uk_lefty

So it has now arrived.... This is [b][u]not[/u][/b] a lightweight combo like a Fender Rumble, I think the shipping weight was 28kg... so its in that region. Having a little plastic top handle for that is a bit rubbish frankly, you need to get two hands on this to carry without knackering your back. Its not just this amp, I had a massive Marshall that had the same issue, Hartke kickback... etc. Looks inviting. I could take it to almost any sort of gig I think without looking out of place. Would be ok for folk/ country and acceptable for rock and metal... good all-rounder, has some character in its appearance and looks comfortingly old-school with the logo and VU meter. Looks small - I did doubt whether I had a 15" speaker at first. A bit of cream piping round the cloth grille looks good. Metal corner protectors, vinyl cover which I prefer over rough carpet. Rubber feet. I've now tickled three basses through this - Fender Jazz, Fender P, fretless 5 string Kramer. The amp articulates each well. I've only played with the EQ and the "Deep" switch, not yet the "Bright". The EQ is ok though the knobs feel a little cheap. I can get the sounds I want which is typically flat EQ with mid slightly cut and bass & treble slightly boosted for the fretted basses and the opposite for the fretless. The EQ has five knobs but two of them are smaller than the three main ones. The amp doesn't provide much of its own character on to the sound as many can do - I wouldn't call it an "ultra-clean" sound in this sense, but I'm not sat here thinking "that's the Ashdown amp sound" - if that makes sense? Some will think that's a good thing, some may not. I'm ok with it. Volume-wise I'm sure this has more than enough output to keep up in band practice when you boost the input volume as well as the output volume. I live in a flat so it won't be pushed on volume until next band practice. At less than half-volume I'm confident in its air-shifting ability. Overdrive - the built in overdrive can be controlled by a footswitch. The overdrive is pretty good and saves pedal space, afterall "overdrive" should be the sound of an over-driven amp so its best coming from the amp rather than a pedal. The overdrive has a rotary knob and can go from un-noticeable to a-bit-too-much with everything in between. I couldn't see whether Ashdown actually make one, but I've bought Thomann's cheapest footswitch for this - which does the job, but surely if its a function of the amp they should just give it with the amp?? Sub-Harmonics - saved me buying a dedicated octaver maybe. Its ok. A bit cheesey. Annoyingly this isn't footswitch-able and I can't see me ever playing a full song with it engaged - why make the overdrive footswitchable but not this? Sounds good in the higher reaches of my fretless and may sound good if I were ever to need to play really heavy stuff. Possibly best combined with the overdrive, otherwise its a bit too much like a cheap multi-effect type sound without much flexibility to change it. Built-in compressor with rotary control and on-off switch - personally I prefer a compressor on the amp than on my pedal board, but I'm not an omni-labs compressor fiend, I like a bit of it and know when I want more or less, that does it for me. I don't like a super-squashed sound so this is sufficient to me. Post-EQ DI - this would be useful with a pre/ post switch. Not used it yet, hope it works when I need it. Extension cab? There is the usual speaker input for the in-built combo speaker in the back and a spare socket next to it... can I load on another cab? I have no idea. If I can, what impedance? etc. Another 15" cab underneath would be formidable and they do one in this range for just over a hundred quid. There's a built-in fan which is noisy. Ideally I'd like this to be more quiet. Might really p!ss me off during the week because we don't play very loud and we record all our jams, I don't want to hear the fan on the amp through any quiet bits. I've not yet put my pedal board up in to it, would be interesting to see how it handles the envelope filter and flanger combo I use, and then over-driven. I expect it will be ok. Overall I'm so far happy. £250 delivered within a few days from Germany, for a brand new 300 watt amp. I usually buy secondhand amps due to the horrendous cost new, but this is a safe buy and I so far feel its good value. It is not the quality of my Trace Rig that I sold but I didn't expect it to be. For pub gigs, rehearsals and quiet home playing it will fit the bill and only time will tell if its going to keep going for years or not. I have never been attracted to Ashdowns but I think I've just used some that have been abused in hired band rooms, rather than getting my hands on something that's either new or been looked after properly. If you only have £250 to spend on an amp and you want new then this is a good use of money.

I often play things wrong. My first ever gig with my first ever (and best ever) band I played the "All Along the Watchtower" section of our showpiece Hendrix medley on the wrong string. I was too busy trying to look like a moody Entwistle and temper my fills... I knew something was wrong but wasn't sure how to correct it. I was gutted and stormed off after we finished. Nobody else cared, not even the self-obsessed singer-lead-guitar-lyricist, they thought we nailed the whole thing and we all got loads of compliments on our individual and group performance... However, playing in a "oh its just 12 bar blues in b-flat..." type group where the guitarist would go off and play random blues stuff and expect me to just follow from very vague instruction and never having heard the song before people have said to me "errr... the bass didn't quite fit the rest of the song" So I guess some you can just "style-out" if they're minor slips but sometimes there's no hiding place!

So after selling my beloved and all powerful trace rig I needed a new amp. Was seriously considering new: hartke kickback 12, gk mb 112, ashdown toneman. Then a fender rumble 500 came up on gumtree in my price range. I contact the seller, arrange the meet, and he doesn't show and doesn't answer his phone. I had a hartke kickback 15 and loved the sound but couldn't bring myself to buy the new 12 and being out of stock at thomann helped my decision. I fancied the gk but the powered extension cabs cost the same as the amp almost so that put me off although again, I have had gk amps before and they're excellent. I went for the toneman largely down to cost, but also all the features I want are there. I have never been a fan of the abused and tired ashdown s I have used in rehearsal rooms but I understand they have been mistreated. As soon as this arrives I'll put out a review. 250 quid for 300 watts, footswitch overdrive, 15" speaker, seems a good deal.

I have the caline and its doing a decent job. I'm running a tuner, hartke bass attack, micro q tron, boss flanger, boss limiter enhancer and a zoom 506 off it right now, all holding up well. Good value for money. Not sure how it would handle a more exotic set up but there's room for more pedals should I want to add them on. I'd say go for it.

Flanger on its own is ok, nothing special... But after an envelope filter its the dogs.

I had one but I don't have the patience to learn how to program it. It's quite scientific to get the edit of the effects correct and to re order them. The effects themselves do sound good though and great for home use. The format has been around for years so people must be able to use them well, try to find an instructional video on their usage somewhere that may help. A friend of mine went to a guitar shop to buy somehing similar and was told that these multi effect units have "recordings of" the effect and not the "real thing" like a dedicated pedal. Sounded like b0llox to me.

How do these compare to say SX or Westfield?

Ok here goes... Kramer fretless five string. My 18th birthday present, til death do us part. Bought in the old Musicyo days and when I was in an incredible band (seriously, best I've ever been in) and I was playing bass for three or four hours every day and night. I love this bass. Its had many stable-mates but this is the keeper, the one that has been my only ever bass for substantial parts of the 14 years I've had it. I know it so well. Only issue is it looks very "hair metal" which isn't great on acoustic folk night... Justification: Birthday present, fretless. MIM Fender Jazz - the only original bits left are the body and neck. The previous owner made good upgrades, Schaller tuners, Badass II bridge... and I kept going. Bone nut, Bartolini pickups. Now I want to put a sunburst body on it and possibly de-fret it. I keep it for slap and anything requiring (hahaha "requiring") string bends or a zingy metallic sound. Really, it doesn't get much use. I also am terrible at slap. Justification: decent backup. One day I may learn slap and this will be the go-to bass. MIJ Fender P, 1970 re-issue, the "Sid Vicious". This has a Steve Harris sig pickup (from previous owner) and the sig strings. Big tone does not begin to describe it. Its my go-to bass now. It does two sounds, big and fat finger-style or big and fat pick play (not often). Perfect bass for cutting through a mix. It may get a more traditional sounding pickup and thinner strings soon, but they will be flats. I really do have a good bond with this bass. What would improve it? Maybe a big humbucker at the bridge? I'm toying with that idea... Justification: right for most styles of music, great for getting the bass through the mix, a real live-playing bass. Amps - just sold my 500w Trace rig. It was awesome. Got a combo possibly coming in. I could not justify that rig, hence its gone. Effects - the board is getting quite full now: Behringer tuner/ mute ; EHX micro Q-Tron ; Boss Flanger (old brown ver) ; Hartke Bass Attack ; Boss LMB2 (for the fretless only) ; Zoom 506 ; all on a Gator board. I can justify all of these in that they all get used on at least one song... the Zoom is there as a headphone practice tool but I may want to add either octave or delay occasionally and I can't get away with buying more pedals. Zoom recording device - recording rehearsals proves I wasn't in the pub. How do I justify it all? I used to be in a really good covers band. That was a long time ago. Since then I've played with mates and done open mics and some small gigs. I joined a band last year that's having difficulty getting going but I really want this to be a regular gigging band and that will justify all the gear.

good review - bought one of these a while back myself just to have a DI but I'm finding its great for boosting the EQ signal going to the amp and good for changing between basses with completely different character so long as you remember your favourite settings (P Bass to fretless five)

[quote name='hubrad' timestamp='1455184759' post='2976705'] Also consider whether you're after smoothie smoothie kinda fretless tone (probably what most folks are after) or more attacky sound (like me!) so you can play fretless in any context. I recently put a set of EMG into my Overwater Jazz; it was brilliant with the Barts, but the EMGs really slice though yet with tons of power! This is about the best recording of it I've heard so far.. [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ew3NMmtYH3M"]https://www.youtube....h?v=ew3NMmtYH3M[/url] Your ears, your choice. Have fun experimenting. [/quote] Off topic - but your band is awesome!

I want a sunburst body for my MIM jazz... Don't need a whole bass though. If I take a punt I'll write it up here... Got a wedding to pay for first though

Top bloke, bought my Trace amp, came round with the cash and dropped off a bottle opener for me Really easy to deal with, left me with one of his amps to play through while I source a replacement, what a gent! Just one thing... Being five miles down the road I can still hear that Trace amp, turn it down a little, mate

Hi has anyone got experience of the two 2015 kickback combos? 500w from either a 12 or 15" speaker, sounds impressive. I had a 120w kickback 15 and loved thebspund but it was awkward and heavy. I'm now in the market for a lightweight combo that has power and tone and thinking this could be ideal. Do they sound like the old kickbacks? Can they really pump out 500w? And are they more portable? Thanks

Interesting! Might be worth a punt..

But how? When buying separate costs less than buying whole?

Hi everyone - I can't quite get my head around something I keep seeing on eBay. Some US sellers, who are companies rather than individuals, ssell a "fully loaded" Fender bass body for around £250 before tax etc. and a "fully loaded" fender neck for around £220 before tax, delivery, etc. I don't get it - they've taken off the strings, unscrewed the neck, and are selling them separately, but you could buy the both for less than the cost of the whole item new. What am I missing???

Loving the fretless PJ

Hi, I chickened out of buying a sandberg P+MM (can't remember the model number) at the London guitar show last year but it was a long and painful decision. I did buy a fender instead but down solely to price. IMO you are getting more from a sandberg: active electronics, more choice for lefties, you can customise through their online spec builder. There really is loads more you can get out of it if you don't want an off the shelf fender. You can feel the quality in them straight away, really playable neck, the one I tickled was four string with ebony fingerboard, sounded perfect. The pickups are really clear and the electronics are intuitive, I.e. it doesn't take ages of tweaking to work out what they do. I could even give it a passable slap off the big mm pickup, and I'm not a competent slap player. Set up nicely it was great, I could easily have one as my only fretted bass. I think they're excellent value on thomann, not so good value from UK shops.

I quite like it to be fair. No idea who the bassist is, maybe squire will even do a Sig bass for me soon... Bet they won't do it lefty though so no point

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HAYMAN-4040-VINTAGE-BASS-GUITAR-SHERGOLD-BURNS/111892931763?_trksid=p2047675.c100012.m1985&_trkparms=aid%3D555012%26algo%3DPW.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20140221143856%26meid%3D0a63ae9c42b64b989a4108086915e6b2%26pid%3D100012%26rk%3D4%26rkt%3D28%26sd%3D161956444747 This looks interesting and in good condition, but is it a franken-bass? Both Hayman and Shergold names on it... Just saw in the "recommended items" in eBay. If I were right handed i'd be tempted to make a punt but know absolutely nothing about these.

A bit off piste here, but have you considered a DI with eq? I picked up a second hand Hartke VXL for around fifty quid. It does more than just a standard eq job and acts as a DI should it be needed to. There's budget brands like behringer and red sub and Harley Benton making DIs with eq in your price range.

Ok so I think I solved it... Turned off the Amp eq and tinkered with the hartke vxl to get the tone right. Put the limiter enhancer on to a decent enhance setting, worked a treat. Still not bringing out as much mwah as I would like but this bass doesn't so much ime over 14 years with it! Got a good set up for that bass now, turning the limiter enhancer off for other basses

Looks tasty!!! Have been toying with putting an MM or jazz in my white 70s reissue P bass... You, and sandberg, May have tipped me to the edge

My fretless is much lower output. I'm keen to use it with my band but it's such a contrast to my main bass (MIJ P with Steve Harris pickups and strings) I don't want unnecessary messing about. I also have a jazz that I use occasionally but unlikely with the band at the moment. My current thinking is to keep it on the board on an "enhance" setting and use only with the fretless. I think also going from my trace rig at home to the rehearsal spaces SVT isn't helping me find the right consistency... Trace will be coming to more rehearsals from now on. And I will be world's strongest man 2017.

Hi everyone. I'm finding my formerly trusty boss limiter enhancer now a bit inedictable. It used to be easy, it was in my signal chain to get rid of the loud clunk from engaging my ehx pedals and also to help me even out the dynamics when changing from one bass to another. This worked successfully for some time but I'm now experiencing a weird effect, particularly with my fretless, which really needs the enhance function. Basically I get almost a delay from playing the note to then hearing a highly compressed sound out the amp with lots of the character gone. My amp has a variable compressor and I now have a Hartke VXL in my chain. Do I still need the limiter enhancer or do I just need to be more patient with finding the settings (and writing them down!!)