NancyJohnson

3 hours ago, Richard R said:

Pop it in the Marketplace section, but say you only want trades?

But then I need to put a price on it.

1 hour ago, Shaggy said:

 

To be utterly pedantic, it’s a TB IV 🙂

It's a factory conversion.  TBII, plus additional pickup.

Now then.  I have a Darkglass A/O900 head - I don't want to necessarily list it as being for sale, because I don't want to sell it as such, looking for a trade/swap deal.  I'm wondering whether anyone has a (somewhat less aggressive) Microtubes 900v2 that they might want to swap.

I honestly don't see the point.  On the face of it, nobody was really making anything that has any personal appeal to me.

10 minutes ago, casapete said:

The music shop my teenage self used to hang around in during the early/mid 70's meant I used to pick up useful tips that

I've never forgotten. Some were probably bollocks, but many have stuck with me.

 

I remember making speaker leads from the orange cable that came with many Black and Decker type products.

The good thing was that you couldn't mistake them for guitar leads which back then were mostly black (or coiled!).

Still got some somewhere.

These were simpler/happier times.  My first bass had a grounding issue; I quickly worked out that by connecting a bit of twisted wire from the pickup selector switch to the spring on the back of the G-string saddle solved the buzzing, so that was the fix and that's how it was until I sold it.  Nobody died.

1 minute ago, casapete said:

Agreed, although even back then we knew that using guitar leads for connecting speakers wasn't a good idea.

Nope, we honestly didn't.

Just throwing this out there, I've been playing for more than 40 years and while my (current) preferred amp to speaker connection is Speakons, for the intervening years I just used a regular jack to jack cable.  When times were particularly bad (as a teen) it wasn't unusual to have hotwired cable using bell wire, electrical cable or whatever was on hand.  You know what?  Not one blown speaker or damaged amplifier.  Nada.  

At one point early on, I was running a particularly cheap and nasty bass combo and decided to connect another speaker to it.  In the spirit of Eddie Van Halen, I cut a 4" hole in the back of the combo, had about a yard of hi-fi speaker cable and hooked everything up sight unseen with little crocodile clips and electrical tape.  I suppose that 4" hole would now be considered a port.  No soldering, no idea what out of phase was.  Worked fine.

We really do need to stop getting our panties in a twist about what's right (or wrong), eh?

I don't mind the finishes, but in these days of all this historic reissue nonsense, you'd think that they'd go the extra mile and get the body geometry and the nuances correct.  On the left a 1964 TBII on the right, the Epiphone.  Headstock wrong, knobs wrong, sidejack, wrong, body similar, close but no cigar. 

Still a no from me.

Well.  I think you can knock me off the list; last week - and after a considerable amount of pre-2024 research - I bought a Harley Benton GPA-100 power amp.  £68.00. 

I just really needed something small to run my EUB through rather than keep having to set up all my Darkglass kit.  Bloody lovely it is too.  

Possibly part of the OPs question is largely down to the case being that the first version you hear of something sticks more-so than the (unheard/unknown of) original.

By way of example, when I was a mere teen, I remember my mum (very musical) singing along to Japan's version of Don't Rain On My Parade.  I mean, at that age I knew nothing about musicals as such (we had The King & I original soundtrack, but that was about it), so why would I know any different?  As time went on my record collection was peppered with loads of covers that I knew nothing better about until I started scrutinising the record label or reading the liner notes.

Also going back to my late mum, she was at mine one time and I had an album playing by Shudder To Think (US post-hardcore/math rock band) and she said, 'This is 'So Into You' by Atlanta Rhythm Section.  I was like, 'What?  Whaaaat?'  😂

I'll rotate what I have.  There's nothing I own that doesn't get used.

5 minutes ago, ubit said:

 

Nope!

Mods! 

Teehee 🤣

36 minutes ago, ubit said:

I absolutely detest American Pie. I can't describe the disgust I feel when those first notes ring out. I hate every rendition of it by every artist.

 

I feel similarly towards The Doors music. I realise they were a great, groundbreaking band. I just can't stand them. I feel the same about The Beatles music.

Now then, you've crossed the line here.  While I understand the sentiment in this, I'd raise you the Mott The Hoople live version from the 1974 live album. 

Man alive, while I have no love for the song, but you have the end of the intro tape (Jupiter from The Planets suite), a bit of crowd noise and then Ian Hunter doing about 70 seconds of it launching the band into The Golden Age Of Rock 'n' Roll. 

It's magical.

50 minutes ago, velvetkevorkian said:

Growl = lots of mids

Hifi = too much treble

😬

On a note serious note I'm happy to listen to recommendations for any 2 pickup, 4 knob config, ideally with a mid control.

With the John East Uni-Pre range you have flexible units (they'll install into anything).  They're all stack-knob (pickup blend/volume, mid frequency seep/mid and bass/treble/pull for brighter), the UNi Pre 4 also includes a passive tone control.  Bear in mind too that there also a microswitch that turn the unit from active to passive - you'd need to add an extra hole to the bass, which is no real biggie - I've done it to both my Lulls with the Uni-Pre 3.

As you have an existing 4-knob set-up (VT/VT), you could go the Uni-Pre 3 and utilise the extra hole with the power switch.  (Incidentally, John is happy to do custom work - he altered a Uni-Pre 3 for me so it was always on, obviating the necessity for a on/off switch).  I'd like to see John try something different with the Uni-Pre 4 passive tone knob, maybe a push/pull to turn the actives on/off and maybe double as the passive tone with the knob is in the off position.  Shoot him an email; he loves to experiment.

The range is here:

https://www.east-uk.com/product-category/universal-cavity-mount/?v=79cba1185463

As is the case, you have to weigh up whether you mind doing the work and (maybe) drilling a hole.  For me I didn't mind in the slightest, despite the Lulls being £5K/£6K respectively.

One thing that strikes me with most of the songs on this thread is that pretty much all of them could quite easily fall into the category of populist music enjoyed by people who don't really like music.

About 30 years ago, a friend of mine was trying (in vain) to prok a girl from the company typing pool.  They had zero in common until he heard she liked Babe by Styx and that she, 'really loved Styx.'  He was a huge Styx fan (along with all the other bands sharing that pomp rock/yacht rock genre); they were playing at Wembley, he got tickets took her along.  Prior to this, he still hadn't been able to go out with him her, so this was effectively a first date scenario.  A few days after the gig, she hated Styx.  'They were so loud and heavy and I couldn't stand the singer's voice,' she said. Consequentially, any chance of romance was scuppered as soon as they started playing 'Welcome to Paradise'.

This my friends is why we hate the hit singles or the material that breaks the mould of what the real band actually is.

It's in Japan - £1,320, includes shipping.

A mate of mine has one of these; I played it for two gigs in Italy about three years ago.  The colour is stunning, way nicer than the current crop of Dupont colours being used.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/326063652799?itmmeta=01HT5JK29FXPV84PKKTH2R2MR0&hash=item4beae87fbf:g:EPcAAOSw-nRl~h0k&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA4KiZwWpnXTyHbL51JdsNlcjvk31BkNY3Idusgw6ewVO%2BJaAcv2Ce7rIIwjqIHvHfizV%2Bva2RZjHYFjnXHlw4CqB7d0OTkwxQ8wkIS6RPUWrNZbOs3d6EgYjJz%2BGKK%2BZ4ufI3IPAdH6ymdsgBMY50u%2BOR4yhxqQVNnnadympcz32NqBcbsJS3dnm8KlNl37GwvCG6XuNzYUNftMXejsGB7%2FTVU7NR9NdpyoG1jCbzFR2qQ6LKTn70go46SMegfICWrj9h7gOwLb4sEb7mf5LowbdyXejT0rXbIS8fVozbKt4n|tkp%3ABk9SR_CkzLLRYw

I've been cranking the thing up.  Blimey!  Epic.  I'm really impressed with the output, clarity, transparency etc.  It's completely silent too; no interference from dimmer switches (like the A/O 900).

I suppose the real test would be when I get in a room with people, but if it's no good for that, then I'll just use it at home.

It's stupid cheap; at £68 it's less than a night out at the pub and a kebab.  What's not to like?

We're all too hung up on big name kit.  See my post elsewhere (Pedalboard amp).  I just bought a Harley Benton GPA100 (£70) for home use. 

Stick a stomp in front of it (currently a GED 2112 Sansamp).  It's pretty loud; I'll take it along to a rehearsal at some point and see how it copes, but so fat, peachy.

Amazing little unit.

I wish someone would actually give a tonal definition of what they feel constitutes growl or for that matter hi-fi.  Don't get me started on clank or ponk.

Point us to a recording of what you're expecting, then the good people of BassChat will guide you on your tonal journey.

A pre-amp is just one of another small step that makes up the sound that hits your ears.  Christ, I've used East units, Spector, Dark glass preamps and they all do pretty much the same thing.

If it was a toss up between the two for me, I'd go the Bongo 5HH every day of the week.  

8 hours ago, bubinga5 said:

ABBA, all of them..

Are you insane?

The one that really makes me want to start breaking things is 'Walking On Broken Glass' by Annie Lennox.

Our local BBC radio station (Berkshire) just seems to have such a limited playlist and I'd hear this song maybe once every couple of days.  At work, the consultants have a terrible oldies station on at the other end of the office and I hear it twice, sometimes three times a day. 

It's torture.  I can't bear her or The Eurythmics at the best of times.

On 21/03/2024 at 19:06, Woodwind said:

Very interested to hear what you think of it.

Well it arrived about half-hour ago and I've had a quick noodle.

I jacked it into a Darkglass 1x12 and put the GED2112 into the front of it.  Spector Euro X. 

First impressions, well made, weighty.  Volumewise there's obviously going to be some parity with how hot the input signal is...did a brief bit of tweaking with the GED and the amp and rolled up the volume.  It's certainly got some oomph, even at about 25% volume. I'm very surprised at how good it appears to be.  Three small tone controls on the top, there's a pleasant indent at the noon position, so you're hoping this is the transparent point. 

Quite please, to be honest.  Surprised, even.  £68.00.  Belter.

It's funny how threads get resurrected, was talking about import tax etc last night.

Wife said something along the lines of, "Do you remember how holiday companies would promote the USA and say stuff like, 'Come to New York!  It's the shopping capital of the world!'"

How does stuffing a half-empty outbound suitcase with new clothes differ from buying a guitar and bringing it in?  Bringing a guitar in, I suspect you're easy prey for custom officials.  Christ on a bike, I know a few people who packed a smaller suitcase inside a bigger one so they could buy loads of clothes.

1 hour ago, Dad3353 said:

 

Yeah, but I'm old, innit. T'was definitely there, but had a far dingier look than the clean, white, sterile photo of the area since. High brick walls made it a rather insalubrious place to wander, and in the dark, even frightening, with a tunnel through under the railway line back towards Staines centre. How things change, eh..? 

Staines is an odd place.  I'm an Egham kid, if that wasn't bad enough.  We'd only venture into Staines to go Adam's and Record Scene (an old record shop that went under the ball and chain when they were building the new ring road by the Iron Bridge).  I haven't been there in 25 years.  Depressing.  Like Bracknell.