molan

[quote name='PauBass' timestamp='1383491500' post='2264968'] I must definitely try one....or buy one but they don't seem to come up for sale second hand often...that must be a good sign? [/quote] I think it may be because they do have a distinct sound. If someone tries one in a shop they'll know pretty quickly if that sound is for them. If they like it then they buy a TH and hang on to it. I think it's most likely that used ones come from people who've bought on a recommendation or review and then discovered it wasn't quite the right sound for them Great reliability as well, I've not heard of any coming back in for warranty repairs

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1383500939' post='2265125'] I really like what I have seen of the PF500, too, but what is all this about them not being reliable ? My current TE combo serves me well but is getting old and in need of servicing or replacing , and I have got one eye on a compact modern rig . I love that Ampeg sound , and the PF500 looks cheap and cheerful . But am I to understand they are prone to breaking down ? [/quote] They are so prone to breaking that I know one main Ampeg dealer that simply refuses to sell them any more I'm not sure what the actual issue is but I've lots of stories of them blowing mid-gig and that's just a complete no-no on any modern head. There are other, better, alternatives out there I think.

A pair of Berg HD210s might work for you. The ceramic speakers give them a lot of classic 'heft' and depth of tone and a single 210 is enough for many gigs. You could always add the second one for larger stages or if you just want to move more air. Apart from keeping you close to the 10" sound that you currently have there's another big advantage with these Berg 210s - they are really shallow, about 12" deep I think. That's about 3" less than a lot of standard size 112cabs and it makes a surprising difference in stage footprint and, particularly important in your case, when lugging them up and down stairs Hey aren't the lightest but the basic shape does mean they are pretty easy to shift around

[quote name='norvegicusbass' timestamp='1383486130' post='2264893'] Lot of mean spirited comments here. I seriously doubt anyone who nailed a bass line on YT could take that onstage with the band themselves at short notice and give a good account of themselves. Nerves aside there are loads of other considerations here. Hell even bands themselves rehearse their OWN music for weeks before going on a tour. Hats off to that young lady. Beautiful and beautifully played especially as she has been playing bass for about THREE YEARS. [/quote] I don't think this thread has been overly negative? One person said that her YT videos had got her a gig with Jamiroquai which wasn't correct. That particular story has been stated as fact a few times and it isn't correct. She did have an opportunity to play on a couple of numbers but wasn't able to play well enough to meet their standards. This is entirely understandable because she doesn't appear to be a live gigging player. There's also been discussion about the new(ish) wave of young musicians who don't ever play live and just like to record vid of them playing along to something else. Again, I don't think anyone has been particularly negative about this but have just said that it might be a shame not to experience this opportunity and that it can teach a lot of things that can't be learnt playing solo to backing tracks. The thing that surprises me is just how much coverage this particular player has received. It does make me wonder if there'd be anywhere near as much interest if the player was an overweight, unattractive bloke . . .

[quote name='Myke' timestamp='1383479078' post='2264795'] I find this weird. How can she be so tight at it on YT but live she sucks? Nerves or just not practicing I wonder? [/quote] I heard Alphonso Johnson talking about this once. He said he'd met several players who killed it when playing to a pre-recorded backing track on headphones in their bedroom / studio but had zero feel for dynamics in a live band environment. I've come across this a couple of times personally. We auditioned a singer once who had an agency, recording contract, released a single, performed 'live' on many occasions, and to big audiences too. We started the first song and he was badly off key but, even worse, not even close to being able to keep time. It turned out that in his entire singing 'career' he'd never played with a live band and he simply couldn't handle all the stuff that comes with it. He could hear himself OK but all the band 'input' and dynamics of a live kit etc totally freaked him. Tried another song and had to give up half way through. Poor guy was distraught His agent was actually the one telling him he needed to get out with a live band and to stop just using pre-recorded backing in order to become a better singer. Sounds like he knew what he was on about! I also know an absolute wizard of a guitarist. He can shred like a monster and can play all the Vai, Satriani, Malmsteen, Van Halen etc. etc stuff. He can tap and sweep pick and has an amazing depth of tone. He's got a web site where he gives advice to people and has loads of views to his YT channel but he never, ever plays with other musicians. I think there's just a modern phenomena of 'YouTube bedroom bassists' (Alphonso's phrase) that just have little interest playing with a band. To me it seems a shame because playing alongside other people is what makes it all worth it but I can see the attraction of spending hours practicing to record the perfect take for YT and then publishing it - probably gets a wider audience than many a gigging bassist

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1383472408' post='2264698'] Nice one, Barrie. I thought the TH and CN112's were a very good match at your shop's demo room volumes and was was close to the DB750 but I doubt it will do that at larger volumes,. Not that it was at all bad...not at all, just that the DB750 has more legs and grunt and will proove that on larger stages/ I'd be quite happy with that rig..on that demo... as my B rig. But..as far as AE112's go... they do lose focus up top, IMO... especially if you compare that with a DB212. I am convinced by this. If I run a TF 550-B with 2xAE112's against the DB212 without touching the amp EQ... the AE's do not keep the hi mids as well...they get lost. For this reason, I will probably move them on. Not saying they aren't very nice cabs, but they aren't doing it for me. The gigs I tend to use them on..I can get away with...hence why I still have them... but I am still on the lookout for lighter, smaller footprint 112's. [/quote] Thanks JT I marginally prefer the Aggie SL112's to the CN112's with the TH500 but there's not a lot in it. My favourite is the CN212 which seems to have more depth and low mids to my ears. I wish Aggie would bring out a 4ohm SL212 as I think that could be a killer lightweight cab. The big advantage for me with the AE210 is the really shallow footprint. It's way thinner than any of the other cabs mentioned and this can make a real difference in a tight space. I'm currently sharing my side of the stage with the second guitarist's Vox amp and the form factor of the AE gives me lots of flexibility in location. A pair of these stacked ought to sound great! Would also be nice to hear a new Bergantino 10" speaker - I must ask if there's anything on the horizon

[quote name='PauBass' timestamp='1383462979' post='2264624'] I've been meaning to try an Aguilar TH500 for a while, I just keep reading excellent comments. As you, I also have a DB750, I wouldn't mind loosing some of the weight but not sure if the TH500 will be loud enough and if I will loose too much on note weight. [/quote] I know exactly what you mean. I've never played anything that gives weight to low notes like the DB750. The TH can deliver a lot of the core tone but it'll never quite have the depth the DB has. It comes close enough for me really and the weight difference is a life saver if you have to carry hints for any distance It is surprisingly loud though. Last night I was running into a single 8ohm 2x10 cab in a very large room with two loud guitarists and I didn't go above about 12:00 on both pre and master volume. I'm no expert on exactly how different people rate their watts but I know the power module in the TH500 is the same one some other claim 900w for!

[quote name='Lowender' timestamp='1383447286' post='2264607'] Lover Bergantino. They do have a certain depth to them. Larry Hartke claims it's because they lack high end but I can with absolute certainty say that he's wrong about that one. Can't get with the Aguilar. I also find the tone controls to have little effect. [/quote] I wouldn't say Bergs in general lack high end. Although, having said that, I tend to find Hartke cabs sound much too bright and harsh to my ears so that's probably just different people's views of what 'high end' should sound like The DB and TH heads are very 'voiced' (the AG far less so) and I think people either really like the Aggie sound or struggle with it. Again it's probably down to individual interpretation on what effect the tone controls have. For me they're really usable and don't have the extreme effect some other brands have. I find it easier to dial in a sound I like with Aguilar heads because of this. For example, last night I thought the room was sucking mids a little so a dropped the mid frequency band to about 9:00 and boosted that frequency to about 2:00. Seemed to cure the problem perfectly and all other controls were left flat. It's a while since I really used a DB750 at gig volume but I seem to remember that the tone controls are even more subtle. I often found that just flicking either the low or high boost switches was all that was ever necessary and keeping the other tone controls flat worked best for me.

[quote name='AntLockyer' timestamp='1383466090' post='2264635'] Surely easier to give you the job [/quote] I think he was hinting exactly that, lol

[quote name='Myke' timestamp='1383477332' post='2264760'] Ah This makes me feel better now She did play with them at soundcheck though it seems, so if they're all there out of picture that is still pretty damn awesome. Edit. After closer inspection no else appears to be playing but her.. [/quote] Yep, was supposed to feature on a couple of songs but wasn't even close to being able to actually play live so got bounced.

First gig with my new band tonight and I'd been going round in circles a bit on what to use. A Celinder J Update got me the gig so that was a possible. I've also been playing my '63J quite a lot and, at the other end of the scale, a very cool 'stealth black' Sei headless 4 has had a lot of use recently because it's just stupidly easy to play. My 'big gig rig' of Aguilar DB750 and DB410 kinda fitted the bill for a rock gig In a fairly large venue and I had an option of my favourite lightweight Aggie SL112's or a MarkBass Mini CMD112P plus extension cab that I've been rehearsing with. In the end I decided to take out a 33.3" Ritter Cora, an Aguilar Tone Hammer 500 and a Bergantino AE210. The, totally vain, reason for choosing the Ritter was because we had agreed on stage clothes and I knew the Ritter would match my 'outfit', lol. Plus, of course, I knew it would sound good and the shorter scale makes it nice to play. The TH500 is very much reference head. It doesn't have the depth of the DB750 but it comes close and it's so much easier to lug around. The Berg AE210 was the hardest choice. I'd kinda fallen out of love with it recently but the size, weight, tone combination seemed right for this gig. I was pretty happy with what I was hearing on stage but was even happier at the end of the gig. Turned out there was serious live sound engineer in the audience plus a very good guitarist who used to play with our singer. The live sound guy came up to talk to me after the gig and said couldn't believe the depth of bass coming from the little Berg cab and was amazed to hear that there was virtually no bass in the FOH. The guitarist then really quizzed me about the bass and rig because he said it sounded 'just right' in the live mix. Plenty of depth with lots of clarity and note definition (which worried me because I know I hit a few bum notes, lol). He claimed it was different league to his regular bass player in terms of pure tone and that he'd try to find a way to get his guy to think about some new gear. Both of them commented on how cool the Ritter looked too - they said they'd not seen anything quite like it before It's nice when a plan comes together. . .

[quote name='RandomBass' timestamp='1383408338' post='2264174'] Cool. Do you have a link to that thread for me to have a nose through? [/quote] I think it may have been FaceBook rather than BC. I hear Alex discussing them in person at the SE Bash and he was saying that his cabs work really well with high power heads that can deliver clean, clear, sound and the Carvins really fit the bill for this

[quote name='Myke' timestamp='1383407345' post='2264163'] Her youtube videos got her playing with Jamiroquai on a couple of their tour dates! I'm slightly jealous of her.. [/quote] I think this story has done the rounds a few times and it simply isn't true! She got invited to 'attend' some gigs but never played with them. I refer to my earlier post above - she may look great on YT but she can't cut it live

[quote name='RandomBass' timestamp='1383396263' post='2264010'] I was thinking the B2000's simplicity might suit me better. Would probably work well with my Super 12, and I could use the COmpact with it too - 2.7 Ohm combined load [/quote] Alex likes these heads. He posted a recommendation for them a few weeks ago and said they'd work well with his cabs

[quote name='RandomBass' timestamp='1383395489' post='2263999'] Cheers Molan. Looks like it will just fit then Or the B2000 if its the same depth [/quote] B2000 is exactly the same size It's a bit heavier but still only 13lbs! I used one yesterday into one of the new Bergantino N115's. These cabs seem to like a big chunky head to make them work best and the B2000 sounded really good through it.

[quote name='RandomBass' timestamp='1383390945' post='2263916'] Lee Odd question for ya - what is the back to front depth of the BX1500? I mean from the rack mounting plate to the rear edge of the amp. I have one of those SKB shallow depth 2U rack case, and would be interested to know if it would fit. Cheers Geoff [/quote] 10.5" Deep 3.5" High

[quote name='BetaFunk' timestamp='1383380417' post='2263723'] This is interesting without Sheila B Devotion's vocals. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaXkwWLgpns [/quote] Usually I quite like mixes without vocals but his one leaves me a bit cold To me it sounds like one long intro waiting for Sheila B to come in and inject some sparkle into it

[quote name='Jah Wibble' timestamp='1383388471' post='2263874'] .......and tone too. Does anyone know if it was originally recorded with a Yamaha? [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRusbYIyRNI[/media] [/quote] I know someone who's seen her attempt to play live - apparently it was not in the same league as all the YouTube vids

Definitely a 'try before you buy' head. Some people really like TC heads but a lot of others really can't stand them. My personal experience of the RH450 and Staccato heads wasn't at all good The RH450 was one of the worst 'tone-sucker' heads I've ever used at a gig!

[quote name='Rasta' timestamp='1383237997' post='2262002'] Cheers man. I started off looking a the BX500 and was planning on getting just that...i'd never heard of the BX1500/2000....but when i saw the prices on Bass Gear and the fact they had a sale i was like phwoooarr....one amp to rule them all haha. Yes agreed, shame there's not any Carvin bass cab distributors either ...i hear good things on TB about their 8x10 & also their 18" cabs.....as i say my 2x10 Carvin is brilliant and i bought it off here for very little too. [/quote] It would be possible to stock the cabs but, as with the amps, might require a fairly large order to make them a viable price in the UK. I think he 8x10 is out of production now - they simply weren't selling enough to keep them going

[quote name='RandomBass' timestamp='1383242726' post='2262093'] Molan, probably a stupid question but are you connected to Bassgear somehow? [/quote] I help out there approx one day a week and often cover a lot of the initial email questions that come in I reference it in my signature so that people know there's an association but that anything I say here on BC is a personal view and not anything to do with the business. I'm not sure if this shows up on mobile applications though

The BX1500's are out of stock now but more will be ordered soon. None of the big heads are held at the Uk warehouse so they are all special order jobs from the US which can disproportionately push the price up. However Phil ordered 14 different heads (including some big watt lightweight power amps as well) this time around and the bulk shipping really helped on keeping overall costs down. My personal favourite is the B2000 because it has loads of low end 'muscular' power and I simply don't need all the onboard tone shaping of the BX1500. I saw that Barefaced were recommending them as well because of the power efficiency If there's enough demand for the two big heads I think the next order will be a lot larger. Carvin are super fast on delivery too, usually about a week from order placement direct from San Diego.

[quote name='RandomBass' timestamp='1383211784' post='2261486'] I take you mean Little Feat? Unless there's another similarly named band I'm not au fait with. And yeah, a brilliant band in terms of ability and creativity. [/quote] Not wanting not appear contentious but aren't the modern day Little Feat something of a covers band themselves? Last time I saw them almost their entire set was material from the Lowell George era and without him at the helm it felt like I was watching a 'tribute' band Obviously this is a bit harsh because a lot of original members are still in the band but it did very much feel like they were trading on past glories (almost certainly pushed by audience demand). I still really enjoyed the show though! In general terms I'd much rather see a quality covers band than a mediocre originals band. Having been to zillions of gigs over the past 40 years I've seen far too many uninteresting, unprofessional, and downright poor originals bands in small venues. I totally understand that everyone has to start somewhere and everyone deserves a chance but I'm just fed up with seeing so many people that simply aren't very good. I try hard to listen to as much new music as I can and use the radio, and podcasts of favourite shows, a lot to hear new things, that gives an opportunity to sample stuff I might not normally pick up on but I can also flip the channel if I get bored (which doesn't happen very often!) Going to see a top notch covers band can be a great night out and the guys in the video definitely fit into that category. I'd definitely pay to see them play. Just been watching a few other of their vids and standard of musicianship is really high

Just realised that I hadn't actually replied to title of the thread so apologies for that. Having helped out from time to time in a retailer I've seen a lot of instruments come and go at all price levels. Picking the worst bass is easy, it was a 'custom build' eBay purchase that a friend picked up. It weighed a ton, balanced atrociously, had a neck attached with huge wood screws and the fretting was so bad it could tear the tips of your fingers if you tried to slide or even move quickly. The crowning glory was that the fret markers were at 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 etc. However it only cost about £40 and the owner spent a lot of time playing it and really getting back into bass playing (he's a drummer) so, for him, it seemed a fair price. He most overpriced bass I can remember has to be an Olympic White Squier jazz. It was nearly new and just a nasty, cheaply put together instrument. The fretting was atrocious, sharp ends, badly seated and really unpleasant to play. Neck pocket was poor and badly finished as well. It had a thin nasally tone and pots that were mostly on or off with little variation. For something that the previous owner had paid a few hundred quid for from new it was singularly the worst value for money I've ever seen in a bass so that gives it my, personal, 'Most Overpriced Bass' award

[quote name='Lowender' timestamp='1383157978' post='2260997'] As for a company doing well, that's fine. (Of course, they don't sell very many overall, but the prices are so high and there's no middleman so they only need to sell a few each month). [/quote] I know you've owned a Fodera in the past but I don't think you have a very clear picture of their business (as evidenced by other comments you've previously made) This year they will make a lot more than just a 'few' instruments. Current estimate is that they will produce just under 500 basses this year, that's about 40 a month. They also have a full dealer network in place and sell a lot of these instruments through them. Each dealer has to adhere to a fairly strict quality control agreement and is able to act on Fodera's behalf for both standard and custom builds. They will sell direct to customers but rely on their dealers to represent them in many cases because they are a manufacturer of instruments rather than a retailer. These dealers will be adding costs to each instrument sold (although Fodera dealer margins aren't anywhere near as large as many other builders) but they are taking care of much of the operation that a manufacturer can't - thus allowing the builder to do what it does best - make guitars Fodera simply aren't the tiny business with massive overheads that charges a huge premium, without middlemen, in order to make excessive profits that you seem to think they are. They're just a, very professional, operation that makes a decent profit (and there's nothing wrong with making an OK profit - all business should be expected to do this) and exercises a genuine duty of care for its employees. I really can't see what's wrong with that. . .