Bass Culture

My first experience of BD was when we paid it a 'quick' visit when we were holidaying in the Cotswolds after we'd been to Warwick. I left my wife and our two friends in the car outside and said I'd be quarter of an hour or so. An hour later I came out having fallen in love with a Roscoe LG3000. I spent a couple of days more on holiday trying to convince myself that I talk myself out of buying it before we went back to pick it up. He's great guy to deal with, Mark. You never feel pressured and when he suggested I try the Roscoe it felt more like he was introducing me to someone he thought I might get on with than sell me a bass! He really knows his stuff. When I took my Rebelhead back recently because some of the buttons had started to crack he was as genuinely bemused as I was and was straight on the phone to TC to report the fault, before he swapped it for a new, boxed unit - no third degree, just a genuine interest in the problem and a strong desire to sort it. As a customer I think he gets it spot on - I feel valued without feeling fawned over. Which means I'll be shopping at Bass Direct for years to come!

Dear All, Thought I'd share our reworking of Jordin Sparks' 'Battlefield' with you. As we've acknowledged that, with our minimal line-up, we can't compete with the overblown, over-produced originals of some of the songs we're doing we've decided to go down the making them our own path instead. Hope you enjoy it and would welcome any comments. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWCW8Cy2GHs"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWCW8Cy2GHs[/url] For you gear hounds out there I'm using my Roscoe LG3000 through my TC RH450 into two Purple Chili PC112 cabs btw. Our guitarist has posted 5 songs from the gig on YOu tube so there's other stuff there if you're interested - including a cover of Sia's rather wonderful 'Buttons'. Pip pip! Mark

Only had a quick flick through my copy and missed Alex's column so I'll look forward to it when I get properly down 'n' dirty with the mag this weekend...(I think all this w*** talk has rubbed off on me - see what I've done there?)

[quote name='daz' post='838441' date='May 15 2010, 09:07 PM']Im in Chester and would love to give one a whirl. cheers. Daz[/quote] Hey, I'm in Chester too! I'd like to join the list as I did own a Compact for a short while and am beginning to think I didn't give it a fair crack of the whip after all. Would definitely like to give it another chance now I'm settled on my TC RH450 as my amp of choice. Cheers, Mark

Can I add my name to the list? I'm in Chester. Mark

I'm really looking forward to reading M&MB's impressions when he gig's with the Super 12. I'm not particularly gassing at the moment as I love the flexibility of my two PC112's; even so, there's still something really appealing about a genuine one cab solution (at least for me with the size of gigs I'm likely to play for the foreseeable future). Looks neat too!

His solo stuff is good, his Weather Report stuff better, but his Joni Mitchell stuff is untouchable. 'The Dry Cleaner from Des Moines' anyone? Inspirational!

I had a Compact for a while which I ultimately wasn't convinced by and sold, but I think that had more to do with my ears being more attuned to 12" speakers and the fact I convinced myself I was lacking a bit of mid-range punch and definition. I really like the look of the Super 12 though and still really want to like Alex's cabs - I think a 2 x 12 like this could be just the answer for me. One cab to rule them all!

[quote name='alexcar66' post='817530' date='Apr 24 2010, 08:12 PM']no idea who he was, but that was a cello not a bass[/quote] Er, yeah, just watched it back and, er, yes, a cello it was. Like I meant say before - wasn't her cellist just great! I'm suitably embarrassed...

Loved her voice but her bassist's playing on her second track was wonderful, I thought. Loved the way he changed seamlessly between plucking and bowing, the solo was really tasteful and he had a great sound too. Anyone know who he is?

Johnny - what can I say? Insanely helpful and insightful. Just brilliant - thank you. Mark

[quote name='BassBunny' post='798624' date='Apr 7 2010, 01:02 PM']Wish I had known you were playing in Warrington Mark. would have come over for a peek. Where were you at? As a slight aside, I was using my Zoot's with TC Rebelhead on Sunday and the addition of a GRAMMA Pad. You want a tight "bottom". Get one. I have had problems in this venue in the past as it has a largish stage and the sound is always "boomy". Have tried in vain to EQ it out to no avail. The Gramma Pad made all the difference.[/quote] Hi BB, I think the place was called 'The Seven Woods' - ring any bells? Somewhere inside the M62 it was, in the vicinity of IKEA. It was actually our first gig and we all really enjoyed it. Our singer's a revelation. She does a lot of her own gigs to backing tracks and really knows how to work an audience. She's only been singing lead with us for about 3 months, since the last singer bailed out. If you fancy a trip over to Chester we're doing The Bridge Inn, Tarvin Rd, Chester on Saturday 1st May. I've been thinking about a Gramma pad actually. Trouble is I like to raise my stack up so it's closer to ear level and use an old Hi Fi stand for the purpose (top tip from Rowbee there!), and a gramma pad wouldn't give me as much height. I'm only a shorts arse but it would still only be a neck level with a gramma pad, I think.

I was gigging in Warrington with my TC Electronics RH450 and PC112's set up on Sunday evening. Really good sound - full, punchy, tight and defined, with bass to spare. As we're only a four piece with one guitar and no keybaords it adds significantly to the sound we generate as a band. I'm really pleased with this set up. And, of course, loading up at the end of the gig is a breeze too!

Nice old Peterson combo too! I loved mine.

[quote name='jonsmith' post='786899' date='Mar 26 2010, 01:18 PM']In the past fortnight I've used my RH450 and 1 RS210 in rehearsal with both my bands. To my ears, it sounds even better in a band context than it does 'at home'. It sat nicely in the overall sound of both bands, being clear and distinct without my volume being overpowering. Had to do a couple of quick EQ tweaks, but the controls are so versatile yet easy to use that it literally took seconds to get the right settings. Still really impressed...[/quote] Have you used it with your Wal. Now Wal are back in business I'm seriously thinking about ordering one as a birthday present to myself in another year or two. I'd love to know how it works with the Rebelhead. (Apologies for the slight hijack btw.)

I love my RH450 and would definitely recommend spending some time with the manual and tinkering with the EQ as (I think) a couple of the controls are shelving and therefore affect all frequencies below (Low) and above (High) the selected frequency point. I wasn't too familiar with this set up from previous amps I've owned but it's a really intuitive and sensible approach imho.

[quote name='alanbass1' post='770181' date='Mar 10 2010, 11:18 AM']You can see from my signature that I'm a big Markbass fan, having two heads and a combo. I actually find my F500 a little too clean and prefer the warmth added by the tube compressor in my TA501, which is my favourite MB head. I also recently purchased a RH450 head. I got the RH450 as I wanted to get a little more 'grind' to my sound which I used to get when I was running a P Bass trhough an SVT in the 70's/80's. The RH450 gives me that and works especially well with passive basses. I'm getting to grips with tuning in my active basses as well, but I will still keep hold of my Markbass gear as it is really nice and I'm in the fortunate position of not needing to sell it. The trump card for me is that I can swtich between clean and grind, the compressor really is excellent and having a built in switcheable tune is also great.[/quote] So good you said it twice!!!

[quote name='chris_b' post='769343' date='Mar 9 2010, 03:53 PM']Me too. I used to think that I must have bought the only non-sterile sounding Markbass amp! To me the LM2 has a fat, full bass tone with plenty of punch and a lot of zing, and I usually run the EQ flat. I think that anyone who hears Markbass amps as sterile needs to look at the rest of their signal chain or go to EQ school![/quote] I think there's a bit (i.e. a lot!) of generalisation in the last sentence. I for one wouldn't describe Markbass amps as sterile, having owned both a LM II and a SA450. I [i]would[/i] personally describe the LM 11 as sterile, but I wouldn't the SA 450 - I quite happily lived with one for a couple of years before I had a brainstorm and decided to 'downsize' to a combo. And as for anyone who hears Markbass amps as sterile 'needing' to look at their signal chain or going to EQ school, I'll respectfully decline, I think - you go if you want to, I'm happy as Larry with my opinion and my RH 450, thank you very muchly!

"Me? Im happy with the standard RH. " Me too! Can't see me changing for anything for quite some time. I'm as happy as I've ever been with an amp!

[quote name='Muzz' post='769253' date='Mar 9 2010, 02:03 PM']Well, I spent an hour in Sounds Great yesterday A/Bing the RH450 with a LMII, plus the RH 2x10 and 2x12 stack against the MB Jeff Berlin and 151HR. I had the LMIII and a 410HR, but it all got nicked (there's a thread somewhere about that), so I'm after a complete new rig. I was very surprised to find I MUCH preferred the MarkBass gear, as there's tons and tons of enthusiasm and giddyness about the RH450 around at the moment. I didn't like the tubetone valve simulation on the RH much (my Roland D-Bass did a more convincing tube tone on its Vintage setting), and overall I thought it sounded less full and rounded a sound altogether. If anything, the RH sounded too modern and sterile - unless the tubetone was dialled in, when it sounded like a cheapish distortion pedal. Maybe with some EQ tweaking the RH450 would have given me a more acceptable sound, but the LM flat was just [i]there[/i]. The onboard tuner is a corking idea, the memories are great, I love the LEDs (but you can't read the button titles at the top because of the overhang), and the unit itself just exudes quality (and so it should for the price), but when it came to the tone, there was no contest for me. I was, as I said, surprised. Thank God I didn't buy the TC gear simply on recommendation. YMMV, natch. [/quote] It's extraordinary isn't it, the difference between people's perception of the same gear?! This more or less sums up my experience of my RH and a LM II I tried - except exactly in reverse! I found the LM to be sterile and kind of thin sounding, compared to the RH I went with, which sounds - to me - fuller and more character-ful. Makes you wonder just how valuable anyone's but your own opinion is!

[quote name='Musicman20' post='747320' date='Feb 16 2010, 03:15 PM']They have apparently changed all the preset centres and the tubetone/compressor.[/quote] When you say 'apparently' have you seen a reference to that being the case somewhere - Talkbass maybe? I'd guess that might the kind of tweak they'd do. Me, I'm in the 'so what?' camp - the RH is so adjustable in the first place why would I want to pay a few hundred pounds more for an adjustment that I could make anyway - in all likelihood? The more I read the more I think what you're paying for is Rocco's name being attached to it!

Damn whoever mentioned an upright! I was going to smugly pronounce my GAS free-ness following last year's magic roundabout that eventually saw me settle on my Roscoe LG3000, TC RH450 and two Purple Chili 112 cabs. But an upright would do wonders for our 'lounge lizard' version of 'Use Somebody'! Damn, damn and double damn...