DGBass

I owned and played a slab bodied pre-eb Stingray for about 25 years. For the last ten years of that time I also owned a P-Bass which I began playing more and more over time. Both were hefty chunks of wood, the P-Bass however was more comfortable to play and the thing about a Stingray is it sounds like a Stingray. The P-Bass sounds like a bass. I guess thats why I only own the P-Bass now. The stingray was less forgiving and suited the sound of the bands i played in back in the day. The P-Bass is a very simple instrument that can adapt to most styles. I think there is a good thread somewhere on the forum dedicated to the P-Bass. You pick it up plug it in and your ready to go. My preference out of the two is the P-Bass. Just to confuse matters I now own a Standard Jazz and haven't picked up the P-Bass since I got it! My P-Bass is a keeper though

I went along a similar down sizing route and currently own a BH250. It's an incredible little amp. Tried initially with a Peavey BW 1x15 and it was plenty loud and powerful but couldn't quite get a useable tone. Tried with various other cabs eg 6x10's /8x10's/ a 4x12 and eventually settled on a BC212 TC cab. The BH250 amps are voiced for modern horn loaded cabs, that where they really shine in my opinion. Without a horn, they can sound a bit flat if you like an upfront bass tone. Anyway, the TC cab is gone now and I use the BH as a standby to my Musicman amp and Mesa Diesel cab as its easy to take anywhere in the gig-bag. I also use it as a desktop monitor(with headphones) and recording interface as i can bounce tone-prints in and out easily from my computer. For live use, I usually preset the multiband compressor as this keeps the sound tight. Its a keeper for me but i did go through several cabs before hearing its true potential. Your powerhouse 8x10 should really show the amps tones. Hope you enjoy

I used a Mk8 for many years with the TVX410 and 1x15 Peavey carpet covered cabs. Sure it also had a built in chorus. Very beefy sound with either cab or both together. Typical Peavey tones not unlike their other bass gear. The 4x10 definitely gave it more definition and an upfront sound. The 1x15 was floor shaking but slightly down in the mix. Adding a 210 TVX or similar to your 15 cab might be worthwhile and it will certainly bring you into the mix

I've owned and played through many SS amps over the years and for convenience and reliability Peavey bass kit always did the job consistently better than any other SS amp I've used. However my mainstay gigging amp for over 20 years was a MKII Marshall Super Bass 100w( through a Musicman RH115 cab fitted with a blackwidow driver). There was just something alive about this particular valve amp that all my SS amps couldn't match. It was reliable too, only three sets of valves in 20+ years. At the moment i have a class D TC Electronic amp for ultimate portability and it sounds quite good too. Valves still feature as i am a valve amp fan, and i'm lucky enough to run a Bassman 50 and more recently an amp that i've heard called a 'reverse hybrid', a Musicman HD150 head. I've not heard much mention of the Musicman hybrids in this thread but a SS preamp and a tube power stage has been something of a revelation for me. It stays clean until very loud before the power tubes start to grind. For me tube amps equate to a bit more weight as the good ones seem to have heavy transformers. But i think they are worth it when you hear the tone. A decent graphic eq and compressor limiter on the front end will keep things tight and clean and allow control of the tone. It's a shame no other current amp makers( none im aware of) have reverse hybrid bass amps...its all the rage in guitar stuff with modelling technology and tube power stages. For the moment class D wins on convenience and portability for me but nothing sounds quite the same as a big valve amp doing its thing behind you on stage

I recently came across an old inspection tag and handbook for a bass I once owned. I bought the bass new in the early 1980's although the serial dates it as late 1970's. This may be accurate as i was advised it had been stored in a warehouse for sometime. The frets were green when it arrived and it needed a thorough clean up at the store before i bought it. I sold it on some years later as I always found it too heavy to play for any amount of time. It was visually a nice guitar and came with all the usual fender chrome work. I recently got in touch with another basschat member who now owns another of my old basses from years ago and was curious if any lefty basschat member might now own this particular old fender? I'm not looking to be re-united with it however it would be good to know someone else still appreciates it and that its still being played somewhere out there i've added one of the few old kodak stills i have of it with the chrome covers removed.

I just parted with a Peavey 1x15 BVX black Widow cab. I think it was similar dimensions to the Pro 115. They are big cabs and great subs. Did i say they are BIG? I think you have a very capable gigging cab; its the free hernia that came with mine that I didn't find so appealing

[quote name='CS2' timestamp='1369905913' post='2094137'] I personally suscribe to the 'my gear my rules' philosophy. If someone turns up without a bass amp they are assuming they are going to borrow one. [/quote] After playing local circuits with multiband nights for years I kinda subscribe to a my 'gear my rules' philosophy. I've been lucky in that I can only recall maybe one or two situations where my gear was mistreated. Contact with the other bands and the venue prior to the gig is always best to check if there is a gear share happening. I think when i was lugging a MK8 Peavey head, a 4x10 and 1x15 about i didn't care so much about sharing with anyone as that particular rig was nigh on indestructible. My gear now is a little more delicate and I would likely refuse to share if asked and have the confidence to stand by such a decision. I've never seen a gig cancelled because someone didn't want to share their bass gear with other bands for whatever reason. The DI box was always waiting in the wings.

I dabbled with a bi-amp setup some years ago using a Peavey 115 combo for the lows and a BH500 2x10 for the top end with some success using the combos built in x-over. Selecting the crossover frequency was done by twiddling the knob and listening for the best tone. Neither cab was a full range one though...the powerhouse 1x15 has switchable crossover frequencies but i'm not sure if you can disable the horn completely. What kind of setup are you using?

I've owned a lefty tribute L2000 for a few months now and its a fine bass. It's very well put together and comfortable to play. it needed a bit of setting up though and I put this down to their not being a lefty player to set it up at the factory where it was made! I felt quite at home with what is quite a wide neck at the nut end. It was reminiscent of an MM Stingray i once owned and played for years. Sound-wise it has some great tones, i've yet to work out all the combinations. I usually roll off the bass a tad as it has quite a kick when full on.

[quote name='Cosmo Valdemar' timestamp='1370126227' post='2096849'] I'm 6ft 4 and I've given up apologising. I'm sorry but that's just the way it is. [/quote]Same applies to me. Actually I also saw Rush at the SECC in the mid 2000's and there was someone taller than me obscuring the view. When i did get to see the stage, all i recall seeing was Geddy Lee dancing strangely on stage with his now signature Jazz. No Rickestacker was to be seen..anywhere!

I used one at a rock festival in1993..it was the onstage bass amp supplied by the organisers hooked up to an HH 215 cab. I played my Overwater on that occasion and i recall it sounded fine! Big clean transistor amp sound not unlike the Carlsboro Stingrays and HH VS Bass amps of the time. Not many around as i don't think they were that popular.

I have 72 Bassman 50 silverface and it works well with 4ohm loads. I wouldn't run it into any load less than 4 ohms, the output transformer was designed for a 4ohm total(its not switchable). It will happily run with an 8ohm cab at lower volumes. I use it at rehearsal with an Ashdown 6x10 4ohm cab and it is loud. I don't think there will be any problem with your Mesa cab. My amp doesn't have serious grunt, however i use a boss GE-7 to boost the low end and a limiter to keep it all tight. It keeps up with our guitarists Marshall 9050 with two 4x12's attached. The Fender bassman's tend to have a unique character as over the years they will have been re-valved/rebiased had cap jobs and components replaced. it's a very toneful amp, not seriously powerful and will drive a high power 4 ohm cab no problem. An ideal recording amp too

[quote name='Spoombung' timestamp='1362669988' post='2003113'] I don't understand why bass players want deafening amps. You just need it loud enough to compete with the drums - then it goes through the PA. In the old days 100watt was considered more than enough. Now its 500 watts, etc. [/quote] This made me smile I relied on a MkII Marshall Superbass for many years and it was always enough...however it's since been sold and I now own a BH250. I must admit coming from an old skool valve top and 1x15 cab background the BH250 confused me to start with regarding the tone controls as they seem to filter frequencies rather that operate like conventional cut/boost. I had a bit of dialogue with TC who were very helpful with some setup suggestions. It was only after picking up a second hand BC212 that the amp really seemed to come alive tonally. With the spectracomp toneprint, BC212 and an old Peavey BVXBW together, my BH250 sounds immense. I think it's a great little amp, powerful, plenty loud, toneful, lightweight and the Toneprint is a great feature. One thing I've noticed is that the BH250 is so light, it slides about a bit on top of my cabs especially from the big lows the Peavey cab kicks out. It's nothing a bit of gaffa tape won't fix but something to watch for if you like using subs/15's.

This thread brought back a few distant memories of a visit to Overwater Guitars in the early 1980's. In particular, the post about Rob Clements from Lindisfarne reminded me of one of the finished basses that Chris May showed me that was a customer order for Rob. It was a dark coloured original series fretless with a bound ebony neck and custom inlays. I'm sure it was also a non standard tuning for a four string( low B or C) and the bass was built with this in mind. The reason for my visit was to order my own Overwater which I have owned ever since and still play. It doesn't get gigged anymore but is used for recording and home playing. It's a leftie twin pickup passive configuration with a five position pickup selector and Kent Armstrong pickups. It was designed so that i could easily upgrade to the active electronics offered at the time, but it sounded so fantastic i never did go back to do this. it's mahogany with a tiger maple top, ebony fingerboard and matching headstock. The hardware is all schaller chrome. Even now it keeps perfect tune, and I cant imagine ever parting with it.