la bam

Good point. I'll send them an email.

The matrix new range looks really good, and in time I'll probably go for that, but £500 - £1000 just for the power amp section doesn't really make it good value compared to what you can get at the moment. Usual case - if I had the cash it's be a no brainier, but im looking for a cheaper alternative at the moment, so may have to go heavier etc.

That's why I've hardly ever bridged. Ah well....bigger amp it is!

I think you should be able to get an old school vibe out of any set up. Breakdown the 3 items. Bass - if probably roll some tone off, and primarily use the neck pick up, and roll off that bridge pickup snarl. Amp - eq tweeks. If you're unsure how to achieve it, if roll all the eq off, then add back in dial by dial until you work out just how each one affects the overall sound and how they interact with each other. Having that knowledge will work wonders when adjusting live with the band. Cab - hopefully by the time you get to this you'll be sorted, but if not, if there's an option to adjust the horn give that a try.

So, if i bought an amp which could run at 2ohm - like the QSC 1450 - that would mean bridged it would run at 4ohm, which would make it safe to run my 6ohm cab? Or is it better just to get a bigger amp and run just on one channel?

Thanks, i think ive got it now. So, the amp can only give out a maximum of 500w. It can achieve that by putting out 250w per side at 4ohm using both channel/speakon outs. Or it can put out 500w through one channel/speakon at 8ohm, because if it went lower ohmage it would in theory be putting out more watts which is impossible, or itd burn itself out trying.

Hi all, Just wondering if anyone could put my mind at ease.... Ive just bought a cheap second hand power amp to see if me vtrm preamp works well with a power amp. And it does. The amp is a Matrix ukp 500. Spec: 125w per side at 8ohm. 250w per side at 4ohm. 500w at 8ohm bridged. Now, being used for a one socket bass cab, the bridge mode seems great - get really good power, one speakon out into one cab. However.......... my cab is 6ohm (i know thats odd, but its a markbass 610). So is it safe to run it in bridged mode? or should i only be running bridge mode into an 8ohm cab? I fully understand ohmage and 8ohm and 4ohm etc - but bridge mode has always confused me.

Id get the following: x2 Vintage V4 basses - cheap as chips and very versitile. then id have x2 rigs, that were all interchangeable with each other - a light & small one and a big & heavy one - both able to give out and handle a lot of power. Heavy Rig: Cab: 6x10 - i love these. SO much power. Head - Tech 21 VTRM rack head. Literally ALL the sounds i could ever want and very easy to use. Loads of routing options for PA. Tuner - Korg pitchblack pro rack. Makes tuning on stage so quick and easy. Amp - any A/B heavy duty 800-1000w amp. Matrix/QSC etc. Light Rig: MarkBass EVO (contains all fx and tuner) and weighs 3kg. Cab: Any barefaced - super compact / super twin etc. This means they can be interchangeable too, so i can use the small head with the big cab or the big head with the small cab, depending on venue/load in/transport.

Those combos are not even that heavy. If it had been near me, id have snapped it up straight away!

I've wanted one of those for ages - can't find them anywhere now.

Completely agree. Isolated a lot of tracks sound rough - pretty uninspiring, clanky, and loose, but they really sound awesome I'm the mix. I mean, there's always discussion on getting a super sound on here, and what head and can to use, but who here would class that tone on there as fantastic and just what they want to sound like? Not many. Yet in the mix it's outstanding.

just to throw a curve ball in - years ago i switched from a 1x12 to a 4x10 and the whole sound changed. much tighter and defined. perhaps try the mb head with a tc 4x10 (or another cheaper 4x10) first?

What I meant before is that having a bad sound to start with is the be all and end all. Unless you sort that sound at base level, turning up isn't going to make it better. And bands keep going up and up trying to fix it.

Turning up a good sound = a louder good sound. Should be suitable as possible ng as it's not ear bleeding loud. Turning up a bad sound = a loud bad sound. Turning up does not make a bad sound, sound good. It just makes it louder.

For me theres a few things: Firstly, pub wise, it always seems to be the wrong pubs that have live music on. The small one out of the five in the town. The one with a couple of small rooms and limited visibility. The one surrounded by houses. Meanwhile, the massive pub down the road with no neighbours and massive floor area and potential has nothing going on. Hence for those venues - theyre up against it from the start. No real scope to get a good sound balance across the pub, not much chance for the band to get out and hear the mix (as the public are right on top of them) and smokers constantly having the doors open, letting the music out to upset the residents. Also the bar is usually about 20ft from the stage. Aside from that - it is amazing that the role of the sound engineer is pretty much neglected for pub gigs. Somehow, theres always someone in the band who either thinks they can do it from the stage area, or gets forced into doing it because no one else will. If every band had someone just with rudimentary understanding of mixing and appropiate volume level mixing for them, that would help everything. I dont know if its because of a lack of speople wanting to be sound engineers or the band trying to save a few quid, but it would be a massive help. Even just white gloving it - riding the volume and any obvious changes needed. I also think bands and artists can struggle from not understanding EQ themselves. You can be quite quite and sound really loud and piercing by having way to much mids on the vocals and guitars - thats awful for the crowd, and is what makes you wince. Likewise you can be really loud, but not sound it if everything is beautifully balanced eq wise. If bands spent more time getting their mix right between themselves without PA at practice, then it would be so much easier to balance through the pa at a gig. With not much need to be too loud, as it would sound magic at most volume levels. Kit wise, theres nothing wrong with large gear if used for the right reasons. I have used all kinds of amps and cabs, but now stick to my 610 as i know i can get a rich sound at both low and loud volume levels. Where it would be stupid is if i played at the same volume in a small pub as i did on a large stage. Same equipment - different volume. As for guitar valve amps- trust me AC30s can rip your face off if pushed! Id say 30w - 50w is max. Again, if guitarists understand why they are using a valve amp (for the break up tone) they would realise which wattage would give them the best sound for the venues they play.

Its a box of tricks thats for sure.

The markbass evo i have for sale at the moment, has x2 separate channels, each of which can be set to 12 different models, and have their own eq and fx. AND if you want you can blend them. You can select which one to use by a little switch, or there is a foot switch available. Both channels can be run and selected for one bass, or you can also input 2 basses if needed.

The MTP I have in my mb evo is head and shoulders above any class d I have used. It is seriously loud. I think it's their own enhancement of class d.

As a bassist in a Queen tribute band - i have to say that that looks fantastic! Great bass! Glad it all worked out ok.