Linus27

What a good question. Generally, I'm not a big amp lover, they don't really excite me that much but I would easily say that the best amp I have owned was the Hartke HA7000. An absolutely fantastic amp and if if wasn't so big and heavy then I'd be using one now. I wish they made a modern compact version as I'd be all over it but I guess being solid state and a tube preamp is the reason it's so big and heavy and not possible to condense. After that, then I would probably say an Ampeg PF500. Loved the tone and it just worked out of the box. Not massively heavy but by today's standards I guess it is. I really liked my Ashdown MiBass 550. That was a great little amp and I would happily use one now. What I'm currently using through my Barefaced Two10 is a Warwick Gnome 280 I Pro and I'm actually getting a great tone from it and lots of compliments at gigs. It's a little restrictive in creating lots of tones as it only has bass, mids and treble but that doesn't stop it sounding great. I'm thinking of getting the newer 300w V2 version and then adding a Sansamp BDDI into my chain to have a few more tone options. After that, I've used various Ashdown ABM and RM amps, MarkBass LM500, Genz Benz Shuttle 6 and 9 and a few Trace amps but by far the Hartke HA7000 was the best.

I look at my basses affectionately and have an emotional connection to them, especially my black Japanese Fender Jazz. I remember the day like it was yesterday my dad taking me to Nova Guitar centre in 1988 aged 18 to buy it for me. I had no idea what he was buying for me but it was an upgrade over my Tokai Jazz that I had at the time. I remember that night not being able to use it at my second ever gig, a civic hall gig in front of a few hundred and being devastated at not being able to play my new bass as the stage lights kept making it go out of tune. Now move on 35 years and it's still with me, incredibly beaten up but better than ever with bartolini pickups and a Shuker fretless neck. When I look at it, my entire music career is in that bass, playing at Brixton Academy, tonnes of recording sessions, two John Peel sessions, Radio 1 roadshows, Virgin Radio live sessions, 1000's of gigs and tours, recording my first album after getting signed, being in a promo video for ELO, tour dates with Paul Weller, European gigs and so much more. Most of all though, my dad bought it for me but passed away, never seeing any of my music career and what I achieved with that bass. So it may just be a chunk of wood but its a very special chunk of wood.

Thanks everyone, this is what I was wondering as I was thinking that I'd then run the DI to the desk from it so it would really need to be last in the chain.

Those who have bought one of these, any more thoughts on it, is is as good as the reviews say? I'm seriously considering one but it's a lot at £370 but does sound great in the reviews. Also, where would this come in the pedal chain. At the moment I run bass into tuner, octave, chorus, reverb and then amp. Would I put it after the tuner or at end the end of the chain?

Very sad news, a very melodic and creative bass player who to me was just as big a part of The Smith's sound as was Johnny Marr.

Will do, Andertons are not advertising them at the moment so just looking now to see if anyone else has them.

Oooh, good spot, think I will get one when they become available. They are bloomin loud as it is but won't say no if they have a bit more oomph.

Thank you everyone, really appreciate the help.

I've always got my cables from OBBM (Dave) here at Basschat but since he's stopped making them, I'm in need of a new cable. I'm after a decent Speakon to 1/4 Jack to connect my amp to my cab. I did buy one from Amazon which lasted about a week so I'm after something more reliable. I see Anderton sell them which might be fine but I'm after something that's going to be reliable and not fail on me. Any recommendations?

Yes it was but I found I couldn't really hear the backline which is what made me feel very disconnected to the band, especially the drums. I very much play with dynamics and energy, reading and feeling what the music is doing and either driving or holding back but using IEM lacked the feeling of any energy of a live performance and somewhat flat.

I tried IEM a few times and I absolutely hated it. I felt completely disengaged and unconnected with the rest of the band and for me having something stuck in my ear muted the actual stage sound and interaction with the band, especially the drummer. The whole experience felt very clinical and lost the energy and feel of playing live. The rest of the band did use IEM but I found after a few songs, they all pulled one of the earplugs out so to have have one in ears and the other half the live stage sound. The singer especially did this as she found it easier to pitch.

Thank you for posting these, I have this and have probably watched it a million times and my first introduction to John Giblin. Not watched it for a few years now but I shall tonight. Such a fantastic era of Simple Minds.

I have the Gnome Pro i 280 version and I can say I love it. So much so that it is starting to become my main head that I use with my Barefaced Two10 and the last two gigs I have done, I have been swamped by compliments. I'm thinking of buying another as a back up and then possibly buying a really good DI/EQ pedal to give me some more tonal options. @Phil Starr Its interesting that you say mid on the Gnome is bass at 2, mids at 1 and treble at 10. With my passive Jazz and Precision through my Barefaced Two10, I find that I have to run the bass at 9, mids at 1 and treble at 2. If I push the bass too much more, it becomes really bass heavy and the treble doesn't have enough range to compensate. It sounds phenomenal but I find it to be very bass sensitive.

His battered Precision.

I've had a set of fake Ernie Ball strings from Amazon in the past as well.

Geez, absolutely huge influence on me so incredibly sad to read this. I knew him mostly through Simple Minds and felt he very successfully filled Derek Forbes shoes, not by playing like him but by bringing his own incredible style to keep the bass a driving force and key part of Simple Minds sound. I couldn't tell you how many times I've watched the Simple Minds live in Rotterdam video just to watch his playing. I later discovered what other artists he played with and was even more blown away by his playing. R.I.P John and thank you for being a huge influence on my own playing.

In no particular order, 1) Derek Forbes (Simple Minds) 2) John Giblin (Kate Bush/Simple Minds/John Martyn) 3) James Jamerson 4) Pino Palladino 5) Adam Clayton (U2) 6) Tim Commerford (Rage Against The Machine) 7) Sting (The Police) 8) John Taylor (Duran Duran) 9) Paul Webb (Talk Talk) 10) Jaco Pastorius

I would love to try an Ibanez SRF700 Portamento. I'm a fretless bassist and I think they are beautiful basses but I play unlined and sadly it has lines on the top of the neck. I would love to play one to see how I get on.

I have Ebony on my Jazz which is beautiful. Feels lovely to play, looks lovely and really sings. Comes up beautiful with some lemon oil as well. I also have a high gloss maple on a Precision which is also really nice. Very articulate and sings but perhaps doesn't feel as nice to play. I also have rosewood on a Precision which again is very nice but a lot less expressive but does have character. It's more subtle and warmer. Finally I have Pau Ferro on a Stingray which is probably a mix between Rosewood and Ebony. I like it but it does feel hard but it sings very nicely. I've not tried Ebonal though but now I am interested.

I nearly posted above but I've got two fretless necks made by Jon Shuker and they are fabulous, especially the maple one which is like a piece of art. Plus hesxan absolutely top guy. I can't rate him high enough.

I've had a Limelight and I was disappointed. I was told it would be 12-16 weeks to make but took nearly a year. It was also made with the wrong neck so that needed re-doing. When it arrived, the new case I purchased with it was ripped so got offered a £15 refund. It also had huge earthing issue which made it unplayable and surprised me how this could of not been noticed before being shipped. Told to take it to a luthier to get fixed which ended up being a couple of visits. Was only about £30 for the first fix so I didn't bother claiming that back. Then more issues with the electrics cutting out so had all the pots replaced. Pickups also couldn't be height adjusted, they were just screwed into the wood of the body so I got that fixed as well. Once I'd spent about another hundred plus to get it playable it was quite a nice bass but it was borderline at one point on ripping out all the electrics and pickups and replacing them to get it playable. That was just my experience but I know others have had no issues.

Love the following, Duran Duran - Rio Smashing Pumpkins - Bullet with Butterfly Wings Foo Fighters - Breakout

I liked the look of the fretless.

I've had 3 already and keep selling them. I only play fretless these days so I would just buy one to look at and tinker on now and again so it might have more chance of staying