Musicman20

Woweeeeee

Ibanez Promethean?

I'd say the Ray 5 is the industry standard, but yep, Sadowsky definitely know what they are doing. I don't 100% get on with the Sadowsky jazz tone, but I know one day I will try to hunt one down.

My new band splits the money between three and we have a free practice space...the drummers sound proofed garage. I've lost a lot before, but this band always makes me money. Covers bands should ALWAYS be paid, and so should 90% of originals bands, but this isn't the way things work

Cheap Encore P Bass copy. Not that great, but quite well made. Hard work to play! The P bass style/shape/sound has never left me....in fact I cant get away from it!

Invest in a Hercules stand, make sure its in a hardcase 95% of the time when its not being used, and keep and eye on it/dont drink. Of course, something still might happen, and I know its awful when you ding your favourite. I still think a budget bass does the job in a VERY small tight space when you know the guitarist is going to hit your headstock when he stands back!

[quote name='stenobass' post='1244384' date='May 25 2011, 03:34 PM']Hi, thanks a lot for the swift reply! I currently use the Markbass head TA501, but was intrigued by the nice features of the RH450 (tuner; 3 memory presets) and ordered one even without testing it...reading all the forums and threads it appeared that the RH450 would not be capable to bring out the zingy high end. I must admit that I like the sparkling highs a lot, but never had to increase the highs on the TA501 and just let the tweeter control on the EBS cabs at 0. I play Status basses so I am just a bit worried that the RH450 may not the right choice for me loving the zingy tone that the Status basses can deliver...[/quote] Try it out...see how it goes. If you arent keen, then return it for the RH750!

[quote name='BassBod' post='1244435' date='May 25 2011, 04:11 PM']Almost £70 for a pub gig - Bilbo...tell me the pubs and I'll move there! Still wouldn't buy another Wal...[/quote] The acoustic trio Ive started gigging with split £200-300+ between three people per gig! Most of ever had the chance to earn and its great. The trick is to join a 3 piece!

[quote name='Grand Wazoo' post='1244358' date='May 25 2011, 03:19 PM']Doddy, I have a small favour to ask you, with this being a forum of discussions we share knowledge amongst ourselves, since you've mentioned boutique basses, I am unable to tell the difference or recognise the dividing line between an ordinary bass and a boutique one. Would you be able to list me say... 10 obvious boutique basses and explain or point me in the direction of what makes them boutique and separates them from the rest? Surely it's not just a matter of the price tag, right? Thanks[/quote] I think Dingwall definitely rest in the boutique camp GW....high end custom basses. Id love to try one! Me thinks my future has a Dingwall in it.

[quote name='stenobass' post='1244351' date='May 25 2011, 03:15 PM']Hi, sorry for being late here...I am waiting for my RH450 to arrive and I have a question: I play through 2 EBS Neo cabs that have a tweeter control, can I have the sparling highs through the cabs or will the head cut these beforehand? I noticed the 450 Combo has a tweeter control on the back of the cab... Thanks a lot! Stefano[/quote] Hi The tests we followed through basically led to the RH750 having the Tweetertone, which means you can indeed add a lot more sparkle than the stock Classic 450/RH450 sound. It still sounds like the 450, but more power and the ability to zing up the high end. The RH450 for me sounded great anyway without it...it depends how much modern zing you like. It still has the ability to give you plenty of treble. Yep, just use your tweeters on your cabs as normal...you wont get super high zingy highs, as mentioned, but it will still make a difference. The RH heads in general have a nice treble to them IMO.

Out of all those, the Blue Boy Ric is what grabbed my attention the most, and I dont get on with Ric necks....but what a colour! Ive seen a few of those....very nice.

Wow, must be busy which is great! Id have to be 100% certain as knowing me after 6 months I would have changed my mind.

Mcnach - Agree with you re: GuitarGuitar. Ive bought from them before and took the bass back. It arrived in a cheap box, badly wrapped, fingerprints, no paperwork. It seems they are too busy being a massive company rather than paying attention to detail.

Good post. I'm a collector as well as a player though, so I have always wanted to keep going with gear. Totally agree though, my SR P bass sounds half decent and everyone thinks it's a boutique Fender from a distance.

I absolutely love the Ric look and sound, but I couldnt get around the neck...I dont know why. Im hoping one day I find one that I really bond with, because they are very very cool.

[quote name='Jesso' post='1242401' date='May 23 2011, 10:41 PM']Well it arrived today. First impressions: Well made, feels like a very good quality bit of kit. I'm actually a bit baffled by how come it's so cheap.... I mean, the head is €485 on thomann. The combo is only €164 more... which in anyones book is a great price for a quality mini cab! Add another €10 and you can have the cover too bringing the total up to €659. That's assuming that the head is as good as say, a LM3, which on it's own costs (all thomann prices) €666. The very cheapest markbass cab you can buy is €539... ok ok I know it's a 12 inch but if markbass did a 10 the same size as the promethean combo you can be sure it would be at least 400 euros! So I'm impressed so far. This could easily have been priced a few hundred euros more. Sound wise I prefer it to the LM2 I had for a while. It's very hard to get a bad sound out of it. It's quite smooth and forgiving. The vibe control doesn't sound fake, but rather nice and usable. Next to my eden WT550 I can't say it's any worse. Probably not as hifi or with as powerful EQ, but just a different flavor. Not as complex or revealing, but the lack of complication is actually a blessing sometimes! This is my first impression mind you, I've yet to A/B them. It feels similar me in sound and EQ of the Aguilar 500SC. But, like the eden, the aggie was actually quite big. This thing is tiny. I've never seen an F1 in the flesh, but I wouldn't say it could be much bigger. I'll be gigging it this weekend, in pretty big rooms to 150 ish people. I'm going to use it as a stage monitor and use the DI out to the P.A. I'll also have it sitting on an aggie GS112 to see what it's like running that too at 4ohms, but I'll try it on it's own 1st. I haven't turned it up fully yet (don't want to wake the baby!) so I'm very interested to see how quickly the sound gets compressed cos of that little box. The bag is great, but for some reason I thought it was an ingenious design where the combo didn't actually have to be taken out of the bag... as in the front of the bag would fold back to reveal the speaker. Ah well you can't have everything! Would be nice though if we're talking ultimate in hassle free bass amp solutions not to have to take the combo out of it's bag! Oh, and my combo is dead quiet. After it was on for a while I heard what sounded like a laptop fan, hardly audible. No noticable hiss whatsoever.[/quote] Yet another great review....the fact its a quality build is exactly whats tempting me. I think it ticks every box for me...but I darent pull the trigger! Please let me know how it goes gig wise. In fact, anyone else gigging this?!

[quote name='molan' post='1242349' date='May 23 2011, 10:04 PM']Guitar Guitar seem to be about the only place with a decent actual stock of Metros.[/quote] Yeah, or the Bass Gallery, although Im guessing GuitarGuitar have the most stock. Problem is, hardly any of it sells. Some of the Sadowsky basses in there have been in there since I tested them out in 2009! Not such a bad thing if they are kept in cases etc, but the ones I played were right in the sunlight in the middle of a hot summers day. Ive noticed they have moved them now, thankfully.

PS = Two Orange OBC115s make for a very nice stack!

[quote name='therose789' post='1241931' date='May 23 2011, 05:43 PM']the main reason i was asking in the first place is becasue im thinking about etting two smaller cabs to make practices easier and then i have a mamoth for live, just spoke to matamp about a 2x15 which im very interested in. it can be made in either a 4 or 16 ohm version say i was gonna get another cab to go with that what should i do? like something for the top end (i dunno a 2x10)[/quote] Just get one 4 ohm cab or two 8 ohm cabs..thats about it Personally, I can see exactly why you would want to spend time thinking about....but please give things a try to see if you like them. Sometimes we get swallowed up in specs and it turns out to be nothing like we expected.

[quote name='CHRISDABASS' post='1241324' date='May 23 2011, 11:07 AM']I'd say buy the best quality 5 you can afford!! Dont worry too much about scale length though! My 34 inch scale Sadowsky B string sounds better than my old 35 inch Lakland by quite a way in my opinion! Try as many as you can! [/quote] Plus one. Against the grain, but get the best. Test them before to make sure you like the spacings, then JUMP in....dont mess about. Cheap 5 string basses normally sound awful and put you off for life, (been there, done that 15 years ago). Ok, not life, but I always thought Bs would be flat and lifeless, and boring. Now, im happy. I found Lakland/EBMM brought me over to 5 strings, but the 34" scale and build/tone on the EBMMs definitely swung it. Best all rounder? Ray 5...no doubt.

Unfortunately, yes, this is the case, but I also think manufacturers and dealers are hiking the prices like they are on Fenders. 20% VAT does not mean £200 increase...obviously the cost of fuel is rising, etc, but I think if they carry on no one will buy, and it will be almost a stalemate scenario. I wont buy a new Fender at the new prices, simple as. There is no need for the £200 approx. rise. £2000 for a Metro is insane IMO, they are very well built, but then again, so is a Stingray!

[quote name='Legion' post='1241522' date='May 23 2011, 01:09 PM']I hate mine. [attachment=80711:IMGP2608.jpg] In seriousness though, I still rate them very highly although it is unfortunate that the Metro's seem to have taken a bit of a price hike. I paid about 2k for my NYC and it's worth every penny. The "Fender Clone" comments just seem pointless - what do most other basses have thats so different? 2 pickups? maybe JJ, or PJ, of or soapbars? a headstock? some tuners?... Or are you actually paying for quality and tone that you like - the shape of the bass is a pretty moot point, you will buy one in the shape and colour that you like no?[/quote] See, thats a beauty, and Id pay £2000 for a NY