molan

[quote name='hiram.k.hackenbacker' timestamp='1400759753' post='2456689'] In the dealers defence, the box came straight off the boat to their warehouse and then straight to me. It never saw the light of day in the UK until I opened it. Personally I'm quite happy with it that way. At least I know it hadn't been handled since it left Fender. [/quote] Did it not go through Holland then?

I really like iBass and almost always access via my iPad mini. Works really well in iPad format for me. I dip in and out and watch / listen to stuff where and when I want on a device I often have out with me (on trains etc.).

My drummer uses an e-kit and it works really well. He sends a mix to a small desk next to him that then sends out to the main desk and then he has a return into his in-ear monitors. This allows him to re-mix his own sound on the fly whilst being able to have a full band band mix through the in-ears. At least I think that's what he does! He also has a powered floor monitor that points directly at me - I get to be in charge of the overall volume on this and the simple bass/mid/treble controls. It allos me to set a decent monitor volume so I'm getting some live 'feedback' from his playing. There's a second monitor fairly close to me that has a full band mix going through it as well. He uses 'real' cymbals which sound nicer to my ears than the processed sounds out of his kit. In terms of an foh sound his kit sounds really good but I do miss the crack of a live snare firing straight at me (although I'm sure my long term hearing much prefers the controlled volume from the floor monitor). People regularly compliment our overall live sound and especially the fact that the drums sit really nicely in the mix. As a 'performing musician' I miss all the clatter, noise and vibrancy of a live kit but as someone who plays in a band that venue owners pay to produce a quality live sound the e-kit is definitely a winner!

Fender's UK CS guys are excellent. I've experienced some issues with CS instruments after the complexities of shipping from USA to Holland (Fender Europe) to UK to dealer to customer. Of course something at this price should be 'perfect' but if it isn't the UK team are fantastic to deal with and can put things right very quickly. Fender as a whole can be a bit unresponsive at times but the warranty and repair team are really quick at getting back to you and very friendly. In fact I wrote to them today and got a response inside 20 minutes!

The Diamond Bass Comp is my favourite - more 'musical' and less extreme than lots of other compressors. Has some basic, but very useful, tone features too

My lead guitarist uses an Epiphone Les Paul for heavier rock songs and a US Strat for the rest. The big difference he made to his LP was to upgrade the pickups, wiring, pots, sockets etc. He went for Fatboy PAF pickups, really nice units and great service. His totally transformed it, powerful, bags of sustain, killer solo tone and great for raucous driven rhythm parts. Overall cost would be over the £300 budget but some upgrades to a good used LP type guitar could make a huge difference

[quote name='karlfer' timestamp='1400525518' post='2454678'] Many thanks Barrie, do all those events need catering staff? Must admit, I would LOVE a bass with LED's on the fret board! [/quote] Henley has a Roux Brothers restaurant on site (well, it does for the music event the week after the Regatta). If you can get a job you can stay with me, I'm walking distance from the Regatta site The bass I used has little wraparound LED's so not full front facing. Still looks cool though and they are genuinely useful on a dark stage.

The major determining factor in international shipping is usually insurance. If the value creeps over £1,000 then a lot of shipping agents won't quote. Germany is anything from £35 to £75 or even as high as £100 if you hit the nasty combination of heavy weight plus high insurance value.

[quote name='karlfer' timestamp='1400499708' post='2454346'] Lights on the BX700 look great on stage and are helpful as well. Can I be an honourary Southerner please ? [/quote] Any time Karl - you may need to attend Wimbledon, Royal Ascot, Henley Regatta and possibly Glyndebourne to be fully accepted though

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1400433609' post='2453812'] question... is it switchable voltage at all? [/quote] Official blurb says: "[color=#000000][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=3]Auto-switching AC input functions for either 120V 60 Hz or 240V 50 Hz" [/size][/font][/color]

[quote name='karlfer' timestamp='1400434909' post='2453840'] Molan. Well Barrie, I know you live in the south, so, allowances made. I thought the statement "the back lighting is a boon on stage" kinda covered that [/quote] I was referring to the fact that it just looked pretty rather than actually being useful I was actually gigging on Saturday with a bass that has LED's in case you are struggling to see the dots on a dark stage. Our overhead lights were nice and bright but I still used the lights now and then just because i thought they looked kinda cool. That's what us shallow southerners do I'm afraid

[quote name='bassman7755' timestamp='1400334828' post='2453022'] How do the carvin amps sound with the preamp gain cranked - can you get a decent edging-into-crunch/dirt sound out of them ?. I'd like at some point to be able to move to something like a single midget/super midget based rig and it seems there arn't many micro amps that can deliver a really decent amount of real power into 8ohm. It seems at the moment that we have some amazing small/light cabs around that have the power handling and displacement to do almost anything yet few lightweight amps that can take full advantage of them. [/quote] I think the valve is there to add some warmth rather than as an overdriven stage. There's a little bit of drive kicking in if it's cranked all the way up but I would say it's anything like a classic valve amp. The core tone is powerful and clean and relatively 'modern'. I'm not entirely sure why the valve/SS button is on the back - I have a feeling it's really designed as an 'emergency' alternative if the valve fails rather than a tone-shaping option. In fact this happened to someone a couple of weeks ago. The valve was damaged in transit but he was still able to use the amp by bypassing the valve stage

The locking AC lead turned out to be a US spec only feature but this wasn't known until the amps arrived in the UK. It's possible they may develop a UK (and European) version and, if so, will supply them to existing owners. You forgot to say that it lights up and looks super cool on a darkened stage

I've worked with a few tribute bands and they were uniformly excellent. The oddest one (which I won't name just in case their bass player is on here) was a group, half of whom, turned up in character and maintained it all evening. They introduced themselves to us as if they were the original band members and all evening said stuff like "this is a song we wrote back when we were in LA in '85" or "here's a number from our last album" etc. It was all very strange! I've been to see a few trib bands as well and mostly enjoyed them. I guess I prefer the ones based on bands that are no longer in existence rather than current ones that are still touring.

I had an early Jedson Les Paul copy once - virtually unplayable, neck like a banana It became a byword amongst my muso friends for the worst possible quality. Anything that wasn't very nice was described as a bit 'Jedson'. I'm sure there were a lot of better ones though!

My favourites are the Nordy (as mentioned above) or the Aguilar 4J HC. Both sound great and are hum cancelling

Here's your answer : http://basschat.co.uk/topic/235209-fs-diamond-bass-comp-price-drop/page__fromsearch__1 Check the OVNI review