Ed_S
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Everything posted by Ed_S
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I've just put a little bung of money in the hands of a nice guy called Alex at Barefaced, so in order to make a bit of space and free up some cash, I'm offering my mini-rig up for sale. It comprises of a Hartke HA2000 head and [s]modified Ashdown ABM-115 Compact cab.[/s] SOLD[s]The ABM-115, although modified and gigged, is in great condition with only a few scuffs to the covering and corners - no rips or serious damage. The original Sica Blueline driver exploded on me, so I bought it a Celestion BN15-400S (8Ω) Orange Label neo driver, which although it doesn't have the power handling and excursion of a delta/kappalite etc. is a solid driver that sounds really punchy and articulate in this particular box. As well as the Hartke, I've also gigged this cab with my Little Mark and Orange Terror, and both suit it very well. I've fitted heavy duty rubber feet to the side of the cab to allow it to be used end-up on its own, as well as in its intended orientation along with other similar cabs. On its own it's a very capable cab, and with its new driver, weighs in at only 18Kg! [/s]SOLD The Hartke is likewise in great condition with just a couple of very minor scuffs from rack-mounting. Owned from new, it was my main amp about 8 years ago, then became my backup, and the last two years it's been my rehearsal amp and has soldiered through 3 hours of playing every Saturday in temperatures ranging from freezing to boiling without a single complaint. Upon inspection, it's hardly even accumulated any dust! I'm only letting it go because I also have its big 500W brother to take its place at the studios. I'll include the mains lead, a basic but functional speaker lead and the rack ears (which are silver as they were bought more recently). It's currently stored at our rehearsal studios in Sheffield, and collection from there would be preferred. [s]£200 together, or[/s] £100 for the head[s], £100 for the cab.[/s] [attachment=83495:Hartke_Ashdown_1.jpg] -
[quote name='Rich' post='1282113' date='Jun 25 2011, 01:34 PM']Really?? How? Do tell, this sounds fascinating/horrifying [/quote] Not that exciting, really.. My girlfriend was getting her mobile swapped under insurance as it'd conked out, but she works for a university medical school on site at a hospital and was told by O2 that their couriers wouldn't deliver to either type of address. I work in a school, but that was apparently fine for some reason, so I said she could have it delivered to me and I'd do the swap for her. The City Link guy arrived, but despite O2 having my name and number, the package was for the attention of my lass, so the receptionists had to tell him they weren't signing for it. Apparently he blew up about it and got really shirty until they suggested he leave. Compare that to FedEx, who managed to deliver a parcel to me that only had my name and the first half of the post code still visible on the label... or Business Post who offer to ring their drivers and get them to alter the route to get stuff to you before early closing in the holidays... even PostalFarce who've been regularly getting my PF48 packages unmolested to their destinations well within 24hrs in the past few months.
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[quote name='Anvil' post='1281822' date='Jun 25 2011, 08:23 AM']At least you didn't use sh*tty Link (City Link)[/quote] Yeah, the last one of those that came to work managed to threaten our entire reception team! UPS are a guaranteed train-wreck in my experience, too. Maybe we should get these guys... [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcG0oIpt1ew"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcG0oIpt1ew[/url]
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My tip for the audition itself is be sure to record it so you can all listen back and find out how good your would-be stars actually are. If you have a 4-tracker or similarly equipped laptop and can have the vocal mic on its own, a mic or processed DI on their guitar and then maybe a stereo pair for everything else, so much the better. Aside from helping you to decide, it also helps the singer perform in that you can play up to normal volume where they can really sing-out. If a singer doesn't like the idea of being recorded at an audition, then that's an instant 'no' anyway - you can't be a shrinking wallflower fronting a rock band.
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This is NOT a "what's the best bass for metal" question!
Ed_S replied to Evil Undead's topic in General Discussion
I play in a metal band and I play Precisions. Two of them are white, and one of those even has a white guard and maple board! Tell you what, though.. if you check the photos afterwards, it looks epic under the lights. Seriously, if a band turns you down at audition because you play the 'wrong' bass, they're going to be more hard work than they're worth - wish them well and find a different band. -
Maybe see if you've got any small recording or voiceover studios around you. A lot of independent producers probably wouldn't mind you sticking a fiver in their tea and biscuits fund in exchange for letting you play in their live room while they're just mixing / mastering stuff in the control room. Lot cheaper and quieter than a dedicated rehearsal room.
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Anyone subscribe to the seemingly quite common thinking that the original black-panel models are somehow better than the newer silver ones? I have a black HA2000 from years ago and a recent silver HA5500, and I've honestly never been able to tell anything between them apart from the volume. That said, the 5500 hasn't had enough use to judge reliability. Mainly wondering for the sake of the OP if hunting down a 2nd-hand original is better in more ways than just the price...
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I have the Eden EX112 and use it for the same things as you're suggesting. I personally really like it as a compact practice rig with my Little Mark II or Orange TB500, and given the volume it throws out I'd have no issues taking it out to play an acoustic gig. The only bad point is that it has a single very heavily recessed jack socket for hooking up - I'd have preferred a plate with at least the option of a speakon. The other thing to note is that due to the design of the speaker itself, we found it very difficult to get a pleasing close-mic'd sound from it when I took it into the studio; we eventually gave up and used a different cab. I never tried the 110, as I was naughty and bought the 112 sight-unseen from Germany as they just weren't readily available in the UK at that point, but aside from lacking a bit of low end of the 112, I'd expect it to be decent.
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I had a Warlock NJ5 with P/P pickup configuration, and it sounded amazing... which is why I'm so unimpressed that they've put them on a Jazz body. I really aint a J fan. The Precision might be a good one to run BEAD if those pickups are as solid as they look, though.
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[quote name='spaz91' post='1267372' date='Jun 13 2011, 03:06 PM']I've considered getting a modelling/digital amp but I have to queries: 1. Is the modelling any good? As in does it sound close to what it's pretending to be? And 2. Does including digital effects in a low price amp mean that they skimp on the other parts?[/quote] I always just think of modelling amps as providing a number of voicings rather than specific sounds, even if they profess to offer them. Reason being that I've probably not played the 'classic' in the first place so I wouldn't know if they'd got it right, but I know there's rarely a time that with 5 voicings from clean to progressively more dirty, an EQ and a bit of compression, you can't get at least a useable tone. As for digital effects built into cheap amps, I mistrust them too!
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Maybe have a look at a Line 6 Studio 110 - they're not bad for about that money.
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Go with the "if I buy the smaller one I might need to trade up later, whereas the bigger one is all I'll ever need" line.
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If you don't mind it being quite physically heavy, try [url="http://www.richtonemusic.co.uk/products/esp_ltd_surveyor_415_bass_guitar_natural-ltdsurveyor-415-nat.asp"]http://www.richtonemusic.co.uk/products/es...yor-415-nat.asp[/url] or any of the other 2010 LTD Surveyors that they're clearing cheap at present. As a local and a customer I can vouch for them being a decent shop. On a personal note, I have to say I'm surprised by the love for Ibanez BTBs - I bought a matching pair a few years ago (a 5 and a 6) and found them to be fairly rough-and-ready for the money. All the hardware started to tarnish quite badly after a couple of months, and the stock pickups/EQ were quite lacklustre. Have they improved the range substantially since I got rid?
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[quote name='Happy Jack' post='1264684' date='Jun 11 2011, 10:12 AM']I have yet to work out why so many people want new instruments.[/quote] It's purely fetishistic in my case. I get pleasure from taking them out of the original packaging.
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In general, you get what you pay for. The Squiers may well 'punch above their weight' (or some other such hackneyed phrase) and a lot of people are very happy with them, but in the grander scheme of things they're no Mexican Standard, which in turn is no American Standard. The American Special is a slight oddball in that (to me, at least) it just feels like a really good example of a Mexican, but you're paying American money for it when much less than the difference spent in petrol / local train fare would likely take you to enough shops to just find a really good example of a Mexican. If I had any advice it'd be to go and try some Mex Standards and see if you can find a good one. It won't feel the same as an American Standard, but if you find a nice one that plays how you want it to, it could save you £600 and feel every bit as good as the American Special. You could even splash out and get USA pickups for it, and still come in under-budget.
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Glad you bagged yourself a bargain and are enjoying it! For the record, I had exactly the same feeling when I moved over to playing Precisions - was like coming home, even though I'd never owned one before. No more worrying about flat batteries, or worrying that any one of the 6 stacked pots on the EQ might have moved in transit and lost that great tone you had, or worrying that the stock pickups would be naff and need replacing before it even became a serious instrument, or worrying that a particular bass might not look or sound suitable for a particular gig etc. etc. Just turn up, plug in, tune up and rock out. Did I mention I love Precisions...?
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[quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='1260490' date='Jun 7 2011, 11:06 PM']you should make him do a blind test IMO[/quote] I very nearly made myself do a blind test when I got my first Monster Bass cable.. I only ordered it to get into the free shipping band from Thomann, but I swear there's an audible difference in overall clarity compared to the Sommer / Cordial / Klotz stuff that I was using at the time. Now I use a L6 Relay system and don't own a hat, so it doesn't really matter
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[quote name='nottswarwick' post='1257696' date='Jun 5 2011, 08:09 PM']This one starts ics. It's only down the road so might see if I can get it at a good prIce. Are they any good?[/quote] Not bad at all.. I bought mine to experiment with BEAD tuning, all the time thinking that if it worked I'd have to ditch the Squier and get another MIM Fender to convert for actual gigging purposes. As it happened, the VM felt much more solidly built than I expected and kept in tune so I just ran with it, and to date it's done a good few gigs and been absolutely fine. Don't get me wrong, you get what you pay for, and I'll never say that it's "just as good as a MIM" because it quite simply isn't - it's not as well finished, it's not as pleasingly resonant a piece of wood and the tuning machines feel cheap, but since it was only ever gonna be used for 1 or 2 songs in a set every third gig, I decided I could live with that. I wouldn't worry unduly about its reliability if I had to gig with it as my main bass, but in terms of feel and tone the MIMs are an easily discernible cut above.
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Nah, I've just pulled my VM Precision out and I can't see much that'd help either. In fact, I don't even know from the serial who built this one.. apparently conventional wisdom is that at the start of the serial number: ICxx is Indonesian, made by Cort in year xx ISxx is Indonesian, made by Samick in year xx Mine is ICS09xxxxxx, so... go figure
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To say that I bought my TB as a bit of an impulse purchase when they first came out and stuck it in a cupboard, it's just rather impressed me. Through sheer laziness I ended up borrowing a guy's AD-200B rig at a gig the other night, and I couldn't help but notice the breadth of sound that was rolling off it, so when I found out we'd be a guitarist down at rehearsal this afternoon, I dug out the TB and took it along to try. To my surprise it behaved just the same and filled the whole sound out to the point where you hardly noticed the missing rhythm guitar; even the bloke in the office said that it sounded like an old-school all-tube head from the way it was shaking stuff outside. The cab's nothing special either, just an Ashdown ABM410T with the stock blueline speakers in it. Looks like it's a keeper after all...
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Still very much available, and absolute lowest I'll go on price.. the lot for £200. Anybody..? -
Has anyone tried the new SLIM C shape precision neck?
Ed_S replied to eParrot's topic in Bass Guitars
[quote name='bigsmokebass' post='1251035' date='May 31 2011, 06:04 AM']didnt feel like £800 worth to me[/quote] Exactly what I thought. Loved the red/black/maple, and the neck was a bit better finished than a MIM (though ironically I didn't notice it being any slimmer), but I'd only have put down £600 absolute tops for it. -
[quote name='Musicman20' post='1251269' date='May 31 2011, 11:35 AM']what else is there that can trump a well made American Standard?[/quote] A well made American Deluxe! Heh, well.. doesn't really 'trump' it, but I found the P/J config (which I don't normally like, especially aesthetically, but found it in my way to forgive just this once) and active EQ gave me a few more subtle options in the studio whilst still fundamentally sounding like 'me playing a Precision'. Added bonus of the current 2010 model being that you can turn all the fancy active stuff off and roll the balance up to the neck, and you're right back to American Standard config.
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Additional detail bump.. If it makes any difference, I've found the spare strings and they're 1 set of Warwick Black Label 45-135 round stainless, and 1 set of generic 45-130 round nickel steel. Also, if you wanted the original pickups, strap buttons and plastic knobs to return it to stock config, I believe I've still got those and we could come to a deal that included them. Any interest before I resign myself to having to fleabay it? Cheers, Ed
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I've got one. Only ever take it out for bigger gigs, but I specifically wanted it to be as small, light and easy to carry as humanly possible, so the HF didn't appeal. As for front vs rear porting, I just choose carefully where I put it on stage to get the projection I want, and I decided to get mine as a 4ohm so I get full power with it on its own, which helps. If it's any indication, my band plead with me to use it more often because "it sounds massive"
