Funky Dunky

A quick search for Ashdown on the forum has turned up some pretty scathing opinions on the brand - the words 'wooly' and 'crap' come up frequently. Nonetheless, I will let my ears be the judge.

That's a fantastic, comprehensive review, Merton. Certainly piqued my curiosity as far as trying the Rootmaster range goes.

What was wrong with the Rootmaster? What did you not like, specifically?

It's on my shortlist for a new combo - price and spec are in my strikezone and there's nowhere near by to test drive one, so I'm looking for testimonials before I travel South to try one. Pros/cons?

[quote name='Dazlexic101' timestamp='1475270628' post='3144708'] I previously owned the BA115 but not the one you see now. I had the 125 combo that was like a wedge monitor. Sounded great but to me was not great to gig with. Not enough cut, I found but great for a quiet jam or monitoring of even home use [/quote] Pardon my ignorance here - I'm something of a novice with amps - but could the lack of cut relate to the 15inch speaker? The 210 has a higher output as well, which is why it's tempting.

Any owners? I'm close to pulling the trigger on the BA210v2 but can't find one to try. Closest I can get is a BA115. Wonder if anyone can give me their opinions, pros/cons of these amps, and/or recommend alternatives around the price point. Has to be new, not used, because I'm putting it on finance like....

I received an email from the Glasgow shop this morning to say that the email informing me of the impending arrival of my amp of choice was a generic one (even though it was addressed "Dear Duncan" and signed by a named member of staff) and that no, my amp of choice would not be coming in soon and if I want one it has to be a special order. No apology, no sorry for the confusion, just a general tone of "tough titty, mate". They will therefore never see a pound of my money. I have expressed sufficient interest, they more or less lied to me, didn't apologise, weren't polite and, it seems, don't much care about trying to get the sale. I understand they can't necessarily order something in on spec, but the whole back and forth has been very shabby, so I'll take my money elsewhere.

[quote name='jezzaboy' timestamp='1475164430' post='3143665'] I`ve gotta say that the 3 shops I use in Glasgow - Guitarguitar, Merchant city and Strung out, have all been good for me. Some have better prices on strings, effects pedals etc but I try and use them rather than internet shopping. Strung out is a fantastic repair shop with really helpful staff. Overall [/quote] Strung Out are fantastic. Everything I look for in service. By fabulous coincidence, I have a story to add. My amp crapped out, so I did some quick scouting for a new combo and found one that appeared to fit the bill. Went on the website, there it was, but it said "Currently out of stock. Back in stock soon." It also said "give us your name and email address and we will contact you blah blah blah." So, I did just that. Got a nice email yesterday saying "Dear Duncan, we are expecting this amp back in stock soon, in the meantime feel free to contact us with any questions". So, I did just that, and asked if they could tell me when it would be coming back in stock, because I'm eager to try it. Got a reply - from the same person, I must add - saying "This is not something we currently have on order." Well, that's piss poor, isn't it? But if I want to buy one, they will order one in! I replied to tell them that their second email was in direct contradiction to their first, and that I wouldn't commit to buy an amp I've never played through. I eagerly await their comeback.

Mum was a pianist, Grade 7 Dad played trumpet and drums semi-pro level Grandfather played piano and sang in the church choir, brilliant pianist but the voice had gone by the time I heard him sing. Sister farts like Louis Armstrong soloing.

No worries. It gave me the option to ignore the warning and surf in. I did, and no problems.

Sheesh. That's weird.

Trying to get on the website for a browse and I can't. Getting a message saying "Your connection is not safe. Hackers may be trying to steal you information from mansons.co.uk". I've been browsing other shops this morning with no problems, the only one doing this is the aforementioned. Could someone try visiting and let me know if they get a similar message please? I'm using a secure wifi so I'm a tad puzzled.

Sounds to me like Warwick are making a bit of an arse of it!

Nothing fancy, I had always liked Stingrays because of Flea and Tim Commerford's earlier sounds, but I knew I couldn't afford one. When Sterling brought out the Sub Ray4, I saw it and began to GAS relentlessly. Once they brought them out in blue, I simply had to get one, and I did. And it's my main bass - ahead of my Am Std Jazz.

Y'see, it boils down to this: EVERY independently owned music shop I've ever visited has had friendly, helpful and genuine staff, who love to chat with you but seem to know exactly when to back off. And the opposite is true of the big stores. The friendliness is as fake as: "mate" "man" "buddy" etc, you're competing for staff's attention with other staff, whose conversation is apparently far more appealing than the notion of helping a customer......compare guitarguitar in Glasgow with somewhere like Strung Out and it's polar opposites in terms of the experience. Now, not ALL sales staff in ALL big music shops are like this; there are some good guys in the big stores - but they seem to be hard to come by in my neck o' the woods. And having dealt via email and/or telephone with some of the big stores down South, I've had great service. Andertons were excellent, very helpful and quick to reply etc. So I'm not condemning all - but in my experience, it's either good service at a higher price, or a good deal on your instrument, but service which leaves a lot to be desired.

Name and shame! Truly, I have about half a dozen similar stories. A big part of the problem is simply staffing. These stores always happily employ at least a couple of stoner types - you know the ones - about 20 years old, sleeve tattoos, tunnels, wallet chain - know a bit about guitars, calls you 'man' repeatedly. Those dudes. But customer service is of noooo interest to these fellas. They want you to play the instrument for no more than five minutes, and they don't want to do any sort of deal with you. If you want to try any more than two pieces of gear on any given day, they start to sigh. They plug in a guitar, noodle for twenty three seconds, hand you it with a "there you go man" and walk back to the counter to resume their vital conversation about Zakk Wylde. You have a question, but he's nowhere to be found. You try to get his attention but you can't catch his eye. You try the "may I help you" riff, but it fails to entice him. So you put the bass down and approach him. He sees you, but continues his conversation which has now turned to "I'm thinking about getting my nipple pierced". You wait politely until you become exasperated, and blurt out your question. He looks at you as if you're rude, and replies "Danny'll help you, man - I'm just going for muh break." I hate guitar shops. Especially the big chains. Approximately one-fifth of the staff care about you. The rest appear not to. Sorry. Touched a raw nerve.

Niiiiiice! Awesome playing, too, that's a wicked groove. You sure you're white?

https://www.youtube.com/shared?ci=gJj0L5n7Ng0 Sounds fantastic to me, really gutsy. I like it.

Nobody have an idea what this could be?

[quote name='thebrig' timestamp='1474972051' post='3141887'] Personally I think the clip is a great demonstration in showing that whilst there will always be the "correct technique", "the correct way", "you must do it this way", etc... we are in fact all different physically, despite what people say, Chuck Rainey is using a technique that is comfortable for him, and allows him to continue playing despite recovering from a stroke, and I have to say, I really enjoyed the video, and despite his so called poor technique, I thought his playing was great. For me, I have to use a very flat technique because I have virtually no control of my thumbs due to arthritis, and I had the trapezium removed in my right thumb which has resulted in not being able to touch my little finger with me thumb, and this is not a recent thing that has hampered my technique, I have always had very little flexibility it my thumbs, and no amount of stretching exercises seemed to help. So yes, if you are lucky enough to be born with the perfect anatomy, then you can adopt all the "correct" methods, but a lot of us have to adapt to methods that suit the way we were made, even if they are not technically correct. [/quote] I remember watching Nuno Tenniscourt, of Extreme, and thinking "How can he possibly shred like that with such a low-slung guitar?" Or ex-Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman....I would look at his picking hand and think "How can he possibly play like that, period?!!" There are some great replies on here, thanks to everyone who has taken the time to put their thoughts down. It proves to me that, ultimately, as I suspected all along, there is a 'perceived correct' but if your way works better FOR YOU, that's absolutely fine. I will continue in my current vein, but I will work at relaxing the arch a little, and work at easing off the squeeze on the frets. This thread is part of an ongoing process to troubleshoot and clean up my playing, and I'm grateful to everyone on Basschat for your input. Thanks

[quote name='miles'tone' timestamp='1474793179' post='3140465'] I found these two vids helped me immensely : http://youtu.be/8F0pVPr4VYw (@2.22) http://youtu.be/VRkSsapYYsA Check 'em out! [/quote] Adam needs more love around here! His older lessons are really handy, it was he who sorted my right hand out, with a video similar to that. Unfortunately, his videos nowadays are mostly Q&As, but he has some great videos from a while back. Plus, I really like his slightly quirky sense of humour!

[quote name='Barking Spiders' timestamp='1474964638' post='3141789'] How can you get speed if your fretting hand is parallel? [/quote] I can't! I dunno how people do it, I feel totally laboured and it feels like my fingers have been weighted. No speed, no dexterity at all for me with that approach. I have to stick with what I know and find a way to economise my movements and relax my hand.

There's a stunning red $$ up for grabs for around £500 on basschat. I myself would move for it in a minute if: A. Dude would entertain my trade, or B. I could get a quick sale on one of my basses to fund it, and C. I knew what the bliddy neck felt like (chunky buggers, those) Seriously, it's wooden sex. The colour is striking, and at £500 for a German $$, it seems like a bargain.

Gear4Music in York do them, but they are getting harder to come by in stores - I think Gak stocked Warwick up until fairly recently, but no longer. Somebody far more knowledgable than I will be along just shortly to tell you why.

I remember that Godin! Flimsy-assed geetar that it is! Dave won't mind - he's in Australia now and is acoustic all the way.