Musicman20

Oh, and the price seems to have dropped a little to £130. Worth it for the guarantee etc.

It's worth noting that it does a VERY close impression of the popular Sansamp BDDI. I would usually steer clear of digital multi effects but you know what, technology has come on a great deal with emulation. The BDDI even has a mid control on the Zoom B3. It also comes with a recording program, and records straight into a Mac/PC very well. Ok, it won't be as perfect as a proper dedicated audio interface, but it works well. Did I mention the DI? I'm hoping to gig with just this into the PA on some occassions to try it out. I used to do that with the Sansamp and it worked brilliantly. The screens/buttons and overall quality is excellent, and I am very picky. Makes me wonder why the last 2-3 high end pedals I've tried from other companies feel less well made....weird.

From what I've seen, the bassist has been the same for the past year/18 months for his UK live work. His bassist is suprisingly refreshing. No P bass, and favours a Musicman Stingray Classic with the treble (I assume) all the way off, lots of warm thump, sounds very much like a take on a double bass.

Id opt for a Ray 5 HH or HS. The H now doesn't allow single coil at the bridge. I've got a mixture of maple and rosewood Musicmans. I like the feel or rosewood but I'll also opt for maple from time to time. Each bass will be different so I wouldn't let the fretboard material influence you too much. Go for the aesthetic/feel rather than tone. The low B is killer. Industry standard/most popular 5 string bass. Clear, punchy, not muddy or overly bassy. 34" vs 35" - I prefer 34. I prefer the tension on a 34 and the tighter tone.

I've just had a look, and sure enough the TH500 is £679 with some stores, and Aguilar seems to be in more generic music shops throughout the country now. I don't blame them if it means more sales, but I personally preferred using a bass specialist for these products (or a quality music store). It is a hefty rise from the £600 or less prices from about a year ago. I realise they are NYC assembled and have a flawless record of reliability, but its now quite an expensive unit. I've also noticed the pedals jumping up from around £179 to £235 for the Tone hammer over a year.... I was thinking of picking up an Octaver effects pedal, and the Aguilar Octamizer was one of my choices, and it seems to have been heavily A/B'd with the MXR Bass Octave Deluxe. The price rises means I'll just get the MXR. I love Aguilar and their design/style/brand, but I think they should have just carried on dealing directly with shops.

I'm super impressed with mine. I've never used multi effects before and this thing is very well designed. Nothing like the awful early 90s zoom guitar pedals. I've just set my first patch up. Ampeg B15, compressor, with a sansamp for occasional dirt. The B15 clone is superb. Absolutely bargain.

I'm tempted by one of these....

On most P basses I love the higher notes on the E string! They always seem very powerful to me.

What are the plans for the EBMM Musicman amps?

I prefer the TF tort!

Let's face it, those on the Brits make a living playing music/creating/singing. I'd sell out in a flash if I could do it for a living and make real money from it.

I think for the price, these look like outstanding basses.

I quite like Ellie's voice.

[quote name='eude' timestamp='1392548580' post='2369844'] The Aggie prices have gone up a hell of a lot, I guess that's what happens when you involve a distributor. Real shame, it puts their cabs out of reach for potentially quite a lot of people. [/quote] 100% agree. Just paying for a distributor. I would buy more Aggie gear, but the fact I bought a DB212 brand new for £650 and the latest DB112s are almost that is just...crackers.

Totally off topic, but I've read the interesting blog on the EBMM forms about Markbass working with EBMM and re-introducing Musicman amps?! It appears to be public knowledge so I hope I'm not treading on any toes.

[quote name='lou24d53' timestamp='1392755069' post='2372441'] In what way do you mean? Just asking, cause anytime I've seen him on anything on TV he seems somewhat reserved, bordering on extremely shy. [/quote] He is quite shy, but confident when he sings or solos...just not a lot of rock star about him. Flawless live vocalist/guitarist. No lead guitarist. He played all of it which let the bass and drums shine.

He even dresses a little like JC, along with the fact he strums his guitar in that sweeping motion...also some Bob Dylan song writing style in there as well.

I don't know why a shop would keep them or misplace them!

Probably not one for the folk/country/blues police, but Jake Bugg is one talented young man. I went to see him on Sunday at the Newcastle City Hall, (great venue!). Stunning guitar player, excellent live vocals, almost like a modern day Johnny Cash. His band are equallty excellent. His bassist used an EBMM Stingray Classic and a Gibson Midtown throughout the set and both sounded superb. The Stingray sounded very fat, warm, with an almost double bass like tone with him playing nearer the neck. I was also super impressed with his guitar tone. Can't beat a good Telecaster/Strat with a bit of drive.

[quote name='molan' timestamp='1392681041' post='2371669'] To my ears Aggie stuff always comes into its own in a live band situation. Almost all their heads and cabs sound better cranked up I think. There's definitely some brands out there that seem to be 'tuned' for immediate impact in a shop demo environment. I can totally understand the thinking behind this but some of these can get very harsh at any kind of serious volume. It's been a while since I've heard Shuttle, of any size, at serious volume - odd really, they've definitely sold well but I don't see me out gigging much. Maybe it's just the sort of gigs I go to There's been a two tier rise at a few places. They moved from £599 to £629 but average price rises are going to be about 15% (maybe more on some lines). These are slowly filtering through already and the £650 price means UK dealers are swallowing a bit of margin loss to try and stay competitive. My guess is that they'll hold the £650 for a while but could creep to £679 later in the year. You can still get £629 from people holding older stock I think. These rises will be across the whole Aggie range eventually - certainly any new stock will come in at the higher price. The good news is that availability and turnaround times on new orders will be a lot quicker (especially for cabs which used to be 6-12 weeks delivery) but this is being reflected in pricing. [/quote] Ay, its a shame. I love Aguilar and I love the passion the guys there seem to have for their products. I'm guessing this is due to having a more structured/more expensive distribution system, whereas before I remember the Bass Merchant used to get them in direct from Aguilar and deal with warranty issues directly. Another mouth to feed, so to speak, with a middleman involved. I'm glad Aguilar stick to their guns and make top quality products though. I've recently bought a new 'no lip' Tonehammer pedal and it does sound great. I think they have also just gone up as well. It may be that I should try a TH500 before they go up again!

I think the EBMM necks are the best in the business, but probably because I am so used to them. The Ray necks are faster than a P bass...by far. I would say they are inbetween a P and a J but closer to a P. The Sterling neck is INCREDIBLY fast...

[quote name='lowlandtrees' timestamp='1392713725' post='2371792'] So would the Chromes have a higher tension than the EBs? Secondly if I wanted an EB with a similar tension to standard round wounds would that be a II guage? I ask this because I have had problems with my MM SUB strings (in another post). I think that the string tension has been too high. [/quote] I haven't tried Chromes but I think the EB strings are superb and suprisingly low priced. You get the zing for the first few months (although not as zingy as nickel rounds) but then they turn much more thumpy, warm and subdued in the highs. The Group III's are lower tension than the Group II's. You may find the Group III's are still fairly tense compared to rounds of a similar gauge, (they aren't as flexible) but the III's would be the best starting point. But, you could try Group IV's! Even lower tension.

[quote name='molan' timestamp='1392676907' post='2371609'] I recently had the pleasure of watching Paul Turner slapping like a complete funk-god through a TH500 and into a pair of Aguilar SL112 cabs. There definitely wasn't any lack of sizzle or snap in his tone. He wasn't using any pedals either, just a passive Alleva Coppolo 5 straight into the Tone Hammer. I used to own an original Shuttle 6 and never got on with it. If you are after a new TH then I'd strongly recommend hunting one down soon. They are all going to start rising in price soon [/quote] The bass on the latest .2 is much fatter. The HPF was pretty strict on the 6.0 due to the design to pair with smaller compact cabs but I agree. The .2 series are really really nice! I'd like to try a TH500 but it does tend to take a fair bit of sparkle off. Totally depends on what you like though How much are they going to raise by? They seem to have jumped from £590 to £650 ish.