molan

So, I'm going to have some bias because we are Jimmy Coppolo's partner in the UK. In very general terms I think he simply makes the best vintage type J & P style basses ever. His real point of difference is that he can produce a 5 string that can compare with the very best vintage Fender you've ever heard but with an extra string We recently ran a test with a huge range of instruments and a seriously hot pro player and the AC just killed it. A lot of the others were very, very good but when it came down to it the bass we all wanted to take home was the Alleva. It was one of the most expensive but against very stiff competition it was just the best all round instrument in the room. . .

Nicest Infinity I've ever seen! Did you order it from the Custom Shop?

I'd be seriously tempted to go for a properly matched pair from a single manufacturer. I've had too many matching issues in the past to try for a mixed set. Most recent one was that a, quite expensive, set had a much weaker bridge pickup and it was no only overpowered by the P but the blend also totally failed to work. It was literally bridge only, neck only or both on full. Slightest tweak of the blend knob away from centre and the other pickup just disappeared from the mix I'm going to fit an aguilar set instead as I really like their P pickup sound

Really looking forward to these coming in. I've been gigging my AE210 for a while now and really like it. CN's are front ported and I generally prefer these to rear ported cabs.

I usually think a blocked Fender board without binding looks a bit odd but this one just seems to work somehow. Great colour too!

[quote name='Wolverinebass' timestamp='1417549369' post='2621648'] That looks fantastic. Just for the records, is the 6 driver attenuable like the optional tweeter? Just I don't see many back panel photos going on. [/quote] No attenuator for the 6. Personally I think the balance between the drivers really works well and cutting the 6 would adversely effect the tone. Obviously everyone's ears are different though

I've had a look at our shop actual selling prices and there's definitely not been a used bass price spike from our stock. The odd thing (given that we have to charge VAT, card fees and have relatively higher overheads to cover) is that EBay list prices are regularly higher than we're selling at. I've also seen used prices in other places as well that are almost as high as some new values. This is especially true of continental Europe pricing where new values (of anything not available for bulk purchase by Thomann) are sometimes a lot higher than UK.

I think it's a great little combo but if you're up against loud drummers and guitarists you might struggle unless you're using the DI into the PA as well. It's a while since I've tried one back to back with a 102P but I think the 102 would be louder. Adding the NY121 makes a huge difference, one of my favourite small rigs. Although it's more money, the Alain Caron combo goes a lot louder than the 121P. Discontinued now but some people (including the shop I work at) we heavily discounting the Alain C earlier this year.

They're not mutually exclusive either - try experimenting with both at the same time

[quote name='BetaFunk' timestamp='1417393800' post='2620019'] We're not. [/quote] Yep - I'm with you. Prices haven't moved recently.

[quote name='paul_5' timestamp='1417385162' post='2619933'] D'Addario, but I don't think they do .040" to .100". Failing that, Elixirs are a nice, smooth string. [/quote] EPS 190 is the D'Addario Pro Steel 40-100 gauge. 40-100 is now the standard gauge on a lot of new basses and its become out best selling gauge and now outselling 45-105 on 4 string sets. I first started using them on a Fodera who've had 40-100 as standard for quite a while. Really seems to help with everyday 'playability' and I never feel that I'm losing any bottom end by using thinner gauges. Should mean you can find this gauge in steel from pretty much any major string supplier

[quote name='Billy Apple' timestamp='1417381304' post='2619853'] I don't mean new goods, but second hand goods from a private seller. They've paid sales tax when they've bought them and the difference is not taken off when they sell. [/quote] Not if they buy out of state (which lots of Anericans do). Plus, as mentioned above, their sales taxes tend to be really low because they have such a different taxation and public funding economy.

You can't add an extension cab to this combo. It's already 6 ohms and adding another cab will drop it below the amp's 4 ohm minimum load. There's a special warning about this on the markbass site.

If you don't have scales then a decent guess for most basses with packaging is about 6kg. There are very few basses that only weigh 6-7lbs so I'd be fairly certain that's not the correct weight.

I bet it sounds "fantstic" though. . .

I know the La Bella guys well and hey always say that through-body stringing makes absolutely no difference whatsoever to tone. They do make through-body sets because their customers kept asking for them. You have to be really careful when stringing because you can get a twist in the string and this can make it go completely dead sounding (and not in a nice way) very quickly. I've heard people say this is rubbish but I had a customer innocently with a brand new set of the new La Bella Low Tension flats fitted and he said the G strig was completely dead, lifeless and lower in volume. I slowly unwound it and it pinged round as it got loose. It was twisted about 90 degrees. I simply let the ball end spin until it was as straight as possible and carefully re-wound it - hey presto, it sounded much better and volume output was much more even In terms of swapping strings to record I can definitely see what other people are saying about just trying the ones you already have. He only reason for changing might be that La Bellas, or other brands, should sound different from Chromes. It's just a personal thing but I really don't like the sound (or feel) of Chromes at all, probably my least favourite flat wounds. A cheap(er) alternative might be Carvin flats that are made by La Bella but come in basic simple packaging. Only for regular bridge stringing though.

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1416665702' post='2612462'] La Bellas are relatively higher tension to TIs relatively much lower tension. La Bellas are thumpier, TIs are more middy. Having said that you can get a wide range of tones from both. [/quote] The new La Bella low tension flats are much closer to the TI in terms of both tension and gauges (identical except for the G I think). Personally I prefer the TI's but the shop owner, Phil really likes the La Bellas and just fitted them to his personal bass that he keeps at the shop so people can demo them. It's difficult to have 'demo' strings but we try and do this from time to time when something new comes out just so store visitors can at least see how a new brand or design feels under their fingers actually on a bass

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1415372795' post='2599731'] It's odd that they only make them in one gauge/tension. Given that Thomastik's more popular double bass strings come in several tension and scale length options I'm surprised they haven't considered it. [/quote] As a Thomastik retailer I'm vaguely glad they only do one set of gauges. TI are notorious for mixing up gauges in their packaging - we have to check every single set before dispatch to make sure they isn't a rogue short scale string or two of the same gauge etc. They always replace them but it's a bit of a pain

[quote name='JamesBass' timestamp='1416859413' post='2614454'] You are correct, every UK stockist was upwards of £45, and while I paid the €10 postage on the strings, it was still cheaper than either travelling or getting some posted from a UK supplier, I'd happily part with £40ish for a UK supplier, especially if I then got the postage free! [/quote] Can be done if you shop around

[quote name='amir93smith' timestamp='1416482144' post='2610603'] I agree with the person above ^^ Ashdown need to be there. The reason i didn't go last year. [/quote] I seem to remember that Ashdown were at the show in 2013 or 2012 and got the award for the most obscenely loud and unpleasant noise anywhere in the show. Multiple amps fired up at max volume with huge stacks and sub octave switches all turned on. Huge gobs of bowel wrenching noise that didn't remotely resemble anything musical. I can see that this sort of low end might sound like a blast but not when it doesn't stop for two solid days!

Now that is very pretty indeed!

As a CS dealer we get quite a lot of queries for specific era builds and very often the only way to get exactly what you're after is to go Masterbuilt. This is a serious 'big money' option and for something as 'new' as '70 P you'd almost certainly get an original for less money. The problem will be actually finding one that's really nice and doesn't have any issues with either the neck or weight. A Masterbuilt really ought to be at the top of CS in terms of quality control but wait times are long and prices are high

I've tested a Cub at rehearsal volumes and it was surprisingly OK. Our line-up when we're learning new material is usually a Roland electronic kit (with 'proper' cymbals) into a 300w powered monitor, lead guitar into 15w Roland practice amp, rhythm guitar into 30w Vox modelling combo, keys & 3 sets of vox into a pair of small 500w PA powered monitor cabs. The Cub will handle this setup if raised off the floor so it's a bit closer to me. Requires master volume at around 15:00 and some bass & mids boost & bit of tweaking to make sure it isn't breaking up. It's Ok as my personal monitor and the band aren't struggling to hear me. We have toyed with running a DI out into the PA but haven't really needed it. This would definitely be required for gigging though. I couldn't use it in this band for loud gigs as the two guitars are pretty loud but I think it would be Ok for smaller acoustic type gigs when used as a monitor with PA support. Of course it isn't designed as an out & out gigging amp so using it like this is a tough test. It does make a bass sound like a bass though and a lot of rehearsal type combos don't achieve that very well. I also like the fact that it's got an aux in and headphone out. I've used it both with & without headphones to learn new stuff and for practicing - nice simple solution to this & a doddle to balance straight from my iPhone. Again, lots of amps can do this but the Cub tone is very nice