alexa3020

I’m about to hit go on a new cab. I’ve been thinking about this for over a month, going round in circles about which one to buy. I need help! first off I am having to do this without testing the cabs out first because I can’t find stock of the ones I’m interested in. my current gear is is Tc bq500 and ampeg 410 heres what’s in the running: 1. Barefaced (any suitable) big baby, big twin, super twin, super compact, 210. I like the story of Barefaced, and I like that Alex is on these forums. I think Im leaning towards the big baby, I just worry that it won’t be loud enough. I’d be happy to buy another amp to get some more wattage to it. Would I regret not getting the big twin? It’s the size and extra cost that’s holding me back at the moment. I honestly can’t see me playing any more big venues, probably mostly pubs and the odd outdoor festival. i have heard stories of peeling tolex - wich I guess would only affect the 10” cabs anyway. Can anyone confirm this is fixed? 2. Darkglass 212 - this is a nice looking cab, and budget wise is where I’d wanna be for a 212. My worry is there doesn’t seem to be a lot of people using them. The review from basstheworld.com got me interested 3.tc rs212 - again a nice looking cab. Hardly any stock, are they still in production? 4. Markbass 212 - cheapest and they make fairly decent gear. I could probably test this one. my reservations, particularly with the tc & markbass, is they won’t be an upgrade on what I’ve already got. I want that wow moment, can I really expect to get that from the barefaced? other cabs that have caught my attention are EBS, Bergantino, Vanderkley, Eich, but I really don’t know enough about them. Thanks in advance from a very confused bassist!

After some research, I’m thinking of the following cabs: 2 x orange obc12 - they look great but some people say they are cheaply made. Expensive markbass 212 New York. You don’t see many rock bands using markbass it’s 800w @ 4ohm - will my Tc bq500 be powerful enough as some people say you don’t get 500w output @ 4ohm - more like 300w TC Electronic RS212 Aesthetically my favourite, no stock anywhere at the moment - are they still in production? £580 on amazon who are awaiting stock. i really want a lightweight 2 x12 as I don’t think 2x10 will be man enough. 4x10 too bulky. purchase won’t be made till next month. Around £700 is budget and I want new. not sure if I’ll get a head. any comments on these would be really useful. Thanks

Good shout - I didn’t know coda was still going. is Tottenham Court Road in London still full of music shops?

I tried the Ashdown Rootmaster head. It’s quite a nice little amp, but probably not enough of an improvement on what I’ve got. Im not sure I rate the rootmaster cabs though - they’re quite punchy but no depth to the bass I plugged in an ashdown Abm 115 cab and it was too boomy. Both together were quite nice. i wonder if the 2x10 might be better as this seems like a pretty good deal. https://m.thomann.de/gb/ashdown_abm_210t_compact.htm I also tried the aguiar th700 with 1 db12 cab. Lovely sounding but i dont think a single cab was loud enough 2 cabs brings me way over budget. And that’s all I’ve been able to try so far. Need to find a shop in Cambridgeshire/Bedfordshire with better selections. thanks for everyone’s input so far. the search continues...

Appreciate the suggestions, I think I’m gonna just have to try a few out and then go with my gut & hope it works well in the band setting. If I can’t find anything I like I’ll just stick with the Hartke ampeg setup for gigs which I do like, and tc and gk for practices. Anyone experienced with the orange terror?

The rootmaster series is definitely an option. I started off with a mag210 which just wasn’t loud enough (300w), but I played through Abm series (500w) and that was great. thanks for the suggestions everyone

I’ve got some £20 ear plugs from Amazon. I guess your on about something a bit better? If we are doing our own sound, I don’t like using them as I can’t tell if I’m too loud or quiet.

I used an ampeg pf combo (I think) it was nice but it was 300w and just wasn’t loud enough perhaps the 500 or 800w versions would be good to try. I’ll check out the other 2 although they might be out of budget.

Thanks for the input so far. I realise that my first post is really not narrowing things down enough. my current gear is Hartke ha5500 or tc electronic bq500 my cabs are ampeg115 or gk212mbe Us p bass big muff pedal behringer bdi preamp (when using tc head only) the best combination is the Hartke & Ampeg, this is also really heavy too. The tc head and gk cabs are lightweight, but you do take a hit with the sound. I play in rock bands, one covers and one original. The drummer is loud in the originals band, so we are often at full whack and ears are ringing after practice. in terms of bass tones that I like in a rock setting, Colin greenwood springs to mind. He uses ampegs or ashdown (and sometimes a music man bass too). I don’t want a heavy amp. To be clear the budget would be for new head & cab. amps that spring to mind are mark bass & Aguilar, but I’d honestly be open to anything. in terms of eq I usually dial a nice tone and that’s it. I’ll then just use the tone control on the bass during a gig. I usually like to play clean, but occasionally kick in the big muff. apologies for the war and peace response!

I’m considering a new amp with a budget of up to £1000. This is a big purchase for me & I really don’t want to get it wrong. I can obviously test the amps in the shop and start dialling what I think are some really nice tones. My problem is when I get to the band environment they often don’t work, they just don’t sit right in the mix. so to sum up, I’ll not know if i like the amp until it’s used in the band environment. id be interested if anyone else has this problem & if so what’s the best thing to do?

It’s nice (for me!) to hear it was a struggle for someone else. it is a great tune. My other problem will be if I play it live my drummer will almost certainly play it faster too!

I’ve been playing bass a long time, and I just can’t manage the speed of this bass line. I am trying to build up to it slowly, but I can’t get it accurate enough to do it justice. would anyone else struggle with this? Or am I just lame?

I’ve been playing bass a long time, and I just can’t manage the speed of this bass line. I am trying to build up to it slowly, but I can’t get it accurate enough to do it justice. would anyone else struggle with this? Or am I just lame?

Ha! I tried a vulfpeck bassline the other day. Reckon I can report him for gbh!

Thanks for the tip Gaz, just downloaded the app. Looks like it work well.

Pineweasel, sounds like you took a similar approach to me which is reassuring. you’re right about respite on chorus, which is why I’m trying to make sure I can do a minute. Can you imagine trying to do 4 mins of 16th notes at that speed. ha! thats drummers for you.

Beedster, I take your point about the feel. My thoughts are that I need to be able to move my fingers fast enough to play at that speed before concentrating on the feel. chris, I’ve done the 0.75 YouTube trick and it feels comfortable. Unfortunately there’s too much of a jump going to full speed which is why I am trying to build up to it. With a basic drum beat. Interesting that NWR struggled with it - makes me feel a bit better about my slow progress

With lockdown and generally having more time to practice, I have been trying to improve my speed and stamina (always a weak point for me), with the end goal of being able to play rhythm stick. my practice technique is running through c major 2nd finger position across all 4 strings, one note at a time &16th notes. I can do about a minute of this practice at 95bpm before I make an error. And I’m aiming to be able to do a minute before I up the tempo. in terms of rhythm stick I can play the verse comfortably at 85bpm for around a minute. So I have a way to go, seems the song is 105bpm. my question is am I doing the right things? And I wanted to get a feel from anyone that’s done something similar how long i can expect it to take to increase speed.

I’ve just received my BQ500 and just thought I’d leave a few comments. 1st off the active passive switch is the correct way on my unit. I guess this is now fixed in the later batches 2nd, some have been reporting a loose screw. No signs of that on my unit 3rd, I was a bit worried I wouldn’t have the same amount of volume as my Hartke ha5500. Although I haven’t played the tc in a band environment, comparing the 2 side by side the tc seems to be generating similar volume levels. overall, early signs are good. Although I wish I could of found one with a black fascia, they look pretty cool! If I have any issues I’ll post them

Thanks for the responses chaps - all useful information I have found the TC Electronic BQ500 pedal for less than £180, it seems a bit of a steel at that price. It has limited controls, but I guess I could get a preamp pedal if I cant get the tone I'm after. Although I really dont have that much variation in my tone.

I'm looking to get a lightweight amp. As much as I like my Hartke HA5500, it is pretty heavy! The Hartke TX 600 looks good on paper, but there seem to be a lot of people complaining its just not loud enough. I found this video on Youtube I think this chap is endorsed by Hartke so I'm not sure whether to believe him, so I have just come to this community for some advice. Essentially, he says the gain needs to be turned way up to get the volume. With the gain up it will most likely not peak and still play clean. So, are people using it wrong or is it just not loud enough? Any opinions will be most welcome. Thanks

Not an album, but this track live is smokin’

Live at the ghost room - possibly my favourite 7 minutes of anything on YouTube

Great band. Check out the album ‘last day of summer’ it’s their best imo. After Corsicana lemonade the drummer and guitarist left to work with soul artist Leon bridges, which would explain the drop in quality. They were both great musicians but the drummer was outstanding

Probably not cool, but I was listening to a random rock playlist on Spotify & Prophets of Rage came on and they were so much better than everything else. Those rage boys have still got it! the last band to really blow me away though is king gizzard...... although some of their stuff is a bit hit or miss.