BassBod

Any good?

They vary a bit in size and tension, for example the Pyramid ones are huge,very floppy but sound completely old, the D'Addario set are almost regular size have a tighter feel and a bit more mid to the sound. The LaBella range is probably the most varied, and a good place to start. The one potential problem is that they all block the earth connection through the bridge that exists on most basses - so in some situations there can be an annoying earth buzz that doesn't stop when you touch the strings. I've had this on one or two places, and it is annoying of you are DI'd into the PA (and playing music with quiet bits!).

There is a thread in the repairs section, listing amp techs...should be one that’s close...

Just run it from the effects send out put, into the line input on the Orchid box. It should have enough headroom, although I did drive one into clipping once, being heavy handed on a very loud gig 😳. The Orchid runs best on phantom power. Any doubts, drop Jon an email - he’s a very helpful chap.

I guess Golihur are the other option, as long as you factor in the import costs and exchange rates 😳

Recently did a UK/Ireland bass trade with Drew - pleasure to deal with, despite my inadequacies with a tape measure! Recommended - great communication, just how it should be BB

Thinking back...there were a few Rickenbakers around as well..which I found surprising, even then. They were very expensive in a place like Bristol, so I assume most had been acquired in that London rather than locally.

The best gear I remember seeing, probably very late 70’s was a local guy who had a fretless Wal, with a Wallace head and EV 15” cab, and a Polytone combo for small gigs. Other than that it was all 70’s Fenders, some Ibanez and Aria and loads of Peavey and HH. The Sound City heads were quite popular, and not very old then either..and a lot of TV’s still had valves and were rented 😳

Good chance its just dirt on contacts. With the amp unplugged form the mains, put some switch cleaner on a jack plug and push in/out a few times - do this on the input sockets (including the one you don't use) as well as the effects loop send and return. Also the speaker jack (if it isn't a Speakon). Check all your cables...especially the speaker cable.

Would’ve loved to hear Jaco on a Steinberger, I read that he did own one...but never seen any evidence that he gigged it.

I think it’s a MkIV and was sold as a 150w amp, but regardless of the numbers it’s a seriously loud combo...I don’t see much advantage in adding more external speakers when the internal 10” drivers can produce plenty of volume. Edit - the speaker socket holes/grommets are there because they used the same metal back plate for the contemporary AH150 amp head. I’m pretty sure the combo was 150w into its own speakers as a combined 4ohm load. That may not be the case with the new speakers. The XLR input socket is not wired as balanced, so it’s more of an alternative - TE just thought it was a much better connection than a telephone jack. There was a bit of an early 80’s trend to put XLR outputs on bass guitars (inspired by the Alembic 5pin) but it didn’t take off. Lovely amp 😎 Edit - the ECI is an earth continuity indicator - only lights up if the amp doesn’t sense an effective mains Earth. Quite useful...and it normally flashes for a few seconds after you turn off.

If it’s only the underside of the saddles, that should work fine, as long as the height adjustment grubs screws are still working. Ebay is probably a good place to start, or a call to Hohner. I think the same bridge is used on a few different versions (Spirit etc) so shouldn’t be too hard to find.

There was a 12” SWR Workingmans cab on a FBook bass sales page a few days ago..really cheap. Good design (slightly wedge shaped) but just the cab. Will have a look and see if it’s still going. Also there are some new Ashdown Studio combos coming soon. The specs look good, but it might be a few weeks before they are available. Edit - cab sold

I think the JJ has a bit more drive in the front end, but you probably couldn’t tell much difference unless you had both amps in front of you 😳

The SWR workingman stuff was very good, especially from the earlier days. Not light by modern standards, but I did several years with the original 12” combo. A sansamp or other preamp box helped a lot to warm it up. Used ones these days tend to look pretty knackered as the RatFur carpet gets worn if there isn’t a cover on the amp. A quick going over with a nylon washing up brush can help restore the carpet, but how much it cleans up depends on the treatment it’s had. Worth looking out for 😎