Bobthedog

Roland, Many thanks for the tip. I get to about 12.30 on the gain before the peak light starts to flicker, either way I am much happier with the sound this morning. I think 14 hours of international travelling on Friday followed by a day at the LBGS made me a) too tired and deaf. Anyway, I will not do a review such as the one done by Roland, that sums up the BR beautifully (search for Rock around the Glock). I will say, however, that an hour of scales / funk practice this morning with the Roscoe (aguilar pickups / preamp) through two TC RS212s at 25% volume was almost orgasmic in the sound. I found myself actually dancing whilst playing some of the funk stuff (especially the Melvin Davis / Lee Ritenour version of Papa was a Rolling Stone as suggested as a must play by Freakbass at LBGS yesterday), something I do not usually do. I will play around later today with some blues / jazz and some basic rock through the driven channel and come back. Anyhow, based on now, Wow! Buttery and warm have been used before, I would also add clarity and tightness around the notes. This amp will reproduce any flubs in your technique as it just repeats what the bass as played with no subtraction, however, based on an hour, get it all right and this thing rewards you in spades. The EQ section was played switched off so I will also play around with that during today (I have binned going to the LBGS today just to play with the amp) If you get a chance to get to BassDirect and play on one, please do. A huge financial investment but to me, right now just amazing. NB I have only played through four amps in my short bass career (two times Roland, one Tecamp 900 and my RH750) so perhaps I am biased but so far I cannot fault the BR. PS Thanks to Mark at Bass Direct for bringing the amp into London for me yesterday so I did not have to wait until next weekend to collect!

A long but fun day at the LBGS and just home with my new Glock Blue Rock. I am too tired to put it through its paces, but initial thoughts are that the sound is superb, however, the volume is very quiet through either my Stingray or Roscoe. I will play about tomorrow, meanwhile the obligatory (iPhone) picture: [attachment=214593:IMG_1238.JPG]

I thought the LB30 / CTM30 were all valve? Roland, I am nr Buckingham so a little bit of a drive, but certainly not impossible one weekend. Very kind and thank you. That may be a better option.

[quote name='Dan Dare' timestamp='1457629812' post='3000420'] The words cheap" and" valve amp" don't naturally go together. Valve power stages need proper transformers - not cheap. A valve pre plus SS power may be the best way to go. [/quote] To me cheap is a relative term, if I can get an Ashdown LB30/CTM30 second hand for a couple of hundred that is cheap relative to a new one at £800 or the full power valve amps from £1,300 upwards. This is just an experiment and not necessarily a move to valves.

[quote name='Pow_22' timestamp='1457614788' post='3000111'] What FB page is it on? If its Ampstack then that's Oli's page (Mr.Foxen on here). Think he was looking for about £300 for his [/quote] Bass Gear UK [quote name='Bigwan' timestamp='1457615410' post='3000125'] I can only speak from personal experience, but they sound identical to me. They both sound excellent so I wouldn't take one person's negative comment as gospel. Try one for yourself! [/quote] If I can get one cheap enough I will buy it anyway and resell if needed.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1457615257' post='3000121'] There was a thread on everything about 6 months ago. 6 months is the BassChat cycle length. [/quote] Noted. :-)

Body Matching control knobs and pickups Wooden control knobs Ramps of any type Rickenbacker body shapes The new D Bird and and T bird body Ditto singlecuts, PJ pickups, headless basses and feature artwork. LEDs on the front of the neck I think there was a thread on this about 6 months ago?

I am left handed but naturally play golf, cricket and baseball right handed. Accordingly I went for a right handed bass and. Have stuck to them since. There are odd moments, however, when I play air bass and I find myself "playing" left handed without thinking. I sometimes wonder whether I should have bought a lefty, especially when I get annoyed my right hand will not play as quickly as my left hand can. I play tennis and othe racket sports left handed!

I am sure I have seen a recent thread on here or TB where the OP complained that the CTM had a much brighter sound than the LB. If they have the same innards, this surely would not make sense? I have found an LB30 on Facebook that is a great price, however, it was a Jan 16 sale so ,at have gone. Until I get back to the UK, I am not going to chase anything, however. I cannot see the one on BC referred to earlier.

Many thanks for the tip off. I may follow up on that when I get back to Blighty this weekend.

Many thanks people. I will look out for all of the suggestions, although the Ashdown LB does standout as a good option. Colgraff, you may be right but there are enough out there to suggest they may have something over the Class D.

[quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1457548272' post='2999600'] Can't help you with a valve amp at that price, but welcome to the Blue Rock Club! [/quote] Many thanks. Very much looking forward to picking it up on Saturday!

People like Markbass were doing some good deals on their top end kit last year and others had discounts on straps etc. I do not recall any movement on bass / cabinet prices and indeed quite a few stands were not selling any kit on either day, just demonstrating their wares. I did buy an RC4 pedal from TC Electronics (at the standard price, iirc)but had to go to the Bass Direct stand to pay for it as TC had no card machines and it was posted to me. To me the show was greatly more about trialling than buying and the superb workshops / mini concerts given by the star guests. I loved it and will be there for both days just for the workshops / performances.

I am picking up a Glockenklang Blue Rock on Saturday which has got me thinking. I have only ever played through Class D heads. Is there a "cheap" valve amp that is worth looking at? I don't care about power as it will only be a valve intro for me. It will have to played through one or two RS 212s for the time being, however. What do you recommend as a starter for 10? Budgewise, I would like to keep it down to a few hundred pounds, if possible, or even less. The important thing for me, is that I get a reasonable facsimile of what a decent valve amp could sound like. I am not worried about music genres etc, it is purely a plaything to get me hooked or otherwise.

I seem to collect headphones and have spent silly money in the search for "the pair". These are the current ones: Sennheiser HD600: great sound quality but ever so slightly down on bringing the music alive. Open back so only for home use. Shure SRH 1540: my current favourites and best mix of sound. Good studio quality. Closed back and just a little warm to wear. PJB H-850: Not bad but do not match the first two for sound. Feel a bit flimsy compared to the above. Shure 535 (in ear): superb in ear noise isolation headphone and great for portability. A little fiddly to wear, not as "studio" as the Shure and not comfortable for extended wear. Bose Quiet Comfort 25: good for "pop" music but great noise cancellation, comfortable with great battery life and my airplane headphones. Etymotic ER4s. My first pair of "high end" in ear noise isolation earphones. Pretty lively sound but with limited bass balance and cannot get comfortable with them for more than 30 mins wear. I would love to try some good Grado next but am currently refusing to spend more money on this daft quest :-)

G&L M2000 for me. Others loved it and it sounded great in their hands. I could never get happy with my tone from it and it moved on very quickly.

My SR5 HH is also comparatively quiet, especially when the pu selector is set to both. Luckily my RH750 allows me to save a setting with higher gain and output to make up for it. When I had my G&L M2000, I was convinced the SR5 was broken, the G&L ran so hot compared to the SR5

My Roscoe Century Signature 5. Aguilar pick-ups / pre amp. 2014

[quote name='The Hat' timestamp='1456602814' post='2990712'] I'm still very much a beginner so can't really tell if it's hard or not [/quote] Even so, trying to play it yourself using the tab, your ears and/or score will tell you if it is hard or not. For me it may be impossible, for you it may be easy but until we both try, who can say if it is difficult. PS Having just looked at the tab above, I would say this can done easily with practice. As someone said, just take your time and break it down into small pieces. It is very repetitive so there is not too much to learn.

[quote name='The Hat' timestamp='1456583364' post='2990478'] Is the bass line hard to play ? [/quote] Surely that is for you to decide? If you listen to it, can you not hear if it is too tricky for your current skills or if it fits in with what you can already do?

Thank you for the review. Would you say the sounds tends to favour any particular music style?

TC Polytune for me. Very happy with it and have disposed of all the other clips I went with when starting out.

[quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1456171195' post='2986270'] Looks like it's back on the market [/quote] I was looking at the new one at Bass Direct. I assume you are meaning one on here? I will have a look see. Thank you.

Bass player, bass guitar player, I don't really mind. Even guitar player will do, after all I don't hear many saxophonists stating what sax they play.

Congrats Roland! I was looking at test driving a Glock Blue Sky recently. Sadly it has now been sold so will be interested to see how you get on with this one.