Alex Spencer

In the short I had to sell my flight case to pay the gas bill, or something to that effect. My father being the self proclaimed DIY man that he is has me thinking that it might be cheaper to by the parts and build my own rather than buying a ready fabricated one. I know places like Adam Hall sell all the parts individually, but I was wondering if anyone had had experience doing it themselves? I've always been a hands on kind of guy and think I can do an alright job, but I wonder about hidden costs, tricky parts and generally taking on a bigger project than its worth...

After trawling through this thread for over an hour now I have major gear envy. I'm going to go cry myself to sleep now. Goodnight.

I cannot wait until I get to add an addition to this thread. What I wouldn't give for a Stringray... How much do you think I could get for a kidney?

Hello fellow Leicester based bassists!

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1330822412' post='1563561'] No problem... It was in August 2010. £250 it was, not £225. [/quote] I was kind of hoping that seeing as they are harder to obtain people would pay a little extra when they came about. It might just be me getting my own hopes up though... Fingers crossed!

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1330822070' post='1563558'] ...hauling an 8X10 will get old real quick, trust me. [/quote] Haha, I don't doubt that! Pain for the sake of art maybe? Of course I know you're right, but a young desiring mind is a hard thing to convince! It'll undoubtedly be one of those things where I learn from my mistakes later on down the line and think "If only i'd listened to discreet on basschat.co.uk!"

Does anybody speak English anymore?

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1330821712' post='1563556'] I sold a WCA 411 Pro on here for around £225, I think it was... so make of that what you will. [/quote] Thanks for sharing! How long ago did you sell it?

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1330819909' post='1563534'] Why do you want an 8x10? If you like the sound of your current rig, I'd get another Warwick WCA 210 Pro & stack em vertically. [/quote] To quote Ampeg: "Why eight 10” speakers? We learned early on that 10” speakers work much more efficiently than fifteens or eighteens—and if you put eight 10” speakers together, you can move a huge column of air. You’d need five 18” or six 15” speakers to move as much air as the SVT-810E. And they simply wouldn’t be able to respond to transient peaks as quickly as our tens. " I don't claim to know much about wiring, but I remember my lecturer holding a discussion about 810 cabinets and saying how the parallel/series/parallel wiring makes a difference, i'd assume to do with the alignment. All that being said, you do hold a very valid point. Money has some element to play. I'm starting with no money whatsoever, and selling this cab is a good platform to save upon to get the 810. Also, and this will sound very lame, but it's partially an aesthetic thing. Even though it gives a strong tone, it does look a little weedy on stage. Originally I wanted to add a Warwick WCA 411 Pro to my setup, but It's hard to defer from the the classic 810 look and sound. I would say it's fair to disagree with me, personally preference really.

Hildamay - The Light [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0trMVkZiCcw[/media] The mix of this track is pretty horrific in the low end, especially when you listen through some decent monitors, but in the flesh the bassist has a lovely gritty tone. I had the honour of demoing their new album. If you like this kinda stuff you'll love their new work! He uses Fender 5-String Jazz > Tech21 SansAmp Bass Driver > Ampeg SVT3 > Ampeg SVT810AV. As you can probably see from my signature, I'm digging his setup!

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1330818132' post='1563509'] Here is an alternative SWR610 Goliath snr cab. Anything less than £500 looks ok..if in VGN. Lot of cab for the money in terms of quality and way better than Ashdown, IMO. You will need to get used to the SWR sound which if you can..will really tighten up your playing/sound.. [/quote] Haven't seen these before, thanks for the suggestion. After a quick google they seem quite hard to get a hold of, you know of any going? Would be nice to check them out.

There are a lot of solid points throughout this thread, it's a really interesting debate. In the end it does come down to two factors: budget and taste. Personally I find that although the AKG D112 does handle the low end well it is also overused and it's characteristics become very generic. When looking at low end dynamics I like the Audio Technica ATM-250, but that's just me. Shure Beta SM52A is another classic. I stick an SM57 on a lot of things, It's an amazingly versatile microphone. For a musician on a budget i'd say blending a DI with an SM57 is the best way to go. If you can stretch the budget it's always good to get an omni condenser in the room too, but these don't generally start until around £200 with something like the SE Electronics Z3300a. AKG 414 is another amazingly versatile and great sounding mic, but then you're looking at £700+. Other things to consider are that may recording put out these days don't even both with micing up the cab, and purely use the DI signal, opting for a nice bass preamp. If you consider that a low E on a bass is 41Hz and most cabs don't even go that low (let alone microphone) you're losing all the fundamentals of the signal even before the end users crappy earbud headphones or tiny computer speakers have had a chance to butcher the low end of the mix. DI will keep the lows and give you the harmonic content you require, while the cab and microphone will give their own sound to the signal - so it's best to have both. Dynamics are good because the sound pressure levels coming out of a bass cab are so high that it can give negative effects if close micing with a condenser. That being said, a nice condenser in the room can boost your high mids a bit and lift the sound. Wow, I guess three years of BSc Audio Recording Technology has paid off, in a small way... I'd love to hear peoples views and opinions on my little rant. Please to PM me if you want to have a future discussion!

[quote name='AttitudeCastle' timestamp='1330815734' post='1563483'] Just saw it on Thomann! Andy's review is really good, i'm sure he wouldn't mind if you pinged him a PM! [/quote] Just read it. He seems to think it was a good investment! I commented on the tread but I might give him a cheeky PM, see if he's still got it/would still rate it, etc. I'm not liking the sound of the comment saying they're made of chipboard though!

I'm looking into getting one of these now. How do you think it fairs up 4 years after the original post?

I read somewhere that you are not allowed to post things in the 'For Sale' section without a price, so I thought I'd post here. If this is frowned upon please do let me know and I'll remove it! I'm looking to upgrade from my Warwick WCA 211 Pro to something a bit bigger. To be able to afford anything bigger I will (unfortunately) have to see it on. I was wondering what sort of price people think I could get for it? I'm a terrible business man, and have ended up ripping myself off royally in the past! They are (as far as I know) discontinued, or at least getting harder to track down. I've seen some going new on the internet for £400, which I think is a bit steep but hey, if people are paying it, why not! I also saw about a year ago that someone sold theirs on here for £160, which personally I think was really cheap! I was hoping for around the £250 mark, what do people think? Thanks in advance!

[quote name='chrismuzz' timestamp='1330814934' post='1563469'] I tried an older MAG 4x10 with the blue speakers and the front porting and I thought it sounded ace. The newer ones were so cold and lifeless (and thats coming from a markbass user!) Definitely worth trying one out if you can though man, Ashdown stuff is very popular for more reasons than just the price [/quote] There seems to be a fair bit of hype about the blue speakers, partly while I'm intrigued! Trying one out is always going to be a problem when looking for 810's. Not many music shops have the spare to have them out in a store front unless I want to travel to GAK, and even then they might not stock them! When I was growing up a lot of other bassists seemed to use Ashdown Amps, mainly combo's though, so I never got an idea of how the speakers sounded without the Ashdown circuitry. I heard rumours a while ago about their reliability not being too great, I'm not sure if anyone else has heard the same? Thanks for the input, by the way!

[quote name='AttitudeCastle' timestamp='1330814885' post='1563467'] Have you searched for it on here? There are a few big threads on it on here Andy67 did a review i believe, also where have you seen it for that price? Or was that second hand? Just for curiosity sake! [/quote] I went back a couple of pages but couldn't see anything. Thanks for the heads up though, I'll go hunting! They're up on Thomann.de/gb for £332, on DV247.com for £399 too, both new.

That's if the lifestyle of a punk rock bassist doesn't get me! If I want to make it I may have to sign away my soul to the devil and join Club 27! Thanks for the warm welcome!

I've currently got a Warwick WCA 210 Pro which is doing me just fine at the moment, although I'm looking to make the (ridiculously large) leap to a 810. I'm sure many people would agree that going out and splashing a grand on an Ampeg would be lovely, but also financially crippling. So here begins the search for the perfect compromise. I've been looking at the budget models mostly and the Ashdown MAG 810 being the one that seems to have the best options about it. For around £330 it seem like a bit of a steal, but it's therefore got me thinking "what's wrong with it?". So I was wondering if anyone has had any experience or has any advice? I'd be selling off my Warwick and using that money as a basis and then saving on top of that, so as you can see money is tight. Advice? Thanks in advance!

Hi. I'm Spencer, I'm 21, and I... I am a bassist. I hale from a small village just outside Cambridge but am currently in my final year at De Montfort University in Leicester studying BSc Audio Recording Technology. I've been in bands since I was about 13 playing various instruments (I started as a drummer, can you believe that?!) but i've come to settle on bass. Unfortunately my playing has taken a serious backseat over the last three years since I've been at university but when I graduate in June I'm hoping to take things to the next level. I started off with pop-punk roots (blink-182, Sum 41, all the early naughties classics) before moving on to more of the So. Cal punk scene (NoFX, Rancid, etc.) and drifting over into the heavy side of hardcore punk during my more angsty period are 17-18. Now i'm on the post-hardcore bandwagon but really have an appreciation for anything with a good rhythm and interesting progression. I'm a big fan of Brian Robinson from A Wilhelm Scream. I dig his technique a lot. He's got some major skills and some amazingly technical bass lines, yet they're not overpowering and fit nicely within the composition. Currently I have a Fender Mark Hoppus Signature (Yeah, I know. I bought it when I was 15, give me a break! Still a pretty nice bass though!) running through a Tech21 SansAmp programmable Bass Drive DI into an Ampeg B5-R and out of a Warwick WCA 211 Pro. I've also got a Korg DTR-2 tuner in my rack, not that that effects the tone at all. If I won the Lottery this week I'd get myself a tidy Ampeg SVT810E, a Musicman Stringray and die a happy man, but i'm pretty content for now. Would like to upgrade to a 810 next, although I'd really need to be doing some serious gigging before contemplating it. Sorry about the essay! I'm looking forward to getting stuck into this forum and getting involved in some good discussions!