Musicman20

I'm afraid the problem is if you can't try, why bother with the store? You may as well go online and play the lottery with a new one. If its not right, you have the 7 day return policy. If the bass appears to have a manufacturing fault, you can send it back and it should not cost you a penny. Why? Because it isn't your fault. It's the manufacturer's fault (normally) so they should help the store with any costs, NOT the customer. The thing is, this is getting more and more strict in favour of the customer, and I agree. If it works for Amazon on a £9.99 DVD, then it works for a new bass, without a doubt.

Interesting thread. Good that Alex is involved. However, OBBM should have received all of his money back. It wasn't a special order, and to honest, I don't know any modern stores that try to pull the restock/keeping deposit situation. The Gallery does offer a lot of equipment but I've never been unfortunately. I did email about an amp, and was told a new unit (non display) would be £100 more...despite the fact the first price was fairly similar to other stores. I am still interested but £100 extra is a lot! Cheers

You win Merton. That is CAAARRRAZZYY small. Like it

Genz Shuttle Max 12.0. Two sides minimum 4 ohms.

I realise the economy hasn't been that strong for years, but over on talkbass you see offers like '100 dollars off' even sale items, for certain holiday periods. I know it's mainly US gear, but you even see it on Markbass equipment. Why can't we have a few sales over here (and I mean decent sales)?

Missed it! Meh. Ah well

[quote name='Bankai' post='1362437' date='Sep 4 2011, 11:29 PM']Although not strictly London, come to GuitarGuitar in Epsom. Ask for me (Alex) and I'll sort you out. Have got everything from Sadowsky to Phil Jones, and much more. We don't work on commission so you won't have to put up with someone continually upselling or ignoring your sale if it's less than £1000 etc.[/quote] Bit cheeky of me, but if we wanted something you stock, can we PM you to sort a price? I've found everytime I email GuitarGuitar they never budge on prices, not even matching Soundslive right near the Newcastle store.

[quote name='Clarky' post='1361706' date='Sep 4 2011, 12:45 PM']Confession time: I have never played a Ray! As I am happy with my Fenders I don't want to either, just in case of GAS [/quote] Never?! Wow! Personally, I think you are in for a treat. Yes, its never going to have the Fender passive tone, BUT, it is almost like an extension of it. If you compare it to any Fender, the quality is night and day. The slightest touch gives you a massive tone. Roll back the treble, stick some flats on it, lovely big warm DB-ish tones. Have everything flat or raise the treble, with rounds, and use a pick, its just full on aggression and snarl. As much as I love Fenders, my favourite bass is still the Ray.

Yes, they are that good!

If the money is reasonable I will play anywhere!

London isn't the centre of the world...thankfully. What a disappointment for you

IME, much more reasonable: [url="http://www.soundsliveshop.com/p/Markbass_TTE_500_Bass_Amplifier_Head/MARKBASS-TTE500"]http://www.soundsliveshop.com/p/Markbass_T...MARKBASS-TTE500[/url]

Good post Stevie, exactly why to my ears it seems to compete against a Shuttle 6.0, 9.0 and LM3/F500. Probably all have exaggerated specs, to some extent. I do think the Bass Gear magazine is fantastic, but Im always dubious to make any assumptions based on a test anyone made that we can never really know is accurate. As they have been through changes in their testing methods, how do we know what they are doing now is 100% accurate? We don't. I won't sit and type up my side of the fence with TC, but what I see here is fans of real tube low end 'bloom', as you seem to get with some of the Mesa amps, etc, and now the Genz STL900 who don't gel with the RH450, and I get that. It isn't aimed at that tone, and to me, I find I have to cut the bass a LOT on the STL900 to get close to my normal tone. Granted, I like a moderate amount of low end push, but I don't like it really full and overpowering. I've learnt over the years by consciously watching how I tweak on the fly that my sound (mine, not necessarily anyone else) is in the low mid area, with a small amount of sheen on top, but not overly glassy or trebly, otherwise I may as well get the guitar out.

Im glad they have sorted the shop price out. Mainly because, despite the fact I love Markbass, they would seriously struggle to sell any against Genz's Streamliner 900, which is aimed at a similar market. Granted, the MB one looks superbly made, and more 'amp like', and Ive not heard it, so I can't really comment. Overall, I still struggle to find a Markbass amp I like more than the LM3 with the tone controls at 12...and no filters. Ok, maybe a little bump on the low mids, but that sound is great. Nice review Fran, what were those basses like?

I would try the RS cabs, not the lower priced ones. Personally, I really like the RS210 and RS212. I ignored the specs and used my ears, and yes, they are fairly light and easy to move. I wouldnt worry about the supposed impedance, as most cabs aren't exact. KJung on Youtube has demos of the LM2/F500 with the RS210 cabinet, and also states that the cab holds up VERY well against even the high end expensive market. Sometimes, the internet makes it even harder to find what you want. Why? Because every now and then, trends hit, and people jump on bandwagons. The TC amps/cabs are excellent, I wouldnt worry about magazine tests, use your own ears. That's the best way to see what YOU want.

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='1360463' date='Sep 2 2011, 09:47 PM']It didn't whump. It totally didn't whump.[/quote] That is the first real volume issue I've ever heard of, and the rest came from non-owners who haven't even tried it so I don't count them. Did you compare it to the Walkabout? I know of a few owners that said the RH450 had a lot more headroom. I think the best qualified comparison I can give is the RH750 vs STL900, and I can honestly say they both have a lot going for them. The bass is too much sometimes on the STL900 and the 750 has more mids/cuts better, but on overall volume, extremely similar.

Wot mentioned the tone, but not one person said it didn't whump. Strange effect, isn't it? Bring an article out that may not even be 100% accurate, and suddenly people worry about wattage!

I really wouldn't read too much into raw specs. As much as I agree they could have advertised it better, the amp does outperform most other micros eg the LM3 and F500. I don't know how it does it, but none of us, or the talkbass posters, know exactly what's going on with the APM. If you want a massively wide clean amp with massive headroom, the RH isn't for you. It's all about the low mids, and a tube like feel. Whatever the rating, it's a very powerful amp.

It'll sound good once its done

I admit its not easy, but then again im switching (well learning) on 5s right now. I think its just a case of practicing. I havent had any injuries though! The string spacing for me is 'normal', for others its narrow.

As Lozz mentioned, the tone goals for the cabinets that 10s tend to be loaded in are 'punchy/bright' for the majority (IME) which seems to be why we tend to bunch diameter with what the cabinet sound like. The speaker(s) size has very little correlation. I know I've tried plenty of AWFUL 15s in my time, but I know a good 15 can be fantastic. I still don't think even the brightest of 15" speakers provide enough for some players though, but that's the ones I have played. Until I played the Orange OBC115, I never heard a 15" cab/speaker with so much detail, so they are out there.