legoman

[quote name='6v6' timestamp='1360231660' post='1966977'] Could you possibly describe a comparison between the LMT and TTE 500? I've been considering one of either the LMT500 or TTE500 combined with some sort of neo 2x12 so would be interested in your impressions (I know you said LMT800, but I'm guessing they are tonally similar?) I'm also looking for something warm, punchy, not scooped (fingerstyle country/blues/rock, no slap!), the sound in my head is what I heard the first time I heard a precision through an SVT and an 8x10, but in a more portable/small-venue-appropriate package [/quote] From my perspective there isn't a distinguishable amount of difference between the LMT & TTE when they are both flat, it's more when you fiddle with the 'colour' on the TTE and the VPF & VLE's on the LMT that they begin to show their own characters. I didn't have much time to really fiddle with the TTE as I primarily used it on a gig but was pretty happy with it in a plugin, quick fiddle and go respect, just that I do prefer to be able to scoop out some of the low mid woolyness which is easy to do on the LMT. Also the TTE doesn't have a dual mid cut/boost like the LMT does so the LMT offers a bit more in the EQ control dept. As I already use a compressor before I hit the preamp I didn't need that (as that features on the TTE) so again that is what has swayed me towards the LMT. I don't like it too scooped otherwise you begin to lose the note definition and then it just becomes more percussive when you slap so having the option to vary how much is scooped is a real plus for me, as I tend to do more mid and top boosting when I play live just so I can pitch easier what I'm playing so having the VPF means I have full tone control to add afterwards

[quote name='RandomBass' timestamp='1360229473' post='1966928'] I've tried a few in that list. Where did you get the chance to try the new ABM1000? I don't seem to be able to locate one in store. Cheers Geoff [/quote] Hi Geoff, Last year I spoke with Chris at Ashdown and he said that a few units had gone out to PMT a while back, so I popped into the Romford branch armed with my BF cab and tried it out in the shop. As I like the Ashdown tone I was impressed with the ABM1000, especially as it was smaller and much lighter than my EVO II but they retail around the £1000 mark so that kinda put me off! That said if you like the EVO II/III tone you'll be 100% with the ABM1000 Dave

After months and months of trying out a number of different Class D heads with my Barefaced Super Twelve T I think I have at last found the lightweight solution to my hideously heavy and too large Ashdown EVO II head....and that is the Markbass Little Mark Tube 800. Some of the other heads I've tried over the last 7-8 months have sounded great but kinda just didn't give me the type of sound I like when I hook up my EVO II to the BF S12T (which is nice defined punchy and responsive low ends without the wooly boom), but when I got my mits on the Markbass LMT 800, plugged in and dialed in some VPF and a touch of bass, leaving the rest at 12 o'clock and blended in a bit of valve it was making the kinda noises I have been searching for from a Class D amp. The other Class D heads I've tried include... Orange TB1000 Ashdown ABM 1000 Ashdown MiBass Gallien-Krueger MB800 Ampeg PF-500 TC Electronic RH750 Genz Benz Streamliner 900 Aguilar TH 500 Markbass TTE 500 Don't get me wrong, all of them are great heads (and the Ashown ABM 1000 is pretty much a lightweight EVO II/III but is still heavier and bigger than other Class Ds) but most of them IMHO just didn't quite nail it for me tone wise (either bass control was too boomy when dialled in, the tone was lacking a bit of smooth warmth or just did odd things like lose volume or crapped out when cranked). Having read what others are using with a BF S12T it is really varied and also includes pretty much all the heads I've mentioned, so I guess we all have our preferences tonally that each of these heads satisfy. Just thought I'd share my experiences with you in case you were looking to get a head to compliement a BF S12T that is punchy yet not too mid scooped to sound more percussive than tonally melodic (if that makes sense!)....also it means finally I only have to do one run from the car to a gig as I can carry everything in one trip

I recently borrowed the Randy Jackson Sig Markbass head and this sounds lovely with my S12-T and Musicman Cutlass, so to date it's only been this head and my old Ashdown EVO II out of the bunch of heads I've tried in the last few months that I get the tight punchy bass I really like. I'm gonna try and get my hands on an Aguliar Tone Hammer 500 to see what that's like, but if that's no good I'll probably opt for the RJ Markbass as my ideal lightweight head solution

Personally I found the OTB 1000 far too bass light when I plugged it into my Super Twelve T, especially when compared alongside the number of other lightweight heads I've tried with it, but it's not really designed for generating the fat punchy slap friendly tone I prefer. Saying that the OTB1000 with my Ashdown 4 x 10 sounded great, but that cab is waaaaaay heavier than my Super Twelve T so don't like to use it now especially as I can lift the STT over my head with ease in comparison and it's much louder

[quote name='4 Strings' timestamp='1349453578' post='1826596'] Be interested how it goes. Considered one of these but got the Streamliner instead without hearing the Mibass. [/quote] Well I tried out the MiBass but as I was playing a larger venue than normal I basically found it couldn't pump out enough volume during the soundcheck so I swapped over to my EVO II instead. Basically I had to have the volume maxed out and it wasn't loud enough so tried to increase the gain a bit more but the thing just started crapping out on any peak levels and distorting so I gave up without gigging it. It's odd because this thing is supposed to kick out up to 550W, which is close to the same as the max of one channel of the EVO II (of which only had the volume up to about 1 o'clock when I gigged it on Sat) but it was really way behind in terms of power and punch. Shame as it's a nice little number and probably be fine for smaller gigs but isn't up to what I need The search continues...

[quote name='4 Strings' timestamp='1349045019' post='1821170'] Mibass? [/quote] Funny enough I'm gonna road test a 550W MiBass during my gig on Saturday so I'll see if that's the one for me!

OK, so I've given the Streamliner a good testing over two gigs and I've decided I'm gonna chop it in as especially during last night's gig I was finding it was doing some odd things whilst I was playing and was having to keep fiddling with the EQ, gain and master volume, which isn't ideal. During my 2nd set it felt like the bottom end punch suddenly dropped out a touch and needed to boost the bass to compensate. Maybe I have a dodgy one but I gave it another A-B against my EVO II today and it sounded OK, but just find that rolling in more bass on the Streamliner is more boomy than the bass on the EVO II (with the scoop in) so I don't think it's quite the right head for the kind of sound I prefer. Brig - I wouldn't let my experience with it concern you as I'm sure that it'll do the job you're after. I think I might try the Shuttle instead seeing as it's got the scoop on it...shame though cos it doesn't look half as sexy as the Streamliner

Ok, so I gave the GB Streamliner a run through last night....I A-B'd it along side my Ashdown EVO II and managed to dial in something close EQ wise and it's fairly close to the sound that I'm used to but at the mo not 100% on it. I'm playing a couple of gigs this weekend so will see how it fairs then. I think that much of the tone I like is reliant on using both the EQ scoop and subsequent tweaking of the Ashdown EQ - I can mimic the scoop element on the Streamliner by cutting the mid with the switch set at 660 and cut to about 10 o'clock, then roll in the Bass to around 2'oclock but I then don't have the advantage of adding subsequent hints of bass and mid like I can on the Ashdown. I can probably get around this by editing the patches on my GT-10B to pre scoop the tone but it's a bit of pain to have to do this on the number of patches I use. The Ashdown is a touch punchier than the Streamliner in the bottom end way, as when I tried to roll more bass on the Streamliner I found it a bit more boomy than when I roll the bass in on the Ashdown. It maybe that the Shuttle is a better choice for me over the Streamliner seeing as it offers a scoop, but the vids on YouTube seem to showcase the Streamliner with a tone I prefer over the Shuttle which is why I went for that initially. That said the Streamliner is a fantastic head and I'm sure you'll be more than happy with it Brig, I just think I'm so used to the Ashdown scoop + EQ sound that it's harder to immediately embrace something else. Like I say I'm gonna give it a real go over the weekend before I decide on whether to keep it or keep looking, but I thought I'd let you know my initial impressions

Righto, it's arrived at my work today, feels really solid and looks like it can handle a few knocks but a touch heavier than I expected when compared to say the dinky Ampeg and GK heads I've tried (not that I'm complaining as it's still way lighter than my EVO II!) so will give it a full test drive this evening and let you know what it sounds like with the BFST

Just got the call from Nevada that I should be getting my Genz Benz Streamliner 900 tomorrow....will let you all know how this hooks up with my BF Super Duper Twelve T ASAP!

[quote name='4 Strings' timestamp='1348130882' post='1809607'] Or, indeed, GB! Its great to have found a tone to which you keep returning, clearly it works very well for you. Quite envious as I think I'm still looking to reach that position, probably defining by things I don't like rather than do. [/quote] I've been the same with my Ashdown EVO II...I keep coming back to it as it ticks all of my boxes apart from size and weight! I just hope the GB Streamliner I have on order comes somewhere close tonally otherwise my hunt will continue for the ideal micro head (or that I've have to save up the extra queen sheets and get myself the ABM 1000 :'( !)

[quote name='Graham' timestamp='1348073164' post='1808926'] Cheers mate, I'm planning on replacing my EBS Fafner and Proline 4x10 with (I'm thinking) a Super 12T and a micro head - I like a deep but articulate tone with a strong lower mid presence, you come across anything that ticks those boxes? [/quote] Well so far in the micro / lightweight heads dept, not yet from my perspective and I've tried a fair few now (TC, GK, Ampeg, Orange TB plus a few other randoms). I've tried out the Ashdown ABM 1000 with my BF cab which is really nice tonewise (very similar to my EVO II), but isn't 'micro' in the usual sense as it's about the same width as the BF cab but on the plus side it doesn't weigh a ton (it's about 9Kg from memory which is light for an powerhouse Ashdown head!). The major downer with this head is that it's not cheap (nearly a grand). I'm hoping that the Genz Benz will be the answer and from what I've heard it could be, but as usual it's not until you plug in and play that you feel whether it's right or not. Will keep you posted and if I come across any other micro heads on my travels I'll let you know. I think your choice of BF cab is ideal for that type of sound you're after. I play a variety of styles (funk, rock, blues, metal, d 'n' b / big beat) and it seems to handle anything I throw at it (especially when switching from fingers, thumbs and plectrum along with various overdrive/synth effects I use) so you'd be half way to your ideal lightweight setup by getting a Super Twelve T

[quote name='Graham' timestamp='1348054543' post='1808519'] You used a Gallien Kruger MB Fusion with the Barefaced by any chance? [/quote] Yes I have Graham, I gave it a good testing a while back but found that the GK lacked a touch of warmth to the tone, just a bit too harsh and hi-fi for my liking, plus the bottom end didn't feel naturally big and punchy (soz that's the only way I can describe it lol). I have a MusicMan Cutlass with a 3 band EQ mod and usually I have all the tone controls on full and let the head do the final shaping and initially will set any head tone controls to 12 o'clock, but struggled to get something I really liked with the GK with my Super Twelve T without serious tweaking of the tone controls on both the head and bass, whereas on my Ashdown EVO II it's pretty much plug in and go. Hope that makes some sense mate!

Just ordered a GB Streamliner 900 from Nevada Music to go with my BF Super Twelve but I gotta wait for it to come in stock, so will hopefully have it sometime next week. As soon as I get it I'll let you all know what the two are like together if The Brig hasn't done so by then!

Hmmmm....I'm quite tempted to just buy a GB Streamliner 900 from Nevada Music and try it out seeing there's an 8 working day 'return it if you don't like it' distance selling regs policy

[quote name='dood' timestamp='1345652981' post='1780085'] Paging 'legoman', paging 'legoman'. Someone who is very interested in finding about this particular combination! [/quote] Ha ha I hear you brother!! As The Dood knows, I'm coming at this from the other way having been a Barefaced Super Twelve owner for the last couple of months, but still looking for the ideal lightweight head to go with it and the GB stuff interests me no end. The BST is an amazing cab, especially for its weight and size and makes a welcome break from lugging around less powerful yet much heavier 4x10s. At the mo I've resorted back to my Ashdown EVO II 900 head (which weighs much more than the BST cab!) and have recently tried out the Class D version of the EVO III in the form of the Ashdown ABM 1000 with my BST which sounds just as good without weighing a ton, but would love to know if the GB Streamliner 900 can produce the same depth and warmth that I can get with my old trusty EVO II. I've seen the stuff on YouTube which suggests it could, but as ever it's down to how the pudding tastes. I've tried a number of lightweight heads so far but nothing comes close to the tone I like from the EVO II + BST combination so I hope Alex goes into overdrive at Barefaced and gets your cab to you sooner rather than later!!

[quote name='MysticGuitar' timestamp='1337670915' post='1663583'] [color=#000080]Hi, there, any ideas on the worth of a Musicman Cutlass [font=times new roman,times,serif]I [/font] pre-EB before 1984, serial number B020678? I had bought this in London at the Gallery many years ago and it was sold as secondhand to me. Thanks for any info. Btw, the serial number is on the bridgeplate, so this is probably dated between 1979 and 1983.[/color] [/quote] Interesting that you bought yours at the Gallery, which is exactly where mine came from many moons ago too (I think I paid something around £800-900 for mine in the mid-late 90s)...it's the only place I've ever seen Cutlasses on my travels, though surprisingly never once in the Bass Centre for the multitude of times I used to pop in! Ages ago I found a site listing some of the recorded serial numbers of MM basses including Cutlass I's and II's... http://www.musicmanbass.org/mycustompage0011.htm In respect of Cutlass I's it says... "It appears that the graphite neck was introduced late 1982 (per Oct 1982 catalogue) but not named "Cutlass 1" Bass until 1983. Although necks are dated from 1983 to 1984, some bodies used can be dated much earlier."