trent900

My current favourite groove is an old classic: love shack.

Been trying to find a good live version on youtube and failing...try this

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIwnkTStGVQ"]B52s - Love Shack[/url]

Forgive the skips. I think you'll enjoy it, though the bass part is still not the best

Jon

[quote name='dj150888' post='468906' date='Apr 21 2009, 06:35 PM']You guys don't even have a clue how much fun the whole thing was to do.[/quote]

And it shows! I thought this was absolutely fantastic...thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish.

Reminded me of the New Wave Brit Heavy Metal bands of the early 80s; I hope that isn't an insult. Except they always sounded a bit thin to my ear whereas your video doesn't.

The teensiest of tiny things: everyone there obviously having lots of fun, maybe your drummer could perk up a bit? She's exceptionally good, but looks a bit - what's the word - clinical in the video.

Other than that, brilliant. I'd come see you play and I don't even like metal.

Jon

[quote name='AdamWoodBass' post='470761' date='Apr 23 2009, 02:20 PM']Hey guys,

These were recorded at a local jazz jam I go to:

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2O7JpSIIpTI"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2O7JpSIIpTI[/url]

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5Kpl8_71fI"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5Kpl8_71fI[/url]

Enjoy!

Ad[/quote]

Hey, these are not at all bad!! Really good, in fact. I love the tight groove on chameleon, and your Chicken solo is very musical.

I hardly dare criticise people obviously better than me, but in a spirit of being constructive: I don't know what you think but the main Chameleon bass riff feels like it works best with fingers rather than slap as at the start. Also your bari player will get better with experience but enormous respect to him for giving a great effort on a very difficult instrument! Also...again I don't know what you think but at various points the band sound feels a bit bare and then a bit busy...this may be the effect you're after?

Its easy to say all of this from my living room of course - it's 1000 times harder on stage and these two videos are of a smashingly high general standard I would have said.

Cheers! Brightened up my day those have...

Jon

I feel like a fraud reviewing this, I wouldn't really consider myself expert enough but here goes:

Similar products tested: nothing with this level of beef. Hartke and Ashdown combos mostly, plus the classic, a Hartke 3500 head/single 15" half stack

Review context: cabs are Epi UL310 alone for rehearsals plus an Aguilar GS212 also when full power is required, captain.

Price paid: £799 which I was pretty happy with. To be honest I only bought it because I thought it would be funny to have a ludicrously overkill rig and it was well under a grand, which I'd budgeted for a head.

[b]Features: 8[/b]
I'm not a features wizz nor a hi-fi fanatic, I'm a pocket groove player unless the song demands something a bit more flash. The 2001 has everything I need, inc. the requisite DI. I'm a huge fan of the footswitchable clean/drive channels, the drive channel is much much easier to use than the pedals I've tried and preserves the low end of the sound better - it's great for back-of-band sort of pad overdrive...you know, pedal notes...and also with a bit more gain and edge it reproduces sounds like Song 2 seamlessly with the clean channel for the rest of the some. It sometimes clicks on switching channels but I guess that depends what signal is passing through the amp when you switch.

If GK made a good compressor it would be a great boon to this amp but they don't so there isn't one. Ah well.

The independent 540W channels I find useful - especially the ability to turn down the right channel. It adds an extra level of flexibility: I can turn down the UL310's crisp top end in favour of the Aguilar's trouser-shaking bottom if I want.

[b]Sound Quality: 10[/b]
I can't fault this. I dragged it laboriously out of the box, sat it on the full stack, set everything flat, filters off and turned it on and there magically was a great balanced tone, classic GK growl. I still barely play with the EQ I like the flat tone so much but with a bit more high mid and treble, some contour and presence it's punchy enough to demolish some pretty expert bricklaying.

That said, changing the pickup balance on the bass gives a fantastic smooth sound still with fat crisp bottom. I don't have the bass player's language to describe this better but 'Invisible Touch' by Genesis is a good example of what I mean.

I'm told you can get the clean channel to give nice growly drive if you drop the 'woofer' level and max out the 'boost', but to be honest I can't tell that much of a difference. Maybe a different bass would do this better but my with my Tobias it's not a sound feature worth pursuing.

[b]Reliability: 10 so far[/b]
Had it a year or so, cranking it (well as far as you ever crank something this powerful) about 3 times a week. No problems. About the second time I turned it on the transformer arced viciously onto presumably the case but I presume it's designed to accept this because it hasn't caused any problems. Many other reviewers suggest GKs are pretty bombproof.

[b]Customer Support: N/A[/b]
No experience, thank the Lord.

[b]Overall rating: 9[/b]
To my ears and to listen back to protools recordings this is an absolutely stellar amp for sound.

Bear in mind though it is VERY HEAVY. I LOVE it and so do my recording chums and I would still seriously consider trading for something lighter. It's 20kg bare so plus compressor and rack case (and you need a big rack because it does pump out quite a lot of heat) you're topping 30kg. If I'd thought about things I would probably have got the 1001RB II but I'm a big kid really and went for the big daddy. It's ludicrous overkill for rehearsals - seriously, do your back a favour - but for medium-size gigs I don't think it can easily be beat.

Looks pimp, too, in my opinion. Slight lack of flashy lights easily rectified by other rack components.

Hope this helps, sorry it's not a more expert review.

Jon

Saw an recommendation for dbx 166xl upstream. I have one - not sure I would recommend it. It's easy to use and you can make it do a reasonable job and I was happy enough with it until a gear hoarder friend of mine swapped it out for an old 2U focusrite he had, which knocked it into a cocked hat.

I find the gates on the dbx to be choppy, putting almost a noticeable click into the attack. I'm also not a huge fan of the compression, it feels like it deadens the sound slightly. Not chronically: I mean, the thing does an OK job but neither I nor two sound engineer friends have been able to stop it sounding like it's putting a very fine layer of mud on my sound. Oddly I marginally prefer the sound of hard knee over dbx's 'overeasy'.

I really wanted something I could really use the gate on and have some hard compression, partly because my Tobias has a very boomy A string which I need to keep in check! With the dbx I just don't feel confident to slap on a high compression ratio and I normally leave the gate open because of the choppiness.

All in all, I think the dbx 166xl is a decent workaday compressor and pretty versatile...and cheap, that's key...but if you can splash out a bit more on a Demeter or Focusrite you probably should.

I do like the two channels because it's two sets of flashy lights and that can't be bad, can it?

If anyone can offer experience of the dbx 160a I'd be interested: is this slight muddiness a dbx thing or a 166 thing? Or do you think it's a 'trent900 is a numpty' thing? That's always a possibility.

Cheers,

Jon

As the title suggests really: I have an Ibanez PD7 sitting idle which I've never managed to make sound right for me. My GKs drive channel handles my limited distortion needs anyway.

Mint condition - but one small problem: I can't find the power supply. I only have the pedal, nowt else.

Still, if you want a PD7 and don't mind collecting it from my house in Derby, chuck us a PM.

While you're here, you're very welcome to a never-used Warwick 4U rack bag. It never inspired me with confidence but if you're hard up and need to rack something light (effects and compressors maybe) it might do you. It's in my way anyway. Please take it away.

Looking forward with hope to a bit more bedroom space,

Jon

[quote name='doctorbass' post='228363' date='Jun 27 2008, 11:25 PM']Can you confirm whether its 4 or 8 ohm?[/quote]

Yes, sorry, basschat access for me is irregular at the moment. It's 8 ohm. It was meant to be 4 ohm but it is actually 8 ohm.

Thanks for comments! Hope no-one minds if I bump this...it's not just a random bump...I have reduced the price quite a lot!

I know nobody cares but for completeness' sake this is withdrawn...

Hi!

In a rookie error, I bought an Aguilar GS212 immediately after an Epifani UL310, then immediately realised the Epifani made the Aguilar completely unnecessary.

Therefore, I am pleased to offer for sale a brand new, unused, original packaging [url="http://www.aguilaramp.com/products_cabinets_gs212.htm"]Aguilar GS 212[/url]. Not having played it (obviously) I can't tell you anything about it from personal experience but I bought it on the basis of top reviews for both the company and the cab.

In short, it's a 600W 2x12" cab, with tweeter. This is the [b]8 ohm[/b] version. Harmonycentral reviews [url="http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Bass+Amp/product/Aguilar/GS212+Cabinet/10/1"]here[/url] if you need them - as you can see, pretty positive to say the least.

These are scarce-ish the UK and Europe. You can Thomann it for about £670 or you can Bass Gallery it for the astonishing price of £525. For either of these you are likely to wait.

Considering this is completely brand spanking, I'm looking for [b]£420[/b]. I originally asked £500, but luckily for all you lot the people I bought it from sent me an 8 ohm when I asked for 4 ohm and gave me some money off to compensate.
You'd be my best friend if you collected, otherwise we can organise meeting for petrol money. I live in Derby.

Interested? Good choice. Please email me on [email protected] or call me on 01332 293542. [b]Don't PM[/b] unless you want to wait a long time for a response - my mobile doesn't do basschat!

Many thanks!

Jon

[quote name='Buzz' post='215001' date='Jun 8 2008, 05:41 PM']IT DEPENDS ON THE SIZE OF THE GIG AND THE RELATIVE LOUDNESS OF THE DRUMMER AND GUITARIST.[/quote]

Agree with that. Depends on many factors: not least the size and quality of the PA. Quality is a factor - if your venue has 3kW of quality PA then you'll probably be fine with just a preamp and a DI, but if the PA is crap and loses all your tone and punch then even if it's 10kW you may want to have a beefy backline to take some of the load.

A 300W combo is almost certainly all you'll ever need. My small rig is 750W and my big one will be 1100, which is 99% of the time total overkill. It isn't half fun though, and yesterday I needed every one of the small rig's 750W - wish I'd had the extra cab to preserve some headroom in fact.

I vote 150 - 300W for practically every purpose.

My church rig as of today. From top down: Hartke 3500, GK 2001RB, UL310, and slighty dodgy Hartke 15".

Jamming with the band on this lot is the most bass-related fun I've ever had...it'll be even more so when I can add the Aguilar GS212 I just bought to it...

Who says you don't need huge rigs? I have to play to a 500-seat church with the muddiest acoustics ever and a 50ft cieling, with the world's crappest PA subs - so crap they don't even carry the band's bass because it just comes as pure merino wool, also contains lanolin. So I think I have an excuse for a 1320W, two-power-amp stack. At least, that's what I'm telling myself...

Now I need some nice lights to go in a 6U rack case with the GK, I was thinking a graphic eq and a compressor. Any suggestions (need lots of lights on them).

[attachment=9333:rig_4jun08.jpg]

Jon

[quote name='foal30' post='212174' date='Jun 3 2008, 11:05 PM']yeah, good point above
Melodic minor is as above for classical, as I wrote for Jazz.(no change descending)[/quote]

Is it? Well, I never knew that!

There we go - learn something new every day in this game, don't think you'll get it all first try!

Things like blues and melodic/harmonic minors aren't 'keys' as such, they're just different scales within a certain key.

Blues, if I remember right, is...err...root, flattened 3rd, fourth, flat 5th, 5th, minor 7th, root

So in C that's C Eb F F# G Bb C

Harmonic minor is the minor we normally use, so carrying on in the key of C:

Harmonic minor: C D Eb F G Ab B C

Melodic minor is odd as it depends whether you're going up or coming down:

C D Eb F G A B C Bb Ab A G F Eb D C.

I think that's all right. It does take practice, and there's only so far rules of remembering will take you. It's playing them over and over and over until your neighbours call the police that really gets the job done.

[quote name='BassBalls' post='208876' date='May 29 2008, 02:05 PM']Down to experience i would pay what ever it cost to get my perfect set up. For example i bought a brand new Ampeg SVT4 pro around christmas time for just over a grand. I had the choice to buy a cheaper head (less than half) but i would have regretted not buying the ampeg because it was love at first sight. The other head would have been cheaper but a waste of money so i would have ended up spending more in the long run.

So my answer would be; I would pay what ever it costs to get my perfect set up, even if it meant i had to save up and sell some bits.[/quote]

-1. For me, if the perfect setup was £10,000 and the 99% perfect setup was £1000, I'd spend the 9 grand on beer.

Oh it was you did the better life video, was it? Already seen it, but for different reasons.

Thought the song was beautiful.

So with $859 + $3549 = $4408 for the complete 2100W bad boy, am I right in thinking that with European distributor markups that's likely to be a good £3500?

Wouldn't that price them more or less right out of the market?

Hallgeir, this is wonderful, wonderful, wonderful stuff. I think I'm moving to Norway just to have even a chance of singing with you guys.

Please do a tour of the UK. Soon.

Regards,

Jon

Ha I'd got so into arty metal that I'd forgotten how much I liked electro pop. This is good stuff - cheers!

Jon

Much of a muchness. Marshall has bigger driver, Roland is slightly cheaper, has much more electronic wizardry, and is much lighter. 17kg vs 30kg is quite a big difference. Either amp is a one-hand lift but 30kg is a helluva heavy for 1 hand. Might be worth considering.

For my money the Roland is slightly cooler. However the Marshall does have a tube preamp, which is pretty cool.

You won't go far wrong with either. If you can't try, or can't be arsed trying, them both then I say flip a coin. Up to you.

Welcome to BC!

On your neck problem - no experience, sorry, but it sounds well dodgy. I've never heard of a glued-on neck but that may just be inexperience. How's it fixed now? Damn strong screws, I hope.

Being taught is the ideal way to learn because you learn in a more or less pre-destined path, whereas what I've found is that by teaching yourself you can get caught in a rut. You like metal, therefore you learn metal, therefore if you get called upon to play funk you're completely screwed.

You can get a long with tuition videos, I find however. They will cover the basics which so many self-taught people don't get; things like where to place your left and right hands, how to finger (yes indeedy!), how to slap, how to fret properly. Beyond those it's a matter of style, and that comes with experience. If you go out looking for a wide range of experience, then even if you've just been taught the basics properly by a video you can go a long way.

All the best! Let us know how you get on. You may even find someone on here near you happy to give you some pointers/lessons...

Jon

[quote name='budget bassist' post='210014' date='May 31 2008, 10:08 AM']Haha sorry

Also there's no fireplace there, just a mantlepiece

Oh and that's my bedroom, do you really think my parents would let me put a metallica poster in the living room? ... And the toby pro is nice eh? [/quote]

It is! I love it to bits, I can't imagine doing much better 'bang for your buck' wise. My only criticism of the dear little thing is the weight - they are not light.

[quote name='bass_ferret' post='209497' date='May 30 2008, 11:17 AM']DOnt know how many times I have said this, but mixing speaker sizes can give unpredictable results. If you want to add a speaker to a 212, add another 212.[/quote]

That's no fun.

OK Budget Bassist, you're really starting to weird me out...you have the same rather niche bass as me (Toby Pro V), you have the same fireplace as me in the middle of your living room wall, and you joined BC on my 24th birthday...

Are you my evil twin, or am I yours? Now there's a question...

4x12 GK power would be monster...you won't need it. Ever. But that's not the point, is it?

[quote name='aceuggy' post='209232' date='May 29 2008, 10:49 PM']At the moment I am using a small Fender 15w Rumble amp. I want to upgrade to something more powerfull and like the Roland Cube. My question is would the 30w be enough? I only practice in my bedroom at present, but may one day, play in a band where I would presumably need more power. If I went down the 100w road, would that be too much? I know I needn't turn the volume up on the bigger amp but would that affect the sound adversely?[/quote]

Not really. The 100W will be quite happy playing at bedroom volumes, and will give you just about enough beef for a rehearsal or a small gig. The 30W will struggle at anything past bedrooms. Others might disagree, but I would say that there's not really any point 'upgrading' from 15W to 30W.

Here's the 100W [url="http://www.roland.co.uk/guitar_room_catdetx.asp?id=CUBE100BASS#"]Roland Basscube 100W[/url] I suggest you click 'where to buy this product?' find your nearest dealer and go have a bash.

You're not pushing the boat out too far at 100W, it's a basic standard power level and the amp won't be huge. Basscubes are in fact conveniently dinky. Put it this way: my new rig is probably just pushing the boundaries of what's sensible and it's got more than ten times that power!

The 100W is less than £100 more expensive and it's actually worth the hassle of changing for. I really wouldn't bother with the 30W. Personally.