarist; I treat it like a small bass which results in a lot of power chord riffs and some twiddly lead, but because my genre of choice is classic rock, that works out just fine in the 'jamming for fun' stakes and back at school even put me in the "quite good" category for a while To answer the question, I think that playing guitar makes me a better bassist because I instinctively know from first-hand experience what I'd want me to be doing with the bass line if it were me playing the guitar! My theory is all instinctive and I don't read music, so practical experience is rarely unhelpful.

I had one for about a year, but got rid of it a couple of months ago as I didn't feel it was sufficiently useful to me personally. Don't get me wrong, it looks good (well, I thought so!), it's a nice size and weight to play, the neck is very accessible and it doesn't balance as badly as you might think, it's fun to keep around the house and just pick up without needing to plug in, and it sounds fairly pleasant too... ...but it's not loud enough to hang with even one acoustic guitar unplugged, let alone two and a drummer, so you'll always be plugging it in, at which point you'll very likely need to use a feedback eliminator in the sound hole, at which point it sounds [i]just[/i] like a P-bass in the mix. Since I use a P-bass anyway, I figured I'd save myself the additional, more fragile instrument to carry round and just stick with my P. I hope that didn't sound like I was giving it a bad review... I genuinely liked mine, but as soon as I realised that the sound in the mix was nearly identical to what I already had (just an EQ tweak away), and I didn't feel the need for that visual element of being seen to play an acoustic, it quickly became surplus despite being a nice instrument. Really hope you enjoy yours and find it hits the spot visually - one word of caution, however; if you're transporting it in a gig bag rather than a hard case, it's very easy to catch the tuner button on the preamp, which results in a completely flat battery when you arrive where you're going, so, you know, in line with the best held traditions of the bassist, always have a spare

I had an ABM500 that I thought was very quiet. I was running it with matching ABM cabs and everybody tells me that unless it was broken or I just didn't know how to use it (neither of which I'm buying) it should have been knocking down walls. It really wasn't, even going full tilt. I've generally found that the cheaper MAGs seem more 'lively' for less wattage.. so maybe it's an EQ thing?

[quote name='Cosmo Valdemar' timestamp='1339694578' post='1692930'] Or for the very ambitious, Queensryche's Suite Sister Mary. [/quote] I like your thinking! Taking ambition even further, maybe something like "The Hourglass" from Savatage's "The Wake of Magellan".

Not exactly a 'choir', but... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7eqxg92YG0

I'm out of the house and on my phone at present so this is from memory, but chan gain knob up, chan 'on', white chan fader up, red ST (or similar) button near chan fader pressed in, red master fader up, monitoring set to stereo mix (button out, iirc) and monitoring level knob up ...should give noise through headphones that can be controlled using the white chan fader. Of course, PFL shouldn't be engaged or it works anyway :-) ...I'll have a look at a picture of the desk when I get home to make sure I've not missed anything!

If you're only getting sound with PFL engaged, are you sure that the channel is 'on' (which I always find a little odd on the MG series when I'm expecting a 'mute' button instead) and that it's assigned to what you're monitoring (no point monitoring the sub-group if your channel is assigned to the main stereo mix).

[quote] when what you play... [/quote] Guitar. [quote] ...is more important than what you're playing it on. [/quote] A tube platform.

Sounds like it'll be absolutely fine. You don't need gold plated connectors, and it'd be pretty odd to find a standard male to female XLR / mic lead made with 2-core screened cable that wasn't wired to be balanced.

For me, it was Rick Savage from Def Leppard. I wouldn't say he was an 'idol', but I watched their '93 live video filmed at Don Valley Stadium and just knew I wanted to get myself a bass.

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1339016849' post='1682619'] I've had a better sound from most mag's than I did my old evo rig you know! [/quote] Tis true.. I've borrowed a couple of MAGs and found them to sound more edgy and lively (and hence pleasing) than the ABM500 I had. Get it cranked up and annoy some neighbours!

[quote name='Monckyman' timestamp='1338814591' post='1679546'] I like the BDI21 BUT, it has stopped accepting mains power, and is battery only.So I no longer use it. As to the modelling versus the DI sound, 99.9.9999.9 sound engineers will prefer the unadorned sound of the DI. Not because ,as [b]the bitter bassist of the previous page[/b] suggested, "so they can completely ignore your wishes" regarding tone etc, but simply because having a modeller with an EQ tone that doesn`t suit the house P.A at all is not helpful to anyone. However, in your case where you are basically looking for a back up amp like device which can utilise your P.A rather than a DI as such, the BDI21 would be the cheapest and most versatile option. [/quote] I'm almost tempted to have that as my member title! My 'bitterness', if you want to call it that, stems from the number of engineers who've ridden roughshod over my intended tone. Sadly, if they're intent on meddling, a processed DI just means that they'll have to employ even harsher EQ etc. to get it back how they want it, hence I always give a clean DI these days because I'll take 'wrong' over 'butchered'.

[quote name='Evil Undead' timestamp='1338632903' post='1677374'] Ed_S thanks for the reply. I hadn't seen that one before but looks interesting. Are you able to tell me how I would connect it up (yes, again, I really am this clueless!) Bass in which socket, and which socket out to the mixer? [/quote] Sure thing.. most basic setup is to just the left-hand side of the unit as you look at it: bass goes into the CH.1 IN, and the XLR to the desk goes into CH.1 OUT. If you wanna use it for two instruments (your bass and the singer's acoustic guitar or whatever), then set it to 2-CH on the MODE switch and plug the second instrument into CH.2 IN, with another XLR to the desk out of CH.2 OUT. If you wanna use it for one instrument with a feed to the desk and an amp on stage then set the MODE to LINK, bass into CH.1 IN, XLR to the desk out of CH.1 OUT, then use either (or both) of the right-hand jack/XLR to feed to your amp or anything else that takes your fancy. [quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1338633561' post='1677382'] A friend of mine uses the DI20s when doing sound, and personally I don't like them very much. The switch arrangement for the link output can cause confusion on a dark stage and the ground lift doesn't seem to work in the expected way. We had ground loop hum using a DI20 which wouldn't go away even with the ground lift on, but dissapeared once we changed to a Samson DI and lifted the ground. I carry an old BSS AR116 myself, but I know sound guys will usually prefer to stick with their own boxes as that's one less variable for them. [/quote] Interesting... I can't say I've ever had that problem with mine, but then I can't say with any certainty that I've ever tried to use it to solve a ground loop problem...

For emergency use, I'd go for a basic DI without modelling and let the desk do its job. After all, as soon as you've given a sound engineer a feed to play with, they'll try to make it sound how they want irrespective of your wishes (especially so if you're on stage, mid-set with a knackered amp and hence unable to argue) so you might as well make it a clean feed. The DI100 is fine, but the DI20 is a couple of quid cheaper, lighter, smaller, still takes phantom power or a 9v battery, still metal cased, links out on both XLR and 1/4" jack when used as a splitter and is capable of stereo / dual mono when you don't need to link out. Very handy little box!

How often do you rehearse? We do 3 hours every weekend (just because we like to, rather than need to) and I can't ever see us not knowing the right tempo to stick to; the songs are ours to begin with and they're just too well rehearsed. I could imagine, however, that if you were in a more 'everybody learn their parts at home and turn up to the gig prepared' kind of covers/function band, it might be handy to ensure everybody was going at the same pace that they'd learned the songs at.

Perhaps a little overkill - even if you're dead set on the LM Tube, I'm fairly sure that the 500W version into just one 4x10 (104HF probably your best bet) would be plenty loud enough. That said, if the money's burning a hole and it'll make you happy to own the rig you've spec'd, go for it!

Nah, sorry, can't agree. I'm very happy with mine... ...especially with the thumb rest removed and a Badass II fitted! See, if you don't like the black blocks, I figured you'd be looking at the stock photo and thinking "the only thing that could make that worse is if he'd stuck one of those pointless bridges on it", and yeah, I did it

[quote name='phatbass787' timestamp='1337788280' post='1665500'] Considering the amount of extra features and that they are making them in the [b]UK custom shop vs[/b] the OTB [b]made in china[/b] i think the price is actually really good. [/quote] I stopped worrying about things like that a long time ago. If it's survived travelling sea-freight and doesn't drop dead during the first few tens of hours of use (wherein you can easily get it swapped out under warranty) then it's probably going to last a length of time commensurate to the level of care shown to it during its service life, irrespective of what it is and where it was made.

I use Steve Clayton - Acetal Polymer 1.26mm. Our lead guitarist uses the same (as do I when I'm on guitar) so we get them by the 100, custom printed with the band logo. I used Tortex for years, but I like a pick to feel 'newish' and was always disappointed with just how fast they wore out, especially on guitar. No such problem with the Claytons - I might kill one a month if I'm really going at it and playing a fair bit of guitar as well as bass.

[quote name='Teobass88' timestamp='1337713529' post='1664458'] Yep, I think tha it has a very plastic sound...even with really good cab MarkBass heads (I can talk about LM and SD) are still compressed and absolutely without dynamic. I know that many great artists use MarkBass in many different kind of music (From Caròn til Orion) but these bad features make, in my opinion obviously, the sound of these amp's only suitable for Pop Music. [/quote] That's certainly not my experience of playing metal (Iced Earth / Arch Enemy type stuff) through my LMII and 104HR. Out of interest, is there a particular amp you favour? Might help those of us who like our Markbass rigs for heavier music to put your opinion on their gear into context. Oh, and totally OT, as a metal fan from Italy, I don't suppose you know what happened to a band called Warchild?

[quote name='cameltoe' timestamp='1337711184' post='1664413'] 4 ohms is always good with the Terror! [/quote] My only thought was that if you found a 1x10 or 1x12 that you liked the sound of and then fancied doubling up to get more of the same in a modular package, making your first cab a 4ohm would be limiting, particularly needlessly so given that the OTB is switchable. All that said, I have 3x 4ohm cabs (112, 212 and 410) because I'm 99.something% sure that I've picked the right cabs to only need one for any given purpose, so you know, please don't think I'm saying you're wrong to go for the 4

If you did want to keep things small, maybe have a look at the Eden EX110. Same money as the Ashdown mi10 but claims to have a bit more power handling and is available in 8ohm as well as 4, if that makes any odds to you.

[quote name='Jam' timestamp='1337467334' post='1660609'] Guitar: Intermediate, Vocals: Lead, Bass: Expert. [/quote] Are you sure he's not just telling you how far he's got playing Rock Band on his Playstation?

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1337252893' post='1657799'] My attitude now is that I won't plug my amp into unknown speakers and similarly I won't allow anyone to use their amp with my cabs. You can use my whole rig if you ask in advance or bring your own instead. [/quote] [quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1337334897' post='1658245'] A cab is far easier to break than an amp. What is there to break on an amp even if you turn it up to 11? A cab on the other hand can blow speakers at the drop of a hat if misused. [/quote] These. All or nothing, and only if agreed in advance.

Heh, yeah, I could see it being a bit of a beast, but given the main drive behind me getting one in the first place was Alex describing it (in context, of course) as "spectacular overkill", I'm not one to shy away from these things! I don't have anything that goes down to 2 ohms, but I do have a power amp that would sling 500W into each at 4 ohms linked-mono. At present I'm limited to throwing all 1550W bridged into just the one cab... ...but don't worry, there's a micro-thumpinator hidden in the back of the rack - wouldn't want to risk wasting any power!