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The one thing with big heavy blocks of valve amps is that they are fine to carry in an empty space, in a straight line, from A to B. The damage (to yourself) comes when it's the awkward carry. The twist to get it up and out of the car. The shuffling in through small doorways. The getting past people who wont move. The having to carry the amp and open the door at the same time. The double doors where only one is unlocked and you have to tilt to fit through. Smokers on the door. Band members who leave gear everywhere. Band members helping who dont lift it right when helping, putting even more strain on you. Climbing steps. If you are going to use one, do everything you can to eliminate these. Get a hand truck. Work out how to stack. If not, if people are in the way shout at them politely to move. Dont stop moving. Stopping, twisting, moving out of their way will injure you.

Sometimes I've been skint so I've had to sell things I never wanted to sell, sometimes I've been doing well and sold stuff to buy better stuff. Sometimes I've sold loads of stuff to buy one thing. Sometimes I've sold one thing to buy loads of stuff. Sometimes as to copy the original bassist if I'm in a tribute. Boredom. The thrill of getting new equipment (but without paying for it, as gear I've sold pays for it). Probably none of it was for a marked improvement in sound or playing!!

Hi all, Dies anyone know if there are rack ears for the Ashdown RM500. Cant find anything anywhere. I could always attach to a rack tray if needed.

It's a good skill to learn when starting - playing without compression - as you do learn to balance much better. But it's always worth having a tad of compression no matter how good and balanced you are.

Probably £1000. My first rig in 1992 was a second hand battered, rubbish, temperamental carlsberg 90 stingray head which worked when it wanted to (remember 80s TVs worked again when you gave them a whack on top) and a very very poor 15" cab with those washing machine door protectors. And I got that at a bargain £200 !! I wouldnt pay a £1 for it now!

Haha, 'The calves bassist' sat at home spitting his tea out, wondering why hes being discussed on basschat!

No. The only shame is itll be the same again next week or whenever the next one is.

Looks like it's been taken down from gabrielle's page.

Haha, yeh, valves usually sound better than calves! good to hear.

Does it do the calves sound well? Or is it more standard class d sound?

Weird. The demos look really nice.

I think if you go one way - valve to class a/b to class d you dont notice as much. But when you go the other class d to a/b to valve you do. I'll never forget years ago - late 80s early 90s - when everyone used to record on cassettes at home. I had A kind of magic by queen which I recorded from tape to tape. My brother had the cd which had some extras on so I tagged the extras on the end of the cassette recording. Listening back to the cassette it's fantastic. Great sound. Good depth. Great quality. Then the original recording ends and the songs I'd recorded from cd come on and wow! Absolutely different quality, depth, space, everything. Making the cassette recordings I'd had on earlier sound weak and poor. Yet only 5 minutes before they were great! I think it's just what your ears attune to. I used a/b for years, then went to class d for years. Then valve briefly, then back to class d. Now back to a/b and valve. Theres a place for them all. 99% of amps are perfectly acceptable. Sound good and do the job. But in a side by side comparison are quite a way apart in my opinion. Also, some styles of music suit certain amp types better too.

Yes, it's on her own page.

Idiotic. Selfish and stupid. More and more all I see is people between 15-25 who are out and about just not giving a toss about anything. This video doesnt change my mind. The venue / organisers clearly couldnt control the crowd (who weren't even rowdy) or worse, protect those in the crowd who didnt want to be surrounded by these people. Shut them down until they learn. Or fine the organisers heavily. Very heavily. We cant even practice up here, never mind work, and then we see things like that..... how is it fair if they get to carry on and coin in the money.

Currently, after years of being pedals into amps, simulators into amps etc, I'm a strictly bass - amp - cab player. No doubt I'll go round the merry go round again, but at the moment simplicity wins. Never sounded better....but I say that whatever set up I use!

I do it everytime I finish with a band and join a new one. I think it's quite good to remember that band by that equipment etc. All, that will happen though is you'll buy a great new rig, tailor it to your needs for that band, and then ....... get bored and change it. I've had some amazing gear and some terrible gear, and still havent learned any lessons! It all comes and goes through the revolving door.

UPS always been great for me.

Well...... finally got to give my ctm300 valve amp a blast tonight in a socially distanced out of restrictions rehersal. And @walshy you were right! It really was fantastic. I'm now keeping it for good. I found it likes to be loud and pushed. The louder you turn the volume knob the better it plays and sounds, rather than just going louder for the sake of it. It's definitely NOT the same sound as a class d or class a/b sound. It's like a chorus of bass coming from one speaker. Completely different feel. No 'just' bass sitting in the mix. More bass on Ready Brek. Bass with a nice warm glow. Worked really well with Indie stuff. The more confident I played the better it responded. The EQ doesnt do a great deal but even Mark Gooday says that. It just fits. Nice. Even the drummer commented it sounded lovely! Never had that before. Ever! So, yep, add me to the list of bassists still playing a valve amp.

As above, wireless really helps, but also talking to your drummer. If its loud to you and he is struggling to hear, try angling towards him (or others) and see what they think. Also, and this sounds daft, but everyone has done it before, make sure your not stood directly infront of your speaker (like inches away) blocking all the sound from coming out. Humans make excellent sound blockers! Failing that, eq is king. Itll take some time to work out what's what, but I'd be tempted to ignore the 'bass' end of things and concentrate on finding the 'mid' spaces. I imagine big brass sections etc really fill the low end. Dont compete, find your own space and take it from there. Good luck.

I used to rip them off. Tidy all the loose skin up and treat them best I could from there. Theyll be a bit sore playing, but ok. Whenever I've left them in the past theyve been painful to play with, popped during the gig and blooded the fret board and strings. And then as they're raw it's more painful to play with.