ianrendall

I know. I was just desperate to get that anology in somewhere!

Bass playing bliss.

For illustrative purposes, here is a map of the bass journey, tounge in cheek you understand.

My bass journey has returned me to a 4 string P bass and the simple but effective world of GK amps, the combination of which has finally allowed me to nail my holy grail P tone (albeit flats to come later!) The lack of knob fiddling options has boosted my playing confidence and allowed me to concentrate on the charts and the music. Going to undo it all soon with a Sadowsky.

I like to compare peak amp output to the Bugatti Veyron; yes, it WILL reach its claimed maximum speed of 253mph, but will only last 5 mins until the tank runs dry. I’d like to see amp manufacturers perhaps use - back to the motoring analogy - a sustainable cruising speed rating.

Now, before I go any further, I must explain that I have absolutely no intention of doing this whatsoever! What would happen if you took 2 bass amps. Plug bass into amp 1, take speaker output from amp 1 and plug it into instrument input of amp 2, connect amp 2 to bass cab? Just curious really. I would imagine smoke and fire would occur?

I suppose I was waxing satirical on how Trace always seemed to under rate their wattage, whereas some modern manufacturers like to use marketing nonsense to muddy the waters with their peak RMS ratings. Or summat like that 😁

Yes, I forgot to add I used a primer first.

It seems that modern retail chemical paint removers are useless, especially on what I think is powder coat. A few coats softened the paint enough for me to wire wheel it back to bare metal. A rub down afterwards with wire wool and white spirit, then a few light coats of Hammerite satin spray and it’s good as new

Indeed it is! GK amps have taught me that the bass EQ control isn’t the be all and end all, especially with a P bass. The flat settings sounds mint with a P, which incidentally are not 12 o clock!

Trace watts are the opposite of Bugera watts.

Yes, the good thing about my GK is that the beat up portion is completely removable, so no worries about spraying unwanted areas. I would probably do a chemical strip with a wire wool rub down to key the surface. The original paint seems quite thick so an overspray might show the lumps and bumps. I’m thinking a metal primer followed by several thin layers of a satin hammerite spray? I realise I may not need a primer, but the truth is, I love doing little jobs like this as I get a real sense of satisfaction, so I like to drag it out

Who remembers the video game Bioshock? This amp wouldn’t look out of place in Rapture.

Just got hold of a GK 700RB. It’s in pretty good nick electronically but the top cover casing is pretty beat up (it’s nearly 20 years old). I’d like to strip it and respray it. Stripping it isn’t a problem, but what would you, the great BC unwashed, suggest regarding surface prep and paint to use? I’m not too worried about replicating the original factory finish, just want to make it look a bit neater.

Mk1 700RB arrived today. It’s a beast. Nothing more I can say really.