4000

You won't really know until they're in the bass, as every bass sounds different acoustically.

Cheers Nik! They're both great basses, and most importantly, not too heavy.

Loz, that's gorgeous. You know how much I want to try it, and the Alembic! (BTW, I'll reply to your PM asap). We really need to arrange something!

[quote name='gareth' post='499001' date='May 27 2009, 04:42 PM']As a matter of interest why would you get rid of a valve amp for a tranny??????[/quote] I've had several valve amps and would choose transistor 95% of the time.

[quote name='EBS_freak' post='495656' date='May 22 2009, 11:33 PM']GB fans. Got a little treat for you here. It's the first review of the 4 and 5 string Rumours at the start of what we now know as GB. I'm sure it'll tickle your fancy I haven't seen these reviews for some time and they are certainly not on the net anywhere (to my knowledge) so I scanned it and made it available for everybody. Enjoy.[/quote] I've got that review somewhere. Always loved that 5-er, looks fab.

[quote name='lozbass' post='494651' date='May 21 2009, 08:49 PM']I've been promising this for a long time - so...a little late evening sun in Manchester and here we go (the sun does little for my photography skills). It's an Alembic Series II custom - built around the small standard body shape. This is just around 2 years old - I've had it for about a year. Obviously, the photographs can't do it justice - it has a few unusual options - front and side blue LEDs (lasers in the front of the board), and extra laminates in the body (its cocobolo, maple, purpleheart, maple, vermillion core, maple, purpleheart, maple, cocobolo). Strangely, it has extra LEDs in the first position (a nice touch). The guy that commissioned this is an extraordinary aesthete with fabulous taste (IMO) - a really nice guy too.[/quote] Loz, I'm glad to finally see the bass, which is absolutely stunning (BTW it is the one I thought). I really do love the small standard shape; I just wish it liked me a bit more. Gorgeous!

Rickenbacker - Driving, melodic Fender - Supportive Ibanez - Doubled riffs Warwick - Syncopated funk Musicman - Attack Status - Slap Alembic - Sophisticated Fodera - Noodly

[quote name='warwickhunt' post='483908' date='May 9 2009, 06:35 PM']A reply from another 'walking wounded'! Weight/Mass is not negated by having a wider strap... period. It may not impact on a particular area of the shoulder or back but when the issue is 'weight', a wider strap does nothing, neither does a perfectly balanced bass! As for 1lb or 2lb being a small weight. Agreed... if we are comparing the weight of a pair of elephants. However when an instrument weighs 8lb and you talk about slinging a 10lb bass around your neck you are talking about 25% more weight. Hardly a small increase and very pertinent to bass selection. Sorry but the weight thing appears to be sidetracking the thread so back on task. Warwick/Status Buzzard - Pterodactyl[/quote] Agreed on all counts. BTW, deleted previous thread as the quote puts it far more succinctly. Athangyou.

[quote name='Kongo' post='483853' date='May 9 2009, 05:20 PM']Well you just said it all there "Chronic back and neck problems". Of course you can feel the difference your adding disability and pain barrier into the equation......[/quote] But you made a blanket statement......which is why I posted. Many players have back problems so they will probably feel the difference too. FWIW my Rick CS was about 2 pounds heavier than my '72, and [i]everyone[/i] could feel the difference in those.

[quote name='Machines' post='483805' date='May 9 2009, 04:15 PM']My Corvette is lighter than my Jazz/Precision and RBX (I reckon it's about 8lbs)[/quote] My Streamer Stage 1 4 string (a '91) weighed about 8 lbs, as have most of the others I've played.

[quote name='Kongo' post='483782' date='May 9 2009, 03:49 PM']1lb is a very small difference to weight so 2 will be un noticable.[/quote] That's nonsense. I have chronic back & neck problems and half a pound can make a difference.

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='483706' date='May 9 2009, 02:05 PM']Well FWIW, I prefer low action and I'm extremely fussy with my necks.[/quote] +1 here. Played my old Dolphin Pro 2 the other day which now belongs to a friend and is set up for his style (medium-high action, fair bit of relief - he plays very hard) and I could hardly get a note out of it. I like the neck bang straight with an action of around 1/16th at the 12th E, give or take (my old Ric's a bit higher). Martin Petersen reckons I like my action very low, and he should know.

I'd happily have one!

[quote name='skankdelvar' post='482049' date='May 7 2009, 02:58 PM']The simple reason that people buy relics is that they want to buy relics and manufacturers are happy to oblige. On closer scrutiny, there are many reasons which have been re-hashed before on this forum ad tedium. Beyond the simple functional issue of attempting to reproduce the playability of vintage instruments (e.g. rolling the fingerboard edges) or replicating 'tone', or keeping expensive vintage items out of the hands of gig thieves, lie the problematic areas of self-actualisation, self-image and transference of hero virtues. Let's not go there. But I'd ask myself why some people find it so strange that other people buy relics. Why do some people buy Warwicks and others buy Fenders? Why do some people like Jazz and others like Punk? In the end, it's just a matter of choice and no biggie.[/quote] Ah, a sane mind in a sea of insanity. I salute you sir!

[quote name='Golchen' post='482045' date='May 7 2009, 02:54 PM']Personally I don't get people who don't get it. Decent ones look cool and feel better to play, so what's wrong with that? I don't like shiny new instruments, and one is always worried about getting a scratch/mark. For me it's played in, pre-dinged instruments all the way. Note: To be honest, as far as the whole relic thing goes, I think that it looks amazing on a Strat, but not quite so good on other brands/instruments.[/quote] Good point. I really, really, [i]really[/i] don't like the look of new Fenders. They look plain wrong to me. But an old beat up Fender looks great IMO. Not necessarily so with other makes though. Of course if you think a new Fender looks great/better you're probably not going to see the point of a Relic. I completely agree about the played in thing too. I don't tend to like the feel of many new basses; I like my basses to feel like an old pair of slippers (er, not literally, that'd be neck stability out the window ). As for saving up and buying the real thing, I played a Custom Shop Jazz Relic in the Gallery a while back, and it was gorgeous, and a really nice bass. It was approx £1200 used. The refin-d genuine 64 Jazz (which looked almost identical) that they recently had in was £4995; way beyond most people's budgets, and of course one with original finish would be way more than that. The 64 was a bit nicer than the Custom Shop, but not by much. So, would I buy a Relic? If it was a Fender, without doubt, and easily in preference to a "pristine" new one. Anything else, possibly not, but then again it really depends what it looked and felt like. Oh, and I'd be quite happy to tell people it wasn't an old bass. what would be the point of that?

YMMV = your mileage may vary........ I've had mine a few years now and I know of plenty of other people who've had them and I've never known one catch fire (unlike a Warwick head I bought which did exactly that the first time I used it - that went straight back to the shop).

I believe the LMK my mate bought used was originally bought by someone who was looking to replace his Ashdown; ultimately he returned it and got his Ashdown back. I also know of someone else who also went the Markbass route only to return to Ashdown. FWIW I have no real bias either way (although I vastly prefer how Ashdown look). I haven't yet managed to get Markbass working how I like, but when I try the LMK through my cab if it works I'll be happy to replace the Ashdown. If I prefer the Ashdown that'll stay, simple as. More of an issue will be if the LMK (or an LMII) does a similar job to my Epifani, because at the moment that's in a kind of half-way house and if I can get something lighter that does a similar job I'll be happy to let that go.

I used my Ric through my mate's LMK with my old GS112s and to be honest wasn't that keen. I thought my Ashdown sounded better through them but ultimately just didn't get on with the GS112s so got rid.

[quote name='muppethenry' post='480626' date='May 6 2009, 07:54 AM']I gotta AMB EVO II n 1x15 ABM. Built like tanks (whats all this bursting into flame talk...?!) and the grindy valve kicks ass. I find the EQ a bit weird though. The low strings sound MASSIVE and beefy, while the top strings sound quite bright n twangy. Its fine for like R*CK gigs (all the lows) or slap (where the twang sounds sweeeeeet and the incoinsistancy in tone is a help) but for like jazz where you want even across the board it has this jump in tone. Maybe im just a bad EQer and shud put less of a curve on it, if you guys are saying they sound great with a flat EQ? Quarms aside it still gives a decent sound and kills for most gigs. Seeing as i invested in it i just wanna make it work! Its tough with an EQ on the bass, on the head (with those sliders too... hmmmm...), and on the PA - can make life interesting sometimes! Any thoughts? P.S. Mine hasnt spontaneously combusted yet.... Will it?![/quote] Depends what sound you're after and how you play. A friend of mine owns my old Warwick Dolphin bolt-on through my old Ashdown combo and uses no eq- he gets a monster sound. Using the same gear with the same settings I sound ridiculous (as in bad); I have to eq a lot to get anything approaching that sound. I also wouldn't say it's the best gear for jazz when I'm playing through it but YMMV.

Alex, you're talking to someone who can just about work a computer .......but I'll have a look and see what sense I can make of it. Just don't expect anything! The response of the Compact with the Ashdown didn't surprise me at all; it sounded pretty much how I expected. Compared to my old Trace 4x10 (sealed & pre-Kevlar) it had similar bottom ("toit!" in the words of Goldmember ) although with better handling, smoother and more balanced (though not quite as grindy or barky) mids, a slightly clearer voice and possibly slightly more extended top. Compared to my old Trace 1153, much tighter lows, again not quite as barky and possibly with marginally less upper end detail than the 1153, but with much greater power handling and a more balanced sound (and weighs half as much; less than a third as much as the 4x10).

[quote name='alexclaber' post='480361' date='May 5 2009, 08:45 PM']Interesting - my understanding was that the UL502 is meant to sound very clean and pure, and as my U5/PLX rig is very clean and pure too and works great with the Compact I'd have thought that it too would have worked well. However I've noticed a lot of discussion on talkbass about the UL502 being particularly fussy about which cabs it sounds good with, so maybe it just doesn't like the Compact? Try some aggressive EQing - crank up that bottom! Alex[/quote] My thoughts exactly Alex. Having successfully used a UL502 through various Epifani cabs using the same basses (my Seis) I can only conclude the Epi cabs must be comparatively very mid-scooped. The same eq that worked with the Epis with the Compact produces hugely different (and far more unpleasantly honky) results. I was really struggling to get a good sound with my Sei Melt whatever I did with the eq, although I'm working on it (that bass still seems to sound best through EBS). I got a better sound with my Ric after some experimentation, but to approximate the sound I usually use - which is very different to what I want out of the Seis - I had to use the first channel with the mid scoop in, cut ALL the mids entirely (!), and boost both bass (around 2 o'clock) and treble (pretty much flat out). I've NEVER boosted bass in my life with a Ric, but it was the mid eq that really surprised me. For comparison, the settings on the Ashdown are bass about 10 o'clock, middle rotary flat, treble around 4 o'clock, a fair old kick in the low and high mid sliders, and the preshape in (it's somewhat Squire-esque for reference). I'm hoping to soon try a friend's LMK to see how that works. Regardless of the above, I would suggest to anyone thinking of getting a typical 4x10 that they try the Compact. It appears to do easily the same job in a package that weighs only 32lbs. It actually feels lighter than either of my heads, although the Epi is supposed to be lighter. Oh, and as stated elsewhere an ABM sits on it like it was born to do so.

[quote name='51m0n' post='480176' date='May 5 2009, 05:48 PM']Having demo'ed Alex's Compact in GAK the other day (by pure chance) I'd atest to it laying absolute waste to any similar sized cab I have ever tried. Massive low end, lovely grindy mids, and enough top for clarity - really, I whipped the old thumb out for a bit of tasteless nonsense and the top was all there. Fantastic cab, if you want a one cab solution, and having heard what you like I would recommend this or even more Alex' Big One (has a smoother mid range, and hence even more clarity) and an LH500 on top of it. That would be you sorted, for ever (OK you could put 2K through the Big One if you wanted, but you dont need too). 'Nuff said.[/quote] In my brief experience (unfortunately not yet at real volume) I'd say exactly the same; get a Compact. It doesn't appear to be right for everything (my Epifani UL502+the Compact seems to be a weird mix; all the honky mids in the world, so much so they're difficult to tame - any idea why this should be Alex?) but my ABM500 sounds great through it. It sounds very similar in many ways to some of the more rock-orientated 4x10s I've used, but a bit clearer; in fact pretty much exactly as Alex has suggested, and I'd certainly guess it would keep up volume and bottom wise.

That Streamline is cool...kind of like if Uzi made a bass !