dannybuoy

There's a lot of old farts with bad backs playing bass these days!

Checkout the lightweight GK MB2-500... Lighter than the Markbass and sounds much more 'rawk'. It has a footswitchable overdrive that's supposed to sound great... but they are having a few issues with the early models (RF interference, thermal shutdowns when played for too long!), so I'd wait until they sort those out then it'll be one sweet amp. There's also the Ashdown Little Giants that are just out if you can stand the paintjobs, and if you like the basic Ashdown tone then checkout the ABM 500 heads, they turn up cheap second hand!

I never knew King's X were playing, and you lot are sounding pretty good too - let us know if there's any more tickets available, looks to be all sold out!

I suggest checking out the classified ads over at Talkbass! Lots of tasty amps on offer.

They're chunkier though, but supposedly more robust than the Georgies.

Also be aware that some amps get really loud within the first half of the volume knob, then don't get any louder, while others behave differently. e.g. 12o'clock on the volume knob on amp may be 50% power, but on others it may be 90%. A cunning ploy to make the amp seem loud when people try it out in the shop environment!

Yeah, it's best to use your ears and not your eyes!

I'd like to know if anyone else reports that the volume is somewhat lacking...

For general playing,the Trace 1153 and Barefaced Compact will both provide plenty of top end. They both roll off around 5k or so, just like my VT Bass pedal. Trouble is, the VT Bass neuters the sizzling top end you get from some fuzzes or from slapping, so I'm considering that I may want an adjustable tweeter for those kind of sounds.

Cheers for the input, not entirely sure on what kinda cab I want right now. Alex's cabs sound (on paper) amazing, this idea is a way of putting together a poor man's Compact without woodworking skills if I could get a broken 1153 for say £50 or so and get the 3015 driver for about £100. I'm leaning towards 15s, but not sure if I need much response above 5k or not. Usually not, but when using a synthy fuzz effect that extra sheen above 5k sounds good... I'm going to make some recordings and filter them to see how much top end I would actually need/miss.

Check out the Hartker LH500 and LH1000 amps, best bang for buck going. Much better than the older Hartke stuff apparently. Then you could get a 500W head for less cash than the Ashdown 300W!

[quote name='obbm' post='371306' date='Jan 5 2009, 07:50 PM']I received my LG1000 from Sounds Live last week but haven't had the chance to plug it in yet as it's too cold in the garage. I have a possible gig on Friday so I may well use it then.[/quote] Too cold to try it out?! Buy an electric heater from Argos, plug it in, AND START JAMMING MY MAN!!!

I've got a Humprey Modded Bad Monkey, been stomping on it for a year with no issues! Never heard of any reliability issues with em apart from the above. For the price (£30 new for the stock version) you won't find much better. You can change a couple of caps to make it more bass friendly, but it's meant to be pretty good out of the box. It also sounds awesome going into a VT Bass pedal. And I think there's a Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive in the classifieds...

I'm thinking of getting an old knackered Trace 1153 and replace the driver with a Kappalite 3015 to give it increased power handling and a better all round sound. Anybody ever done this? I've downloaded WinISD but haven't fully sussed it out yet. The ports on this cab are round tubes that look like they'd be easy to modify if the cab needed to be retuned. Any advice would be appreciated!

It's a passive tonestack which will be different to the usual Hartke EQs. If you turn the bass knob up, it increases the volume going into the mid and treble stages, and if you boost the mids it increases the volume going into the treble stage. If you turn all 3 knobs down, the amp goes silent. I'm not sure, but it sounds to me that if you boost the bass knob you may just experience a volume increase unless you reduce the mid and treble to compensate. And boosting the mids to get rid of the scoop should also boost your treble, so you'll have to reduce that to compensate. This will confuse a lot of people used to more conventional modern EQs. But it's all meant to sound very nice anyway, so just tweak em until it sounds good!

The 121H is also a good match for this combo, it's a taller box than the mini 12 and will also give you deeper low end, but it's the same width so will look like a better match sitting underneath your combo.

So, if the knobs at noon on this amp result in a mid-scoop, I guess that get a flat EQ setting out of these you have to boost the mids, which due to the design also boosts the treble so you'll have to reduce the treble. Am I right?

You just put the KP in one of the loops A or B or the LS-2, and set it to the correct mode that will allow you to switch between that loop and bypass. Then you can set the level control going into the loop with the knob on the pedal. I've not used a Kaoss Pad though, so maybe someone else can say why you're getting a volume drop.

That pedal does not boost, it just reduces volume - it says 'passive attenuator'. Check out a MXR Micro Amp or Catalinbread Serrano Picoso (I just sold one of these on the forum!) or just search for clean boost pedals. Also, does the volume drop when the signal simply passes through the Kaoss Pad, or only when it's turned on? If the KP is screwing with your sound when it's turned off or in bypass mode, then I really recommend the Boss LS-2 instead so you can completely switch the KP out of your signal path when you're not using it.

Yeah, if I ever get one I'll try and get a lightweight 4-ohm cab that can handle 500W. I'd view it as a 500W amp with an extra 500W thrown in for free should you ever need it later!

I wouldn't bother - a DI box converts your signal to a low impedance balanced signal, which isn't necessarily at line level. I don't even think the Kaoss has balanced inputs so it would be a waste of time. You either need a preamp, or a clean boost pedal, or I reckon the Boss LS-2 would also do the trick.

If you want a dirty rock tone like you get from the Orange, I would suggest Ashdown - get the Little Giant 1000. A 1000W portable amp for only £290 delivered. It's even orange, so you'll feel right at home! They are brand new, but a few reports on Talkbass I've read are all very positive. Keep the Orange 1x15 cab if you can handle the weight, it's a beauty! I'm tempted to get the LG1000 with an Orange OBC115 myself, they'd look so PUURRTY... [url="http://www.soundslive.co.uk/product.asp?id=8585"]http://www.soundslive.co.uk/product.asp?id=8585[/url]