VTypeV4

Thanks for that ^^ @MoonBassAlpha - I'll go through the cable and pull the cab apart again but typically, nothing has misbehaved since. 😬

Agreed - 100%. 💯 ❤️

'06 VM after I'd been out with it the other day - it's 'only a Squier' but there's no doubt that this is a 'real' Jazz.. ❤️

+2 on the DEQ2496 - they're pretty comprehensive and sound pretty good too. ❤️ As for a digital mixer, I'm 100% with @Phil Starr here. it feels like a big step and it is to be fair but, if you take the time to learn the basics and get comfortable with it's operating platform, you'll never look back. I first used a digital console in around 2010 and bought my own just a few years later. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of tablet based mixers but it's not that there's anything wrong with them, I just really prefer some physical / tactile control and actual faders. The Soundcraft UI24 was the last one I used and it had all the usual suspects with dynamics and EQ on all the I/O plus the 4 FX units were pretty serviceable too..

At 15 years old back in 1998, I purchased a little Trace Elliot Boxer 30 as it blew everything else I'd tried that day out of the water. It played louder, cleaner and offered a reasonably 'big boy' sound out of a manageable size box. I've had more than a few different brands over the years and they have all been great but I always come back to a Trace of some description - they just work for me. I had a V-Type combo for many years - it was the 4808 which was a slightly later variant with the green furr and four 8 inch Celestion drivers. It was loud, capable and stupid heavy. I loved the sound of it and did many gigs although I eventually sold it to buy an Ashton BV300 plus speakers. I still go backwards and forwards on whether the 4808 or the TwinValve Combo sounded better - both were pretty knockout. On the V-Type subject, the V4 MK2 and and V6 are amongst the finest pieces of bass amplification I've owned and as such, are definitely keepers. I'm in Hanley so not a million miles from Audley - I've probably passed it many times. 👍

I'm very familiar with the SMX but the extra bells and whistles of this later preamp with the Harmonic Emphasis and Variable Valve stage are particularly useful - it sounds killer with the anniversary Jazz. ❤️

I don't think I've ever used a Sennheiser that I didn't like - the 935 / 945 is generally well liked and again, in most situations, just a bit 'nicer' (for want of a far more descriptive term! 🤣) than a stock Shure 58. Hoping the O/P gets it all together and sorted. ❤️

Not yet - I'm 41 so hoping I've got a few years left yet. 😬🤣

If you've got an AH500X, It will work in stereo but not if you use the input via the front panel - all GP11 / GP12 have a single, mono instrument input. To do two inputs, you'd have to go in via the individual L/R fx returns but then you'd likely lose all that lovely EQ plus you'd almost certainly need a separate preamp / line amplifier to get enough level to drive the individual power amp sections in the AH500 adequately..

Ha, all good Phil - hoping it helps those in a similar situation. 😀 As for the 57A, I find they work well in most situations. They offer a generous pickup pattern, a healthy output level and great feedback rejection but are aften overlooked and overshadowed by their siblings, the 58 and Beta 58A. I've found the 57A superior in nearly all applications, not just vocals. 🥰

Ok, I'll play.. I have two with both dating back to 2006: 1: A mid nineties 6-string Status - I think it was an Energy Artiste with a wooden neck but it had the two-band EQ and was the 'other' body shape so not 100% on what it actually was. I do know it played like butter and was a beautiful instrument but I sold it to buy a 600 Suzuki. 2: One of the early Fender Jazz Deluxes. It was in a beautifully vibrant semi-transluscent blue colour and being a '96, had the 50th anniversary thing on the back of headstock. After an incident with aforementioned 600 Suzuki and a broken wrist, I had to sell it to pay my council tax and pay for repairs to the bike. 😬 I replaced it with a Japanese Marcus Miller signature at about half of the value of the deluxe. I never got on with it, sadly so sold it a few months later. These days things tend to stay so I've become something of a hoarder..

Hey Phil.. 😃 With regards to the 'bright' thing, as echoed many times in this thread, EQ (parametric or graphic) inserted on the main L/R output will be your friend. People will often talk about something being a bit 'toppy' or 'tinny' (I really hate that term) but the offensive frequencies nearly always reside in the upper mids somewhere between 1.6 and 4kHz. Certain singers and mic combinations may also accentuate this frequency range so again, corrective use of channel EQ can help smooth things out. If your mixer is really clever, it may have dynamic EQ or more likely a multi-band compressor which could also help although I'd suggest you start gently with those as they can cause as many problems as they solve. As for mics themselves, first of all make sure singers are singing 'into' them rather than at them as proximity effect may also expose this upper mid problem. A lovely Shure Beta 57A may work better than a standard 58 or a £20 Behringer XM1800 may out perform both of them - it's a combination / application thing and one size generally doesn't fit all. I did find the sE V7 mic works very well in lots of situations but I rather think your problems aren't really to do with the actual gear but with the setup of it. There's plenty of good advice and plenty of options to try here but if I were to offer my own a words of wisdom.. Only change ONE thing at a time and return it to it's original position before trying the next thing. Take as long as you need doing this and only then can you decide which are making the most useful changes and which combinations are going to work best. Good luck. 👍

Old but gold there, man - they're tough old things and will be a 'good' 150w per ch. Bi Polar Bear power amps were only fitted to SM, possibly some early SMC, mid production SMX and the earlier V-Type hybrid models. None of the pro-audio or stand alone products used it. If I remember correctly, the RA300 and the later PPA-300 don't even have a fan so given a little air flow, I would expect they'll outlast us all. 😃

A slightly more compact solution - I love the glowing panel and it sounds incrdible. 🥰

I collected this compact but weighty beast from Bristol today - a last bastion of the 'oldskool' Trace Elliot dating from Feb '99. I'll not fly into a drawn out essay here but history suggests this particular era of TE wasn't known for the same level of quality as their heyday but this example has stood the test of time. Everything works and it makes all the noises it's supposed to. Initial findings suggest the tonality is a little different than the SMX models and the additional features are very interesting so I'll do a review at some point. Did I need yet another black and green box with Trace Elliot written on it? Of course not, but I convinced myself 'something more compact' would no doubt 'come in useful' which if I'm being honest is at least half true. Anyways, I'm very pleased with my new toy as it sounds truly fantastic. ❤️

It was 'challenging' to say the very least! 😬 Those Pro series Midas do sound good although I've never gotten on with their operating system particularly well - especially that patching screen! Given the choice, (as I'm sure you know!) I'd pick Yamaha, A&H or Digico for a 'proper' gig. Having said that, Germany was probably my first nightmare on one.. Looks like you've had some lovely views, Mike - it even seems like the sun came out, too! 🥰😃 As for the control room, thank you - I feel like it's looking (and sounding!) very good indeed although I did add some little Kinsman lamps to both the ML and DM. A&H uses a different pin-out so I had to rewire the four for the ML - it was simply reversing the black and white wires between pins 3 and 4 on the XLR connector. The ones in the DM worked without modification although the filter on the pic makes them look much brighter than they really are. I'd have got some for the 02R but they don't have a lamp socket, sadly. ❤️

I appreciate that opinions vary greatly on these - personally, I rather like them. Where I'm struggling is to find a genuine Fender one with the 'F' logo in GOLD. Chrome finished ones are easy to come by - with or without the logo and gold ones without the logo are also out there but I just can't seem to find what I'm after. I've tried various google searches to no avail. 😐 Does anyone know where I might find what I'm after? Like this but in gold finish. ^^

AH300-SMX at the studio after I'd put it back together the other day. Still one of the finest compression circuits for bass guitar - in my opinion, at least. 👍

I took my 300-SMX to a show the other night and it got very unhappy with me which quickly ended in the silent treatment.. 😬 I'd been using it at home these last few days as it wasn't really practical take one of the V-Type amps and associated cabs as the sound is a little different plus the venue was somewhat 'cosy'. Paired with my Trace Elliot 2103H (2x10) cab, the compact setup packs quite a punch and was ideal for the situation. I played about three notes that sounded fine but then the sound just kind of 'fizzled' out. The lights stayed on as did the direct out so I worked round the lack of power amp and speakers - the performance was well recieved. Today, I began investigating and quickly found both the on-board fuses (both T5A) associated with the power amp section had blown. I happened to have some spares so removed the bad ones and put the new ones in place and fired it up. No smoke, no funny smells and most importantly, no popped fuses so I powered it down and recreated the failed setup with the same cables and speaker cab. Still, no blown fuses, no odd behaviour or even the hint of a problem. This unit is a later example with the much improved Clive Button Mosfet 300w board rather than the older and slightly twitchy 'Bi-Polar Bear' power stage. I played the amp (far too loudly for the house!) for about 10 mins - far longer than at the venue and it held solid so I've since buttoned it back up and it appears to be back in full health. Can anyone shed a bit of light on what might have happened?

Thanks Mike - it seems that the new M32 has been happy to play more than one show and has settled into it's role very well indeed. 🤣 Looks like you've been flat out and I'm really pleased you're flying the A&H flag loud and proud. I still don't really think there's much on the market that can get near the SQ currently - A&H seem to have truly won with them. As for the bigger stuff, the dLive is probably the most intuitive and easy to use flagship - I'd probably choose one over an SD12 and I'd be really hard pressed to pick between a CL5 and the A&H. I'm loving the picture of the old SD8! It's been a while since I've used one as most places seem to have gone to an SD12 now. The SD8 was the first big Digico I did a show on - it's sea of knobs and buttons but reasonably intuitive once rolling - great board. ❤️ Of all the shows I've done recently (or in the last few years to be fair), I only had one nightmare which was in Germany. A Pro-2 which had become very twitchy was the centre of my troubles. In the 15 minutes between bands, whilst the house engineer was double checking what I needed (very helpful, btw) I was putting some presumptious settings in - effects setups, compression envelopes etc when it got 'stuck' in sends on faders so re-boot number one. Now with only about 6 minutes before the show, having re-scrabbled some of the lost settings back in, it then refuses to assign / re-assign any DCA / Pop or subroups nor will it allow me to turn the upper auxes on for FX sends - restart number two. The show gets pushed back by a few minutes as I re-re-scrabble settings and don't really get chance to line check anything - not even gains so it was pretty much a 'check and fix it all on the fly' whilst they're on and playing - very unpleasent. 😐 On a happier note, a recent pic of the control room. 👍

I've been tempted by these more than a few times - very cool indeed..

It seems we had a bit of a false start with the M32. It did one gig then refused to start ever again so the Yamaha was put straight back in to service for a few shows. Of course, it worked without fault or issue - as ever. The faulty M32 was returned sometime last week with a fresh Midas box arriving at the venue yesterday. You can see the new, new desk under test in the background. An hour or so later and the replacement M32 is in place awaiting it's first show this coming Saturday. 😃 Recent Kirk Brandon tour at the Islington 02 - here I was mixing Ruts DC, Theatre of Hate and Zac Starkey at the Vive le Rock awards. TOH at the Glasgow 02 with a lovely Digico SD12. TOH at Northwest Calling - Manchester Academy. KK's Steel Mill hosted this years 'Westworld Weekender' - their brand new A&H SQ was a pleasure to use.

So in a slightly sideways move, neither a an X32 or Qu32 were purchased in the end - I chose an M32 to replace the 02R instead. Built well and feature laden, hopefully it will provide at least as many years service as the Yamaha did. The Midas had it's first show yesterday (18/5/24) and worked perfectly - as expected so all I have to do is teach the apprentice how it all works now. 👍 It felt a little sad removing the Yamaha as it marks the end of an era - 02R's have been used at the RIgger for the best part of ten years which is longer than any other console that's been in service at the venue during the last 25 years. ❤️

^^ That Contemporary 5-string looks absolutely stunning.. ❤️