BassBod

BTW - has anyone else got a white peak input LED on their Retroglide? Something tells me it should be red....or is it just me...

The Goliath II has a huge drop in the upper midrange - I’ve always had to eq differently to others. Don’t use the pre-shape, turn up the mids and go easy on the bass...and stand ten feet away 😜

Go gently with the alloy rods - replaceable, but they can snap with only a bit of effort 😳

I must get my Retroglide fan changed - they say they can fit a quieter one. Good to hear there is a noticeable difference 😎

Now I understand why my Retroglide has a fan, even though it never even thinks about getting warm, let alone hot. I guess the earlier designs proved it was better to be safe than hot...

Andy Manners - very very good, in Corsham just along the M4 (or A4 in old money).

Sadowsky flats or DR flats - both are much more forgiving and flexible than most flats, and have plenty of life. Black tape wounds can be nice, but they also break the earth connection at the bridge so can make your instrument a bit buzzy (not in a good way) in some venues. My favourite for fretless is still DR Sunbeams (or Pure Blues). Nickel round wounds, but gentle on fingerboards and it takes a long time before the marks are significant, even on a rosewood board.

Should work well, except the single coil hum would be an issue, if you included a true single coil option. Running a passive J bass into a Sadowsky preamp is very close to the same thing..and that's always sounded great to me. I would use DiMarzio Model J humbuckers, cut off the tabs on one side, and glue them together. Not very elegant (or exactly the same size!) but should be fun.

Yes, before messing around with IC's I'd want to know the power supply was still operating within spec.

Not this year...but have fun 😎

Recently bought an Ashdown combo from Chris - great BassChat transaction. No worries here.....fair price, all as described...good communications...how it should be!

Not a particularly dodgy bit of Brizzle, although it does have some more vibrant areas close by. Hope they had some sort of insurance, but I suspect not. That starts in your mid thirties...

Should work fine, but there is a risk of earth loop hum if not using balanced connections with an earth lift option. You can run the preamp out (or DI) into any amp's effects return, but what you get depends on the levels...jack output/line level would be best.

Surely BD could stretch to a Sat delivery...amazed they didn't offer 😳

Looks a lot like one you put together a while back? 😜

Don't spend much, a modern Sovtek or Electro Harmonix 12AX7 would be fine. The original was a Groove Tube..but they just re-branded modern valves, mainly Chinese production. They run some production now, but not back then. SWR and Groove Tubes were close to each other, hence SWR's generally shipped with them.

Swapping the valve is easy and pretty cheap, and there is only one - try that first. My experience is that preamp valves go on for many many years, and usually just stop working after getting banged about in transport. I'd also check the speakers/tweeter. Its quite a lot of power into some not very great speakers (by current standards) so its easy to damage them by putting too much into them. The original version was something like 240w but the Super version upper that quite a bit..something like 350w into the internal 2x10" cab. SWR's always get hot (by design), especially those without internal fans - if the valve makes no difference and the speakers seem ok then get it checked over for failing components.