Storky

I play in a duo and have played DB in an acoustic trio. It’s a fag to take twice the kit, if it were me I’d develop a very percussive bass style possibly on an acoustic bass guitar or DB and get the singer to shake a tambourine; a tambourine goes a long way to adding some rhythm in an acoustic combo. I’ve also used a foot tambourine yo good effect whilst playing bass. If none of this I’d get myself a cajon and find another band for bass outings.

On 25/06/2019 at 19:16, Mattmit said:

I didn't enjoy my retrovibe,  it was functional but no personality at all and in band rehearsals it didn't cut through anything. It has all the parts of a bass but there doesn't seem to be any science in the sound. 

I wouldn't have complained about it in public if it wasn't that the manufacturer said he wanted first refusal if I decided to sell, but when I let him know I wasn't getting along with it he didn't want to know.   

I had a similar experience with chowny, got the hollow body and the neck was bowed to hell and could only be made playable by filing the frets down to almost fretless level. So now its playable with good action but nowhere to go from here.  I left it way too long to be able to return it. Absolutely my own fault, but I approached them to see if they were interested in a PX for a good one, because I liked the bass in many ways. At first they were open to talk about it, then they asked for my name, address, and the model of my bass, they stopped replying exactly after I sent an email with those details. I prodded them with a couple more follow up emails but no replys. This made me feel like they knew the bass they sent me was not up to standard. That's conjecture on my part but certainly a thought that stuck with me.  I still want a good chowny HB but if I'm going to pay twice I may go for the jack cassidey instead.  

 

Sorry if you enjoy your chownys and retrovibes. This was just my experience. 

If you want something like a Chowny, buy a Harley Benton semi. It’s cheaper and I’ve got one I’m very pleased with.

Sounds good. I wonder how it compares to the Taylor GS mini bass? 

I’m looking for a heavyish “sandbag” (or similar) that I can stuff into the control cavity of a ridiculously light bass to help balance it up a bit. I hadn’t thought of the curtain weights, but that might work 🤔

I took a trip to Northampton today to pick up Bernard’s lovely Rob Allen MB2. Great bass and an easy transaction. Had a good chat with Bernard over a great cup of coffee.

1 hour ago, Skybone said:

Thread resurrection time!

Has anyone done a pickup swap on their Faker?

What have you tried?

What do you want to try?

Been looking at the Gemini Pickups site again, thinking about getting a set of the Tsunami pickups. Tried the Retrovibe "Classic" pickups, they were ok, but didn't quite have the sound I was after, not interested in trying any of the humbucker options either, I do like the single coil sounds.

Thoughts?

Opinions?

General observations?

Etc 

Yes, I’ve got a Retrovibe and I’ve just brought a set of Gemini pickups for it: Rougue Wave bridge pup under a Thunderbird cover with coil tap push/pull and Waverider neck pup. I’m looking forward to getting them in, should look great.

6 hours ago, crazydancer said:

LOL that's why a short scale works for me, I'm only 5'2"  

I'm checking out plan A, mod the Bronco, and if not, go to plan B, buy a Mustang.

GAK have one in the colour I like with a gig bag included for £50 less than my local store. I'd prefer to buy local but hey, that's £50 towards a pair of those decent ear plug things, too many Motorhead/Sabbath/AC/DC concerts in my yoof means I've already got buzzy ears. 

That’s a great idea. I’m half way through a Bronco mod; it’s got an Amstrong custom pick up (with series/parallel pull/push) and a Musicmaster pick guard. It sounds way better than it cost. Just needs a respray to finish it off. 

My first gig was Motörhead in about 1980 and my hearing has never been the same since! 

Yes it’s annoying, it played ok; necks got a few scrapes which you can feel while playing; definitely long scale though. 😏

Going back to the OP, I had the Jap Mustang which was really nice. It was fast, easy to play and sounded great! I wish I still had it although it always felt very small to me. (I’m 6’6” though!)

8 hours ago, martthebass said:

Never seen one of those - must be like rocking horse pooooo

I think I tried this bass when I was in Gak recently. It’s mis labelled, it’s the jap long scale version. I pointed out their error. The staff couldn’t care less, just said “yes I know it’s a long scale” but did nothing to change the tag.

Very nice, I’ve got the 5 string fretted mouse; maybe my best (I’ve got 15😁) sounding bass. I’d like the MB2 or Deep 4 to go with it though!

I use mine a lot in my 50’s/60’s band. It’s not got the look, but cops the double bass vibe well for the rock n roll numbers. Enjoy!

One really useful thing about this forum is that if anyone has a query niggling away, it’s really easy to fire off a quick question and get an almost immediate response from several others who know the exact answer. Real benefit. Good stuff! 😁

Thanks for the answer guys, much appreciated. 👍

Some of you may have seen my recent thread on my quest for a new amp? Well, I got the Messa D-800 and very nice it is to. I gigged it tonight at quite low volume and it was fine, but now I’m worried my cabs are not compatible. I’ve got two 8ohm cabs and the amp can switch either 2, or 4 ohm. Am I in danger of overloading something? As you can tell, I’m not very technical!

39 years, but had a break when the kids were growing up. I play more now than at any other time. 😁

Thanks guys for all the input 😁

Well for better or worse, I’ve bitten the bullet and lashed out on a Mesa Subway D-800 head. I like the idea of a single unit, but this was available at Guitar Guitar and sounded great. I also tried a Mark Bass and the fender Rumble 800 head, which was good, but the Messa had the better sound. It cost quite a bit so I’m hoping it works out when I gig it next week. 🤞

1 hour ago, jrixn1 said:

How loud do you need to be?  You'll be giving up something moving from 500W into 2x12 to 350W into 2x10.  
 

Not massively loud, but I must admit it feels like a backwards step. I’m thinking more about keeping the cabs and just replacing the head....

2 hours ago, Beedster said:

Agreed, I like combos for using at home for not for rehearsing or gigging. The only combos that have ever really worked live for me have been pretty bloody heavy and hard to move anyway, Walkabout Scout 15" being a case in point

I appreciate the comments. Popped into gak this afternoon, (what poor service 😏, but that’s another thread), tried a rumble 500 which was quite impressive, but I’ll have to check out some others. Now going to guitar guitar! 😉

Great advice, thanks.

I play the social club circuit with a handful of functions. 60s stuff mainly. Only vocals through the PA....

4 minutes ago, Soledad said:

Agree I'm afraid. I just went the other way. Good combos are quite heavy. I prefer the flexibility of separate amp/cab so I can make changes to either. Portability is easier I think - and designs are optimised, I mean a decent 112 or 210 say, is designed to be just that (you have 2 of them!). There are quite a few bargain used combos around and a lot have had bedroom use only, but the challenge is getting the amp and cab you want all from one maker in one box. Sorry, but I'd stick with what you have - keep one of the cabs and get one of the micro heads... go from there.

Thanks for the opinion. I did think that might be the sensible approach. But that opens up a new can of worms; I.e  what head to get?

Thanks for your advice. Anyone else think I’m crazy loosing the cabs, (they are great), it’s just the appeal of a smaller, one lift solution. 😏

I want to replace my old Ampeg PF 500 head (which also means disposing of my lovely pair of Van DeKley 12” cabs) with a combo. I’m thinking either the Fender Rumble Stage 800 or The Ashdown RM-C210-500 Evo II. What do you guys think?

Thanks for the comments and advice. Budget is not fixed, but hundreds rather than thousands; I would hope to get something suitable for between £200 and £600. I’d spend more if I needed to though as I’ve had mixers in the past that have been cheap and only lasted a few years. Or I start again from scratch and buy a complete system for a couple of grand or so.

My band plays social clubs and a few functions, Rock n roll/50s,60s through to some 80s stuff. It looks like I may need to source a new P.A., or at least a mixer. We put three vocals and keyboards through the P.A. I know very little about the various options so am hoping for some advice and suggestions.

thanks in advance

Ade

I’ve got the Am Deluxe 5 String. Actually fits in the mix very well; I like both pups split (jazz style) or full neck humbucker. I didn’t think I’d keep it, but it works pretty well. Fender through everything at this new model: asymmetric neck bone nut, 18v preamp. I think they gave it a really good go before conceding inevitable defeat. Still a good bass though.