Painy

Quick snapshot while packing away last night. Precision is my main bass used for about 70% of the set and then the other two basses are a natural finish Gibson EB13 that just gives a different sound for a handful of songs and at the back a white Fender modern player jazz which is used on the two or three songs I play with a pick - all five strings. Pedal board is: Snark tuner > The Leech volume attenuator (tames the extremely hot output of the Gibson) > Ashdown dual band compressor > Hookers Green Bass Machine overdrive > BDI21 (only use this with the Jazz) > Joyo Roll Boost (clean volume boost) all powered by a Harley Benton Power Plant Junior. Ashdown ABM 500rc Evo iii head running the two Aguilar DB112 cabs. The line out of the head then runs into the TC Electronic BG250 112 combo at the bottom which effectively is then just a powered extension cab (although I do actually have the mids boosted on it quite a bit which makes everything sound clearer.

They are awesome sounding cabs - obviously the Chocolate Thunder ones sound the best 😄.

One of my favourites...

That actually looks much nicer to me than the original. Beautiful!

I originally got the cabs together with an Aguilar AG500 head which came in that sleeve. Didn't get on with the AG500 so traded it against the Ashdown but kept the sleeve to put it in. I'd imagine they'd be a bit pricey to buy from Aguilar but I'm pretty sure I read a comment on here somewhere not so long ago that Ashdown were pretty helpful in supplying a replacement sleeve for somebody.

A lot of the benefit of an 810 cab is simply having some of the speakers up nearer to ear level so I'd try raising your cab up off the ground on some beer crates or something like that to see if that helps first. A Hartke 410 should really be plenty 99% if the time - I'd say the lack of clarity and volume is more likely down to the amp than the cab. As far as the Ampeg sound goes you could do a lot worse than running a Tech 21 Vt-Bass preamp pedal into your amp which often come up second hand for around £100. Would still leave you a decent chunk of money to upgrade the head if you still felt the need (Behringer kit is good value for money if you're on a tight budget but you can definitely find something lightyears better in your budget - especially if you go used. If you're borrowing the cab and would rather have your own then you could probably pick up an Ashdown 410 cab and amp head as well as the Vt-Bass pedal for comfortably under the top end of your budget.

I love the chocolate thunder colour (beautiful sounding cabs too). Something very classy about it (well apart from the name anyway) - like an antique leather armchair in a Kensington gentlemen's club 😄. Unfortunately I can't find that colour tolex online anywhere or I'd probably re-cover the TC to match.

This week saw the arrival of my new (used) TC Electronic BG250 112 combo. I love the sound of my Ashdown ABM500 and Aguilar DB112 cabs but at a couple of gigs recently I've felt that I wanted to move a bit more air than 2 1x12 cabs were allowing me to. So, the plan here (after initially thinking of adding a powered sub) was to add a combo to my existing rig by running the line out from my head into the combo. A combo rather than a sub obviously having the advantage of being usable on its own for rehearsals. Set it up today and it works a treat - sounds pretty much the same (at least as close as you wouldn't tell the difference in the mix) only louder. It might not be pretty but here it is - my Ashdown, Aguilar, TC Electronic rig...

Just received the TC Electronic Bg250 112 combo that I bought from Edd. Couldn't have hoped for an easier transaction or a nicer bloke to do business with - and that's saying something amongst the good folks of Basschat! Thanks buddy!

It's all about the sound in the mix which is hard to recreate at home but I'd say forget about that nice punchy sound solo'd as it rarely translates in the same way alongside other instruments. Personally I'd do three things. Boost the mids more even if it doesn't sound right at home - they're the frequencies that will get you heard in the mix. Try it out at home by playing along to some music (preferably a backing track with everything but the bass part and in the style of music you normally play) rather than listening to the bass on its own. Also try to have the bass at a level in the mix that you'd actually have it live - not with the bass as the dominant sound and the rest in the background. Once it's working in the mix at home then ask your bands mates if you can allocate some time at your next rehearsal to tweak your sound so it works in context - it's the whole band's sound after all so benefits them too.

Gavin bought my Ashdown Lomenzo Hyperdrive in the easiest and quickest of transactions. Definitely deal with complete confidence.

Just played that to my wife who really doesn't get jazz at the best of times and as expected she was not impressed. My 3 year old son however started dancing and was really getting into it. Can't say it did it for me either but goes to show that taste remains as subjective as ever. Not keen on that high-vis hoodie either for what's its worth though.

Well it looks as though I've just struck a deal on a TC Bg250 112 combo which I think might be a simpler option overall with a full range sound through each speaker and I can also use it on its own for practices too. I might still revisit the sub idea at some point in the not too distant future though.

They were a gift from my wife paid for from her inheritance from her grandfather so more than my life would be worth to get rid of them (they also sound lovely too fortunately).

I've been looking to move a bit more air from my amp at some of the venues we play that are a bit larger but don't have a PA suitable to DI into. My Ashdown ABM 500rc Evo iii is already running at 4 ohms (2x Aguilar db112 cabs) so no option to add more speakers and I don't want to change my existing cabs. I'm thinking to add either a small but fairly loud combo like a TC Bg250 (in which case I'll probably connect via the tuner out on my Ashdown) or option two would be to add an active sub. The advantage of the sub option is that I could then cut the power draining lows a bit on the amp and let the sub do the hard work. I'm just not sure of the best way to connect it given that the sub would obviously have no preamp. In an ideal world I'd love to be able to control the level of the sub with the output volume on the head but I'm guessing that won't be an option unfortunately. Basically though I'm just not sure if the line out (or effects send which also work as a line out) would be suitable to connect directly into the power amp section of an active sub? If anyone does have any idea though how I could control the level of both the amp and the sub from just the output control of the amp that would be amazing.