BassBod

The Ritter one is ok, and the Warwick one is a Warick one (nice bag but with crap soft/thin padding). The Levys is worth the extra cash if you think you'll use it a lot. But - two basses together are heavy, and I find it a lot easier to carry two bags.

Shaftesbury's good for me..half way to the inlaws so that could be useful with the kids....

There are playble tough plywood basses around (Czech 70s school basses etc) but you won't get "loud" from them. Mine does "thumpy old trad/bluegrass" with the right strings, but it is low acoustic volume and with no woody complex mids to get all jazzy about. But I can take it around pubs/festivals/weddings/funerals etc without worrying about what might happen to it. And I always have to use a pickup - audiences don't listen to bands anymore. Actually, bands don't listen to bands anymore. Am I sounding old? Even for a decent but rough ply bass I'd guess you're looking for £400 - £800 plus new bridge, strings and a bit of set up. Plus pickup/preamp. If you buy from a dealer you'll pay more, but may get some of the upgrades already done..if you're lucky.

From memory the Aguilar circuits don't add any gain to the pickups - so they don't boost output as such, until you crank the eq. I used some old Barts with one, and found the output was similar to a low output passive bass. I guess (assuming wiring is all ok) its hotter pickups or another preamp...but first push the input gain on your amp and see if you like the sound. My guess would be better pickups will get you there.

The protec contego has big front pockets..but I would always keep an amp in another bag, away from the bass. Metal boxes and basses in close proximity is asking for trouble - I know there is padding etc, but its never that good even in the really expensive bags. The other problem is that by the time you add guitar strap, power cable and speaker cable (plus one or two instrument cables, tuner) you might as well carry another small bag.

Now you're just scaring me..... I sometimes use my SWR eq as a high pass filter, but just to protect the speakers on "loud" gigs....but my definition of loud is very different from yours! To be honest I think the simplest and safest way (excluding your hearing) is to use full range signals and just exploit the differences responses inherent in different cab designs, with eq as a fine tuning? Even high-tuned-banjo-playing Stanley Clarke used to use Marshal guitar amps to give mid range crunch (I believe its called, never had a use for it myself). Find head/cab combinations that sound good, then find a way of linking them without bad earth loops? Then find a venue where you can make that sort of noise...next door would be ideal?

I think I'm working, but may pop into town if I can. That's a long way way to go - hope Friday pays better than the Monday deps I do sometimes! I keep meaning to ask you about the Henriksen combo - any good?

Well...I do what I can...but I'm essentially far too idle/distracted to get any serious work done on upright. I blame the fender jazz for making me so lazy!

Could be fun..... (another Bristolian...)

I had a think about this - most of my giging currently is by car, but I do also walk around town a fair bit for teaching. The best case/bag i've had is the Levys canvas gig bag (CM19 or something) around £100 (?). A couple of things make it better - its about as small as it could be and still fit a Fender style bass, its very light but also tough with simple straps and the foam padding is real. Unlike a lot of cheap bags it does provide good protection and is only slightly bigger than the guitar. The storage is a bit limited (one pocket on the front and a useless one at the top) but it will take a strap and lead. If I had to use the tube...that's what I'd take.

Hi Valere (and Greg), Haven't seen you for ages Looks like a Bristol bass convention....it could happen? (Duncan)

Mo Clifton has made a few 5/6 string cherry basses - short scales with strings thru body (but not always?) Have a look www.cliftonbasses.co.uk. I've got a 4 sring fretless - [attachment=40558:DSCN0617.JPG]

I've used the square version (Warwick and Sadowsky - made by TKL) quite a lot. Good points are light weight, pretty good all round protection from bumps and drops. Not much bigger than a standard gig bag (the better ones are usually larger). I've put them in vans (carefully on top of all the other stuff) and never worried. Bad points - there are screws/bolts that can push into the inside of the case. One in the Sadowsky case scratched a few basses until I worked out what it was. They are not as strong as a "proper" hard case. I still prefer a Hiscox. The Protec contego is a similar concept - currently £65 ish from Thomman?

Now, that is an amp.

The issue really is fingerboard - fretted Wals are usually rosewood, fretless (from Customs onwards) are usually ebony. If the ebony whine is your goal then a rosewood board probably won't get you there. Having said that - the Pro basses were generally all rosewood or a variant ("parrot-sh*t" was one!).

Recently bought an old TE amp from Chris - exactly as described, arrived safely in good time (for a snowy Christmas!). Great deal all round.

I think the difference is that the VT preamp voicings are more Ampeg specific (SVT to B15). The Deluxe bass driver is a general "amp emulation" with overdrive/distortion - not tuned to represent any specific brand of amp. I've used both the original bass driver and VT and I like them both. A lot.

I've not tried any PJB amps (only a few mins with a briefcase) but I have used EA and Acoustic Image amps. My observation is that they both have a significant background "hiss" that is constant and not varied with eq or gain settings. But, its only noticable when you play solo at home - in any gigging environment (even really small) you wouldn't know. My 20 year old SWR 220 is almost silent in comparison. I asked Euphonic Audio about it and they were pretty clear - the operational "noise floor" can be improved by tweaking the preamp component quality - but its only worth the effort/cost if it really bothers you in critical situations. In these circumstances I'd probably ask for a different amp from the retailer. If its bothering you I strongly suspect there is an issue with that unit?

There are two things the F2B really needs, and would be nice additions to a simple valve preamp. A very good passive DI transformer/circuit and a simple "eq bypass" switch, so you compare the "tone-stack/no stack". Also maybe a low boost and high boost switch (Trace valve preamp?) but with a more gentle effect than most. The high boost on the F2B really is way too aggressive for modern speakers and tweeters - was probably fine with cabs in the 70s.

Im always interested in these sorts of designs, and I could use a low wattage valve head for a lot of my work. I've used an old Alembic F2B (twin channel fender/RCA tone section) and SWR stuff extensively - here are some thoughts. The "fender" passive eq is great, but only once you really understand how it works. There are situations where you think some sort of active mid control would be great...but you don't actually need it. Turning the bass down can work wonders, but is very hard for a bassist to do! I've never really got on with the SWR (Studio220/SM400) eq. I can make it work, but I always end up with the same settings...and I only seem to use the lowest band as a high pass filter to remove the rumbly ultra low stuff. My ultimate small gig/recording set up is this: Alembic preamp into SWR Mr Tone controls, into Radial passive DI, into power amp of SWR Studio 220 (low wattage, Mosfet). Its not loud, but it is a fantastic sounding combination. I just wish it could all be squashed into a small box....

Longer ago than I care to remember..I had a Series 6 AH100 that was great for two years, then started humming and crackling. Phoned TE and they said they'd pick it up and fix it for no charge, and they did. They said it was a connector block/plug inside that shrunk and pulled at the connecting wires between circuit boards - I got the impression it was a very common issue with Series 6 products for the first year or so? After that it was a great little amp.

Have a look at the luthier list here - Frank Aust (Bath side of Bristol?) springs to mind, but I'd expect it to cost £30-40 to do well, so may not be worth the expense?