richardjmorgan

Interesting. So you reckon the higher wattage is likely to solve this issue, even if going into an 8ohm cab?

Cheers, althoughI have actually given this a go (well, running into the top of two 8s stacked up as my amp only has one speaker out and these couldn’t be daisy-chained) and there wasn’t much of an improvement – a lot of the heft I get through 4ohms just seemed to be missing. (Additionally, I’ve had pretty decent results from a single, lower-down 4ohm cab.) I assume it’s something to do with headroom, but I’m still fairly new to anything that isn’t a massive valve guitar amp.

Hi all, it’s been a while. Since my return to bass about a year and a half ago, I’ve been playing gigs pretty regularly and a recurring issue has come up. Generally the shows we play we’re sharing backline and just taking our own instruments, plus heads and breakies. I’m using a Aguilar Tone Hammer 350, and for the most part, I’m loving it. The only problem I’m having is that it sounds noticeably worse going into a 8ohm cab than a 4ohm one (presumably to do with it only outputting half the wattage into 8th). Since I don’t have much control over what cab I end up using, I wonder if a potential solution would be picking myself up an extra 8ohm cab i can take with me to shows and daisy-chain it in along with the “house” cab if it need to make things up to 4 ohms. Since most 8ohm cabs I encounter tend to be short, this would have the added advantage of giving me something coming out of a speaker closer to head height. First up, is this a sensible solution, or have I overlooked some issue with it/a better and easier way of solving the problem? Second, if yes to the above, then what cabs should I be looking at? The smaller, lighter and more portable the better, really – ideally, something I can carry one-handed. Genre-wise, it’s a stoner/desert rock kind of vibe; Jazz Bass through a Bass Muff, into the amp, so ideally, something well-suited to that. Cheers.

Does anyone know of anything similar to this, but with a pocket big enough for my amp (Tonehammer 350)? I'm in the market for a new case/bag but would prefer not to have to lug the amp separately.

Just received the Flea Jazz I bought off Iain. Great communication, absolutely no hassle; all went smoothly and quickly. Smashing. Oh and the packaging was a particularly impressive job, too.

[quote name='machinehead' timestamp='1497642052' post='3319786'] I have the Reidmar 750 and it's a beast of an amp. Tone and volume in spades. So, even though I haven't heard a 500, for the price, I reckon they must be a super-bargain. They don't have the "drive" knob that's on the 750 though if that's important to you. Also, Thomann have the old version, the Reidmar 470, for £388. These have a reputation for being more powerful than the figures suggest. Worth a punt if you're on a tight budget? Frank. [/quote] Cheers man! Not too worried about the Drive, as I'm planning to run a Bass Muff in front, so this might be worth having a crack at!

What do people reckon to the EBS Reidmar 500? Seems quite reasonable for what you get.

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1497612261' post='3319468'] I had the TH350, if used with gain/drive it`s plenty powerful but if you clean it up then against a loud drummer and Marshall half-stacks it does have to fight a bit. [/quote] I'm not too concerned about staying super-clean (I'll be using a Bass Muff in front of the amp) so maybe this is worth a punt.

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1497607603' post='3319426'] Where are you based? [/quote] UK – London

Cheers for all the replies guys, lots of helpful stuff here! I like the look of that Aguilar Tone Hammer 350 on ebay – looks very easily portable! Is 350 going to be enough wattage for me, through a decent-sized cab? On the subject of cabs – a few people asked – I'm planning to be either using what's in a practice room/venue, borrowing, or hiring for the time being. So playing nicely with a variety of cabs is deffo something I'm after in an amp.

Sounds like I've got some testing out to do. Much as I'd love to get myself some colossal, all-valve bastard, I'm not likely to be in a position to readily transport one, so it sound like one of these little chaps could be a reasonable compromise. Anything else I should be looking at?

Thanks all, looks like my initial suspicions about this being kind of a daft idea were correct.

Ok, bear with me, but, theoretically, would it be possible for someone who knew what they were doing to carve a neck with a P-bass nut width to J-bass dimensions? Obv a new nut would then be required, but unless I'm overlooking something, it'd be do-able right? Only thing I can think of that might cause problems is the positioning of the truss rod, but maybe someone wiser than me can confirm whether this is the same regardless of the shape of the neck. Suspect the answer might be "it'd be cheaper and less hassle to just buy a Jazz neck and bolt it onto a P body", but I'm kind of thinking out loud here.

Thanks guys. Budget-wise, I'm probably looking at spending <£500, cheaper the better. But I could stretch that a bit for something totally awesome.

Hi everyone. I've jumped back into playing bass seriously for the first time in a long while, and need to get myself amplified. Since I was last paying attention, it seems that small amps are rather the thing, and the idea of being to carry my bass, amp and pedalboard around relatively easily is hugely appealing. My only reservation is whether or not one of these tiny amps is going to be loud enough for my purposes. Need it for rehearsal/gigging in a stoner/desert rock kinda band – the guitarist's going through an old 70s or 80s valve amp that doesn't have a master volume, so we run pretty loud. My main other consideration is having something that'll play nicely with a variety of cabs, as I'll either be using what's in the venue/practice room or hiring something. My initial thought was the Orange Terror Bass, as I'd heard good things about it and liked what I heard on the occasions I've seen it being used, but it seems they don't make it any more. TL;DR: Recommend me an amp / loud stoner rock / as small and portable as possible. Cheers in advance.

Hiya, quick technical question for those of you who know what they're doing with this sort of thing. I'm about to tart up my old 90s Encore P-bass copy for a bit of demo recording, and just wondered what value pots I should be using as replacements for the ones already in there. In case it makes a difference, this bass is tuned C# F# B E. There's also a possibility I might be able to borrow a SD Quarter Pounder off a pal, so not sure if this would influence my pot decision. Cheers.

Ooof. I'm no gold hardware fan, but this is a brilliantly-executed update on a classic design. Nice.

A quick update: we finally got round to trying this out, using an Ampeg 410 we rented at our rehearsal room and, while "serviceable" was about the best we were hoping for in terms of sound, it actually sounded really good! Kept the gain fairly low, just enough to get a bit of dirt in there, but it still sounded nice and punchy, with some lovely valvey warmth that our bass sound's always rather lacked in the past. Only real drawback that we could see was, being a guitar head, it hangs over the edges of the cab and looks a bit daft. So now we think we're going to use this as our bass rig, so are on the lookout for a decent 410 to pair it with. I say "decent"; I actually mean "as cheap as possible without being liable to falling apart or sounding utterly terrible." Anyone have any recommendations? Or something they want to sell? Or want to tell me why we should get something other than a 410?

I'm amazed this has got six pages in without anyone mentioning Run to the Hills.

[quote name='BassTractor' timestamp='1369846497' post='2093446'] Many moons ago, I found a cheap pot motor that you could mount the (volume) pot in - space in amp permitting of course. Came with a remote, and could be bought in hobby shops. Have no idea if this stuff is still marketed, but it should not be hard to source a brand name pot motor at a higher price. best, bert [/quote] Oh man, I need to get one of them for the other guitarist in my band. Then mount a controller for it on my pedal board.