DGBass

This one was custom made for me by Chris May at Overwater Basses when they just had a small unit near Haltwhistle over forty years ago, and I've had it from new.  It was gigged regularly up until the late nineties and early 2000's, and also did a gig near the end of 2023 just to get it out and used for nostalgia's sake. Last gig before that was around 2007. It's more or less a case queen these days as I'd hate for a punter to fall over it, which nearly happened on a few occasions. I do jam regularly at home with it, use it for recording,  and its fully setup and gig ready if I feel the urge. I don't have a lot of photos from way back, but here are few taken sometime in the nineties. Suffice to say it has great sentimental value.

As it is now

I've played through a lot of amps over the years but have come to appreciate what I have now as some of the best sounding and most versatile I've owned and used. These three are the most often actually used in my gear stash for different reasons, and my top three selection of currently used amps.

The Ashdown ABM really is a swiss army knife of bass amps and I haven't been without an ABM now for over ten years. It's a tested design and taking the time to really get to know it's EQ will reveal a myriad of useable tones. It's also what I use for the louder gigs and it always delivers.

The Ashdown Labs MK500 is also used during louder gigs and has the volume of the ABM but has a very much more refined Hi Fi quality. Sounds wonderful with my Player P-Bass with the five year old flats on it. Silky smooth clicky tones and it's also Hi Fi quiet noise wise, and even with the master on full it's difficult to tell its switched on at idle. The harmonic emphasis knob is a mysterious and wonderful thing. Not quite sure what it does but it makes everything sound great.

The mid nineties Trace Elliot GP7 SM130 has been my most gigged amp of late as I've switched to mostly to low volume small bar gigs. It's never up more than half way and is more than loud enough. It's been a revelation playing gigs with only 130 or less Trace Elliot watts and the Ashdown's aren't currently getting as much use. The GP7 SM pre-amp is a wonder of simplicity to use and has so many great and classic tones. The EQ balance knob in particular has such a dramatic influence on the useable tones with even a small tweak. 

I had the later green stripe stingray head and will buck the trend and admit I liked it a lot. It was way better than the equivalent HH VS Bassamp of the time in my opinion and louder/more powerful. 150 watts @ 4 ohms and around 100 watts @ 8 ohms. Built tough, solid and very reliable. Loud as thunder as well. The preset tone buttons were admitedly a bit hit or miss but its simplicity was its strong point. I recently bought one for nostalgic purposes and did use it briefly with a band. It sounded great and was very reliable. As with lots of stuff of this era, they were weighty. The Stingray combo I had was immensely heavy which is why I've now sold it on to some vintage amp enthusiasts who were much younger and fitter than I am.  They loved it even though it weighed a ton. The drivers in these big reflex horn stingrays are very efficient Fane units with 3 inch voice coils. Very unusual for the time. The one I just sold was over 40 years old and all original. If a nice condition green stripe head came along I'd be quite tempted but I wouldn't buy the earlier silver face ones. Too old, and will almost certainly need a bit of servicing especially if they look a bit tatty and well used. 

Not quite a weekend rig but it was the one of choice for a gig last night. New band time and doing some Jazz/blues fusion with a sax player, and as it was just a short two hour gig to a quiet weekday crowd, we played low volume so the punters could still talk when the band was playing. Worked well and I am enjoying the low wattage rig and sitting down while playing these days. Laney R210 200 watt/4 ohm cab and an old mid nineties TE GP7 SM130 amp, in limited edition green leatherette of course. Sounded fab.

5 hours ago, SamPlaysBass said:

That's a great looking GP11 and I reckon that head is probably heavier than the cab!

a measly 10kg and its suitcase handle means its so easy to move around.

On 31/03/2024 at 15:59, SamPlaysBass said:

Anyone else buying up not-so-cutting edge equipment? 

Yes indeed. It's something I enjoy doing and I also don't mind saying what it cost. Not everyone does like to reveal what their rig cost them. A recent new band project which was in effect a low volume jazz/blues fusion type gig playing sunday afternoons and midweek early evening gigs prompted me to look around for a smaller setup that didn't need to be high powered. I came across this little end of life Laney R210 cabinet and although i'm not a huge fan of 2 x 10 setups, I took a chance and bought the cab direct from Laney at a discount. It's proved its worth already and for the pricepoint it's just insanely good. Brand new, 2 x 10 with a switchable tweeter, rear ported and at 16Kg its only 2Kg heavier than an industry standard BF 210S with cloth front, and approximately a tenth, yes a tenth of the cost at only £99.  I really couldn't have bought the raw materials to build a cab for that price. Ok, so it might not have the same high end performance but 200 watt power handling is more than enough for a small gig and it is absolutely giggable. I've gigged it and it works and sounds astoundingly good for its pricepoint. Amp wise I've used it with several different amps including a bigger Ashdown Labs MK500. It sounded great and performed perfectly. Currently its being used mostly with an old Trace Elliot head, a forty year old AH150 GP11 mk4 in perfect working order. Trace stuff was always the flavour of the month in whatever decade you can remember it being around. The Mk4 GP11 was just £50. So, a great little rig that sounds amazing for £149. The cab was modded from its stock 16 ohms spec to 4 ohms after being used a few times. I've no idea why Laney made these 16 ohm cabs ( 2 x 8 ohm speakers wired in series with a basic piezo tweeter circuit parallelled off the input) in the first place. That makes it even more flexible as a one cab solution with low wattage amps. I may bend and get a small class D head to go with it at some point as that would lighten the load even further.

On 30/01/2024 at 20:40, aniki said:

I’m looking for something with a more vintage ‘dull thud’ but without the weight of an svt810!
Does this even exist? Or is the shift in tonality simply a consequence of neo magnets?

Sadly, that type of sound is a dying breed these days.  @Phil Starr was on to something when he talked about fashions and trends. The choice of speakers for compact high performance light weight cabs almost dictates the use of 10 or 12 inch drivers and that affects the tonality.  Most 15 inch high performance drivers that can deliver a substantial "thud" or "thump" as I prefer to descibe it will need a certain cabinet volume to work efficiently and at their best performance. The reality is that 1x15 cabs designated as high performance aren't very compact. If that was possible, I'm sure we would have seen a compact lightweight 1x15 thread here on basschat that delivered a useable build plan to conclusion. If there is one I may have missed it?  And that's why there aren't so many of them around in the commerical market. The only one I've found interesting is the Mesa Subway 1x15 and thats because of previous experience with the high quality of Mesa cabs. But it costs nearly £1000.  I've gone the lightweight route and found that modern boutique 2x10's still can't emulate the mid sucking thump a good vintage 1x15 cab can.

I'll admit I'm firmly routed in the past as far as thud and thump are concerend and use a 44 year old Musicman RH115 made of solid pine but loaded with a state of the art Lavoce Neo driver. It weight in at 23kg, is a one handed lift and has that old school thud and thump in spades. The point here is that maybe an old school cab is worth hanging onto just to get that sound and maybe a modern driver upgrade will help lighten the load and be less expensive than shelling out a grand or more for a modern 2x10 cab or a 1x12?  An SVT 810 is around 64kg. I mean, thats weighty. You could easily shell out a grand or more for some of the recommended modern lightwieght compact cabs that are always mentioned in these type of threads. There is a lot of scope available in a cab that weighs less than an svt810. For example, you could pick up a good Trace Elliot 1518 cab for around £50 that weighs 39kg but will have thud and thump by the shedload. Neo drivers don't really make much difference tonally, its all about the weight. I sort of wish when recommendations are made for boutique modern lightweight cabs that folks wound prepend a recommendation with the line "if you have a grand or more to spare, why don't you check out x cab from y manufacturer. It keeps things real.  I love that old school thud and thump, a p-bass with flats and a large booming 1x15 cab. You wont ever be able to emulate that with a 1x12 or a 2x10. Yes, you might be able to move as much air, but the tonality will be different. I've tried for years and never come close. Open to any recommendations though with potential costs attached🙂 

I use an old Shure PGX4 system which was originally sold as a wireless mic setup. I use it for bass and it works superbly. It runs at approx 900Mhz (with a range of approx 50 metres line of sight) which in the UK is designated a carrier frequency for mobile phone providers but low power applications for commercial/medical and some other applications are allowed. It might be prone to mobile interference but I haven't had any issues with that so far.  Mobile Operators using this band, usually called band8 support 2G and 3G which is on the way out in the UK.  More modern wireless systems seem to use frequency bands in the wi-fi spectrum which will I guess be easier and cheaper to design as its fairly standard wi-fi technology. I haven't used a modern 2.4G or 5G wireless mic/guitar device so I couldsn't say if it might be affected by someone's wifi router in the vicinity. I'm sure the boffins will have taken that into account with selected channels to operate on 😐

Could be a number of things, and Ashdown are probably the best people to contact as theses amps are eminently repairable. From personal experience, blowing the mains input fuse usually points the finger in the direction of the ouput board, maybe a shorted output device ( there are six bi-polar output transistors on the output boards. A failed/shorted one can overload a rail and blow the fuse ). I've never seen the pre-amp section ever fail in one of these amps and blow a fuse. For the most part I haven't seen a transformer go bad either in an EVO III amp. These versions are tuned to run at 575 watts so there is a lot of juice going through them. The bi-polar devices only usually fail prematurely if they aren't getting cooled properly over time or the heatsinks being clogged with accumulated dust/grime over the years can affect cooling. There is also a thermal cut out so even if it was poor cooling the amp would cut out long before something actually failed and work again after it had cooled down. Basically not a DIY easy fix if the mains is blowing. Ashdown should be able to sort your issue out easily. I always keep a fully working spare output board but touch wood, I've never needed it so far🙂

Rap Metal band in the noughties - walk on track was played over the PA by the sixth member of the band at the front of the stage using mini disc samples of Destiny's Child tune 'Bootylicious'.  Instead of Kelly, Michelle, Beyonce can you handle this,  our vocalist would point out to and insert the name's of the band's wives/girlfriends or frequently other people he was trying to wind up. Caused a stir on several occasions but became a standard part of our show and for the most part everyone loved it and expected it😉 

11 hours ago, Lozz196 said:

Loving the look of the Rootmaster EVO III range.

I'm sure there will be some discussion soon on the RM owners club thread but I do agree with the new look. I never cared much for the previous versions of rootmaster with the curved metal case and chrome or silver ( or red or black ) fascia. This new EVO3 looks like a premium product in a standard no frills rectangular black case and now has cab sim features not found on even an ABM.  Whats more Ashdown don't seem to have hiked the prices either which is good news for any potential buyers. I'm sure I read somewhere that these would also be rack mountable but there's no mention on the NAMM page. That would also be a very usable feature to have for me. I recall filling in an Ashdown questionaire a year or maybe even two years ago asking what wish list of products I would like to see in the future from Ashdown. One wish was a standard black box design class-D ABM style pre-amp head with an ice blue front. I'm not sure that will happen anytime soon but these new EVO3 RM's are as near as I'll get to that wish and thats not a bad thing at all. Top marks to Ashdown for aesthetics and product features on these new evolutionary models. Even the little OriginAL Evo looks the biz. I can see a lot of folks emptying out their previous RM's to update and good discounts on new old stock of EVO2's. 

12 hours ago, JPJ said:

I do like the new blue on the EVO V

+1 to that. I think the ice blue finish on any ABM speaks volumes and is instantly recognisable as Ashdown's flagship product. The original black EVO V looks cool, the ice blue version even cooler in my opinion🙂

First rehearsal the other night of 2024. It's a brand new project and is shaping up to be a jazz/blues fusion sort of thing with hopefully a sax player joining for next rehearsal. There is also a marked departure from my other rock/blues band volume wise. The new drummer has a jazz background and plays very quietly so there isn't any need for my ABM or my 700RB. I took along my smallest amp, an old Gallien Krueger with an honest 125 watts @ 8ohms that hadn't previously left the house and was my home/studio amp. To my surprise it was more than capable in the new band situation and it wasn't being worked hard at all. Also tried a wireless system a very kind bass brother donated to me at Christmas. It's old school but worked flawlessly. Not having a lead snagged around my foot was another pleasant first for me in 2024.

Not all cab manufacturers use a red to red and black to black wiring design. I would tend to leave the wiring as it is as in this case where its black on the red terminal and red on the other. From the pic it looks like the 10 inch drivers also have a little cone fatigue from over excursion which would suggest its a well used cab and has been operating at or near its limit. That might be why the horn stopped working in the first place. If the horn works fine when swopped over I'd be inclined to screw it back together and job done.

Gear4Music ( no affiliation) have replacement parts some Eden cabs if you felt it might be worth trying a diy repair? At the moment they have replacement horns for under £20 but they are I tihnk for D series 2x10 cabs eg 210XLT & 210XST. Depends what model cab you have as if its not a D series you may need another type of replacement horn. Actually, they also have e-series replacement horns. Might be worth a look.

Best purchase of the year was my used but well cared for Fender Player P-Bass The purchase was in the bag by 1pm on New Years Day 2023 so it also qualifies as the first and quickest blag of 2023.

Closely followed by a shiny red box purchased from @Chimike and which is just as fantastic as the P-Bass.

Nothing really bad purchased at all this year. I did buy a used Boss SYB-3 out of curiosity but that was moved on quite quickly so may qualify as worst purchase purely as it was only in my possesion for a short time. But it wasn't really so bad, just not for me.

A pair of Electrovoice ELX115P's. Probably a bit overkill for pub gigs but nice to have the available headroom. They only handle 3 x mics for vocals, some kick drum which they cope well with, and some occasional amplified acoustic guitar. Do their job very well and so far very reliable.

16 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

Alex Harvey reference?

Well spotted. We are all SAHB fans and the name comes from a track on their album Tomorrow Belongs to Me.

6 hours ago, Jackroadkill said:

@DGBass, that's a  What's the name of the band? great-sounding band you've got there.  Tight and loose in equal measure, absolutely rocking.  What's the name of the band?

We are "The Stoneaters"🙂

Final gig of 2023 last night.  No2 Baker Street in Stirling Town with an intimate, chilled out and appreciative crowd. Very warm atmosphere and the band played well. Only issue bass wise was a seamless switch over from my main bass playing finger to the backup finger mid tune towards the end of the third set when a touch of cramp set in during Go Buddy Go. Apart from that one issue, a very enjoyable end of year gig was had by all and very well paid as the accumulated wealth in the band gigging bank account was cleared out end of year and distributed between the band members.

Bass rig on the night was my trusty lefty MIM P-bass into a GEB-7 with an accentuated 120Hz boost, an LMB-3 and same as it ever was via a TC Poly Tune. Amp wise was my Ashdown Labs MK500 and trusty 1980s Musicman RH115 cab sporting a recently installed Lavoce Neo high performance 15" driver. Sounded immense and super heavy on the low end. A wee video clip from the drummerist video cam set about two foot back on a shelf behind our drummer and looking towards the audience. Taken with a mobile phone camera. Merry Christmas Bass Chatters 🎄 

This weekend's rig of choice...

At the end of this year, i'll have been using my 80s Musicman cab as my go to cab for ten years. Believe it or not, its a one handed lift. Actually it only has one handle on it 😉 To celebrate this milestone its just recently had a really nice spec Lavoce Neo driver installed which is warmer sounding that the previous more hi fi Faital Pro 15PR400. Sounded immense with my trusty MIM P-bass and a rather wonderful Ashdown Labs MK500 circa 2008 providing the oomph. Forgot to bring a back up amp to the gig but really, with Ashdown kit, i've never needed one.   

Thomann retail the Eminence APT80 V2 which may or may nor be a drop in replacement. https://www.thomann.de/gb/eminence_apt80.htm

The crossover looks about what these cabs were setup for, around 3.5khz crossover. I owned the TX410 and TVX410 and never did care much for the tweeter tone. It was that classic Peavey clang 90s stuff were famous for. There was if I remember a decent tweeter control knob on these cabs where you could back off the treble. I replaced quite a few diaphragms on the Peavey type horns when they blew and used to order them from Barns and Mullins in the UK as they were a Peavey ( and now Trace Elliot) distributor. The Genuine Peavey spares were quite pricey which might explain the APt80 in your cab. Fostex also did a version which was quite similar.

These aren't really designed for gigging imho. I'm pretty sure home use or even light rehearhsal use with a quiet band would make that feel like money well spent, you don't get much for that amount of money these days. Might even pair well with a 1x8 cab if small and neat is your thing. I do have some real world experience using the GPA-100's bigger stablemate with bass, the GPA-400 which is also billed as a guitar amp. It's probably a pair of the GPA-100 modules in one case. Home and studio, its a delight to use with bass, no fans and lots of nice clean uncoloured power although it too has a bass and treble control on each channel. The bigger one is giggable when used in bridge mode and can go pretty loud, loud enough to consider hearing protection but by then the peak limiter starts to kick in anyway. Oddly enough as @stevie mentioned about the GPA 100 having an HPF, the GPA 400 seems to have a similar drop off in low end response when using the full 400w in bridged mode and its those low end frequencies that soak up the power anyway and cause the amp to auto limit at its peak performance. 

Any small class d amp i've experienced does much the same thing if you dabble in low frequencies (between 30Hz-120Hz - I used my GPA 400 with a GP12SMX Stereo pre-amp) which means you have to back of the bass or risk the class d output section limiting/overheating or cutting out completely at its highest performance levels. To put it into perspective, the GPA-100 is £69 for a wee super portable take anywhere amp that will be usable for home and home studio use, and perhaps a very quiet band rehearshal. The GPA 400 is more expensive but quite giggable with bass in bridged mode even though it is marketed as a guitar amp.

Early 1980s Overwater

Faital Pro 15 inch bass driver for sale in excellent fully working condition. Has been used but never pushed. Lighweight high quality and high performance neo bass speaker that currently retails for arounf £190 GBP. Please check the specs on the Faital Pro website if you are interested as its a fairly large diameter unit and may not fit the cutout on certain bass cabs. Ideal for a project cab or upgrading/replacing a current speaker.  Can be posted securely in original packaging to a UK Mainland only destination.

https://faitalpro.com/en/products/LF_Loudspeakers/product_details/index.php?id=101060100

Some of the key specs are:

99db Sensitivity

Frequecy range 35Hz-4000Hz

3 inch voice coil

Xmax 5.75mm

FS 35Hz

Weight 3.6kg