Nickthebass

How old are the class Ds? Like you I have never had a hiccup but the STM900 is now ~10 years old.

I have a Radial Bassbone Mk1 and a SansAmp on my pedal board so I can run to the PA or into the head’s power amp if needs be (assuming the power stage hasn’t gone pop). I’m trying to get a sense of the chance of me needing my back up option as that would change what I want as my primary back up vs 3rd string options.

I have an early GB Streamliner 900 - it has been to the tech for preamp replacements a couple of time in the past year (I’m not too bothered by that as they’re still the original valves). The message I got from the tech was that the power amp may become unreliable or lose volume due to its age (can’t say I’ve noticed a problem). I asked what he would buy his bass player (ignoring tonal considerations) - something with transformers or valves in the power stage rather than class D. Any of our resident boffins have a view? (Paging Dr @agedhorse). Should I be worried about the fact that my only amp is a 10ish year old class D? (I have never had a problem with it before other than the noisy pre-amp valves.) I’m looking at this purely from a reliability / fix ability point of view - this isn’t a question about the tone. Thanks!

I see you've moved off the "max out the volume and tweak the input gain" approach. Why was this (from reading the rest of the thread I thought this was the builder's recommended way of running the head)? Also - can you share a bit more about the gig and the room please? What was the line up, how big a space were you covering (room or stage), how loud a was the gig, was the DI pre or post EQ? Apologies if I've gone a bit "20 questions" on you but I'm trying to read across from your warm and fuzzy feelings about the amp into my situation.

@Woody1957 - thanks for the suggestion but I think the splitter is probably solution for me. If I change cabs again in the future it'll likely be to another 2 cab set up - making the splitter box a simple permanent fix. Thanks @Woodinblack - I hadn't even twigged that these were a thing!

I’ve been thinking about the WB100 - but …. is there any way of getting a 4 ohm load on it without daisy chaining the cabs? I’m running (gen 2 I think) a Barefaced Compact and a Midget T which have only one Speakon in each - so daisy chain is not an option.

Personally - I would go down the head and cab route every time. It’s more flexible and gives you more room for growth. That Ashdown head and cab should be fine in a number of gigging situations. If you need more poke - add another 8 ohm cab and draw the full 500 watts from the power amp. If I was picking cabs for you I’d point you at the Barefaced stuff and build yourself a modular rig. I run a pair of their older cabs - a 1x12 and a 1x15 - giving me in effect 3 rigs to pick from depending on what I need. If / when I ever change them out it’ll likely be for the more old school sounding Barefaced rig - a 2x10 and a 4x10. I am not knocking the Markbass stuff at all - it’s great. Check out their heads and cabs. There was an SA450 head for sale on here - something like that would be great. For me the only hard pre-requisite on a head is two Speakon outs. A head and cab will do everything that a combo can do and more!

Don’t know but you may hear a cry of “pics or it didn’t happen”!

Ok - so that’ll be a late 80s Japanese Squire? Those thing f***ing kill. The necks are great! I still have my first bass - a white 1986 (I think) Squire Jazz. Throw some fancy dan pickups in they’re unbeatable value.

You’re right - Jazz basses do look cool. Ok - *long winded answer alert* *apply the in my opinion filter* The short answer to your final question is - no. It’ll need a visit to a good guitar tech (there’s a thread here somewhere with a list of recommended techs all over the country). They’ll need to rout out a new hole for the split coil pickup. The more typical (I think) modification would be to buy a P and get it routed for a J pick up at the bridge. Again this is major (and non-reversible) surgery. Personally - I wouldn’t even consider it. If I wanted a PJ I would buy one. Personally I don’t buy the “best of both worlds” argument about PJs. For me the best sounds on a Jazz are both pickups on full or backing off the bridge pick (anywhere from a smidge to all the way). Both pickups on full on a J has “a thing” (a bit hollow, nice lows, a bit of cut or bounce up high) that you can’t get from a P. To me - a PJ is neither one thing nor the other. It’s a J with the wrong neck pickup or it’s a P with some a load of business at the bridge to that shouldn’t be there. @Richard R is right on the money. The sound and feel of the instrument in your hands is the most important thing. If it doesn’t feel good to play then you’ll not likely to want to play it and won’t develop a relationship with the instrument. @Bridgehouse is right that the split coil P pick has “a thing” that is great and works in loads of contexts. The counter to that is that a J will do a better impression P than a P will of a J. Anyway - that’s all a matter of opinion. Having looked for Ps with a 38mm nut myself, my conclusion is that they are pretty few and far between unless you want to custom build. In terms of sounds - which players do you like and what do they play?

There’s a great interview with Rachel Loy (Nashville bass player, songwriter, producer etc.) I read yesterday where she compares stunning an acoustic guitar to playing the bass.. ”It’s like an endless windshield wiper that has zero impact on the song. Then you pick up a bass and you hit a big old note, like, “What now, motherf***ers?” [Laughs.] https://bassmagazine.com/artists/rachel-loy-nashvilles-finest

Am I the only one who read that as … my name is Paul “WAAA AAAH and I am funky”!!!

The American necks felt pretty similar to me - don’t recall if the measurables were identical though.

+1 to this. My hands aren’t the biggest and I play 5 pretty much all the time. The 4 extra notes are cool (sometimes) - but being able to play a low E whilst still having 2 octaves pretty much under your hands is great. I learnt on J’s - and have pretty much only ever played them. Don’t be spooked by the P’s wider nut. The modern ones (pretty much anything that isn’t a 50s reissue) I found to be totally playable. I had the “my hands are small therefore I can’t play a regular P” thing in my head for a long time though. The modern ones are also pretty reasonable in terms of depth front to back compared to some of the older style baseball bat necks which again helps if you don’t have tentacle fingers.

Ok … zombie thread … but - tell me more about this box set!